Monday, December 10, 2012

Today is...the first day of finals week


Today is the first day of finals week. As a break from studying, enjoy some fun facts!

December 10, 1815, Ada Lovelace, commonly considered the first computer programmer, was born.

Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine and Difference Engine, both precursors to the modern day computer.

Lovelace was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron.

Lord Byron had a daughter with Claire Clairmont, the stepsister of Mary Shelley, who is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein.

Gothic fiction, or Gothic horror, has its origins attributed to Horace Walpole's work The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story".

Horace Walpole was the son of Robert Walpole, the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Walpole Massachusetts is named after Robert Walpole.

Walpole, Mass was first settled in 1659 and was considered part of Dedham, Mass until 1724.

Dedham is the home to the Fairbanks House, the oldest survivng timber-frame house in North America. It was built ca. 1637 and is the oldest building in Massachusetts.

The oldest building in the world is the Tumulus of Bougon, a complex of tombs in France that date to 4800 BC.

The oldest house in the world is Knap of Howar in Scotland, built in 3700 BC. It is on the Island of Pap Westray, one of the Orkney Islands.

Orkney is an archipelago of approximately 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. They have at various times been occupied by the Mesolithic tribes, the Neolithic tribes, the Picts, an the Norse.

Orkney was given to Scotland as security until the dowry of Margaret of Denmark in her marriage to James III of Scotland.

Their son, James IV, married Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England.

Henry VII was the first monarch of House of Tudor, after seizing the crown on August 22, 1485.

The final sovereign of the House of Tudor was Queen Elizabeth I.

Are you prepared for finals?

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Today is...the Birth Anniversary of Clarence Birdseye


Today is the birth anniversary of Clarence Birdseye. He was born on December 9, 1886 in Brooklyn, NY.

Clarence Birdseye was an inventor, entrepreneur and naturalist, considered to be the founder of the modern frozen food industry.

Birdseye solved the problem that previous frozen food had of leaking fluids upon thawing. He froze things are a lower temperature so smaller ice crystals formed, causing less damage to the tissue structure.

In 1924, after having his first company go bankrupt, Birdseye created a new commercial product for quick-freezing of fish. His company was called General Seafood Corporation.

In 1929 he sold his company and patents for $22 to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, which eventually became General Foods Corporation, which founded Birds Eye Frozen Food Company.

Birds Eye started selling food in retails store in 1930, starting with just 18 stores in and around Springfield Massachusetts.

The first line of food contained 26 products, including 18 cuts of frozen meat, spinach and peas, a variety of fruits, blue point oysters, and fish fillets.

Birds Eye is now an international frozen food brand.

What is your favorite frozen food?

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of the Murder of John Lennon


On this day in 1980, John Lennon was murdered outside his New York City apartment building.

The Beatles were originally The Quarrymen and were formed by 16-year-old John Lennon. Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist. McCartney invited friend George Harrison, then 14, to watch the band, after which he auditioned as the lead guitarist.

Stuart Sutcliffe then joined the band on bass and encouraged them to rename themselves The Beatles.

After Sutcliffe left the band and original drummer Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr, the Beatles recorded their first song, Love Me Do on September 4, 1962.

After breaking up in 1970, all four Beatles released solo albums. Ringo Starr's 1973 album Ringo had collaborations with all three other Beatles, though on separate tracks.

In 1976, Lorne Michaels offered $3000 for The Beatles to reunite on Saturday Night Live. The following week, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were hanging out and considered going to the studio to claim the money, but decided against it. According to McCartney they were having a night off and going down would have been "work".

All four Beatles were awarded the honor of becoming Members of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

The Beatles are still the best-selling band in history.

Who is your favorite Beatle?

Friday, December 7, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of the Launch of Apollo 17


On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 was launched. This was the last US manned mission to the moon.

Apollo 17 was the sixth mission to land humans on the moon.

The launch was on December 7, 1972 at 12:33 am from Kennedy Space Center.

Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, has been the launch site for ever human space flight in the US since 1968.

There have been twelve people to walk on the moon: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John W. Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt.

Eugene Cernan was the last person to touch the lunar surface.

Apollo 17 broke numerous records: longest manned lunar landing flight, longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities, largest lunar sample return, and longest time in lunar orbit.

After spending 7 hours and 15 minutes outside during the final lunar excursion Gene Cernan said: "As I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus- Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. 'Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.'"

Where would you like to go in space?

Thursday, December 6, 2012

White Board results from the last couple weeks...












Today is...the Anniversary of the Altamont Speedway Free Concert

On this day in 1969, the Rolling Stones; Jefferson Airplane; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Santana; and The Flying Burrito Brothers performed at the controversial (and fatal to one concertgoer) Altamont Speedway Free Concert at Livermore, CA.

The Rolling Stones are named after the Muddy Waters song "Rollin' Stone".

Muddy Waters has four songs listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "The Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll": Rollin' Stone, Hoochie Coochie Man, Mannish Boy, Got My Mojo Working.

The Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 but refused to attend the ceremony.

Though the Sex Pistols were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the UK they only produced four singles and one album.

The Ramones are generally considered the band that started the punk movement.

Though arguably the most influence band of pop music, The Ramones had only one album, Ramones Mania compilation, that went gold in the US.

Joey Ramone, lead singer of the Ramones, shares a birthday with Pete Townshend from The Who.

Tommy by The Who was the first rock opera; it is reported that the term "rock opera" was coined at a party given by Pete Townshend.

David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and Pink Floyd all also made rock operas in the 1970s.

What group would you most like to see perform?

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Today is...Walt Disney's Birth Anniversary

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was born on December 5, 1901.

Most people known the basics of Walt Disney, his creation of Mickey Mouse and his development of Disneyland. Here are some things you might not know...

In high school, Disney took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute and drew cartoons for his high school paper.

Mickey Mouse's original name was to be Mortimer, but Walt's wife Lillian thought it didn't fit and christened him Mickey.

The first musical cartoon Disney directed was The Skeleton Dance, animated by Ubbe Iwerks.

Disney started work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1934, ran out of money in mid-1937, and finally released it in February of 1938.

When getting a pre-operative X-ray on his neck for a polo injury, doctors discovered a tumor on Walt's lung. He died less than two months later.

The last thing Walt wrote was Kurt Russell's name, the significance of which is still unknown.

Though there are rumors that Disney was cryogynically frozen, he was actually cremated.

What is your favorite Disney movie?

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Today is...the birth anniversary of Lillian Russell, the most popular female entertainer of the 19th century

Today is the birth anniversary of Lillian Russell, the most popular female entertainer of the 19th century.

 On May 8, 1890, Lillian Russell became the first person to have their voice carried over a long distance telephone line. From New York City she sang Sabre Song to Boston and Washington, DC.

Though she never married him, Russell was the companion of "Diamond Jim" Brady for 40 years. Brady, in 1895, was the first person in New York City to own an automobile.

Russell married her fourth husband, Alexander Pollock Moore, at the Schenley Hotel in Pittsburg, which is not the University of Pittsburgh student union building.

Lillian Russell was a performer in vaudeville, burlesques, operettas, and musical theatre, notably working with Tony Pastor, the father of vaudeville, and composer Edward Solomon, who she married and then subsequently divorced when she found out he had never divorced his previous wife.

Russell appeared in one motion picture, Wildfire (1915), that starred Lionel Barrymore, who is most well known for playing Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life.

In 1940, there was a movie made of her life which starred Henry Fonda.

Who is your favorite female entertainer?

Monday, December 3, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of the opening of A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway

On December 3, 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway with Jessica Tandy as Blanche Du Bois and newcomer Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams in 1947.

Tennessee Williams received in Presidential Medal of Freedom from Jimmy Carter in 1980.

A Streetcar Named Desire premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is named after Ethel Barrymore, the sister of John Barrymore and great-aunt of Drew Barrymore.

The 1951 film adaptation of the film starred all the original lead actors except for Jessica Tandy, who was replaced by Vivien Leigh.

Marlon Brando was credited under Leigh in the film credits and in previews as he was not considered a star at the time.

Streetcar Named Desire earned Brando his first Best Actor Oscar nomination; it was followed by Best Actor Oscar nominations for Viva Zapata!, Julius Caesar, and On the Waterfront.

Brando starred as Sky Masterson in the 1955 musical Guys and Dolls, with Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit. Sinatra was against the casting of Brando as Masterson as he wanted that role for himself.

Gene Kelly was wanted for the role of Sky Masterson, and was interested in the role, but MGM refused to loan him to Goldwyn.

Who is your favorite Broadway character?

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of the First Artificial Heart Transplant

On this day in 1982 the first artificial heart transplant took place.

The first artificial heart was designed by Robert Jarvik.

The first patient who received an artificial heart survived for 112 day; the second lived 620 days after the surgery.

The first FDA approved artificial heart was approved on October 15, 2004; it was created by SynCardia.

The first precursor of the modern artificial heart pump was built in 1949 by William Sewell and William Glenn using an Erector Set.

The first patent for an artificial heart was one created by Dr. Henry Heimlich (inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver) and Ventriloquist Paul Winchell.

Are you an organ donor?

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Today is...World AIDS Day

December 1 every year is dedicated to raising awareness of AIDS.

For information visit http://aids.gov/news-and-events/awareness-days/world-aids-day/

Don't forget to wear a red ribbon!

What actions can you take to end world AIDS?

Friday, November 30, 2012

Bound Periodical Tree!

Come check out the Christmas Tree made out of Bound Periodicals on the 2nd floor of Heterick Memorial Library.


Today is...Stay Home Because Your'e Well Day


Today is Stay Home Because You’re Well Day.

Since you are home, but not sick, here are some fun facts to entertain yourself with!

The Tea Act of 1773, which the Boston Tea Party was protesting, lowered the price of tea.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world.

The earliest records of tea consumption are in the 10th century BC in China.

Tea became popular during the Tang Dynasty, which is when it spread from China to Korea and Japan.

Chang'an (present day Xi'an) was the capital during the time of the Tang Dynasty and was the most populous city in the world at that time.

The Tang Dynasty developed woodblock printing.

Block printing was used in 15th century Europe as a cheaper alternative to movable type. Entire pages of books were cut into a block and then were printed by rubbing onto one side of paper.

Block printing was also used for creating playing cards.

The 52 card deck, with 4 suits of 13 cards is known as the French Deck.

The Jack is also known as the Knave, but the name was changed by Samuel Hart when he printed a J instead of a Kn on the card.

In traditional French decks, the Jack of Diamonds is the only card to show only one eye. The Jack of Diamonds is historically designed to be based on Hector, the Trojan prince and greatest Trojan fighter in the Trojan War.

The Trojan War was started by the stealing/elopement of Helen by Paris.

Helen is usually said to be the daughter of Leda and Zeus, who seduced/raped Leda in the form of a swan.

A group of swans is called a bevy. A group of flying swans is called a wedge.

The Queen of England retains the right of ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water.

Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II of England, introduced the custom of drinking tea to Britain.

How are you feeling today?

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Today is...The Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Tree

Yesterday, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was lit.

A tree has been put up in Rockefeller Center every year since 1933 and is usually a Norway spruce that is 69-100 feet tall.

The star at the top of the tree was created by Michael Hammers in 2004 and is 9.5 feet in diameter and weights 550 pounds.

The tree this year came from Flanders, New Jersey. It is 80 ft. tall.

The skating rink was installed on Christmas Day in 1936.

The lights were turned on officially at 9 pm in the 80th annual celebration.

The celebration included performances by Rod Stewart, CeeLo Green, Scotty McCreery, Il Volo, Victoria Justice, Brooke White, Mariah Carey, Trace Adkins, and Tony Bennett; appearances were also made by Billy Crystal and Bette Miller.

The tree will be up until January 7, 2013, when it will be turned into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.

What is your favorite part of the holiday season?

Today is...Joel Coen's Birthday

The Coen Brother's first movie together was Blood Simple, which stars Frances McDormand, who later married Joel Coen.

The first Coen Brother's film to really become a hit was Raising Arizona, released in 1987, starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter. It was not a huge hit at the time, but is now a cult classic.

The 1996 Fargo earned seven Academy Award nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Leading Actress for Frances McDormand.

The Coen Brother's film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? was loosely based on Homer's Odyssey.

No Country for Old Man, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Acor for Javier Bardem.

2010's True Grit was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, though did not win any.

The Coen Brothers tend to work with the same actors multiple times, including Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Josh Brolin, John Goodman, and Stephen Root.

Until 2004, the director credits for all the movies went to Joel; starting in 2004 the credit was given to Joel & Ethan.

Joel and Ethan share credit for editor under the alias Roderick Jaynes.

What is your favorite Coen Brother's Movie?

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Today is...Jaleel White’s birthday.

Today is Jaleel White’s birthday. White is best known for playing Steve Urkel on Family Matters.



TGIF on ABC started in 1988 and originally ran until 2000.

Some shows, lasted a long time, like Family Matters (9 seasons) and Boy Meets World (7 seasons). Some lasted only a few weeks like Aliens in the Family (pulled after 2 weeks) and You Wish (pulled after 7 episodes, though 5 additional episodes were aired later).

The shows that aired on TGIF:
Perfect Strangers
Full House
Mr. Belvedere
Just the Ten of Us
Dinosaurs
Family Matters
Going Places
Baby Talk
Billy
Camp Wilder
Getting By
Where I Live
Hanging with Mr. Cooper
Boy Meets World
Step by Step
Sister, Sister
On Our Own
Muppets Tonight
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Clueless
You Wish
Teen Angel
Two of a Kind
The Hughleys
Odd Man Out
Making the Band



What is your favorite TGIF show?

Monday, November 26, 2012

Today is...The Birth Anniversary of Charles Schulz

Charles Schulz was born on November 26, 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Schulz is the creator the Peanuts comic strip, which ran from October 2, 1950 to February 13, 2000. 17,897 strips have been published, all written and illustrated by Schulz.

The initial cast consisted of only charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, and Snoopy. The first additions from 1951-1954 were Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus, and Pig-Pen.

Linus and Lucy's last name is Van Pelt.

Vince Guaraldi wrote the music for the Peanuts Christmas special, including the song "Linus and Lucy", which was played to the crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour as wake-up music on Day 2 of the STS-123 mission.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first prime-time animated TV special based on a comic strip.

The original air date of A Charlie Brown Christmas was Dec. 9, 1965 and has aired every year since.

What is your favorite comic?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Today is...The 65th Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip

On November 20, 1947, Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Prior to marrying Elizabeth, Philip was Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. In order to marry, he abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles, converted from Green Orthodoxy to Anglicanism and became a naturalized British subject. 

Elizabeth II and Philip are second cousins once removed and third cousins. They initially met in 1934 at the wedding of Philip's cousin Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, when Philip was 13 and Elizabeth was 8. 

Elizabeth fell in love with Philip at a meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1939, when she was 13. They started a correspondence and became secretly engaged in 1946. It was officially announce on July 9, 1947, after Elizabeth had turned 21.

Elizabeth had to use ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding gown. 

Prior to the wedding Philip took the names of Duke of Edignburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of the County of London. After the wedding, until her coronation, Elizabeth took the name Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh.

Due to being so close after WWII, the Duke of Edinburgh's German relatives were not invited to the wedding, including his three sisters. Former King Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, was also not invited.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Today is...The 194th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.

The Gettysburg Address was only 10 sentences.

It took Lincoln only two or three minutes to give the speech.

Edward Everett, a former governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of State, spoke for 2 hours prior to Lincoln's speech.

There are five known copies of the Gettysburg Address, two written at the time of the address and three written later by Lincoln for charity purposes.

Lincoln was diagnosed with a mild case of small pox right after returning from Gettysburg.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of Lewis and Clark reaching the Pacific

Today in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific coast undertaken in the US.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were both veterans of the American Indian Wars.

Clark served under Major General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who Fort Wayne, Indiana is named after.

When in the US Army, Clark was a commanding officer of Lewis.

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery and named Lewis as the leader, who chose Clark as his partner.

Sacagawea, a 15 or 16 year old Shoshone woman, aided the Corps of Discovery, acting as interpreter and guide.

Sacagawea's son (with her husband/owner Toussaint Charbonneau), Jean Baptitste Charbonneau was born during the expedition. After the expedition, he lived with Clark in St. Louis where he attended St. Louis academy, paid for by Clark.

Clark, due to not having any formal education, had issues with grammar and spelling in his journals, which he had corrected prior to their publication. He spelled "Sioux" 27 different ways.

Where would you like to explore?

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Today is...National Bundt Day

Today is National Bundt Day!

The Bundt Cake was originally a German ring-shaped tea-time cake called a Bundkuchen.

Cake is a form of bread and were originally fried breads in a disk shape.

Yeast cakes are the oldest type of cakes and are similar to Babka or Stollen, a yeast fruit cake.

Sponge cakes are the first non-yeast based cakes and were around as early at 1615 in England.

Butter cake is the quintessential American cake, and is derived from English pound cake.

Cheesecake is not cake at all, but is instead custard-filled pie.

On the flip-side, Boston Cream Pie is not a pie at all, but instead is a custard-filled cake.


What is your favorite kind of cake?

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Today is...Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day

Today is Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day!

"Relax" is the debut single of the British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

The Dandy Warhols covered Relax on their 2004 album, Come On Feel the Dandy Warhols.

The Dandy Warhols most famous song is We Used to Be Friends, which was the theme song for Veronica Mars and was featured in an episode of The OC.

The OC was famous for using songs from indie bands for the music, and featuring the bands in a concert venue on the show. Artists include Rooney, Jem, The Killers, Modest Mouse, and Death Cab for Cutie.

Another show to prominently feature new and indie music was Greek, who had the Plain White T's as guests on numerous episodes of the show.

The Plain White T's recently covered The Ramones' Pet Sematary for the Frankenweenie soundtrack

The original Pet Sematary was written for the movie adaptation of the Stephen King book by the same name.

Stephen King was in a rock band that consisted of published writers including Dave Barry, Maya Angelou, Ridley Pearson, Matt Groening, Amy Tan, and Scott Turow.








How do you relax and “let your hair down?”

Monday, November 12, 2012

Today is...Megan Mullally and David Schwimmer's Birthday


Today is Megan Mullally and David Schwimmer’s birthday.

A sitcom is short for situation comedy, a genre of comedy that features characters sharing a common environment, with jokes as part of the dialogue. They can be filmed in front of a live studio audience or with the addition of a laugh track.

The first sitcom was "Sam 'n' Henry", a 15-minute daily radio program that started on January 12, 1926. In 1928 it was renamed "Amon 'n' Andy".

Many of the first televised sitcoms were adaptations of existing radio sitcoms, like "The Jack Benny Program", or vehicles for existing stars, like "The Abbott and Costello Show". Early sitcoms were often broadcast live.

"I Love Lucy" was the first successful use of a multi-camera setup. It was the most watched show in the US in four of its six seasons and ended its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.

The mid-1960s started high concept sitcoms, including "The Munsters", "The Addams Family", "I Dream of Jeannie", and "Bewitched".

Sitcoms in the 1970s often were a platform for social issues of the time such as women's liberation as seen in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

"The Simpsons" is the longest-running sitcom in US History, premiering on December 17, 1989.


What is your favorite sitcom?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Today is...the Birth Anniversary of Martin Luther


Today is Birth anniversary of Augustinian monk and leader of the Protestant Reformation Martin Luther.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Saxony, than part of the Holy Roman Empire, now Germany.

Luther was baptized a Catholic and became an Augustine monk.

Luther started the reform movement that led to Protestantism as a protest of Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences.

An indulgence in the Catholic church is given after a confession and absolution. They are also granted by good works and prayers.

Tetzel was sent to Germany to sell indulgences in order to raise money to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica. This essentially means that the Roman Catholic Church was allowing people to purchase their way out of purgatory, at least according to Tetzel and as interpreted by Luther.

Luther wrote a letter called Disputations of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, which became known as the Ninety-Five Theses.

Due to his refusal to retract his writings, Martin Luther was excommunicated by the pope and was made an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor.

What impact do you want to have on the world?

Friday, November 9, 2012

Today is...Lou Ferrigno's Birthday

Lou Ferrigno was born on November 9, 1951. He is best known for playing the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk.

The Hulk is from Marvel Comics and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He was premiered in May 1962.

The Hulk is the emotional and angry alter ego of Dr. Bruce Banner, who turned into the Hulk after exposure to a gamma bomb.

The inspiration for the Hulk was a combination of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein.

Marvel comics was founded in 1939 and has created characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and The Avengers. Most live in a reality that mirrors real-life cities like New York, LA, and Chicago.

Films based on Marvel Comics have grossed a total of $5 billion.The Avengers alone grossed $1.51 billion worldwide. 

Marvel Entertainment was bought by The Walt Disney Company in 2009 for $4.24 billion.

Disney just announced plans to buy Lucasfilms for $4.05 billion. They plan to release Star Wars Episode VII in 2015.

What superhero would you like to be?

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Today is...Bram Stoker's Birth Anniversary

Today in 1847 Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, was born in Dublin.

In 1878, Stoker married Florence Balcombe, who had previously had a relationship with Oscar Wilde. Wilde and Stoker knew each other at university, having both been in the Philosophical Society.

Stoker was distantly related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes.

Though now he is remembered primarily for Dracula, during his lifetime, Bram Stoker was mostly known for being the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre in London.

The main character of Dracula was inspired by Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, also known as Vlad Tepes, posthumously known as Vlad the Impaler.

Vlad III ruled Wallachia, present day Romania, from 1456-1462 (and also in 1448 and 1476).

His father, Vlad II was known as Vlad Dracul, after being inducted into the Order of the Dragon, a monarchical chivalric order. This was a ploy to gain political favor from the Catholic Church in order to gain help in protecting Wallachia against the Ottoman Empire.

It has been claimed that Mary of Teck, grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, is a distant  descendant of Vlad Tepes' song Vlad Tepelus and Mihnea the Bad. Prince Charles publicly confirmed the relationship in 2011.

 It is impossible that Vlad III was a vampire as after his death his head was taken to Constantinople as a trophy.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Today is...the Birth Anniversary of Marie Curie

Today is the birth anniversary of Marie Curie. She was well known for her research on radioactivity and her Noble Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.

Marie Curie was for on November 7, 1867 in Poland.

She moved to Paris in 1891 at age 24 to study physics, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Paris.

Curie began her scientific career studying magnetic properties of various steels before meeting Pierre Curie, who found her laboratory space for her work

The two eventually married, sharing their love of science, bicycling and travel.

In 1903 Marie Curie won a Nobel Prize in Physics, sharing with her husband Pierre, and physicist Henri Becquerel. Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

In 1911, Curie was the sole winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in reward for discovering the elements of radium and polonium.

The 1911 Nobel Prize made Curie the first person to win two Nobel Prizes and she is still one of only two people to win two Prizes in different fields.

After the death of Pierre, Marie had a year-long affair with one of Pierre's former students, Paul Langevin. This caused a scandal as Langevin was married, though estranged from his wife. Curie's granddaughter later married Langevin's grandson.

Curie died in 1934 from aplastic anemia, which she contracted from her long-term exposure to radiation. Since the effects of radiation were unknown at that time, Marie tended to carry about test tubes of radioactive isotopes in her pocket.

Due to their levels of radioactivity, her research papers from her time spent studying radioactive material are too dangerous to handle, including her cookbook. The papers are kept in lead-lined boxes and protective clothing must be worn by anyone who wishes to consult them.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Today is...Saxophone Day

Today is the birth anniversary of Adolphe Sax, also known as saxophone day!

Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone, but he played the flute and clarinet.

The saxophone was intended to be the most powerful woodwind instrument and to fill the middle ground between the woodwind and brass sections of a band.

The saxophone is most commonly associated with jazz and classical music.

Two of the most famous jazz saxophone players are John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Both played with Miles Davis and in Bebop Jazz, but Coltrane pioneered more with modal and avant-garde guard jazz styles.

There are 13 types of saxophones, 8 of which are from the Military band family.

What is your favorite instrument?

Monday, November 5, 2012

Today is...Job Action Day

Job Action Day is a day of empowerment for workers and job-seekers -- to put your career and job in the forefront, making plans, taking action steps (jobactionday.com).

According to Forbes the best-payed women in 2012 are Pharmacists.

According to US News, being a Registered Nurse is the best job, with high growth and low unemployment.

It takes only 12 seconds for a potential employer to make up their mind if they think a person is someone they want to hire.

Microsoft, Google, and Apple all have reputations of asking ridiculously complex interview questions to test how their potential employees think and problem solve. 

According to a Huffington Post survey, some of the best jobs for recent college graduates are Financial Analyst, Marketing Specialist, and Human Resources, Training and Labor Specialist. 

ProQuest Issue

Some of the ProQuest databases are having difficultly with authenticating users (for example, ProQuest Nursing). If you are asked to select your institution, select Ohio Northern University. You may have to select that multiple times before it will authenticate. If you are trying to go directly to a full-text article, it may or may not work. If you cannot get direct access, try accessing the database from the library's databases page and then searching for your article. If you find that you are completely unable to authenticate into a database, please email Kelly Kobiela at k-kobiela@onu.edu with what database you were trying to use and how you were accessing it.

We are already working on a solution and hope for this to be fixed in a timely manner.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of the Debut of PBS

Today in 1969, the Public Broadcasting Service debuted in the US.

The U.S. version of Antiques Roadshow premiered in 1997, a spin off of the British version that had been around since 1979. It has been nominated for an Emmy 9 times and gets approximately 1 million viewers each week.

Charlie Rose, the interview show were Rose interviews "thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, businesspersons, leaders, scientists, and other newsmakers" struck up a partnership with Google to add almost 4000 hours of past interviews to YouTube in their originally aired format.

Downton Abbey was originally conceived as a miniseries and is part of Masterpiece Classic. In September 2011, the show was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most acclaimed tv show of that year, the first British show to win that acclaim.

Nova, produced by WGBH Boston, is broadcast on PBS in the US and in more than 100 other countries. It has won multiple Peabody Awards and Emmy Awards for being "an imaginative series of science adventures. Specific episodes have won, as well as the show as a whole.

Besides his show, Rick Steves' Europe, Rick Steves also has a radio show, has authored numerous travel books, most popularly Europe Through the Back Door, and organizes group tours. His main advice when traveling to Europe is to become a temporary local as compared to a tourist.

When it aired, The Magic School Bus was one of the highest-rated PBS shows for school-age children. Ms. Frizzle was voiced by Lily Tomlin.

Zoom, originally from 1972, was remade in 1999. It was notable for being a show for kids made almost entirely by kids.

Sesame Street has won 143 Emmy Awards, more than any other children's tv show.

What is your favorite PBS show?

Friday, November 2, 2012

New Books and DVDs in September!

Check out all the new books and DVDs the library purchased in September! http://journals.onu.edu/newacqdata/october12/titlist.cfm

Check and see if your favorite subject got anything new! http://journals.onu.edu/newacqdata/october12/sulist.cfm

Today is...the Anniversary of the 1920 election

Today is the anniversary of Charlotte Woodward voting in the general election of 1920—the only woman who attended the 1848 Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention who lived long enough to exercise her right to vote under the 19th amendment.

The Seneca Falls Convention, held July 19-20, 184, was the first women's rights convention in the United States.

It was organized by Lucretia Mott, a Quaker. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the only non-Quaker to help organize the meeting.

The Seneca Falls Convention had approximately 300 attendees, with 100 signing the Declaration of Sentiments, which was for the "grand basis for attaining the civil, social, political, and religious rights of women".

The one point that was argued the most was the inclusion of the insistence of women's right to vote, with many including Mott wanting to remove the concept from the Declaration. Frederick Douglass convinced them to keep that part in.

The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920.

The 19th Amendment was first drafted in 1878 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; it was finally submitted by Congredd in 1919.

Wisconsin, Illionis, and Michigan were the first states to ratify the 19th Amendment, on June 10, 1919. It needed ratification by 36 states to become an amendment.  Tennessee was the 36th ratifier. All other states eventually ratified, though Mississippi was last, finally ratifying on March 22, 1984.

Charlotte Woodward was the only woman who signed the Declaration of Sentiments who lived to see women be able to vote.

Are you going to exercise your right to vote?

Thursday, November 1, 2012

OhioLINK turns 20!

OhioLINK (www.ohiolink.edu) serves more than 600,000 students, faculty and staff, providing them with access to more than 46 million books and other library materials, millions of electronic articles from 10,000 journals, 100+ electronic research databases, over 80,000 e-books, theses and dissertations from Ohio students, and thousands of images, videos and sounds.  Happy Birthday to OhioLINK!

Today is...National Author's Day

Today is National Author's Day. National Author's Day was first suggested in 1928 by Nellie Verne Burt McPherson as a way to thank her favorite author, Irving Bacheller. November 1, 1949 was the first official National Author's Day, recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

To celebrate, here are some assorted fun facts about famous authors!

Stephen King has released 56 novels (7 under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman), 13 short story collections and an assortment of other writings including non-fiction and comics. He has received over 50 awards for his writings.

Jane Austen published 4 novels in her lifetime, with an additional 2 published after her death. None of the novels published while she was alive bore her name and we not identified as hers until her brother identified her in a note in her posthumous novels.

The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group of England. There were no rules, officers, agendas, or elections and contained only men (though Dorothy Sayers claimed an Inkling due to her friendship with some of the men in the group). The main activity of the group was for the authors to read out parts of their unfinished works, though they also had silly competitions such as seeing who could read bad prose the longest without laughing. Some of the more well-known authors of the group were JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Charles Williams and Christopher Tolkien.

Lewis Carroll, though extremely successful as an author, was also an accomplished photographer, inventor, and mathematician.

Alan Moore's Watchmen is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, which are awarded to the best sci-fi and fantasy works. Neonomicon was the first recipient of a Bram Stoker Award in the newly created Graphic Novel category.

James Patterson has written 97 novels since his start in 1976, with 19 consecutive New York Times bestselling #1s, and he holds the record for most bestselling hardcover fiction titles by a single author at 63. His novels account for one in 17 of all hardcover books sold in the US, selling more than Stephen King, Joh Grisham and Dan Brown combined.

Janet Evanovich tried to write the "Great American Novel", but was unable to sell any of the three manuscripts. She switched to writing romance in 1987 and romantic adventure in 1994 with the Stephanie Plum books, which have had 12 of the 18 books debut at #1 on the New York Times best seller list.

Who is your favorite author?

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Today is...Halloween

Today is Halloween! Impress your friends with these scary and/or disturbing fun facts.

Real cadavers were used as props in various scenes in the movie Poltergeist.

There was a practice that occasionally occurred up until the 1880s where Buddhist monks would cause their own death while mummifying themselves. It involved 1,000 of eating only nuts and seeds while doing rigorous exercise to rid their body of all fat, then eating only bark and roots for 1,000 and drinking poisonous tea, which caused rapid loss of bodily fluids and made their body too poisonous to be eaten by bugs. They would then lock themselves in a tomb and not move from the lotus position. If all went well, after 1,000 days, the tomb would be opened to see if the mummification process was successful. Somewhere between 16 and 24 of such mummified bodies have been found.

The Jonestown Massacre, when the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, started in Indianapolis in the mid-1950s and moved to Guyana, knowingly drank Flavor Aid that contained Valium, Chloral hydrate, cyanide, and Phenergan as a revolutionary suicide, was, until 9/11, the greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster. This is where the phrse "Drinking the Kool-Aid" comes from.

While filming the aversion therapy scene in A Clockwork Orange (when the eyes are held open by clamps), Michael McDowell's cornea was scratched, rendering him temporarily blind.

If a person eats only rabbit, they will die of malnutrition. Rabbit is too lean to provide enough nutrients, and also contains high levels of amino acices, ammonia, and urea which the human kidney cannot process enough of to sustain on rabbit alone.

When an airplane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes, killing 16 of the 45 passengers right away, the survivors fed on the dead passengers who has been preserved in the snow to survive the 72 days until they were rescued. Though a hard decision for all, rugby players embraced it with the saying "Rugby players eat their dead".

During the Salem Witch Trials 19 people were found guilty and executed. 6 were found guilty but pardoned, usually for being pregnant. 5 pled guilty but were pardoned. 1 person would not enter a plea and was pressed to death. Common methods of executing witches was hanging, drowning, and burning.

A serial killer, by definition, is some one who has killed three or more people over a period of more than a month with down time between the killings. There is usually some psychological gratification associated with the killing.

There are on average 51 deaths in the United States due to lightning strikes.

What is your Halloween costume?

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Today is...the Anniversary of The War of the Worlds

Today in 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Players produced a radio drama based on H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds that started a near panic when some listeners believed the Martian invasion of New Jersey was actually taking place.

The War of the Worlds is a novel by H.G. Wells about Earth being invaded by Martians. It is presented as a factual account, with the narrator being a journalist. In 1938, Orson Welles created an episode of Mercury Theatre on the Air based on the novel that was set in 1939. It was presented as a series of news bulletins and was presented without commercial breaks. Though the degree to which panic ensued is in question, there is no doubt that some people who heard only part of the broadcast believed that it was real.

There is thought to be only two copies of the script around anymore, one of which was sold at auction in 1988 for $143,000. After the broadcast, police seized all copies of the script as evidence, according to Howard Koch, the co-author of the radio play. There was a question at the time about if there was some criminal implications of the broadcast. The second surviving script, Welles' directorial copy, was sold at auction in 1994 and was bought by Steven Spielberg for $32,200.

What causes you to panic?

Monday, October 29, 2012

Today is...National Cat Day

Today is National Cat Day.

The word "cat" can be traced back to the Afroasiatic and Late Egyptian caute, the feminine form of caus, which means wildcat.

In Early Modern English, the word kitten was interchangeable with the word catling to mean a baby cat. Catling is a now-obsolete word.

A group of cats is referred to as a clowder or a glaring.

A male cat is a tom if unneutered and a gib if neutered. A female cat is a molly.

Though cats have gone through a domestication process, cats have not made any major changes in behavior.  The form and behavior of domestic cats is very similar to that of a wildcat and a domestic cat is capable of surviving in the wild.

In ancient Egypt cats were sacred animals. The goddess Bastet was often depicted in cat form.

During the Age of Discovery, early 15th century through the 17th century, cats were carried on ships to control rodents on board and as good-luck charms.

In Great Britain, Ireland, and Japan black cats are considered good luck. In other societies, black cats are considered a bad omen and are thought to be familiars of witches.

Do you have cat? If so, what kind and what is its name?

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Today is...Make a Difference Day

Today is Make a Difference Day.

Make a Difference Day celebrates neighbors helping neighbors.

It was created in 1992 to challenge every American to commit one day to the service of others.

To find out more: http://www.usaweekend.com/section/mdday

You can add your project to the list here: http://daytabank.handsonnetwork.org/

How are you making a difference?

Friday, October 26, 2012

Today is...the anniversary of the Erie Canal opening

In 1825, the Erie Canal was opened.

The Erie Canal runs 363 miles from Albany, NY on the Hudson River to Buffalo, NY at Lake Erie.

The Erie Canal contains 36 locks encompassing a elevation difference of 565 feet.

It was under construction from 1817 to 1825 and officially opened on October 26, 1825.

Improvements on the canal began in 1834, which included the first enlargement, widening it from 40 ft to 70 ft and deepening it from 4 ft to 7.

In 1918 a large part of the canal was replaced by the New York State Barge Canal.

Though parts of the old canal have been filled and used to create roads, a 36 mile stretch is preserved by New York State as the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park.

What is your favorite means of transportation?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Today is...the Birth Anniversary of Pablo Picasso

Today is the birth anniversary of Pablo Picasso. If he were alive he would be 131.

Pablo Picasso, born October 25, 1881, was a Spanish artist, though he lived most of his adult life in France.

Picasso is generally said to be the inventor of Cubism, though Georges Braque painted what some critics argue to be the first cubist piece.

The first exhibition by Cubists was at the Salon des Independants in Paris in 1911.

Picasso married ballerina Olga Kohkhlova in 1918. In 1927, he started an affair with Marie-Therese Walter; he was 45 and she was 17. He stayed married to Kohkhlova until her death in 1955 so he would not have to give her half his wealth in a divorce

Walter was a model for many of Picasso's works and always hoped that Picasso would marry her, though he never did. After Kohkhlova's death, Picasso married Jacqueline Roque who was a muse and model for him. They were married until his death. Picasso also maintained numerous mistresses besides his wife and Walter.

Picasso's first work that is accepted as part of his professional career is The First Communion, painted in 1896 when he was 14. His work started out as realism and slowly morphed into the cubist style that is most attributed to him.

Picasso was extremely prolific in his career and produced an estimated 50,000 works including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, prints, tapestries, and rugs. Most of his paintings were still in his possession at his death as he kept anything that he did not need to sell.

More of Picasso's paintings have been stolen than any other artist, with approximately 550 of his works currently missing.

What is your favorite Picasso painting?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Today is...Anniversary of First Barrel Jump over Niagara Falls

Today in 1901, the first successful barrel jump over Niagara Falls was accomplished.

Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old teacher, went over the falls in a barrel as a publicity stunt. She was unharmed except for some bleeding.

Since 1901, 14 people have intentionally gone over the falls; some were unharmed, some were injured, and some died.

The last barrel jump over Niagara Falls was in 1993, the second successful jump for Steve Trotter.

It is illegal to go over the Falls on both the Canadian and American sides of the border. If caught, there is a large fine.

Daredevils also walked tightrope wires over the Niagara Gorge from 1859-1896.

The only woman to cross on tightrope was Maria Spelterini in 1876. She crossed four times over approximately 2 1/2 weeks. She did so once blind-folded and once with her ankles and wrists manacles.

Jean Fancois Gravelet-Blondin crossed on tightrope many times, doing outrageous things while crossing including carrying his manager on his back, on silts, and sitting down part way to cook and eat an omelette.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, contains many other tourist stops including Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum (Louis Tussaud is the great-grandson of Marie Tussaud, the creator of Madame Tussaud's famous was museum in London), Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, five haunted houses and The Niagara Falls Museum.

The Niagara Falls Museum is Canada's oldest museum, opened in 1827 by Thomas Barnett. It includes a skeleton of a 40-ft humpback whale, the trunk of a giant redwood tree, and until 2003 the mummy of Ramses I.

Ramses I was returned to Egypt after Researchers at Emory University determined that the mummy was Ramses I. Before that, Ramses had been missing for 150 years and had been in the Niagara Falls Museum for 140 of those years.

What is the most daring thing you have done?
Don't forget to vote!
For your favorite scary movie


 The Screenwriting Workshop and Heterick Library are sponsoring a Scariest Movie contest.  
During the week of October 22-26th, there will be a display of scary movies on the first floor of Heterick, where people will be eligible to vote for their choice of the all-time scariest movie.  
Those who cast their ballots will have their names entered into a drawing for the prize of $20.00 that will be announced at the Scary Scene Halloween party sponsored by the Screenwriting Workshop on October 31,  7:15 p.m., Heterick Library room 301.  
(You need not be present to win.)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Today is...The Anniversary of the iPod

Today in 2001, Apple unveiled the iPod.

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, though Wayne sold his share when Apple was incorporated in 1977.

The first Macintosh computer was released in 1984. There was an ad for it during the 1984 Superbowl that was directed by Ridley Scott.

The first Apple store opened in 2001 in Virginia and California, announcing the iPod on October 23 the same year.

The first iPod was 5GB and held approximately 1,000 songs.

Between 2001 and 2007, over 100 million iPods were sold.

There are currently four types of iPods: Classic, Shuffle, Touch, and Nano. There are 25 base models of iPod, though each model has multiple choices of storage space.

What is your favorite Apple product?

Monday, October 22, 2012

Today is...Bela Lugosi's Birthday

Saturday was the birth anniversary of Bela Lugosi.

Bela Lugosi is best known for playing Dracula in the 1931 film of Dracula.

Due to his Hungarian accent, he was often limited in what he could play and ended up often being typecast as the villain.

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff often worked together, both being in the horror genre, with Karloff often getting top billing. According to Karloff, Lugosi was initially hesitant toward Karloff, but the two ended up being friendly toward one another. Though there are often reports that Lugosi was resentful of Karloff's success.

Later in life, Lugosi worked only in B movies, and most notably with Ed Wood, who found him living in near-poverty and offered him roles in his movies.

Lugosi's last film was Plan 9 from Outer Space (Why plan 9? Because that is the one that worked!). He had filmed only parts of a yet to be determined film when he died from a heart attack.

Wood's wife's chiropractor has a similar look to Lugosi if the face was ignored and ended up doubling for Lugosi, but with his face obscured by a cape.

Lugosi was buried wearing one of his Dracula capes by request of his wife and son.

Who is your favorite horror film villain?

Today is...Christopher Lloyd's Birthday

Today is Christopher Lloyd's birthday.

Christopher Lloyd is most famous for playing Doc (Emmett Brown) in all three Back to the Future movies.

Lloyd gained prominence as an actor as Reverend Jim Ignatowski in Taxi, which earned him two Emmy awards.

Lloyd also notably played Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a live-action/animated combination movie made by Walt Disney Productions in 1988. It had a budget of $29.9 million, the most expensive animated film ever.

As of today, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the only time Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny have appeared on screen together. It also includes a scene of Daffy Duck and Donald Duck (no relation) on screen together.

The movie spun off three animated Roger Rabbit shorts: Tummy Trouble, which released in theaters before Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and later Aladdin; Roller Coaster Rabbit, released theatrically before Dick Tracy; and Trail Mix-up, released before A Far off Place in theaters.

Robert Zemeckis directed both Who Framed Roger Rabbit and all three Back to the Future movies.

What year would you like to time-travel to?

Friday, October 19, 2012

Today is...Evaluate Your Life Day

Today is Evaluate Your Life Day.

In evaluating the subject of this topic, it has been discovered that it does not make for a particularly enthralling topic. Therefore, today's blog will be a list of random fun facts.

Candy Corn was created in the 1880s and was originally made by hand by the Wunderlee Candy Company.

Camille Saint-Saens was worried that The Carnival of the Animals was likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer because it was too frivolous and would only allow one movement, Le Cygne (The Swan), to be published while he was alive.

The first incarnation of Bugs Bunny was "Happy Rabbit", who appeared in Porky's Hare Hunt in 1938. The first cartoon to feature Bugs as we know him now was in 1940 in A Wild Hare, which also featured Elmer Fudd in one of his first cartoons.

In traditional French decks (the normal 52 card deck), the Jack of Diamonds is the only card to show only one eye. The Jack of Diamonds is historically designed to be based on Hector, the Trojan prince and greatest Trojan fighter in the Trojan War.

Honey Badgers can eat poisonous animals like Cobras.

Chocolate can be poisonous in large doses. 22 lbs will kill a human.

The world pencil comes from Old French pincel, which means small paintbrush, which comes from the Latin word pencillus, which means little tail.

The first photo published on the web was by Tim Berners-Lee in 1992 and was an image of the CERN house band.

Blue Whales cannot swallow anything bigger than a grapefruit.

The author of Ben-Hur, Lew Wallace, was from Indiana and tried to turn Billy the Kid into an informant in exchange for a full pardon from his outlaw ways. This didn't pan out and The Kid went back to being an outlaw.

Certain types of squid can fly above the water for a short period of time, much like a flying fish. Some even move their fins/arms to forcibly stay in the air longer or go further.

The South Pole is colder than the North Pole.


Describe your life in three words.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Today is...Chuck Berry, Zac Efron, and Ne-yo's Birthday

Chuck Berry recorded Maybellene, which was an adaptation of the country song Ida Red, in 1955. It sold over a million copies and reached No. 1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart.

Berry was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 upon its opening. 

Berry, 85, still performs one day a month at a restaurant in St. Louis.

Zac Efron, though his breakthrough was High School Musical, did not do all his own singing. Singer Drew Seeley's voice was mixed in with Efron's for most of the songs. Seeley went on to perform in the High School Musical concert tour in North and Latin America.

In 2008, Efron was 92 on the Forbes Celebrity 100, which is a list of the most powerful celebrities based on income, Google hits, fan base, press clips and magazine covers. 

Ne-Yo was born Shaffer Chimere Smith and was ranked 57th on Billboard's Artist of the 2000s in 2009. 

Ne-Yo's third album proved his most successful, gaining him seven Grammy Award nominations.

Ne-Yo, besides being a singer in his own right, also writes songs from a variety of artists including Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, and Cheryl Cole. He has also made a move into movies by starring in Red Tails and Battle: Los Angeles.

Who is your favorite singer?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Today is...Black Poetry Day

Today is Black Poetry Day.

Black Poetry Day is on October 17 to celebrate the birth of Jupiter Hammon, the first African-American poet who was born on October 17, 1711.

Though he was a slave his entire life, Hammon attended school where he learned to read and write. He became a domestic servant, clerk, and artisan in the Lloyd family business.

He was a devote Christian and published his first poem called "An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries: Composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro belonging to Mr. Lloyd of Queen's village, on Long Island, the 25th of December, 1760".

He published a few other poems and also a few sermons. He gave an "Address to the Negroes of the State of New York" saying that he wished the young slaves to be free, even though he had no wish to be free himself.

Phillis Wheatley was the first African-American woman, and first African-American poet, to publish a book. She published "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" in 1773 in England and the colonies.

In the 1970's when there was a revival of surrealism in poetry and the emergence of beat and performance poetry and an embracing of multiculturalism, there was also a growing interest in African-American poets including Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Ishmael Reed, Vim Karenin, Nikki Giovanni, and Detrick Hughes.

What is your favorite poem?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Today is...Dictionary Day

Today is the birth anniversary of Noah Webster, also known as Dictionary Day. The library will be celebrating Dictionary Day with a library crossword puzzle, some tasty treats, and a chance to win a raffle prize.

Webster created his first dictionary in 1806, called A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language.

Prior to publishing his first dictionary, Webster was known for creating a speller, a grammar book, and a reader for elementary school children.

Webster was a revolutionary, believing that America was superior to Europe because of the superior values it held and wanted to replace the British rule in the colonies with a utopia.

he was a Federalist spokesman and edited the leading Federalist Party newspaper. However, a rival Federalist pamphleteer called Webster a traitor to the cause due to his pro-French views.

Noah Webster was a cousin of Daniel Webster, the senator from Massachusetts who later was the Secretary of State for Millard Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler.

Webster was a spelling reformer (much like Melvil Dewey was), changing the spelling of many words to make them more Americanized. This included changing defence to defense, centre to center, traveller to traveler, colour to color, and tongue to tung (this one didn't catch on).

Webster helped to found Amhert College in Amhert Massachusetts in 1812.

What is your favorite word?


Monday, October 15, 2012

Today is...National School Lunch Week

Lunch, or luncheon, originally referred to a small meal taken between two of the ordinary meal-times, especially between breakfast and mid-day dinner. For those who use the term "dinner" as the mid-day meal, luncheon usually denotes an early afternoon meal.

Lunch is now the usual word used, with luncheon being more formal. The shorted form of lunch used to be considered vulgar.

In early half of the 20th century, lunch was generally assumed to be a woman's meal, being as it was a light meal.

The common meals of the day are Breakfast, usually eaten within an hour or two of waking; Lunch or dinner, eaten around mid-day; Dinner or tea, eaten in the evening; and Supper, eaten later in the evening, prior to bed.

Other meals are Second Breakfast, a mid morning meal traditional in Bavaria, Poland, Vienna, and Austria; Elevenses, morning tea; Brunch, late-morning meal that is larger than breakfast and tends to replace breakfast and lunch; Afternoon tea, generally taken at 4pm and includes small sandwiches and cakes; and High tea, British meal usually eaten in the early evening.

Hobbits tend to eat six meals a day: Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenies, Luncheon, Afternoon tea, and Dinner.

What is your favorite thing to get from Mac for lunch?

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Today is...The Start of Teen Read Week

Teen Read Week is sponsored by YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, a branch of the American Library Association. Their mission is to expand and strengthen library services for teens.

Teen Read Week started in 1998 to encourage teens to read for pleasure. It promotes the reading of books, magazines, e-books, audiobooks, graphic novels, and anything else that can be read.

A lot of books that are aimed at teens have been made into movies including The Chronicles of Narnia, Eragon, The Golden Compass, Holes, Knight's Tale, Little Women, Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist, Scott Pilgrim, X-men, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Teen books tend to cause the most controversy in libraries (and schools) with some people feeling like some of the books contain too much bad language, sex, alcohol, violence, or just themes too mature for teens.

In 2011, 9 of the 10 most frequently challenged books were books either aimed at teens or traditionally read by teens.

Betwen 1990 and 2010, the two most popular reasons for challenging a book were for sexually explicit material and offensive language.

What was your favorite book as a teenager? Or what is currently your favorite teen book?

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Today is...Punkin' Chunkin' Day in Aurora Colorado

Punkin' Chunkin', or Pumpkin Chucking, is the sport of hurling pumpkins over a large distance using mechanical means, most often slingshots, catapults, cannons, or trebuchets.

The world record for longest distance a pumpkin has traveled during punkin' chunkin' is 5,545.43 feet after it was fired from a pneumatic air cannon.

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin competition is held in Delaware and began in 1986. The European Championships is held in Belgium.

In the history of World Championship Punkin Chunkin, there has only been one fatality, a duck that was hit by a pumpkin that had been shot out of an air cannon.

For the past four years, Ada has hosted a Punkin Chunkin Competition, using only catapults and trebuchets. It is the Midwest National Punkin Chunkin Championships. This year's winners were sponsored by the Ada VFW Post, beating out the Ada Police in distance.

What is your favorite way to smash a pumpkin?

Friday, October 12, 2012

Snapshot Day Comments

Thursday October 11 was Snapshot Day. We collected comments from students, staff, and faculty about what their favorite memories of the library were or why the library was important to them. Some selected comments follow.

Why the library is important to you:

The education the staff provides as far as assisting to develop individual's research techniques and how to optimize the resources our ONU library has to offer.

I always have a place to print out my notes and borrow DVDs for the weekend.

The library is my favorite place on campus because I can relax, clear my mind, and work on whatever I need to get done.

Closing 10 min early the Friday before homecoming.

It provides resources for papers and a good environment to study.

It's my favorite place to study.

Favorite library memory:

Learning I could take out as many books as I wanted.

Picking out a giant pile of books, checking them out, and reading them all the same day.

Working here with all the great people.

Getting picked up by college boys.


In the comments, feel free to add your own memories or tell why the library is important to you.

Today is...International Moment of Frustration Scream Day

A scream is a loud vocalization and can be done by any creature that has lungs and vocal cords. It is part of a collection of sounds known as vociferation, which also includes a shout, shriek, hoot, holler, or yell.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scream.jpg
The Scream is the most famous painting by Edvard Munch, though it is more properly the popular name of a series of four paintings done between 1893 and 1910.

The full title of the series is Der Schrei der Natu, which means The Scream of Nature.

The National Gallery in Oslo holds two of the painted version; The Munch Museum holds the other two versions (one painted and one pastel)


Scream is a slasher film starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette. It has spawned 3 sequels, all of which have been directed by Wes Craven.

"Scream" is the name of many albums and songs covering a variety of music styles from Ozzy Osbourne (album) to High School Music 3 (song) to Tokio Hotel (album and song).

Frustration is an emotional response to opposition and often makes people want to scream. What frustrates you?

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Today is...Snapshot Day!

Snapshot Day: A Day in the Life of Ohio Libraries

A library is a building, room, or set of rooms, containing a collection of books for the use of the public or of some particular portion of it, or of the members of some society or the like; a public institution or establishment, charged with the care of a collection of books, and the duty of rendering the books accessible to those who require to use them (OED definition 1.b).

The first libraries were archives of cuneiform tablets, discovered in temple room in what is now Iraq, dating from 2600 BC.

The largest and most significant library of the ancient world was the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. As far as historians can tell, it was originally organized by Demetrius of Phaleron, a study of Aristotle sometime during the reigh of Ptolemy I.

One of the oldest libraries in Europe is the Bodleian Library, the main research library of Oxford. It was established in 1602 and now contains approximately 11 million items including four copies of the Magna Carta, one of only 42 copies of the Gutenberg Bible, and Shakespeare's First folio.

Heterick Memorial Library is organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification system, a library classification systems created by Melvil Dewey in 1876.

Melvin Dewey advocated for spelling reform, focusing on simpler spelling. As a result, he wrote without using all the letters and "simplified" words, going as far as to change the spelling of his last name to Dui. An example of how he wrote: "someone is troubld becauz we fail...but we chek up with great care all these sugjestions".

Why is the library important to you? Stop by the library to fill out a comment card and possibly get your picture taken for Snapshot Day!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Today is...Bring your Teddy Bear to Work Day

The first Teddy Bear was created in 1902 by Morris Michtom. It was named Teddy after Teddy Roosevelt, in response to a political cartoon showing Roosevelt to be unwilling to shoot a bear that had been caught and tied up.

Official Teddy Bears have jointed arms and legs, with larger eyes and foreheads and smaller noses to be cuter.

The largest producer and seller of Teddy Bears is the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, making almost 500,000 bears a year.

In 1907 John Walter Bratton wrote a song called "Teddy Bear Two-Step". In 1932 Jimmy Kennedy added lyrics, turning it into the song "Teddy Bears' Picnic". The song has been recorded by many artist and groups from Bing Crosby to Jerry Garcia to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Some of the most famous Teddy Bears are Paddington Bear, Teddy Ruxpin, and Winnie-the-Pooh.


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Today is...National Face Your Fears Day

Fear is the emotion of pain or uneasiness caused by the sense of impending danger, or by the prospect of some possible evil (OED Definition 1.2)

The original definition of fear in Old English was a sudden and terrible event or peril, used first in the year 453 AD. The first use of the English version of fear was in 1175.

The Old English Fǽr (and the Middle English variants fore and fár) corresponds to the Old Saxon fâr and means strong masculine, sudden calamity, or danger.

When asked about their fears some common responses from people are ghosts, cockroaches, spiders, snakes, heights, water, enclosed spaces, tunnels, bridges, needles, failure, public speaking, flying, clowns, intimacy, death, and rejection.

Fear can be conditioned, which was proved in John B. Watson's Little Albert experiment. Watson took a 9-month-old boy and exposed him to a variety of animals. Later, when Albert was playing with a white rat, Watson would make a loud noise to frighten Albert whenever he touched the rat. After that happening several times, Albert would show fear whenever the rat was in the room. Eventually, Albert was also scared of anything that resembled a white rat, including a rabbit, a fur coat, and cotton balls.

The physiological changes in the body associated with fear are summarized as the fight or flight response. It is a primitive mechanism that helps people and animals to survive by fighting or fleeing from danger. Without fear, species would die out due to predators. In animals, this is generally referred to as Island tameness or ecological naivete, where a species has lived in isolation for so long that they lose wariness for potential predators, leading to extinction, like the Dodo Bird.

What fear are you going to face today?

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Today is...Columbus Day

Columbus day celebrates the day that Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, on October 12, 1492.

The United States, the Bahamas, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, and many other Latin American countries celebrate some form of Columbus Day, and have since the late 18th century.

The idea that Columbus wanted to sail West from Europe to India to prove that the Earth was round is an idea that was popularized by Washington Irving's biography of Columbus. Since the time of Aristotle in the 4th century BC most educated people accepted that the world was not flat.

Columbus made four voyages from Spain to the Americas, never making it further north than the Bahamas and Cuba.

Who is your favorite explorer?

Friday, October 5, 2012

Library Snapshot Day


New Database: Oxford Scholarship Online

Check out our new database which covers the full-text of over 8,000 academic books in 20 subjects areas including the humanities, social sciences, medicine and the law.  Included among the subjects covered are Biology, Business and Management, History, Literature, Mathematics and Public Health and Epidemiology. 

Friday, August 10, 2012

New Database: PrivCo

The librarians are pleased to announce the addition of the PrivCo database to our business resource collection. According to the company's website, "PrivCo is the premiere source for business and financial data on major, non-publicly traded corporations, including family owned, private equity owned, venture backed, and international unlisted companies." PrivCo is not our only source for this type of information but it is the one complete package for private company information. This resource provides one more step towards HML's goal of providing access to the resources our students and faculty need for their research. 

To access PrivCo or any of our Business databases, visit the Business Databases library webpage.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Another successful Food for Fines drive


The totals are in and 322 items were donated for the Ada Food Pantry during National Library Week.

The library staff wishes to thank everyone who participated. Your generosity will make a difference.