How Coffee Changed The World

Here is another in the How (fill in the blank) Changed The World series by Heather Whipps, of LiveScience.com, and today's installment is on coffee.

Did you hear the one about the goat, the monk and the Indian pilgrim?

There's no crass punchline to this story, just a punchy drink that is the world's second most important commodity, after oil.

Discovered more than 1,000 years ago by goats roaming the hills of Ethiopia, coffee today employs 500 million people, from the workers toiling in the fields of Kenya to the teenage baristas at your neighborhood Starbucks.

In a world of more than 6 billion people, enjoying a good cup of joe is one of the few fixtures of everyday life common to cultures on every continent.

LINK TO FULL STORY

A Wiki Mother's Day History

I hope everyone is having a good Mother's Day! The Sun has come out here in Iowa City, and the Coral Ridge Mall is emptying out, as families go out to enjoy what is left of the day!

Here is the Wikipedia History of Mother's Day:

Mother's Day is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March~~the 15th thru the 18th.
The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.
In some countries Mother's Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather for Christians.

Take Care and Have A Happy Mother's Day!!

LINK TO FULL HISTORY OF MOTHERS DAY

Computer Makers Race to Create $100 Laptop

With all of my recent computer problems this next story drew me in right away. It is on AlterNet, and was written by Gregory M. Lamb, of the Christian Science Monitor, titled~~Computer Makers Race to Create $100 Laptop, and was posted today:

New lines of tiny PCs are small enough to fit in your purse and affordable enough for students in around the world.

The laptop computers most people haul around are underutilized. They hardly break a sweat to read e-mail, stream video, view photos, browse the Web, or run word-processing or spreadsheet programs. Their powerful processors are rarely tested except by heavy-duty gamers, scientific researchers, or other specialized users.

So while some PCs continue to bulk up and tout their speed and raw power, others represent a new trend: slimming down. Way down. These smaller, simpler machines are aimed at a potentially lucrative market: the next 1 billion PC users around the planet.

The market segment is so new it doesn't have a name yet or even an agreed-upon set of specifications. Intel, the chipmaker, calls the category "netbooks," recognizing that much of what people do on their laptops involves going on the Net. The new machines are also being called ultra-low-cost PCs, mininotebooks, or even mobile Internet gadgets.


LINK TO FULL STORY ON ALTERNET

How The Medici's Changed The World

I was just at LiveScience.com, reading another history column by Heather Whipps, in her How (fill in the blank) Changed the World, and her installment, on Monday was on the Medici family of Florence, Italy.

Like a medieval ATM, one family bankrolled the cultural movement that dragged Europe out of the Dark Ages and into modernity.

With their love for art, science and culture, the Medici of Florence catalyzed the Renaissance that began in the 14th century, making household names of da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo in the process.

The revival of learning, rationality and the arts patronized by the Medici in Italy spread throughout Europe, sped along by the invention of the printing press, and forever transformed the Western world.

Have a pleasant Wednesday evening, while reading the rest of her column through the link below.

LINK TO HOW MEDICIS CHANGED THE WORLD

How The Magna Carta Changed The World

Today's historical story from LiveScience.com is a little more uplifting than the Black Death story awhile back.

It is crumbling, water-stained and written in Medieval Latin, but the Magna Carta has managed to remain relevant to the cause of human rights even today, 800 years after it was scrawled on parchment and affirmed with the sticky wax seal of the English king.

England's "Great Charter" of 1215 was the first document to challenge the authority of the king, subjecting him to the rule of the law and protecting his people from feudal abuse.

Have a Great Hump Day~~Jokes to follow as I continue on my Happy High from having my computer "functioning" once more!! :)

LINK TO MAGNA CARTA STORY

New 7 Wonders Of The World Contest

There is an excellent story at yahoo news today about an internet campaign to choose the “new” wonders of the world. It states that over 45 million people have already voted for the top seven out of twenty-one from which to choose.
I had never heard of this campaign but it sounds like fun and I am going to go vote as soon as I finish this post, and I encourage you to do the same. Even though it is a quick bit of fun, it is founded on serious events. Swiss filmmaker, curator, and traveler, Bernard Weber, begin this contest to raise global awareness of the world’s heritage after the destruction of the giant Buddha statues at Bamyan, Afghanistan, by the Taliban in 2001.
As of May 7, the top 10 were the Acropolis in Greece, the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome, the Eiffel tower in Paris, the Great Wall of China, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, Petra in Jordan, the statues on Easter Island, Britain's Stonehenge and the Taj Mahal in India.
The second tier of choices are the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Kiyomizu Temple in Japan, the Kremlin and Red Square, Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany, New York's Statue of Liberty, the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Sydney Opera House and the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali.
You would think that everyone would be onboard, but there are serious misgivings, by the Egyptians in particular, due to the “popularity” vote aspect instead of historical significance. There has been awarded “honorary” New 7 Wonders status given to the Pyramids so they will not be on the list to vote for as the Egyptians said there importance could not be put into question by such a publicity stunt contest. I think no matter what that this contest isn’t hurting anyone and if it brings awareness of the sites listed and to others not listed it can only be a good thing.
It was nice to see the Statue of Liberty as one of the choices, but I am sure that all of the sites listed are important as historical reference points. We receive too little history in school and I hope that school officials will read about this contest and get their children involved so they may appreciate our world history more then is currently the case.
I know that too a great many people history is boring and who needs to know about it, but I guess because I do like history I want others to enjoy it too. I think that we are better people when we know of how we got to this point in time. The other day in my rant on amnesty I let anger guide my words and was rightfully called on it by varsity blogger James Eaves-Johnson in his From Right 2 Left blog.
Part of being an American is knowing that we can be a great nation, but our past is full of pride, arrogance, atrocities, lots of blood, prejudice of other immigrants, races, religions, and cultures. We are in imperfect country that has on occasion risen above the evil of our past and did great good, such as defeating Nazi Germany and Japan, and championing the cause of freedom and democracy. We have had many failures as we saw with Vietnam, another war that should not have been fought, and we have done evil such helping Saddam remain in power when he was gassing his own people, because he was fighting our enemy Iran, and the contras in Nicaragua, etc. We need to be a little longer sighted when we decide to help or intervene, because invariably it sets in motion events that often turn around and bite us.
Anyway I think that anything that gets people thinking about history is good, so if you have a chance read the story and then perhaps you will want to vote as well. Thanks.

NEW 7 WONDERS