Vitamin

Vitamins are organic substances, which if absent or deficient in the diet, lead to various characteristics and disturbances. Many act as coenzymes, small molecules which enable enzymes to function effectively.

HISTORY

Scurvy is a potentially fatal disease that makes the gums bleed, teeth fall out and legs swell up. It particularly affected seamen on long voyages in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the 1560s Admiral Hawkins had become aware of the value of "sower oranges and lemons" against scurvy (vitamin C deficiency). Soon afterwards the East India Company started supplying its crews with lemon water and oranges to counteract the disease.

In the middle of the 1900s, a Dutch physician and pathologist, Christiaan Eijckmann observed that the incidence of beriberi (a disease prevalent in the East) increased with a diet consisting entirely of white rice, from which he deduced that whole rice contained a preventive factor. In 1911 the Polish chemist Casimir Funk  (February 23, 1884 – November 19, 1967) who was working at the Lister Institute in London isolated this factor. He discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen).

Funk proposed that the amine be named "vitamine" short for "vita amine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. This term soon came to be applied to the accessory factors in general even when it was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all. Because of its popular use, Funk's term continued to be applied, but the final letter e was dropped.

Casimir Funk

In 1913, Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis discovered the fat-soluble vitamin A and water-soluble B, renamed later vitamins A and B after long research on rats at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

In 1921 scientists proved rickets was caused by lack of vitamin D. The discovery of the cause of rickets coincided with increased understanding of vitamins – particularly A and D.

An irrational belief developed about vitamins, that they could be used as a cure for anything. Before long manufacturers capitalized on this and soon a whole collection of vitamin pills and other concoctions were being sold to the general public.

During World War II, a lot of fruits high in vitamin C were becoming increasingly unavailable in the UK. In turn, the British government started encouraging the growth of blackcurrants by home gardeners, since they are incredibly high in vitamin C and were well suited to the British climate.

Children growing up during the Second World War were prone to catching rickets. Margarine was fortified with vitamin D during this period to try to prevent the disease.

The actress Jane Fonda was arrested in 1970 after allegedly kicking a policeman when she was found carrying a large amount of what appeared to be pills. All charges were dropped after the pills were identified as vitamins.

FUN VITAMIN FACTS

Properly kept, vitamins remain stable for four years.

The thirteen vitamins required by human metabolism are: vitamin A, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K.

Carrots and liver are both rich in vitamin A.

One pound of polar bear liver contains enough vitamin A to fulfil a human's needs for 20 years.

A team of Arctic explorers once died from a vitamin A overdose after eating a polar bear’s liver.

B vitamins are a group of eight vitamins. They have an important job in the metabolism of cells. Vitamin B can be found in meat, milk, whole grains and fresh vegetables.

Vitamin B12 is sensitive to acid and can be easily destroyed by the acid in the stomach. However, the body has developed a mechanism to protect Vitamin B12 from acid while it travels through the stomach. Saliva contains a substance called haptocorrin (also known as R protein), which binds to Vitamin B12 and protects it from the acid in the stomach. The Vitamin B12-haptocorrin complex then travels through the stomach and into the small intestine, where the Vitamin B12 is finally released and absorbed by the body. This process allows Vitamin B12 to be protected from acid and allows for its efficient absorption and utilization by the body.

Vitamin C is found in fresh fruits, berries and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables are a source of vitamins

Most animal and plant species are able to generate Vitamin C on their own. Humans (and related species), Guinea Pigs and Capybaras are among the few that can't.

Most of the vitamin C in fruits is in the skin.

It takes about seven strawberries to equal the amount of vitamin C in one orange.

One-third pound stalk of broccoli contains more vitamin C than 204 apples.

Begonias are rich in vitamin C and have been used to prevent scurvy when citrus fruits were not available.

Vitamin D is not really a vitamin, but a hormone that starts synthesis with sunlight. It can greatly affect your sleep quality and many other bodily functions.

Dark-skinned people living in cold countries are six times more at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency.

The sun does not provide vitamin D. It synthesizes the vitamin D already in your body.

Redheads produce more Vitamin D than other hair colors, meaning they don't suffer as much from not being in the sun.

Mud packs owe their popularity to the vitamin E in mud which revitalises the skin.

There are eight forms of Vitamin E, E1 to E8. Vitamin E can be found in vegetable oils and it is often added to lotions and creams for the skin.

Vitamin K isn't named according to the alphabet like most other vitamins because the initial discoveries were reported in a German journal, in which it was designated as Koagulationsvitamin.

Vitaminwater is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny's worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage.

50 Cent made most of his money not from rapping, but from an investment in Vitamin Water - He made ten times more than he ever made rapping.

Virginia

HISTORY 

On March 25, 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Walter Raleigh a royal charter authorizing him to found a colony north of Spanish Florida in return for one-fifth of all the gold and silver that might be mined there. Raleigh organised several expeditions, attempting to establish a settlement there.

The name "Virginia" may have been suggested then by Raleigh for Elizabeth, noting her status as the "Virgin Queen,"

The London Company was an English joint-stock company established in 1606 by royal charter by King James I with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery departed England in 1606 carrying settlers heading for territory named the Virginia colony, granted to the London Company.

On May 4, 1607 the settlers selected a piece of land on a large peninsula some 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean as a prime location for a fortified settlement. They founded there the Jamestown Settlement on the James River.

Map of Jamestown Island, showing the terrain and location of the original 1607 fort.

In its early years, many people in Virginia died of disease and starvation. The colony lasted only because it made money by planting tobacco.

When John Laydon and Anna Burras married each other in late 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia, it was the first ever Christian marriage in the American colonies. Their daughter Virginia Laydon was the first child of English colonists to be born in the Jamestown colony.

 

The Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere. It was established on July 30, 1619, by instructions from the Virginia Company of London to the new Governor Sir George Yeardley. It was initially a unicameral body composed of the Company-appointed Governor and Council of State, plus 22 burgesses elected by the settlements and Jamestown. The Assembly became bicameral in 1642 upon the formation of the House of Burgesses. The Assembly had a judicial function of hearing cases both original and appellate.

The Virginia General Assembly has played a significant role in American history. It was the first legislative body in the Americas to enact laws for the protection of individual rights, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. The Assembly also played a key role in the American Revolution, drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which served as a model for the Declaration of Independence.

Colonial Jamestown about 1614

The first 20 African slaves were brought to England's American territories by a Dutch ship. They landed off the coast of Virginia in 1619 and were then sold into slavery in Jamestown.

The first temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia in 1623.

The court of Northampton County, Colony of Virginia, made John Casor the first legally recognized slave in Britain's North American colonies in 1655.

Virginia was one of the Thirteen Colonies involved in the American Revolution.

The dome in Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home concealed a billiard room. Billiards was illegal in Virginia at the time.

During the American Civil War, Virginia joined the Confederate States of America, which named Richmond its capital, and the state of West Virginia separated. The city was partially burned by them prior its recapture by Union forces in 1865.

Richmond in the Civil War

The only captured battle flag from the Civil War not returned to its state is Virginia's. It was captured by Minnesota at the Battle of Gettysburg. Congress ordered its return in 1905.

FUN VIRGINA FACTS

Virginia has a total area of 42,774.2 square miles (110,784.7 km2), including 3,180.13 square miles (8,236.5 km2) of water, making it the 35th-largest  U.S. state by area.

Ashburn, Virginia has over 5 million square feet of data space, meaning 70% of the world’s internet traffic travels through this state.

Virginia is the most populous U.S. state without a major professional sports league franchise. The reasons for this include the lack of any dominant city or market within the state, the proximity of teams in Washington, D.C. and North Carolina, and a reluctance to publicly finance stadiums.

Eight United States presidents were born in Virginia, more than any other state.

Virginia designated the American foxhound as the official state dog in 1966.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia is both a bridge and a tunnel. Considered one of the seven wonders of modern engineering, it was completed in 1964 and is 23 miles long. There are only 11 bridge–tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in the water dominated Hampton Roads area of Tidewater Virginia.

The Pentagon is the world's largest office building.  It is located in Arlington, Virginia.

The only place in Virginia that can legally sell hard alcohol are ABC Stores. They are owned and operated by the state, employing 4000 employees in 370 stores, generating hundreds of millions in revenue for Virginia.

Lawmakers in Virginia must not want their citizens to bathe. Virginia law forbids bathtubs in the house; tubs must be kept in the yard.

Virgil

EARLY LIFE 

Virgil was born Publius Vergilius Maro in the village of Andes, near Mantua in the valley of the River Po on October 15, 70 BC. At the time Andes was in Cisalpine Gaul part of the Roman empire.

Not much is known about Virgil's parents but it seems his father was a wealthy cattle farmer and beekeeper.

Virgil's father was prosperous enough to give his son the best education. He received his earliest schooling at Cremona and Milan. At the age of 17 Virgil went to Rome to study rhetoric, medicine, and astronomy, which he soon abandoned for philosophy.

CAREER 

Under the rule of second Triumvirate, Octovian (who became Emperor Augustus), Mark Antony and Lepidus, the lands of the idle rich were confiscated and allotted to war veterans. Cemetery plots and mausoleums were exempted. According to legend, the wily Virgil spent 800,000 Sesteries ($150,000) on an elaborate funeral for what he claimed was his special pet fly. An orchestra was on hand and Virgil's patron gave a long, moving eulogy to the deceased insect. Thus his home was transformed into a mausoleum. However, the triumvirate still confiscated Virgil's farm.

Virgil became friendly with Octovian who was soon to become Emperor Augustus. His portrayal of the Emperor Augustus as successor to a long line of Roman heroes helped give Augustus the authority he needed to govern his empire.

Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia by Jean-Baptiste Wicar

Macenas, the chief imperial minister of Augustus, became Virgil’s best friend and his influential patron. Because of Macenas’ financial help, Virgil was freed from financial worries and was able to devote himself to literature.

Maecenas sought to counter sympathy for Antony among the leading families by rallying Roman literary figures to Augustus' side. As a result Virgil came to know many of the other leading literary figures of the time.

WRITINGS

The Eclogues also called the Bucolics, is the first of Virgil's three major works. An anthology of ten poems telling of shepherds in an imaginative pastoral world, who despite suffering political oppression and love sickness, find happiness in inner peace. The Eclogues took Virgil five years to write and it is thought that the collection was published around 39–38 BC.

In Eclogues 3 93 Virgil wrote "Latet anguus inherba" which means "a snake is lurking in the grass" thus originating the phrase "snake in the grass".

Page from the beginning of the Eclogues in the 5th-century Vergilius Romanus

Sometime after the publication of the Eclogues, Virgil became part of the circle of Maecenas. At the suggestion of Maecenas, Virgil spent the ensuing years on the long didactic hexameter poem called the Georgics (from Greek, "On Working the Earth"). The overriding theme of the Georgics is instruction in the methods of running a farm and praise of Roman rural life. The finished work comprises four books on farming and cultivating corn, cultivating olives and vines, raising livestock, and beekeeping, respectively.

Completed in 29 BC the Georgics established Virgil as the foremost poet of his age.

Georgics Book III, Shepherd with Flocks, Roman Virgil.

Virgil spent the last decade of his life working on his epic poem the Aeneid, which in 12 books tells the story of the legendary founding of Rome from the fall of Troy. It was designed to create an epic for Rome as Homer did for Greece with his Odyssey and Iliad.

The poem's hero, Aeneas (a relative of Hector of Homer's Iliad fame) was a Trojan warrior who escaped from Troy and settled in Latium. After much wandering, Aeneas was driven by a storm to Carthage where he won the love of Dido. He afterwards made his way to Latium in Italy where Latinus, the king promised him his daughter Lavina in marriage. After killing Turnus, a rival suitor, Aeneas married Lavinia and became ancestor of the Romans. Killed in battle, he was worshipped as a god.

The Aeneid can be read as indirect propaganda in favour of Augustus, the Roman Emperor of the day.

Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 Galleria Borghese

Virgil died having failed to complete the Aeneid. He had left instructions for his classic to be burnt on his death as he'd have no time to polish it and he felt he'd failed in his aim of matching Homer's grand works. Fortunately Emperor Augustus stepped in. The emperor had others apply the finishing polish and ordered the work to be published.

The Greeks would turn to a page of the Aeneid at random and regard the word or passage that first met the eye as an omen.

In 1553 the Aeneid was translated into English, the first Latin poetry to do so.

BELIEFS 

Virgil was influenced by Epicurean philosophy that taught inner could be developed by living a virtuous and simple life and avoiding excessive pleasures.

His fourth Eclogue contained a passage which some interpreted as a prediction of the birth of Christ. Despite Virgil being an unbaptized pagan, this led to his acceptance as an "honorary Christian" by the medieval church and Dante made Virgil his guide to hell and purgatory in The Divine Comedy. Scholars of the Middle Ages knew his writing as well as they knew the Bible.

Virgil teaching, a miniature from a 15C French manuscript of the Georgics

PRIVATE LIFE 

Modest with a gentle disposition, Virgil was an unsophisticated man, physically awkward, who may have been embarrassed by his provincial accent.

His early home was on a farm in the village of Andes. After the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the family farm was seized.

Virgil, who never married, spent most of his adult life in an Epicurean colony in Naples.

DEATH 

Virgil traveled to Greece in about 19 BC to revise the Aeneid. He caught a fever while visiting a town near Megara. After crossing to Italy by ship, weakened with disease, Virgil died in Brundisium harbor on September 21, 19 BC having failed to complete his 10-year-old epic, the Aeneid.

Virgil purportedly wrote in his own epitaph, "I sang of pastures, of cultivated fields, and of rulers."

Source What-when-how

Violinist

In 1555 the Italian musician Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx moved to Paris, where he became a servant at the court of Catherine de' Medici. At the time the violin was played in Italy but not in France. He became the first famous violinist when he introduced the instrument to the French court. Such was its popularity, the violin supplanted the lute as the stringed instrument of choice.

Roller-skates made their first recorded appearance at Carlisle House, London in 1760. Belgian inventor Joseph Merlin rolled into a party being held there while playing the violin wearing these first roller skates. It was not a successful introduction as the violinist crashed into a large mirror causing nearly a thousand dollars' worth of damage.

Mozart was a very fine violinist, though he often took the viola part when playing quartets. He composed five violin concertos for his own use.

Niccolo Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840), regarded by many people to be the greatest violin virtuoso ever, was so good that he was thought to be the son of the Devil or to have sold his soul for his talent. As a result, he was forced to publish his mother's letters to him in order to prove that he had human parents.

Portrait of young Paganini

Paganini was the fastest violinist ever. He was once recorded playing 12 notes per second.

When Franz Liszt attended a concert by Paganini in Paris, he was so awestruck by the violin virtuoso's skill, he became motivated to become the greatest pianist of his time.

In 1929 Otto E. Funk walked from New York City to San Francisco playing the violin for the whole journey.

An accomplished violinist, Albert Einstein played Bach and Mozart with feeling and insight and with an excellent sense of rhythm.

Einstein playing violin

Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a US comedian whose act featured him playing the violin badly for laughs. He'd learned the instrument as a child and when Benny performed his first serious concert, a critic wrote: "Last night Jack Benny played Mendelssohn, and Mendelssohn lost."

Larry Fine of the Three Stooges burned his arm with acid as a child. His parents gave him violin lessons to strengthen the damaged nerves. Fine became so proficient on the violin that his parents planned to send him to a European music conservatory but the plan was thwarted by World War I.

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) was an American-born violinist, who adopted British nationality. He made his concerto debut in Berlin aged 13. Albert Einstein, who was in the audience, said with tears in his eyes: "The day of miracles is not over."

Leading concert violinist Joshua Bell, played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a subway station on January 12, 2007. Of the 1,097 people who passed by Bell, only seven stopped to listen him play, including a 3-year old boy, and only one person recognized him. The experiment was initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten.

Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. T

The Guinness World Record for the fastest violinist is currently held by Ben Lee, who took 58. 515 seconds to perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee" at Norwood productions London, UK, on December 13, 2011.  Ben Lee, one half of electric string duo Fuse, has held the Guinness world record for fastest violinist several times.

Indian violinist M.S. Viswanath is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest violin marathon by an individual. His record attempt lasted for 36:00:20 hours, and was achieved from September 1-2 2018, in Kochi, India. Viswanath played a very diverse set list, ranging from Indian folk tunes to remixes of Luis Fonsi's "Despacito."

Violin

The violin is a musical instrument played with a bow against a stretched string.

HISTORY

An instrument known to Egyptian civilization in the 2nd millennium BC was held with the strings almost horizontal and played with a plectrum, a forerunner of the modern-day bow. The number of strings on instruments of this period ranged between six and twelve.

The violin shares common ancestry with Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese string instruments, all thought to have been derived from fiddles played by Mongolian horsemen and disseminated across Europe and Asia via the silk trade.

The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-century northern Italy. The first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lyra. such as the ravanastron, the rebec and the rabab, all played with bows.

The earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in paintings by Gaudenzio Ferrari in northern Italy. In his Madonna of the Orange Tree, painted 1530, a cherub is seen bottom of center playing a three-stringed instrument which clearly has the hallmarks of a violin.

Gaudenzio Ferrari's "Madonna of the Orange Trees"

Through the mid-1500s in France, the lute was still the favourite instrument, but in 1555, Balthazar de Beujoyeux, the first famous violinist in history, brought a band of violinists to Catherine's de Médici's court and made violin music popular.

The French king Charles IX ordered Cremona-based lute-maker Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560. One of these instruments, the Charles IX, is the oldest surviving violin.

The look of instruments in the violin family became standardized in the late 16th century. By that time they shared a sound hole in their bodies shaped like a letter f, square shoulders, and a belly and back that protruded and projected past the ribs.

Stringed instruments became more popular through the innovations in design affected by the Amati and Guarneri families and by Antonio Stradivari, who began making violins as the Amatis' apprentice.

"Gould" violin (1693) By Antonio Stradivari -  Wikipedia

Arcangelo Corelli gave the violin a new emphasis in the concerto grosso--music for a small group of solo instruments playing in alternation with the full orchestra. Other composers for strings were Giuseppe Tartini, notable for the baroque solo sonata, and Antonio Vivaldi.

Dogfish skin was often used in the 18th century to sand violins.

The violin that was played by one of the musicians who stayed aboard as the Titanic sank in April 1912 was rediscovered in an attic. It was auctioned off by an anonymous buyer for $1.6 million in 2013.

FUN VIOLIN FACTS

The violin is the smallest and highest pitched string instrument.

A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier.

A single violin is made from over 70 individual pieces of wood, usually spruce or maple.

Playing the violin burns approximately 170 calories per hour.

The most expensive violin in the world was made by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1741 and was sold for over $16m (over £10m) in 2013. It had been played by Yehudi Menuhin among others. Its new owner anonymously donated the historic instrument to violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, on loan for the rest of her life.

The most expensive violin bow was sold for £200,000 in November 2015.

Here's a list of songs with a violin part.

Sources Daily Express, Classic FM, Compton's Encyclopedia

Vine

 A vine is climbing plant Vitis vinifera of the family Vitaceae. In the United Kingdom, the term "vine" applies almost exclusively to the grapevine, whereas the term "climber" is used for all climbing plants. In the United States, all climbing plants are called vines or ivies.

Pixiebay

A native of Asia Minor, the Vitis vinifera, or grapevine, has been cultivated from antiquity for its berries called grapes which are eaten or made into wine or other fermented drinks.

Dried vine fruits of certain varieties are known as raisins and currants.

The earliest archaeological evidence of wine-making from grapes was found in Georgia in the Caucasus and dates back to 6,000 BC.

The ancient Greeks planted vineyards in their colonies all over southern Europe. The Greek children helped pick the grapes and then trod them to make wine, which was either stored to be drunk or traded with the inhabitants of northern Europe, where the climate was too cold to be able to grow grapes.

The Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés introduced vine growing to Mexico in the 1520s. According to legend, Cortés and his soldiers quickly depleted the wine they brought with them from Spain celebrating the conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521. Because of this, one of Cortés’ first acts as governor was to order the planting of grapevines throughout their new American colony.

Three years after the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town in South Africa in 1652 as a port of call on the way to the Indies, the first South African were planted at the Cape.

Vine growing slowly spread north via the Spanish missions in America after being introduced by Hernán Cortés. The Franciscans introduced grapes and vineyards to California in the 1760s, by planting the so-called mission grape.

A vineyard in Napa Valley, California. By Brocken Inaglory

Vine growing had also spread south and wine was already wine being made in South America in Argentina and Chile by the mid eighteenth century.

Eighteen years after Captain James Cook claimed New South Wales as a British colony in 1770, the first Australian vines were planted near Sydney.

The Great Vine at Hampton Court Palace near London, planted by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in 1768, is the longest grape vine in the world and has an average annual yield of 271kg (597 lbs) of black dessert grapes.

Nearly all French wine grapes are grown on vines grafted to root stock from Missouri. In the 1860s, phylloxera bugs threatened to destroy the vineyards, but roots from the US were resistant. Hundreds of thousands were shipped in and used to save the French vines.

The Red Vineyards Near Arles is the only painting that Vincent van Gogh sold during his lifetime. He sold it for 400 Francs (equal to about $2,000 today) to Belgian artist Anna Boch,

The Red Vineyards Near Arles

Grape-growing is the largest food industry in the world: 25 million acres (101171 square metres) of grapes worldwide produce 72 million tons (65,317,301,280 kgs) of grapes.

One acre (4047 square metres) of grapes can produce about 15,000 glasses of wine.

Rose plants are placed at the end of a row of grape vines on vineyards to act as early warning signs of mold or mildew.

Vikings

Vikings were Scandinavian sea warriors of the 8th to 11th centuries, sometimes called Norse, who raided Europe in their narrow, shallow draught, highly manoeuvrable longships, penetrating far inland along rivers. With a thirst for warfare, gold, and land, they were dreaded.

Vikings 841 at Dublin.

ETYMOLOGY 

'Viking' means ‘a pirate raid' in the Old Norse language. The name probably came from the Norse word vik, meaning "bay" or "creek," or from the Vik area, the body of water now called Skagerrak, which sits between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Their name first referred only to the raiders and was later applied to Scandinavians from the late eighth century

EXPANSION 

Viking military tactics succeeded mainly because they disregarded the conventional battlefield tactics, methods, and customs of the time. They ignored unspoken rules, like not attacking holy sites. To the contrary Vikings intentionally targeted religious sites for their vulnerability and wealth.

The Vikings first developed the fast and narrow longships with which they raided across the North Sea in the mid seventh century.

Viking Longboat 'Hugin', Ramsgate 

On June 8 793 Scandinavian Vikings destroyed the abbey at Lindisfarne, Northumbria, England, to begin the Viking Age. The devastation of Northumbria's Holy Island shocked and alerted the royal courts of Europe to the Viking presence.

In England, where they were also known as Danes, the English kings paid them to leave the country These payments were called Danegeld.  However, the Vikings settled and greatly influenced the development of the English language.

During the early 10th century, the incursions of Vikings evolved into more permanent encampments in north France. The Duchy of Normandy was established there in 911.

On September 25, 1066 during The Battle of Stamford Bridge, The English repelled Harald Hardrada's army. It was the last significant Scandinavian Viking invasion of Britain.

Battle of Stamford Bridge by Peter Nicolai Arbo.

As Normans they achieved a second conquest of England just a few weeks later when William the Duke of Normandy triumphed at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066.

The Vikings had an organised system of government, and the Swedish Varangians were invited to settle differences among the Slav chieftains, establishing the first Russian state with its capital at Kiev.

The Varangians also reached Constantinople, where they formed the Imperial Guard. In the west the Vikings reached Iceland, Greenland and North America.

Erik the Red  (Old Norse: Eiríkr Þorvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003), was a Viking who was exiled from Norway for murder so he moved to Iceland but again was exiled for murder. So he took 500 men and women, founded Greenland, and declared himself chieftain.

Summer in the Greenland coast circa the year 1000 by Carl Rasmussen

BELIEFS 

In Norse mythology Valhalla is a giant hall, where the souls of warriors slain in battle are taken by the Valkyries. A form of heaven where they are ruled over by the god Odin, the fallen combatants spend their days fighting safe in the knowledge of never being permanently harmed.

In the 8th century, Danish king Harald Wartooth, realizing he might die of old age and therefore not go to Valhalla, asked the Swedish king Sigurd for a battle. Wartooth was slain after amassing enough glory, and Sigurd was crowned king of Sweden and Denmark. 40,000 other warriors died.

The Vikings believed that a giant goat named Heiðrún, whose udders provided an endless supply of beer, awaited them in Valhalla upon their death.

FOOD AND DRINK

The Vikings had a varied diet. The first meal of the day, called "dagveror", was a porridge consisting of a mixture of barley and rye cereals. With it the wealthy might have rye or wheat bread which was considered superior to barley as it rose better. However barley was cheaper and barley bread was still the chief bread of the poor.

The second meal, "nattveror", eaten at the end of the day, often was fish such as cod or herring, which was either eaten fresh or preserved by salting or drying in the wind.

Seaweed, vegetables and fruit accompanied the "nattveror". Most of the vegetables and fruit were home-grown and products such as cabbage, horse beans, onions, parsnips, peas and swedes and apples, berries, cherries and pears were found in their gardens.

The poor apart from occasionally in soups or stews rarely ate meat, though eggs, cheese and fat for everyday food preparation were obtained from the livestock. Sometimes puffins and gulls nests were raided for their eggs.

The rich would dine on beef, deer, duck, goose, ham and pigeon. Most families had a table of some sort, and wealthy families used a linen tablecloth.

Vikings were very fond of alcoholic drinks and most of their populace drunk beer made from barley and hops, or mead made from fermented honey.

Drinks were served in large horn-shaped cups made of glass or else in the hollowed-out horns of sheep and oxen.

Viking drinking horn

Drinking was part of social life, and it also was part of some religious ceremonies.

At their banquets they often toasted each other from the skulls of their slain enemies. Drunkenness was common and it was a frequent occurrence for a Viking man to die from the effects of too much drink.

The nobles consumed wine, which was imported from France and Germany, as their Scandinavian climate was too cold for grapes to grow.

When not drinking alcoholic drinks several dairy products, such as "skyr", a sort of curdled milk, were part of their diet.

CLOTHING

Viking mens' clothing might be tunics, braes and hose (instead of trousers) and some kind of hat.

Their tunic was usually sleeveless, perhaps to show off his muscles and gold arm rings.

Women typically wore a gathered and pleated underdress, a hangaroc (rather like a pinafore) and a headscarf.

Viking, Norway, Medieval, Sewing

Young women wore their hair long and caught around the forehead with a band, sometimes made of pure gold.

Both genders might wear cloaks and hoods in cold weather.

All wealthy Norsemen dressed lavishly for events like weddings and funerals and for things, as the assemblies were called. Skins and furs of tame and wild animals were used, but the most common material was a woven woolen cloth, called vadmal.

Silk and linen, which were imported and costly, were used mostly for underwear.

HYGIENE AND APPEARANCE 

The stereotype of the grimy, unkempt Viking is far from accurate. While their image in popular culture might paint them as rough and rugged raiders, historical evidence suggests they actually placed a surprising emphasis on personal hygiene and appearance. 

Contrary to popular belief, Vikings weren't strangers to bathing. Archaeological excavations have unearthed tweezers, ear cleaners, and even soap residue, indicating regular grooming routines. Written accounts from outside Scandinavia also mention their frequent bathing habits, with some even describing them as "excessively clean" compared to other Europeans of the time.

Their hygiene practices weren't limited to just bathing. They used combs for their hair, likely applied natural dyes or bleaches, and even sported elaborate hairstyles. Archaeological finds also reveal the use of razors for facial hair, suggesting a focus on maintaining a well-groomed appearance.

FUN VIKING FACTS

Viking girls got married as young as 12 and had to mind the household while their husbands sailed off on adventures. However, they did have more freedom than other women of their era. The women could inherit property, request a divorce and reclaim their dowries if their marriages ended.

Viking people held a yearly assembly, open to all citizens, where the people would discuss disputes and political decisions, preceded by a lawspeaker who memorised the entire law code and has the power to demote and elect kings.

Musical instruments such as drums, whistles and small harps have been found on Viking sites.

Viking blacksmiths would often add bones from ancestors or animals like bears to their iron ore to add carbon content, and to imbue the weapon with mystical properties.

Old Norse was the language of the Vikings and many words can be found in English including krill, sky, fjord, and ski. Another is "Thursday" literally “Thor's Day”, named after the Norse god of Thunder. This word dates back to the 12th century

We got the words 'anger', 'happy'', 'window', 'husband', 'ugly', 'steak', and many more from the Vikings.

The Vikings engaged in rap battles, trading poetic insults until a winner was chosen by the crowd.

Many Vikings had no special combat training—they were just farmers, fishermen, and peasants looking to make some extra money.

Some 9th century Scottish nuns literally cut off their noses and upper lips in order to make themselves too grotesque for invading Viking pirates to plunder them.

Sources Europress Encyclopaedia, Compton's Encyclopaedia, Christianity Today, Food For Thought by Ed Pearce

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a war following the division of Indochina under the 1954 Geneva Convention into the separate states of North and South Vietnam.

A Vietcong soldier wearing typical clothing and sandals in a tunnel

Within South Vietnam the communist Viet Cong, supported by North Vietnam and China, attempted to seize power. South Vietnam were backed by the USA, who provided military aid following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964.

Several large-scale invasion attempts by North Vietnam were defeated by indigenous and US forces, but the unpopularity of the war within the USA led to American withdraw from 1973.

By 1975, North Vietnam had overrun South Vietnam, USA having withdrawn, and in 1976 South Vietnam was reunited with the North. The conflict lasted from November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975,

CHRONOLOGY

October 22, 1957 American forces suffered their first casualties in Vietnam when 13 Advisory Americans were wounded in three terrorist bombings.

July 8, 1959: The first Americans were killed in South Vietnam. Major Dale R. Ruis and Master Sergeant Chester M. Ovnand became the first Americans killed in the American phase of the Vietnam War when guerrillas struck a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG). At the time U.S. involvement was still limited to the provision of military advisers.

December 22, 1961 25-year-old James Davis of Livingston, Tennessee, was killed by the Viet Cong, on a road near the old French Garrison of Cau Xang, becoming the first of some 55,000 U.S. soldiers killed during the Vietnam War.

August 2, 1964 The Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred on August 2, 1964, which involved North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacking the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. 

August 4, 1964 There was a reported second attack on the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy, another U.S. Navy destroyer, by North Vietnamese torpedo boats., but later evidence suggested that the second attack might not have occurred as initially reported.

August 7, 1964 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by the United States Congress on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The resolution authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression."

George Stephen Morrison, the father of The Doors vocalist Jim Morrison, was the naval commander in charge of the fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Thus sparking the escalation leading to the Vietnam War.

Photo taken from USS Maddox during the incident, showing three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats

November 4, 1965 Dickey Chapelle was killed in action by a landmine on November 4, 1965, while on patrol with a Marine platoon during Operation Black Ferret, a search and destroy operation in Quảng Ngãi province, South Vietnam. She was the first female war correspondent killed in Vietnam, as well as the first American female reporter to be killed in action.

February 1, 1968. Photojournalist Eddie Adams took his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the summary execution of Viet Cong prisoner Nguyễn Văn Lém. The picture helped build opposition in the USA to the Vietnam War.

January 27, 1973 The Paris Peace Accords was signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. The treaty included the governments of North and South Vietnam), and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) that represented indigenous South Vietnamese revolutionaries.

The Paris Peace Treaty's provisions were immediately frequently broken with no response from the United States. By the end of the year North Vietnamese offenses had enlarged their control.

March 29, 1973, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was disbanded and the last U.S. combat troops departed the Republic of Vietnam. The last unit was elements of MACV's Infantry Security Force (Special Guard), actually special couriers.

President Barack Obama proclaimed March 29, 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day. The proclamation called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Vietnam War."

Communist forces finally gained control of the South Vietnam capital, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on April 30, 1975. The Vietnam War formally ended with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.

April 30 is a public holiday in Vietnam celebrated as Reunification Day.

May 15, 1975, Private Kelton Rena Turner was the last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War on May 15, 1975. Recorded circumstances attributed his death to: "Died through hostile action, air crash at sea, Body not recovered until 1995".

VIETNAM WAR FACTS

2,500,000 US troops went to Vietnam, 58,000 were killed or reported missing, 200,000 wounded, and 100,000 are alleged to have committed suicide; Vietnamese casualties are unknown.

Project 100,000 was initiated by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in October 1966 to meet the escalating manpower requirements of the American government's involvement in the Vietnam War.  The controversial program drafted 100,000 low-IQ men a year for the Vietnam War. Dubbed, "Macnamara's Morons" more than 5,000 were killed in the war, three times the rate when compared to other soldiers. The project was ended in December 1971.

61% of US soldiers killed in the Vietnam War were less than 20 years old. The average age of deaths being 23 years old.

The first American to die in Vietnam was actually murdered by a fellow soldier in 1956. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. gave candy to local children when he bumped into a drunk colleague that shot him on sight. It took 43 years for his name to be added to the Vietnam War Memorial.

 From 1965 to 1968, the United States was dropping 32 tons of bombs per hour on North Vietnam. 7 million tons of bombs including 400,000 tons of napalm were dropped in Southeast Asia during the conflict. This is more than three times as many tons of bombs than were dropped in all of World War II

Vietnam War is the only war in American history in which US war dogs were not allowed to officially return home after the conflict. Classified as expendable equipment, around 3,500 dogs who were not killed in action were either euthanized or left behind.

During Vietnam, SEAL Teams One and Two amassed a combined kill ratio of 200:1, with only 46 deaths resulting mostly from accidents and poor intelligence, rather than enemy direct fire.

During the Vietnam War the act of "Fragging" was when US troops would toss a grenade in their commanding officers tent; known and suspected fragging cases by explosives in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972 totalled nearly 900.

Because in 1971 15 percent of American soldiers in Vietnam were heroin addicts, the government started operation Golden Flow which required soldiers to pass a drug test in order to return home.

In Vietnam the Vietnam War is called the American War, or "War Against the Americans to Save the Nation".

The 9 year old "Vietnam Girl" famously photographed (see picture below) after having all her clothes and more than a third of her skin completely burned off her body by a napalm bombing, somehow miraculously survived, then left Vietnam, and is now a Canadian Citizen working in Ontario.

During the Vietnam War 30,000 American draft dodgers fled to Canada, the same number as Canadians that volunteered to fight.

25% of US Army soldiers in the Vietnam War were intentionally-recruited "misfits" who couldn't read and write, had an IQ of below 75, and/or dropped out of high school. Some didn't even know the US was at war. They had three times the casualty rate of regular soldiers.

The code signal to inform the remaining Americans that South Vietnam was lost and should be evacuated instantly, was a weather report that the temperature was "105 degrees and rising," followed by the song "White Christmas"... in April.