Celibacy of the clergy had been promoted as an ideal since the second century as it was believed by many that clerical sexual abstinence was an apostolic practice that must be followed by ministers of the church. However it was not enforced legally until 1075 when Pope Gregory VII as part of his Dictatus Papae (The Pope¹s Memorandum) enjoined the people to take action against married priests and deprive these clerics of their revenues. There was much opposition to this. For instance in Normandy, the Archbishop of Rouen was stoned by an angry mob after ordering that priests whether single or married must give up sex.
Sunday, 16 February 2014
Celery
Celery is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, where the horses of Myrmidon grazed on wild celery.
The Greeks, Egyptians and Romans used celery in funerals where it was made into garlands.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed celery as a nerve soother.
The ancient Egyptians, Romans and Chinese used wild celery medicinally for many ailments, including for hangovers.
The ancient Romans considered celery an aphrodisiac. They may have been right: it contains the pheromone androsterone, released by men’s sweat glands to attract females.
From classical times to the Middle Ages, celery was used as a medicinal plant to treat toothache, insomnia, gout, rheumatism, anxiety and arthritis.
Celery was first used as a food during the 16th century in Italy.
Celery was first mentioned in English in 1664 by the diarist John Evelyn, who spelled it 'sellery.'
Celery became wildly popular in the late 19th century. Raw stalks were arranged in crystal vases on dinner tables created to show off the “It” vegetable.
The town of Celeryville, Ohio, was founded by early 19th century celery farmers.
The Pascal variety of celery is the most popular in the US, and was first grown in Kalamazoo, Michigan. in 1847. Kalamazoo was subsequently nicknamed Celery City.
While peanut allergies are a common high risk allergy in many western countries, Central Europe deals with celery allergies. Celery is such a danger to certain individuals that the EU had to enact labeling laws for products containing celery derived ingredients.
There is a celery museum in Portage, Michigan, called the Celery Flats Interpretive Center.
It takes just one ounce of celery seed to produce an acre of celery.
Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
Sources Daily Express, Food For Thought by Ed Pearce
The Greeks, Egyptians and Romans used celery in funerals where it was made into garlands.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed celery as a nerve soother.
The ancient Egyptians, Romans and Chinese used wild celery medicinally for many ailments, including for hangovers.
The ancient Romans considered celery an aphrodisiac. They may have been right: it contains the pheromone androsterone, released by men’s sweat glands to attract females.
From classical times to the Middle Ages, celery was used as a medicinal plant to treat toothache, insomnia, gout, rheumatism, anxiety and arthritis.
Celery was first used as a food during the 16th century in Italy.
Celery was first mentioned in English in 1664 by the diarist John Evelyn, who spelled it 'sellery.'
Celery became wildly popular in the late 19th century. Raw stalks were arranged in crystal vases on dinner tables created to show off the “It” vegetable.
The town of Celeryville, Ohio, was founded by early 19th century celery farmers.
The Pascal variety of celery is the most popular in the US, and was first grown in Kalamazoo, Michigan. in 1847. Kalamazoo was subsequently nicknamed Celery City.
While peanut allergies are a common high risk allergy in many western countries, Central Europe deals with celery allergies. Celery is such a danger to certain individuals that the EU had to enact labeling laws for products containing celery derived ingredients.
It takes just one ounce of celery seed to produce an acre of celery.
Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
Sources Daily Express, Food For Thought by Ed Pearce
Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia was a 2nd century Christian Roman maiden of patrician birth. Despite her vow of celibacy, she was forced by her parents to marry a pagan nobleman named Valerian.
She succeeded in persuading Valerian to respect her vow, and converted him to her Christian faith. They were both put to death for their beliefs.
Saint Celila is the patroness of musicians. It is written that while the profane music was played at Saint Cecilia's wedding she was "singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse" hence her association with music-making.
She succeeded in persuading Valerian to respect her vow, and converted him to her Christian faith. They were both put to death for their beliefs.
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| Saint Cecilia and Saint Valerian. Lelio Orsi |
Saint Celila is the patroness of musicians. It is written that while the profane music was played at Saint Cecilia's wedding she was "singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse" hence her association with music-making.
Her feast day is November 22nd.
American rock group Foo Fighters released their Saint Cecilia EP on November 22, 2015.
Originally written for Songfacts
American rock group Foo Fighters released their Saint Cecilia EP on November 22, 2015.
Originally written for Songfacts
CCTV
Olean, New York was the first city in the United States to install video cameras along its main business street in an effort to fight crime in September 1968.
In 1987, Kings Lynn became the first in Britain to install town centre CCTV, though Bournemouth had previously used CCTV in non-central locations.
Britain has 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras - one for every 14 of us. (2008)
The single crime most frequently prosecuted as a result of CCTV cameras is men urinating in public on their way home at night from pubs.
The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). The idea behind the design was to allow an observer to watch all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being observed. Social critics have subsequently used the principle behind Bentham's Panopticon project as a metaphor for the intrusion of modern societies and their pervasive inclination to observe and normalise. The increasing use of CCTV cameras in public spaces is cited as a current example of the deployment of panoptic structures.
The government of China has installed over 20 million surveillance cameras across the country. In 2012, it was reported that more than 660 of the mainland's 676 cities use surveillance systems.
In China, CCTV cameras are so sophisticated that they not only recognize faces, but also walking gait and travel patterns, and can lower credit or charge fines directly to a person’s bank account for misdemeanors or acts such as jaywalking.
In 1987, Kings Lynn became the first in Britain to install town centre CCTV, though Bournemouth had previously used CCTV in non-central locations.
Britain has 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras - one for every 14 of us. (2008)
The single crime most frequently prosecuted as a result of CCTV cameras is men urinating in public on their way home at night from pubs.
The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). The idea behind the design was to allow an observer to watch all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being observed. Social critics have subsequently used the principle behind Bentham's Panopticon project as a metaphor for the intrusion of modern societies and their pervasive inclination to observe and normalise. The increasing use of CCTV cameras in public spaces is cited as a current example of the deployment of panoptic structures.
The government of China has installed over 20 million surveillance cameras across the country. In 2012, it was reported that more than 660 of the mainland's 676 cities use surveillance systems.
In China, CCTV cameras are so sophisticated that they not only recognize faces, but also walking gait and travel patterns, and can lower credit or charge fines directly to a person’s bank account for misdemeanors or acts such as jaywalking.
William Caxton
William Caxton (ca. 1415~1422 – 1492) set up a printing press in Bruges in 1473, in collaboration with a Fleming, Colard Mansion.
The first book to be printed in English was Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, a translation of a French book by Caxton himself. He published his version around 1474, at a time when most books were printed in Latin, in either Ghent or Bruges, Belgium. Below is an engraving showing Caxton presenting a copy of Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye to Margaret of York.
The first book to be printed in English was Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, a translation of a French book by Caxton himself. He published his version around 1474, at a time when most books were printed in Latin, in either Ghent or Bruges, Belgium. Below is an engraving showing Caxton presenting a copy of Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye to Margaret of York.
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The first book known to have been produced by Caxton at Westminster was an edition of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. He was also the first English retailer of printed books (his London contemporaries in the same trade were all Flemish, German or French).
William Caxton produced the first advertisement in English on his printing press in Westminster Abbey, London in 1477. The advertisement offered a prayer book and it claimed that the book is "good chepe."
William Caxton is a monumental figure in English literature, not only for printing but also for his translations. On March 26, 1484, he produced the first printed English translation of Aesop's Fables.
Just three weeks before the Wars of the Roses ended at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, William Caxton put on sale his newly printed edition of Sir Thomas Malory’s prose epic Le Morte d’Arthur. Despite running to 860 pages it was an instant best-seller. Malory, as Caxton had explained, had “taken” the tales “out of certain books of French”, then “reduced” them into English.
Caxton is credited with standardising the English language through printing. This facilitated the expansion of English vocabulary, the regularisation of inflection and syntax, and a widening gap between the spoken and the written word.
It is asserted that the spelling of "ghost" with the silent letter h was adopted by Caxton due to the influence of Flemish spelling habits.
The Lyme Missal, a prayer book printed by William Caxton in 1487, was owned by just one family from 1508 to 2008 when it was purchased for £465,000 by the National Trust.
Caviar
Caviar is processed, salted and non-fertilized sturgeon roe eggs.
The name caviar is said to come from the Turkish word havyar, though some believe it is from the ancient Persian term chav-jar, meaning cake of power.
Caviar is one of the world's costliest delicacies, selling for up to $27,000 (£20,000) per kg.
At £20,000 ($27,000) per kilo, Iranian Beluga caviar is the most expensive food by weight in the world. It comes from the critically endangered beluga sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea.
In the early 19th century America's waters were so abundant with sturgeon that it was commonplace - even before being offered free in bars as the salty taste encouraged customers to drink more.
The QE2 got through a ton of caviar a year.
Airlines are said to buy 50 per cent of the world's stock for first-class passengers.
Michael Douglas was reported to have ordered £12,000-worth for his wedding to Catherine Zeta-Jones.
During the filming of Titanic real Beluga caviar was used in the first class dining room sequence. After sampling it, Jonathan Hyde said he "made an acting decision on the spot that Ismay was a big eater."
Source Daily Mail
The name caviar is said to come from the Turkish word havyar, though some believe it is from the ancient Persian term chav-jar, meaning cake of power.
Caviar is one of the world's costliest delicacies, selling for up to $27,000 (£20,000) per kg.
At £20,000 ($27,000) per kilo, Iranian Beluga caviar is the most expensive food by weight in the world. It comes from the critically endangered beluga sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea.
 |
| Beluga caviar |
In the early 19th century America's waters were so abundant with sturgeon that it was commonplace - even before being offered free in bars as the salty taste encouraged customers to drink more.
The QE2 got through a ton of caviar a year.
Airlines are said to buy 50 per cent of the world's stock for first-class passengers.
Michael Douglas was reported to have ordered £12,000-worth for his wedding to Catherine Zeta-Jones.
During the filming of Titanic real Beluga caviar was used in the first class dining room sequence. After sampling it, Jonathan Hyde said he "made an acting decision on the spot that Ismay was a big eater."
Source Daily Mail
Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish was born on October 10, 1731 in Nice, France, where his family was living at the time. His mother was Lady Anne Grey, fourth daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent and his father was Lord Charles Cavendish, third son of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire.
Lady Anne died in 1733, leaving Charles to bring up his two sons.
Lord Charles Cavendish lived a life of service, first in politics and then increasingly in science, especially in the Royal Society of London. In 1758 he took Henry to meetings of the Royal Society and also to dinners of the Royal Society Club.
Like his father, Henry Cavendish lived a life of service to science, both through his researches and through his participation in scientific organizations.
Henry Cavendish was the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a discrete substance, by naming the gas from a metal-acid reaction "flammable air". He is usually given credit for its discovery as an element.
Cavendish demonstrated in 1784 that water is produced when hydrogen burns in air, thus proving that water is a compound and not an element.
The Cavendish experiment in 1798 enabled him to discover the mass and density of the Earth. The result that Cavendish obtained for the density of the Earth is within 1 percent of the currently accepted figure.
Cavendish was painfully shy and could barely speak to one person – never to two. He was so timid in the presence of women that he communicated with his female servants by notes only. If one crossed his path in his house, she was fired on the spot. He built a separate entrance to the house so that he could come and go without meeting anyone. In the end, he insisted on dying alone.
The only socialising Cavendish would endure was to attend dinner at the Royal Society with fellow scientists. However, it was made clear to fellow guests that Cavendish could not be approached or even directly looked at.
Lady Anne died in 1733, leaving Charles to bring up his two sons.
Lord Charles Cavendish lived a life of service, first in politics and then increasingly in science, especially in the Royal Society of London. In 1758 he took Henry to meetings of the Royal Society and also to dinners of the Royal Society Club.
Like his father, Henry Cavendish lived a life of service to science, both through his researches and through his participation in scientific organizations.
Henry Cavendish was the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a discrete substance, by naming the gas from a metal-acid reaction "flammable air". He is usually given credit for its discovery as an element.
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| Cavendish's apparatus for making and collecting hydrogen |
Cavendish demonstrated in 1784 that water is produced when hydrogen burns in air, thus proving that water is a compound and not an element.
The Cavendish experiment in 1798 enabled him to discover the mass and density of the Earth. The result that Cavendish obtained for the density of the Earth is within 1 percent of the currently accepted figure.
Cavendish was painfully shy and could barely speak to one person – never to two. He was so timid in the presence of women that he communicated with his female servants by notes only. If one crossed his path in his house, she was fired on the spot. He built a separate entrance to the house so that he could come and go without meeting anyone. In the end, he insisted on dying alone.
The only socialising Cavendish would endure was to attend dinner at the Royal Society with fellow scientists. However, it was made clear to fellow guests that Cavendish could not be approached or even directly looked at.
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| Wikipedia Commons |
Cavendish conducted experiments and make observations that anticipated later discoveries credited to other scientists. For example, his work with electrical conductivity laid the groundwork for Ohm's Law (relating voltage, current, and resistance), but he never published his findings.
Because Cavendish didn't share his work, other scientists independently reached similar conclusions and received credit for the discoveries. This includes laws like Ohm's Law, Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures (gas behavior), and Charles's Law (relationship between gas volume and temperature). Cavendish's social anxiety and preference for solitude likely played a major role in him not publishing his work. He may not have felt comfortable sharing his discoveries or engaging in scientific debate.
Cavendish died on February 24, 1810 (as one of the wealthiest men in Britain) and was buried, along with many of his ancestors, in the church that is now Derby Cathedral.
Sources Cool trivia, Daily Mail, Hutchinson Enyclopedia © RM 2014. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.
Sources Cool trivia, Daily Mail, Hutchinson Enyclopedia © RM 2014. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.
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