Henry Morton Stanley was born

Portrait of Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), Explorer (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution)

Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB, born John Rowlands was born on January 28, 1841 to Elizabeth Parry as a bastard in Denbigh, Denbighshire. He didn’t know his father. His father passed away weeks after his birth and his mother shunned him, he was sent to live with relatives. At age 5 he was sent to St Asaph Union Workhouse for the Poor. The workhouse was a horrible place for him to live, but he lived there until the age of 15. He was able to get an elementary education and go work as a pupil teacher in a National School.

When he was 18 he decided to go to the United States, and when he did that he changed his name to Henry Hope Stanley after a friendly gentleman he met. He was able to get a job working for him at his shop, and after the man passed away he took over the shop and the accent and denied being a foreigner.

He then became a journalist during the Civil War. He made his first expedition to the Ottoman Empire. The expedition did not go at all as planned, as they were jailed and imprisoned but thanks to restitution they were soon let go.

It was 1869 when James Gordon Bennett, Jr. asked Stanley to go on an expedition in search for David Livingstone, the explorer and missionary in Africa. He travelled near and far across Africa and to Zanzibar over 700 miles. Stanley found Livingstone on November 10, 1871 and uttered those timely words, “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”

His travels took him to the Congo River for further research. Then he went on further expedition such as the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition.

He wrote about his travels in his book Through the Dark Continent.

He as much proved he could become mould himself to fit where need be. His lived a great expedition growing up, and wanted a better life, although very unconventional, he was sort of able to find an adoptive family since the original Stanley had no children. It was just amazing that he behaved like he belonged. He was always the traveler.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morton_Stanley

Cassandra

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Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the First Female Doctor

English: portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor on January 23, 1849.
She was born in Bristol, England; her family owned a sugar refinery. She was the youngest of three girls. Her father was a Congregationalist or separatist so they were considered later on to be Puritans. In 1828 they moved to America, and by 1836, they had established the sugar refinery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father did not survive the trip, and died three weeks later. The move put them into tremendous debt.
Blackwell and her sisters opened a school called The Cincinnati English and French Academy for Young Ladies. They provided room and board for the girls, and taught them the most important subjects for girls at that time. The tuition became their source of income for their family. The school didn’t last and she ended up private tutoring.
Blackwell became involved with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1838 due to her sister’s influence. In 1839 she met William Henry Channing who was a Unitarian minister and she became interested in her education and other areas of reform. She studied art, wrote short stories, went to lectures, and other intellectual pursuits.
She didn’t decide to study medicine until one of her dear friends was in the hospital. Her friend was uncomfortable with her male doctors and their bedside manner. The disease was very painful and thought to be perhaps uterine cancer. Her friend liked when her friend was in attendance.
Although Blackwell’s interest in intellect and education were powerful, they didn’t help her feel teaching feel very rewarding. By October 1847 she was accepted to Geneva Medical College, now part of Upstate Medical University, in upstate New York, as a medical student. In order to be accepted they put it to a vote to 150 male students. Her education later took her to Europe.
After she graduated she set up practice in New York City. She did have some patients. She published a book called The Laws of Life with Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls in 1852, and gave lecturers. She set up a small dispensary near Tompkins Square in 1853. Her sister Emily also obtained a medical degree, and she assisted other women pursuing careers in the medical field including Marie Zakrzewska.
When Civil War broke out in the United States she assisted the North and the nurses, and worked alongside Dorothea Dix in training nurses. She was working for social reform. She was friends with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Florence Nightingale. Blackwell stuck to her beliefs, and when she reached out, she found others that would help her in her pursuit to help others.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

Cassandra

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Alice Paul writer of the Equal Rights Amendment born January 11

English: Alice Paul, full-length portrait, standing, facing left, raising glass with right hand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alice Stokes Paul was born January 11, 1885 and she an American suffragist, women’s rights activist, and the original author of the equal rights (nineteenth) amendment that is part of the United States Constitution. She was very educated with an undergraduate from Swarthmore College, a M.A. and a P.H. d. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.

Paul became interested in the suffragists while in Britain after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania from Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)..She was arrested several times. When she came back to the states she joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in Washington DC. They were fighting for a woman’s right to vote! Paul had learned about all kinds of campaigns. She planned parades, and hunger strikes and everything that would make people aware of their cause. Flags were made and put up. This was what Paul had dedicated her life to.

In 1923 she penned what was to become the nineteenth amendment. It did not become a amendment until 1972. That is an awfully long time to wait for amendment to pass.

This video explains more

Everyone has rights, men and women, black or white, or Asian, or what ever race you are, fat or thin. Everyone has equal rights. Sometimes I think as a people we get confused as to what rights each one of us has. In some ways its just like all of us having an equal vote, which was what Alice Paul was fighting for. Her battle at the time may have been for women, really her voice was speaking louder, and bigger perhaps for something or why would the equal rights amendment have ended up in the Constitution.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Paul

Cassandra

 

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you are going to spend the time with family and friends, because today is definitely a day to be merry. It is also a time to think of those less fortunate than you are.

We are all little bits of sand upon this planet, whether you have money or not, we are all worth the same. We all entered the world the same way, and we will leave the same. It is up to us to make our mark. Charles Dickens was a writer so he wrote, and he was the social critic. He like many other writers used their words to express their opinions of how the ridiculous the world was, and how it should be. At this time, people would be reading his novella, A Christmas Carol, about Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens made a large impression on us, about Christmas, and sharing and giving to others and what was important. What if Dickens was alive today what things, might he criticize about our world today?

People often think that their opinions do not count for much. If you are not talking than you do not have an opinion. Going shopping will not stop Emergency Unemployment Benefits ending for millions of Americans on December 28, or the cut of the SNAP, which will just cause more people to go hungry; it will just put most people further in debt. The best gifts you’ll ever receive don’t come from a shopping mall and they cannot be bought.

Have a wonderful day!

Cassandra

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Daniel S. DeCarlo’s Birthday!

Daniel S. DeCarlo was born on December 12, 1919. He was an American cartoonist who brought us Archie Comics. He created the characters most well-known in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Josie and the Pussy Cats. His comics often had gorgeous bombshells in the mix.

DeCarlo did do some work for Marvel comics in the 1940s, and in the 1950s through a Chicago syndication he created a mailman, Willie Lumpkin who became a minor supporting character in the Fantastic Four.

He has many works, and can provide a lot of inspiration for gift giving. Perhaps an Archie Comic book might be nice for a loved one.

DeCarlo’s greatest works was still Archie comics which he worked to modernize and bring them up to date with the times. His works were televised as well as put in book form and the newspaper. See below.

Josie and the Pussy Cats 1969

One of the Sabrina Comic book covers which were published between 1971 and 1983.

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_DeCarlo

Cassandra

 

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was Published on December 10, 1884

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published on December 10, 1884 in the United States. The last book he had published was Life on the Mississippi. This book was just in time for Christmas for people to purchase as gifts for those who loved reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It took him a couple of years to compose the novel, and Mark Twain had a little trouble deciding on the name until he made his final decision.

The book was written for adults and it was very controversial. They could not figure out whether the book was racist or not. The question still rages on. Young people everywhere read the book. Mark Twain never wanted young people to read these books. Despite the fact that Huckleberry Finn is not well read, he is quite adventurous, and he cares about his friends. This classic satirical novel is fun, and may perhaps in some ways been reflective of brer rabbit and brer bear. At that time, the kids must have been interested in reading about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

At least there is talk of Tom Sawyer read Don Quixote, or how else could they interest people into reading. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) kept the story interesting. The story is riveting, with a lot happening. The southern drawl of the story adds a lot considering the time Samuel Clemens spent on the Mississippi. The stories were part of his life and are now part of ours.These stories help us grow.

I grew up reading Adventures of Huck Finn. It has been one hundred and twenty nine years since this book was published, I feel we are better off in some ways having young people read this book. The hero of course, is Huck Finn, a young boy, but like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain looks at how things are in some ways, and perhaps in some ways, is thinking of how things should be. The remarkable things things that come to our minds when we sit down and write.

Below in a Audio Book Recording of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn

Cassandra

December 5 is Saint Nicholas Eve

Saint Nicholas Eve is not a common thing in the United States, but over in Europe, namely Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Poland and the UK it is one of their celebrated days (as quoted by Wikipedia).

In the United States our Santa Claus looks as he does because he became commercialized by Coca Cola, and we have grown to love him.

http://www.eatmorebrooktrout.com/2011/12/20-questions-santa-claus.html

Yes, he has those rosy cheeks, and red nose, and belly that looks like a bowl full of jelly. That is the man we are use to seeing.

Here is a 1931 Coke ad

Haddon Sundblom, an illustrator for Coca Cola created the illustration above that started the Coke holiday advertising campaign in 1931.  This was the start of him becoming the cultural icon that he is today.  I am sure the only difference between Santa Claus today and in yesterday year is now they talk about him using GPS, and he can communicate directly to his reindeer and the elves if something should happen to him on his journey. Santa always survives year after to year. For all we know he has some help from the Men in Black.

Here is the Netherlands St, Nick

http://extraordinaryintelligence.com/holiday-cheer-and-fear-santa-st-nicholas-odin-sinterklaas-and-krampus/

He is Sinterklaas or some refer to him as Thor, created by Odin, depending upon your information.  He is part of the Avengers when is is now galvanting all over the world delivering toys. Maybe Iron Man and Captain America help him out when he is in a jam. He always has his trusted hammer. Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk is on hand to assist and you can be sure he will be very angry if anyone gets in the way of their toy delivery for all the good little children.

Then there is the Swedish Christmas Gnome

I found him on a pin in Pinterest

Their proper names from Wikipedia is the tomte, nisse or tomtenisse (Sweden) (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtɔ̀mːtɛ]), nisse (Norway and Denmark) (pronounced [ˈnìsːɛ]) or tonttu (Finland). The reason for so many names is because it is mystical. He is a shapeshifter. Sometimes it is said that he has one eye like a cyclops. He comes from underneath the floorboards and distributes the gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner. He rides a straw goat.  A bowl of porridge was often set out for him, instead of our traditional cookies and hot cocoa.  I wonder if his porridge was similar to my favorite Cream of Wheat?

I believe in Santa Claus.

A Year Without a Santa Claus 1974

My boyfriend would tell me, “You’re to old to believe in Santa Claus.”

I believe everyone should believe in Santa Claus.  Why, you ask? Why Santa Claus is the spirit of giving. That does not mean you should go out and buy your child every toy and gadget they ask for. The United States Christmas is far to commercialized. It does not mean you have to go and shop and buy shiny new things to give away. Sometimes the most precious things are those that we make and those we pass along to others such as keepsakes.  The holiday, like Thanksgiving, is about being together as a family.

References

http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/xmas/pages/history.htm

http://extraordinaryintelligence.com/holiday-cheer-and-fear-santa-st-nicholas-odin-sinterklaas-and-krampus/

Coca-Cola Santa Claus 1931 – 1949

Cassandra

How to Answer a Telephone Survey?

Image by KNOWLEDGESHIFT

Always remember if the phone rings, you never have to answer it, if you are eating you dinner, visiting your friends.

Phone calls from people asking for your opinion on a variety of information from shopping to politics can come at the most annoying times. Whether you want to take part or not, your information can be helpful to the group doing the survey, or the business looking for information to improve their product.

They are asking you to volunteer your time.

When you receive a phone call for a survey, it is random. Some phone numbers are computer generated. If the number was computer generated the person calling to give you the survey more than likely will tell that.

Telling the respondent “You have the wrong number” will just make you sound like an idiot. If you are being called for a survey, they are never calling the wrong number.

You may wonder why they are calling my cell phone. Some people use cell phones as their primary phone. They do not know if the cell phone is your primary phone or not unless you tell them.

People who call you doing surveys – do not know if the number they are calling is (a) blocked, (b) unlisted (c) a business phone (d) fax or (e) disconnected.

The person usually has to ask as it was given to them at length to you.

You can always refuse to answer a question.

Play it smart, if you do not wish to take part, just say, “I don’t wish to participate”, the person doing the survey will understand.

Cassandra