by Bill McLain
Language
What is Zulu time? (It has nothing to do with Africa.)
The world is divided into 24 time zones. To make communication easier, each time zone has been given a letter of the alphabet (the letters “I” and “0” are not used).
For military, maritime, and other activities that cross time zones, the international reference of time is the clock at Greenwich, England. The letter designation for this clock is “Z.” In the phonetic alphabet, Zulu is used for the letter Z. Thus, the Greenwich, England, time zone is known as “Zulu time.”
Times are usually written in a 24-hour (military) format followed by the letter designating the time zone. For instance, 1830Z would be 6:30 P.M. in Zulu time.
Zulu time is formally known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The official name today is Coordinated Universal Time (CUT). Actually, GMT, CUT, and Zulu time all refer to the same thing.
FACTOIDS
Time based on the earth’s rotation is irregular. Only four days in the year actually have exactly 24 hours in them (around December 25, April 15, June 14, and August 31).
In ancient times people believed that the earth was influenced by the sun, moon, and the five planets known at that time. Each of these objects was associated with a god and each god was given a day in his honor. This is the origin of the seven-day week.
At one time ancient Egyptians had a 10-day week and Romans had an 8-day week. Both eventually adopted the 7-day week used by most of the ancient world.
Although most of us are familiar with the sundial, few are aware of the night-clock that was centered on the pole star and whose arms rotated to line up with the stars in the handle of the Big Dipper.
In spite of the extreme accuracy of atomic clocks, earth time still takes precedence. If the atomic clock and the “natural” clock do not coincide, scientists add or subtract “leap seconds” on the last day of June and December.
The day of two noons occurred in 1883 when an association of railroad executives devised a system of standard time zones across the United States. Prior to that, there were 100 different time zones in the United States. The new time was telegraphed to cities and towns throughout the country. In some areas, it was already past noon when they received the new time, which was before noon. Thus, those areas had two noons on the same day.
DID YOU KNOW?
Throughout the ages, people have striven to find better ways of keeping track of time.
In the Middle Ages hourglasses were rarely used and sundials were inadequate when skies were cloudy. Strange methods were used to circumvent these problems. England’s King Alfred the Great, for example, carried a supply of candles of equal lengths. He lit each in turn to mark the passage of the hours.
The invention of the mechanical clock was influenced by monks who lived in monasteries that were the epitome of order and routine. They had to keep accurate time so that monastery bells could be rung at regular intervals to announce the seven hours of the day reserved for prayer.
Early clocks were nothing more than a weight tied to a rope wrapped around a revolving drum. Time was determined by watching the length of the weighted rope.
The discovery of the pendulum in the seventeenth century led to a proliferation of clocks and enormous public clocks.
Eventually, keeping time turned into serving time and rationing time. People started to follow the mechanical time of clocks rather than their natural body time. They ate at meal time, rather than when they were hungry, and went to bed when it was time, rather than when they were sleepy. Even periodicals and fashions became “yearly.” The world had become orderly. A common expression was “regular as clockwork.”
Even today, our society is preoccupied with time. We all have numerous clocks, watches, and calendars. Perhaps it’s not all bad. As an anonymous author said, “Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.”
What does “mind your p’s and q’s” mean? (How about a beer?)
One of the more popular theories is that hundreds of years ago, patrons of English pubs would often run up a bar tab. To keep track of how much a patron owed, the bartender would keep a tally of the pints (p’s) and quarts (q’s) of beer the patron had consumed. If the bill got too high, the bartender would tell the patron “Mind your p’s and q’s.” In other words, “Pay up!”
FACTOIDS
In Tudor England, selected innkeepers were required by a royal act to maintain stables. Some innkeepers acted as unofficial postmasters and even issued unofficial coins, which they guaranteed to redeem in the realm’s currency.
Early inns or taverns were identified by simple signs, such as lions, dolphins, or black swans. Many had colorful names such as the Bag o’ Nails, the Goat and Compass, and the Elephant and Castle.
Britons today are finding other ways to spend their leisure time such as visiting gyms or having a healthy meal at a restaurant. Pubs holding to tradition are expected to slowly die out over time. It is estimated that there will be 5,000 fewer pubs by the end of the century than there were at the beginning.
Although Americans savor the taste of a cold beer, Englishmen prefer their beer served at room temperature.
Some 200 of the old coaching and posting inns, including a few that date back over 400 years, are still operating in England and Wales today.
DID YOU KNOW?
Patrons of pubs certainly know the popularity of darts. Throwing feathered darts at a circular board with numbered spaces became popular in English inns and taverns in the nineteenth century and increasingly so in the twentieth century. In fact, a form of darts was a training game for English archers in the Middle Ages.
In its modern form in Britain, the game is ordinarily played in the public house (pub or tavern), or in a club, rather than in the home.
There are actually more darts players in the United States than in England. It’s estimated that there are over 17 million in the United States, but only 5 million in England.
Why do people say “Gesundheit” or “God bless you” when you sneeze? (Are you plagued with sneezing?
The expression “Gesundheit” (German for “God bless you”) began in the Middle Ages when the bubonic plague was ravaging Europe. In the final stages of the disease, the afflicted had fits of sneezing. When others heard someone sneeze, they knew the person was about to die so they said, “God bless you.”
The familiar nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosey” also dates from the time of the bubonic plague. Because the plague often caused red discolorations on the body, that person was sometimes called a “rosey.” To prevent the plague from spreading to other towns, the villagers had to make sure the plague carrier did not leave. They symbolized this by saying “Ring around the rosey,” which meant to hold hands and form a ring around the rosey to keep the sick person from leaving the village.
The next line in the rhyme, “A pocket full of posies,” has two meanings. Some authorities say that people thought “posies” would ward off the plague. Others say it refers to the funeral wreath.
The last line, “Ashes, ashes, all fall down,” refers to death. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust” is a phrase often used in funeral ceremonies. “All fall down” meant that everyone in the village would probably die because the plague had entered their town.
Few people reciting this nursery rhyme realize its poignant meaning.
FACTOIDS
Symptoms of the bubonic plague include swelling of the lymph glands in the neck, armpits, and groin. The blackish color of these swellings gave the disease its name, the “Black Death.”
An epidemic outbreak of the plague in Europe that began in 1346 killed 25 million people, one third of Europe’s population, in just five years. The plague lasted for almost 300 years.
During the 1980s, there were about 18 plague cases each year in the United States, of which more than half occurred in persons under 20 years of age.
DID YOU KNOW?
There have been three major bubonic plague epidemics i
n history.
The first was in A.D. 542 and in just two years killed 70,000 people in the city of Constantinople alone. At its peak, 10,000 people died each week. The plague followed the trade routes to France and Italy and additional smaller outbreaks continued for 52 years.
The second epidemic was the most devastating. It began in A.D. 1346 and spread across Europe and Asia, eventually reaching Russia. In just 4 years it caused more deaths than the first outbreak had caused in 50 years. People became preoccupied with death and the afterlife. They were angry that God had not answered their prayers, and moved away from the Roman Catholic Church toward mysticism and other spiritual movements. Jews were blamed for the plague and were massacred. In England alone, over 1,000 villages became void of human life.
The third major outbreak occurred in Manchuria in 1890 and reached San Francisco in 1900. By the time it was over, more than 12 million people had died, mostly in India and Asia.
The plague still occurs. In 1992, cases were reported in Brazil, China, Madagascar, Mongolia, Myanmar, Peru, the United States, Vietnam, and Zaire. Major outbreaks in India have occurred as recently as 1994.
Where did the term “dark horse” come from? (You can bet on it.)
The expression originated in England in 1831 in a book by Benjamin Disraeli. He said, “A dark horse, which had never been thought of, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.”
A more interesting fable concerns Sam Flyn and his horse Dusky Pete. Although Dusky Pete was a swift racehorse, he was very dark and looked like a worn-out nag. Sam went from town to town, entering his horse in each local race. It was easy to take bets against the horse because no one believed that such a worn-out nag could possibly win. But Dusky Pete won every race, and Sam Flyn made a great deal of money.
Either Disraeli’s story or the legend of Sam Flyn could have led to our use of the term “dark horse” to indicate someone who is expected to lose but wins.
In American politics, when a candidate is either unknown or wins unexpectedly, he is called a “dark horse” candidate. In 1844, the Democratic convention produced the first political dark horse in James Polk, who later became president. There are also dark horses in racing. A somewhat awkward chestnut horse by the name of Exterminator was used by his owner to stay behind the owner’s best horse to urge it to run faster. Just prior to the Kentucky Derby, the owner’s favorite horse was hurt in a workout and the only horse he had left to enter was Exterminator. He thought the horse didn’t stand a chance but entered him anyway.
It rained heavily during the day of the Derby and the odds against Exterminator were 30 to 1. He was at the back of the pack as the horses neared the last turn. Exterminator picked up the pace, passing one horse after another, never giving up until he had crossed the finish line. Exterminator, the dark horse, won the Kentucky Derby by a length.
FACTOIDS
One of the all-time great racehorses and the greatest money-winning Thoroughbreds in history was Man o’ War. He set three world records, two New American records, and two track records. Some of his records stood for 17 years. He was equally good at any distance and on any track: fast, good, or sloppy.
The fastest speed recorded for a racehorse was over 43 mph when Big Racket ran ¼ mile in Mexico City in 1945. In 1989 Hawkster ran 1½ miles at a speed of almost 38 mph.
A typical Thoroughbred racehorse can run only about ¼ mile at top speed. The role of the jockey is to determine the best time to release this burst of speed.
Forego was older when he was entered in the Marlboro Cup. He was forced to carry 18 pounds more than the top horse in the race. A sloppy track made it tough for a come-from-behind horse like Forego. Although it appeared hopeless, Forego drove hard down the final stretch, relentlessly closing the gap between him and the leader. Just as he reached the finish line, he pushed his head forward to win the race. It was considered one of the greatest finishes of the decade.
DID YOU KNOW?
Horse racing is one of the most ancient sports, originating in Central Asia among prehistoric nomadic tribesmen around 4500 B.C.
When humans began keeping written records, horse racing was already an organized sport throughout the world. Chariot and mounted horse racing were not only popular in the Greek Olympics almost 700 years before Christ, but also became an obsession in the Roman Empire.
When the Crusades were over in the twelfth century, many returning English knights rode fast Arabian horses. For the next 400 years, more and more Arabian stallions were imported and bred with English mares to produce horses that had both speed and stamina. The nobility enjoyed wagering on two-horse races.
During Queen Anne’s reign in the early 1700s, more horses were used in races and the spectators were allowed to bet on the outcome. Racecourses proliferated all over England and large purses were offered to attract the best horses.
The sport expanded so rapidly that in 1750 the Jockey Club was formed to govern the races. To this day, the Jockey Club has complete control over horse racing in England.
How did grapefruit get its name? (It’s a lot bigger than a grape.)
A grapefruit tree is 15 to 20 feet tall with dark-green, glossy leaves. The grapefruit got its name because the fruit hangs in clusters on the tree, just like grapes.
The ancestor of the grapefruit was called a “pomelo.” This subtropical evergreen was brought to Barbados from the Malay archipelago by a Captain Shaddock. The fruit was also sometimes called a “shaddock.” It was also called the “forbidden fruit” because of an ancient Barbados myth that tells the story of how the shaddock and sweet orange came from across the sea and mated to produce the grapefruit. It eventually became known as grapefruit.
The West Indies pomelo was probably crossed with an orange to produce the modern grapefruit, introduced in Florida in 1840. Fifty years later a seedless fruit was found and propagated to create a seedless grapefruit.
Over half of the world’s grapefruit is produced in the United States, primarily in Florida and Texas. A single mature tree can produce up to 1,490 pounds of grapefruit per season.
The two main categories of grapefruit are seeded and seedless. Grapefruit can also be white or red, both equally sweet. Only oranges and lemons have more vitamin C than grapefruit.
As with all citrus, ripened fruit may have a tinge of green but it does not affect the quality. The green occurs when extra chlorophyll is produced for the new spring blossoms.
FACTOIDS
Lemons have more sugar than strawberries.
President Lyndon Johnson liked the grapefruit-flavored soda Fresca so much that he had a fountain installed in the Oval Office from which he could dispense the beverage by pushing a button on his desk chair.
California fruit growers started growing lemons to satisfy the demand of Gold Rush miners who were willing to pay high prices for lemons and oranges because they prevented scurvy.
Some people believe that bathing in grapefruit oil or inhaling its vapors will alleviate depression, resentment, and gallstones.
Kumquat means “golden orange” in Chinese. Because kumquat rinds are sweet and thin, this is the only citrus fruit that can be eaten in its entirety, skin and all.
Mongols invented lemonade in the thirteenth century.
Why do people yell “Geronimo” when they jump off something? (Especially symbolic when jumping out of an Apache aircraft.)
Geronimo was a Chiricahua Apache war chief. There is a legend that Geronimo was being pursued by the U.S. Cavalry at Medicine Bluffs, Oklahoma. His path was cut off by a steep cliff bordering a river. The only chance he had of escaping was to jump off the cliff on horseback into the river below. As he made the daring leap, he cried out his name in defiance of the troopers. Geronimo survived and escaped.
During World War II the name “Geronimo” was adopted as a battle cry of U.S. paratroopers as they jumped out of their planes. The first paratrooper unit to use the cry was the 82d Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Geronimo
was captured in 1885 but escaped with a small band of warriors. Over 5,000 soldiers and 500 Indian auxiliaries attempted to capture Geronimo’s band. After traveling 1,645 miles for over five months, the soldiers finally found Geronimo’s band, which had eluded them for so long. The band had only 35 warriors along with 8 children and 101 women. Geronimo had been outnumbered by over 150 to 1, yet managed to hold the army at bay for almost half a year.
Geronimo later escaped but was captured once again. Although President Grover Cleveland believed all the lurid newspaper stories about Geronimo’s terrible acts of evil and wanted him hanged, more sensible men prevailed and Geronimo was sent to Fort Marion, Florida. The Apaches had lived in high, dry country and could not tolerate the hot and humid climate of Florida. When Geronimo arrived in Florida, he found his comrades dying—over one hundred had died from consumption alone.
Finally, Geronimo’s old enemies, the Kiowas and Comanches, offered him a part of their reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Geronimo went to Fort Sill in 1894 and remained there as prisoner of war until his death in 1909. Although he was buried in the Apache cemetery, legend says that shortly afterward his remains were secretly stolen and buried somewhere in the Southwest. No one has ever found Geronimo’s bones.
FACTOIDS
Apache is actually a Zuni Indian word meaning “enemy.”
Of the three major groups of Apaches (Jicarilla, Mescalero, and Chiricahua), the Chiricahua were the most nomadic and warlike.