When was Big Ben built?

Big Ben was built in 1858. It is the bell that chimes the hours in the Clock Tower of the British Houses of Parliament, London, and is so called because Sir Benjamin Hall, as the Chief Commissioner of Works, was the minister responsible for its installation.

The famous deep, resonant boom of the bell is regularly broadcast by the BBC all over the world.

The way to Big Ben is up a spiral staircase of 374 steps. The Roman numerals on the clock face are two feet high and the pendulum is 13 feet long. Big Ben itself weighs 3 1/2 tons. When the clock was installed, two men used to wind it every week. Now it is wound by electricity.

When was Gas first used in War?

Gas was perhaps first used in battle in the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens(431-404 BC) when burning pitch and sulfur were used to produce suffocating gases. But poison gas as a modern weapon was introduced in the First World War on April 22, 1915. The Germans then launched a cylinder attack with chlorine against the British and French at Ypres.

Later many varieties of war gas were introduced. In July 1917 the Germans began using mustard gas, which caused severe, slow-healing burns on the skin and damage to the lungs. Many casualties resulted from gas bombardment, but relatively few people died. Both sides were ready to use increased gas attacks when the war ended in 1918.

During the Second World War and the Korean War, gas was not used, but preparations were carried out by both sides. Perhaps the most terrifying discovery was made by the Germans. This was a new series of chemical agents called nerve gases which rapidly result in convulsions, coma and - unless promptly treated - death.

Tear gas, which causes intense smarting and watering of the eyes is used in many countries to control rioting crowds, but its effects are only temporary.

When do Sounds Hurt?

Sounds hurt the ears when they register about 130 on the decibel scale. Decibels are units for measuring the loudness of sound. They show how strong the sound waves are.

The lightest sound - perhaps that of a butterfly landing - would register about zero on the decibel scale; the noise level of a house with the television turned on would be about 50; the din in a car factory would measure 95 or more; and some amplified pop music may be near the limit where the ears would be hurt.

Sound waves are formed by millions of molecules of air bumping and vibrating against one another. Weak sound waves move the eardrum only slightly, but strong ones cause it to respond violently and, in time, may damage hearing permanently. The waves get weaker the further they travel.

The word decibel was coined by scientists in honor of Alexander Graham Bell whose interest in sound waves led to the invention of the telephone.

When did Mark Twain live?

Mark Twain was the pen-name of the American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens who was born on November 30, 1835 in the village of Florida, Missouri. He was first apprenticed to a printer and worked on newspapers in New York and Philadelphia. He became apprenticed as a steamboat pilot in 1856 and stayed with the boats until 1861 when he went to Nevada to seek a fortune in mining. In this he was successful, but he soon obtained a job as a newspaper reporter signing his articles Mark Twain. He took the name from a phrase meaning, "two fathoms deep", which he had used to report river soundings during his steamboat career.

The rest of his working life was devoted to writing. He produced books about travel, such as A Tramp Abroad and Roughing It, but he is best remembered for Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) which tell of amusing and hair-raising adventures of young boys in 1830s. The blend of romance, horror and humor in books has made them favorites with children and adults ever since. Mark Twain was still writing his autobiography when he died on April 21, 1910.

When does a Lizard shed its Tail?

A lizard is capable of shedding its tail at any time. If a lizard is attacked it may sacrifice its tail in an attempt to surprise and confuse the enemy.

When a lizard's tail is caught by an assailant or a trap, it will simply snap off and enable the reptile to escape.

Although some lizards' tails can be four times as long as the rest of their bodies, the loss in only temporary. A new tail can be grown quickly from the old stump.

When did a nuclear submarine make its first passage under the North Pole?

The first voyage under the North Pole was made from August 1 to August 5, 1958, by the United States submarine Nautilus. She crossed from Point Barrow, Alaska to the Greenland Sea, traveling 1,830 miles under the Polar ice cap and passing the geographic North Pole on August 3.

The Nautilus could maintain submerged speeds of over 20 knots almost indefinitely.

She was designed to run on direct water heat from an atomic pile. The crew were shielded so well from the pile that in a year's cruise they received less radiation than that set by the American Bureau of Standards as permissible for a single week.

Nuclear submarines are equipped with alternative electrical power for use should the reactor fail.

When was the first Pope?

Between the third and fourth Centuries, the title of Pope was bestowed on bishops other than the head of the Church and sometimes on ordinary priests. The word comes from Latin papa (from the Gree pappas) meaning father.

The title has been exclusively reserved since the 9th Century for the Bishop of Rome. From the earliest times the Bishop of Rome's claim to the supreme headship of the Roman Catholic Church has been acknowledged by all within the fold. Among his other titles are Holy Father, Vicar of Christ and Pontifex Maximus, meaning chief bridge-builder.

Roman Catholics believe that the Pope is elected as the direct successor of the St. Peter to be the visible head of the Church on earth. By virtue of his position, he is the Church's supreme governor, judge and teacher.

When were ducking stools used?

Ducking stools first came into use as a punishment for women at the beginning of the 17th Century and were used in England as late as the beginning of the 19th Century. A ducking stool was a wooden armchair fastened to the end of a long wooden beam fixed like a seesaw on the edge of a river or pond. Sometimes it was mounted on wheels so that it could be pushed through the streets.

The stool was used to punish nagging wives, witches and prostitutes. An iron band kept the victim from falling out of the chair when it was plunged under the water. It was the duty of magistrates to order the number of duckings a woman should be given.

Another type of ducking stool was a chair on two wheels with two long shafts fixed to the axles. When the stool was pushed into the pond and the shafts were released the seat was tipped up backwards, but in this case the woman was not fastened in.

When Does War Escalate?

War is said to escalate when it increases rapidly in scale or intensity. The word was added to the military vocabulary by the Americans during the Vietnam War to denote the increasing degrees of United States involvement in fighting. It has also been used by military writers to describe the development of a possible war between two powers through successive stages from the use of conventional weapons to the localized employment of atomic weapons and finally, an all-out exchange of annihilating nuclear missiles.

It is a far cry from the use of the word escalator by the American Jesse W. Reno to describe the moving staircase he invented in 1891. Both words come from the word escalada, meaning the scaling of the walls of a fortress by means of ladders. A staircase moving inevitably upwards provides a more fitting image than a scaling ladder of the horrifying expansion of which war today is capable.

When was the Ocean Floor first Mapped

The shape of the ocean floor was not accurately determined until the 1920s. Until the end of the last century mapping had depended on the accounts by sailors of rock formations and deep troughs in the ocean bed.

Recent scientific developments and new instruments and techniques have enabled maps to be drawn with greater accuracy and detail. By transmitting sound waves from ships to the sea bed, and back, it is possible to make a record of the changes in depth.

Mechanical, acoustical, and electronic instruments have pictured the ocean floor not as a vast plain but as series of mountain ranges, valleys, peaks and canyons. Some of the mountains are far higher than most of those on land and the deepest part of the ocean is much farther below sea level than the highest land mountain is above it.

When was the Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain in the Second World War began with skirmishes in June and July 1940, reached a climax in August and September and ended in the ferocity of the Blitz during the following winter. It laid the foundations for the survival of Britain and the eventual destruction of Nazi Germany.

Soon after the fall of France in the middle of June, the Germans began to prepare for a possible invasion of Britain by setting out first to destroy the Royal Air Force. There was a long series of air battles and bombardments.

The Germans seemed to have no systematic plan of action. On the other hand, Britain had developed a radar early warning system and a superb fighting aircraft, the Spitfire. Thus, although outnumbered, the British were able to defend with superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy whose fleets of bombers, the Dornier 17, the Heinkel III and the Junkers 88, proved vulnerable to attacks by Spitfires and hurricanes. The best German fighter, the Messerschmitt 109, was on a par with the Spitfire but, over England, was at the limit of its range.

After waves of attacks had failed to put the R.A.F. out of action, the Germans switched their offensive from Fighter Command airfields and installations to London and other cities, causing terrible damage. But the raiders also suffered heavy casualties. On September 15 the British destroyed 185 enemy aircraft, demonstrating to the Luftwaffe, the German airforce, that it had lost the battle. Attacks on cities with explosive and fire bombs continued but lost their impetus by the end of April 1941.

When Does a Cow Start To Give Milk?

A cow starts to give milk between the ages of two and two-and-a-half years after the birth of its first calf. For the first few days the milk is unfit for human consumption and is fed to the calf which is afterwards reared separately. During the milking or lactation period that follows the cow's yield usually reaches a maximum after four to six weeks and continues in decreasing quantities for nine to ten months.

To ensure a steady supply of milk, farmers arrange for their cows to calve every 12 months. Attention to breeding has led to steady improvements in yields. A good cow may produce up to 2,000 gallons during the lactation period.

Cows are normally milked twice a day, morning and evening. Except for the smallest herds, milking in advanced countries is usually done by machines which suck the milk from the cows' udders and transfer it to covered containers. But there are still many countries where milking is largely done by hand, in the traditional way.

When were Submarines First Used?

The first submarine which we know to have been used was built by a Dutchman, Cornelius van Drebel, in 1620. It was constructed of greased leather stretched over a wooden frame and was propelled by oars extended through the sides and sealed with tight-fitting leather flaps. Hand vices were employed to contract the sides of the vessel and reduce its volume, thus causing it to submerge. King James I of England is said to have gone for a ride in it, 12 to 15 feet below the surface of the River Thames.

But the first use of submarine as a weapon occurred during the American War of Independence. In 1776, the Turtle, a one-man wooden submarine with a screw propeller, invented by an american, David Bushnell, tried unsuccessfully to sink a British man-of-war in New York harbor.

Attempts to build an underwater craft were made as far back as the days of ancient Greece. But practical designs had to wait for the invention of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor at the end of the 19th Century. The first truly successful submarine to travel under the sea in rough water was the Argonaught, a 36-foot, cigar-shaped vessel builty by an american, Simon Lake in 1897. It was driven by a 30 horse power engine.

When was the Thermometer Invented?

The first practical thermometer or instrument for measuring temperature was invented shortly before the end of the 16th century by the famous Italian astronomer Galileo. It was an air thermometer giving only a rough indication of the degrees of heat and cold, and later he increased its efficiency by using alcohol instead of air.

The principle on which thermometers work is that the liquid or gas used for measuring expands or contracts with changes in temperature more rapidly than the glass containing it. Thus when a colored liquid is confined in a thin glass tube the difference in expansion, as shown by the level of the liquid against a graduated scale, indicates the temperature.

About 1714 the German scientist Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit designed a thermometer which, for the first time, used mercury as the measuring agent. He also introduced the scale named after him in which 32° is the freezing point of water and 212° the boiling point. Mercury is still used in most thermometers because if has a high boiling point (674°) and a low freezing point (-38°).

An alcohol thermometer, still in use in some countries was made by René de Réaumur, a French naturalist, about 1731. About 11 years later Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer used the centigrade scale for the first time, with freezing point at 0°and boiling point at 100°.

When Were Breakfast Cereals First Used?

Cereals of course, in the general sense including wheat, rice, maize (known as corn in Canada and the United States) rye, oats and barley were among the earlier plants grown by man. But packaged or processed cereals are a modern development.

Breakfast cereals owe their origin to the vegetarians of the last century and health fanatics who believed they could save souls by preaching the virtues of a non-meat diet.

Granula, which was the beginning of Grape-Nuts, was launched in 1863 by a man called James C. Jackson of Danville, New York. Henry D. Perkey brought out Shredded Wheat in 1893 and Puffed Wheat was developed by Alexander Anderson in 1902.

The religious sect, the Seventh Day Adventists, made Battle Creek, Michigan, the cereal headquarters of the world when the sect formed the Western Health Reform Institute at Battle Creek Sanatorium. John Harvey Kellogg, who was a doctor and a writer, took over control of the Sanatorium in 1876 and his advocacy of cereals helped to develop what was to become a vast new food industry. His brother, W.K. Kellogg, started a cereal producing company ni 1906.

C.W. Post was another cereal pioneer and his Postum Cereal Company formed in 1897 later developed into General Foods Corporation.

The basic idea behind packaged cereals has remained largely unchanged.

When are People Buried at Sea?

Although burials at sea are much less common than in the days of sailing ships, they still occur on occasions when people die during a voyage and the boat is still a long way from its destination. A service is held on board and the weighted coffin is lowered into the sea.

Sometimes a burial at sea is carried out in accordance with a dead person's wishes, or the ashes are scattered over the waves after a cremation.

In ancient times sea burial was often practiced as a cheap method of disposing of dead slaves, foreigners and people considered of little importance. Today some islands, where land is scarce, reserve parts of the sea near the coast as cemeteries.

Viking chiefs before the 10th Century were cremated on burning ships to symbolize a voyage to the land of the dead.

When was the first game of Mah Jongg?

Mah Jongg is probably of 19th Century Origin. It is a Western version of a Chinese game and is played with 136 to 144 pieces or tiles, similar to dominoes. These are engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honors. The object of the four players is to complete combinations or sets of these tiles.

The name Mah Jongg was coined and copyrighted by Joseph P. Babcock, a United States resident of Shanghai, who is credited with introducing the game to the West after the First World War. He wrote a modified set of rules, gave English titles to the tiles and added index letters and numerals familiar to Western card players.

His game became a craze in the United States, Britain and Australia in the mid 1920s. It was revived in 1935 bu did not regain its earlier popularity. The words Mah Jongg signify a mythical bird which appears on one of the tiles.

When Does a Chameleon change Color?

A chameleon will change color when it senses danger. This remarkable member of the lizard family can change color to match its background, or at least, to become almost unrecognizable.

The ranges of colors and patterns of the various species differ widely, but most chameleons can become yellow or cream, green, or dark brown. They can also adapt spots either dark or light depending on the color of the ground.

Apart from its response to danger, the chameleon will change color according to the light and temperature. This mechanism is controlled from the nervous system and involves the dispersion or concentration of color pigments in the creature's skin.

When do Birds Migrate?

Millions of birds of many different varieties migrate at the end of summer. With unfailing regularity they leave the regions where they were born to fly to warmer climates for the winter. The following spring they return to their breeding grounds.

Each year these migratory birds travel as much as 20,000 miles, finding their way back on time with extraordinary precision. Some travel as individuals.

Migration is triggered off by the length of daylight, which apparently affect the birds' nervous system. When the days get shorter the birds receive the signal to leave for their warmer winter grounds, and when the daylight increases to a certain level, they receive another signal to return home.

When does the male stickleback turn red?

The male stickleback's belly turns red at the start of the breeding season in spring. Normally the belly of this small fish is silver-colored, the rest of it varying from brown to green. But when the time comes for him to mate he becomes very active in attracting females with his bright new color.

In building the home and rearing the family the male stickleback performs many of the functions usually associated with a female fish. He chooses the place for the nest, collects the stems of various aquatic plants and binds them together using a threadlike web secreted from his kidney.

Once the female has been enticed into his nest, she will lay her eggs and depart, leaving him on guard. He watches over the eggs with great care and even looks after the baby fish.