Bible and American President

Barack Obama, the 44th President of United States is the first US president to swear on the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used for his 1861 inauguration. In the US, presidents are not constitutionally required to be sworn in using a Bible, though most presidents have traditionally used one to take oath of office. It was George Washington, the first president of United States of America who began this practice. He borrowed a Bible from St. John’s Lodge No. 1. Chester A. Arthur in 1881 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, were some exceptions as they did not use a Bible. Similarly, when Kennedy was assassinated, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the job of president and took the oath of office aboard “SAM 26000”- Air Force One in 1963. Since there was no Bible in the plane, he used a Roman Catholic missal (contains religious services). The popular choice till date has been George Washington’s Bible. It has been used by Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and George W Bush. Some others like Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton have opted for personal Bibles. While Nixon used two Bibles belonging to his family, Clinton chose his grandmother’s. The Lincoln Bible, an 1853 Oxford University Press edition, will be on display at the Library of Congress from Feb 12 to May 9 as part of an exhibition for the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. No matter what the rule says, the presidents continue the tradition to finish the oath of office with the words “So help me God”.

It's Wikipeida's Day

Wikipedia turns 8 today. The free, multilingual encyclopaedia, launched in January 15, 2001, is currently the most popular general reference work on the Internet. The articles, said to be about 12 million in count has 2.6 million in English. The volunteers around the world have written collaboratively on these articles, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone who can access the Wikipedia website. They remain anonymous too. “Consequently, Wikipedia "makes no guarantee of validity" of its content.” Wikipedia.org was opened on donated bandwidth and server and its first article appeared on January 16. UuU, said to be the oldest article, contains the earliest surviving edit on the Wikipedia. When Time recognized “You” as its “Person of the Year for 2006”, the magazine listed websites like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia as media that allowed users to interact with the web by uploading and publishing their own comments, videos, pictures and links. According to studies Wikipedia is among the ten most visited websites worldwide. A good portion of the searches made on Internet is related to academic research and about 50 percent of search engine traffic to Wikipedia comes from Google. No wonder, Wikipedia’s audience have shot up to 9.5 million from 6.3 million.

New Year Facts

A very Happy New Year.... Some facts that I found informative... - January is named after the Roman god Janus (Latin word for door) who is said to have two faces that allows him to look both backwards into the old year and forward into the New Year at the same time. - The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that January 1 was to be either New Year’s Day or the first day of its numbered year. - Traditionally a religious feast, but since the 1900s New Year’s Eve, the night of December 31, has become an occasion for celebration. - In the United States, the common image used is that of Father Time (or the “Old Year”) wearing a sash across his chest with the previous year printed on it passing on his duties to the Baby New Year (or the “New Year”), an infant wearing a sash with the new year printed on it. - The New Year’s Day Parade is the biggest New Year street event annually held on January 1 in London. The parade is used to raise funds for charities. - The New Year Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra that takes place in the morning of January 1 in Vienna, Austria is broadcast around the world to an estimated audience of one billion in 44 countries. - In Sydney, Australia, the world’s largest fireworks display draws 1-1.5 million people to the harbour. - It is said that New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. Most businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3, and families typically gather to spend the days together. - Interestingly, January 1 is the World Day for Prayer for Peace.

It's X'Mas Facts

“Even before the holiday season, the 2008 recession hurt package carriers - and dearly. The U.S. Postal Service lost $2.8 billion for the year ended Sept. 30 despite $2 billion in cost-cutting measures. Total revenue was flat at $75 billion even though postal rates increased. But the volume of mail handled dropped 4.5 percent to 202.7 billion pieces, the news report said.” Yet there is no recession when it comes to interesting facts on Christmas. The Internet had many to offer, but I selected a few that I felt was, probably, less known. 1. A Christmas club, a savings account in which a person deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came into being around 1905 2. Christmas trees are edible. It is said that, many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition 3. The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas 4. Santa Claus was the world’s richest fictional character, in 2006, according to Forbe’s list of the “Forbes Fictional 15” 5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 20th century invention by the Montgomery Ward Company, operators of a chain of department stores. It was a promotional gimmick for the Christmas shoppers 6. Sixty year old James Worley with his natural white beard and big belly was mistaken for Santa Claus for years. But Disney World that he visited wanted to preserve the magic of Santa as “Santa was considered a Disney character” and so Worley was ordered to stop looking like Santa...even though it wasn’t a costume 7. Every year the US Postal Service issues US Christmas stamps. Interestingly, the theme of the stamp has often been Madonna and Child 8. Christmas Island in Indian Ocean, discovered on Christmas day in 1643, marked 50 years in 2007, since Britain detonated its first fully operational H- bomb, code-named Grapple X 9. Singing Christmas carols was banned at two major malls in Florida in 1996 as the shoppers and merchants complained that the carollers were too loud and took up too much space 10. Few modern readers realise that Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was written during a time of decline in the old Christmas traditions

Children's Day Interesting Facts

Today is Children's Day. World still has six more days to go. It is Universal Children's Day on November 20. But we chose November 14, the day that marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Independent India's first Prime Minister, in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for children. A day to celebrate childhood, Universal Children's Day was instituted world over with the sole aim to encourage countries to promote communal exchange and understanding among children, and also to bring about beneficiary action to promote the welfare of the world's children. It was in October, 1953 that world celebrated its first Children's Day under the sponsorship of International Union for Child Welfare, Geneva. Later, November 20 was chosen as Universal Children's Day. It was first proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1954, and established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and secondly to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world's children. The reason: United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and November 20 is the anniversary of that day. Also it was on November 20, 1989 that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed. Interestingly, the idea of Universal Children's Day was mooted by late Shri VK Krishna Menon (who led the Indian delegation to the UN)and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954. But the point to be noted is, every country has a Children's Day like in India. For example in Argentina, Día del Niño (or Children's Day) is celebrated on the second Sunday of August.

Interesting Facts: Diwali Special

Happy Diwali It's interesting to know that Diwali is a universal festival. From the name to the practices, celebrating Diwali differs from state to state and country to country. Yet they all have the lamp that lights to bind them into a family. 1. As the knowledge of Sanskrit diminished, the word Deepavali was popularly modified to Diwali, especially in northern India 2. It is believed that Diwali is the day Lord Shiva accepted Shakti into the left half of the form and appeared as Ardhanarishvara (half man, half-women) 3. There is a legend that Diwali commemorates the killing of Narakasura, an evil demon by Lord Krishna’s wife Sathyabhama 4. Did you know that Sikhs also celebrate Diwali to commemorate the laying of the foundation stone for the Golden Temple in 1577. It is also known as Bandi Chhorh Divas and they illuminate their gurdwaras and homes with Deewé (earthen oil lamps) or candles 5. Lord Mahavira, the last of the Jain Tirthankaras, attained nirvana on Diwali day at Pavapuri. According to Jain tradition the chief disciple of Mahavira, Ganadhar Gautam Swami, also attained complete knowledge on this very day, thus making Diwali a really special occasion for the Jains to celebrate 6. In Malaysia, Diwali is known as ‘Hari Diwali’(except in Sarawak & Federal Territory of Labuan). The festival is also celebrated in the Caribbean, especially in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Believe it or not, Diwali is a public holiday in these countries like in India 7. In Nepal, Diwali is known as Tihar and celebrated during the October/November period. Interestingly, on the fourth day Yama, the Lord of Death, is worshipped and appeased 8. Thailand celebrates Diwali under the name of Lam Kriyongh during the same time. Diyas (lamps) made of banana leaves are made and candles are placed on it along with a coin and incense 9. According to the great epic ‘Mahabharat’, it was ‘Kartik Amavashya’, the time Diwali is celebrated, when the Pandavas returned after twelve years of banishment 10. It is also said that on this very day Lord Vishnu rescued Goddess Lakshmi (and married her) from the prison of Demon king Bali and for that reason Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped on the day of Diwali 11. In Mauritius, Diwali celebration is an age-old tradition. It holds special significance for the natives, who believe that Diwali has been celebrated even long before the return of Lord Rama from 14 years of exile and his coronation as the king 12. Diwali celebrations were held in the White House in 2004, the first festival to be marked after US President George W Bush’s re-election 13. On the auspicious day of Diwali, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of Brahma-Samaj, took Samadhi 14. Kashmiri Pandits have been celebrating Diwali for ages now. It is one of their oldest rituals, and in the scripture (Nilmat Puran) Diwali was called Sukhsuptika (means to sleep with happiness) 15. One of the unique rituals that makes Diwali in Orissa different from other parts of the country is the practice of calling upon the spirits of one’s dead ancestors

Interesting Fact: August 2008

There has never been a dearth of facts... 1. Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that is less dense than water. If you could build an imaginary gigantic bathtub, Saturn would float in it says NASA 2. Basenji, smallish dog with a silky copper coat, does not bark. Instead, it yodels when it gets excited 3. Fossilised tree sap or resin must be at least 30 million years old to be recognised as Amber. Interestingly it is considered as one of the most popular gemstone in jewellery 4. The 4 minutes 33 seconds (4’33”) musical piece is famous for its no sound at all. Written by the American composer John Cage, it is a piano piece where a pianist sits at the piano and plays nothing for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds 5. One of the most important inventions in history was the rubber band-powered airplane, the planophore. French scientist Alphonse Penaud astounded everyone by flying a rubber band-powered aircraft for 131 feet. Indeed it was the first recorded flight of an inherently stable aircraft 6. Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag as theirs look like two pennants glued on top of the other 7. The most filmed story of all time is Dracula followed by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and and Oliver Twist in the second and third position 8. Libra, the Scales, is the only inanimate symbol in the zodiac signs 9. Pingu a swiss animated children’s television serial has adventures that are suitable for broadcast in any language, because the closest thing it has to a dialog is in a non-language called "Penguinese" 10. Nasturtiums have long been prized for their nutritive value. A nasturtium leaf is as high in vitamin C as a lettuce leaf

By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar, Published in SigningOff column, btw of Chitralekha Group

Interesting Fact: July 2008

It has been a great experience in reading and collecting these facts. Hope you enjoy too.

1. In the aftermath of World War II, Japanese biologist Shinya Inoue used a tin can and a discarded machine gun to build the first polarised light microscope

2. Europe’s red-barbed ants form colonies that are either entirely male or female. Believe it or not, the two sexes can never live together!

3. Half of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from microscopic life in the world’s ocean

4. A statue of Vladimir Lenin stands at the South Pole of Inaccessibility, the point on Antarctica that is furthest from the ocean

5. Policemen in Tijuana equipped themselves with slingshots in January 2007 after the Mexican government took away their guns

6. Austria has a series of postage stamps that contains real meteorite dust. The stamps issued in 2006 had the dust collected from a 19 kg meteorite found in Morocco

7. Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) from south of the Sahara in Africa is one of the most common wild bird in the world. These birds are so prolific that they are serious pests and millions are killed at roost sites every year in a vain attempt to control their numbers

8. British sailors used to be called “Limeys” because they ate citrus to prevent scurvy on long sea voyages

9. Zorro is the most filmed cartoon character and featured in 69 films. Created by Johnston McCully, he was the first comic strip character to be the subject shown in a major film, The Mark of Zorro (USA 1920).

10. Widow is the only female form in the English language that is shorter than its corresponding male term (widower)

By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar, Published in SigningOff column (April 2008), btw of Chitralekha Group

Interesting Facts

It is human nature to explore and expand in terms of wealth of knowledge. And in the process you come to know there is no dearth of matter. Click on the picture to read some such interesting facts.