It should come as no surprise to you that I like to read the BBC website. Haven't I told you that I read it all the time? No? Well, I do! I love the "Quiz of the Week", where they test you on the news from that week. It used to say, "For those who didn't have anything better to do this week than to swot up with the latest happenings", but that was dropped. Perhaps someone suggested the BBC was a news broadcaster and that phrase might not be the thing to say?
There is also a section...Ten Things We Didn't Know Last Week. I enjoy reading both of these!
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine
You all know how my mind works by now (poor you)-
so...here are my ten things:
1) The big leaf magnolia (pictured here) is native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. It has the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America.
2) The Great Smoky Mountains Park is a Unesco World Heritage Site, as is the Statue of Liberty. (I think these are the only two I have seen in the USA.) You may see a list of them here.
The park is closed just now including all the trails due to the wildfires. By the way, it is the most visited national park in the USA.
Gatlinburg, which you may have just seen in the news, is very close to the Great Smoky Mountains Park.
3) The variegated fritillary butterfly looks like this:
Euptoieta Claudia
"The flight of this butterfly is low and swift and even when resting or nectaring, is extremely difficult to approach, and because of this, its genus name is taken from the Greek work, "euptoietos" meaning "easily scared".
Richard was very lucky to get this close to take the above photo!
4) The actor who played "Potsie", Anson Williams from the TV show "Happy Days" is a cousin of the man who invented the Heimlich maneuever, Henry Heimlich.
(Anson Williams, born Anson William Heimlich.)
5) Leon Russell and David Gates (Bread) went to the same high school in Oklahoma and at one time even played in a band together.
6) The massive turnout in Chicago for the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series this year was the 7th largest gathering of people ever in history.
7) There is a statue of George Washington in front of The National Gallery in London. Since George Washington had made the statement that he never wanted to be on English soil again, tons of soil was brought in from Virginia to be placed underneath the monument to him.
8) Close to the George Washington statue, just across the street is St. Martin-In-The-Fields Church and under the portico of the church is a work of art...Christ Child Statue.
I saw this in September from the taxi as we went by and found out what it was just recently!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Child_(sculpture)
9) The sourwood tree is a lovely red in the autumn and I most certainly can identify it now!
10) The Tyburn river flows through an antiques shop in London!
Neat factoids about Potsie, George Washington and the Christ Child statue!
ReplyDeleteIt tickles me to learn certain things but not everyone gets as excited about my newly found nature knowledge!
DeleteThe BBC has a lot of news about the United States that we do not get here. I did not see this article and it is informative.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC has that on their Magazine section every week, but none of the above 10 was on there, this was my 10 things! I hope this will inspire you to look at the BBC website, it has news from all over the world!
DeleteI wish I was in Chicago when the Cubs won the World Series too. Sigh. Instead, we were in the air heading to S. Korea.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing to just see the photos of the crowd on TV, can't imagine what it would have been like to have been in that happy gathering!
DeleteKay, you really should come and play in my Pub Quiz team - we'd have the right answers to so many questions if you were there!
ReplyDeleteFunny thing, I tend to "freeze" when I am presented with a question, even if it is one that I know very well!
DeleteAnd that is especially true if it comes to winning a prize for my knowledge. :-)
Oh yes, I agree there is always something new to learn. I like your list and the pictures that go with them.
ReplyDeleteI love to say, "Oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that." And you know I say it all the time!
DeleteI didn't know about that Washington statue. It's pretty cool that we imported American soil for him. We are constantly learning. It's good to take a step back and think about what we've learned.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Washington was much admired in England, apparently. When George Washington died, the king of England ordered a period of National Mourning for a full week.
DeleteKay, Don't you love learning. I sure do. When we watch Jeopardy and I hear something I do not know...I come look it up.LOL. Needless to say...I look up a lot of stuff. LOL. Blessings, be safe. xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I look stuff up all the time. Wish computers were around when I was a kid, lucky thing I had a sweet uncle who gave us a set of encyclopedias, I had my nose in them all the time! Take care, Sue! xx
DeleteI hope you do this again, I really enjoyed it. That was interesting about George Washington
ReplyDeleteI loved that they did that and was tickled to find that out! And thanks, you should look up the 10 things on the BBC website! Honestly, I think MY 10 is more interesting! LOL!
DeleteSt Martin in the fields is a lovely church isn't it, I didn't know about Washington or this statue though! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I love that church! You will have to go and see these now and do a post about it for me! :-)
DeleteI've been to the National Gallery of Art in London and totally missed the George Washington statue! I love the bit about the soil. :)
ReplyDeleteThere is always so much to see in London! I also love the thought of them getting that soil from Virginia just for the monument to the Father of our country!
DeleteNever stop learning, it keeps your brain young!
ReplyDeleteI love to learn, I always have. People ask me if I am a teacher. No, I say, I am a LEARNER!
DeleteIt's good to learn new things...every day...and it's good to pass those learnings on! :)
ReplyDeleteMany things interest me and when I see or hear something, I will mention it, for sure!
DeleteGood to know.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Not much that is earth shaking here but I found it interesting! :-)
DeleteSome nice facts there Kay. One of the problems with the internet is all the bogus independent news channels cropping up promoting their own distorted view of the world. I still try to educate myself in subjects that interest me but every year the tidal wave of complete dross, mediocrity, misinformation and dumbed down TV gets larger and harder to sift through for the nuggets of truth. The BBC might not be perfect but you can generally believe it to be more accurate than most. A perfect example is Yahoo News which is guaranteed to lower your I Q by 30 to 60 percent over time judging by the comments pages after so called 'news reports.' And as you know I'm not that bright myself but even I shudder at the standards set and the low,low bar height to limbo under :o) It seems to be an age where we celebrate stupidity like never before.
ReplyDeleteYou should watch the American news channels! It's all about the ratings for them, so they try to outdo each other in more sensational reporting.
DeleteI tend to listen to different news channels and also to read different news sources, best to hear it and all and sort it out for yourself. The nuggets of truth are there but you might have to do some sifting.
Not that bright yourself? Tsk,tsk you read MY blog, don't you? You are BRILLIANT!
So sad about Leon. Do you know his memorial service is on you tube?
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't know about his memorial service. Thank you for telling me. It was so sad to see his hat and jacket behind the coffin. He was very well respected and loved, you could tell from the people who performed the music.
DeleteThanks again, Nan. x
I think one of the great blessings in life is the blessing of curiosity! And I wish that big leaf magnolia would life where I do, but it is not quite hardy enough......
ReplyDeleteok! I wish it would live where I do!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at a map of where the big leaf magnolia lives, you will see how lucky I am that it is near me in Georgia! We were thrilled the first time we saw it at Stone Mountain, there is so much to see in the woods there, but most people just think of it as a theme park, not the great natural wonders that are there!
DeleteI read this post a while ago but didn't comment. However another blog that I've just read reminded me that every day is a school day and that reminded me of this post so I thought I'd come back and make that comment.
ReplyDelete