In the year 1696,** Peter the Great becomes the sole tsar of Russia** (Jan 29), fleet of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire clash near the Greek island of Andros (Aug 22), a famine wipes out almost a third of the population in Finland, window tax is introduced in England, construction of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna begins - and all these fine people were born: 1696-0105 Giuseppe Galli Bibiena* Italian architect/designer - Parma (1757/61) 1696-0402 Francesca Cuzzoni* opera singer - Parma, Italy (1778/82) 1696-0611 James Francis Edward Keith* soldier/Prussian field marshal/Governor of Berlin - Inverugie Castle, Scotland (1758/62) 1696-0714 William Oldys* antiquarian/bibliographer - London, England (1761/64) 1696-0724 Benning Wentworth* governor - Portsmouth, Province of New Hampshire (1770/74) 1696-08xx Maria Tuomaantytär Västilä** (b Seppänen) mother of Jaakko Heikinpoika Renko - Seppänen farm, Hyyppä, Kauhajoki, Sweden-Finland (1779/83) 1696-0801 1696-0810 1696-0812 Maurice Greene* composer/organist - London, England (1755/59) 1696-0817 Jacob af Forselles* (b Forssell) merchant/ industrialist/mayor of Loviisa - Vehkalahti, Sweden-Finland (1768/72) 1696-0820 1696-0831 1696-1001 Simo Antinpoika Rasku* (b Seppälä) father of Valpuri Simontytär Renko - Ilmajoki, Sweden-Finland (1745/48) 1696-1010 Chen Hongmou* scholar/philosopher - Lingui, Guangxi, China (1771/74) 1696-1020 1696-1031 1696-1222 James Oglethorpe* soldier/philanthropist/founder of the colony of Georgia - Godalming, Surrey, England (1785/88) Updated 17. Continue reading

Now, let’s have a few words about that ever important word - now. So very important - and so hated by Procrastinators Ltd. It doesn’t take much energy to utter it, but oh boy what it entails! The energy you need to exude to make things happen! The courage to let go and let them happen! We say It’s now or never. Or like Golda Meir asked: If not now, when? Continue reading

This time in Streets & Squares we go to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. A city that is deemed by many to be one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in Europe. Lots of history there of course, and you can see that in the street signs as well - but it can be quite a challenge for a foreigner to recognize the names in eponymous streets. Continue reading

In the year 1798, French forces invade the Papal States and establish the (very short-lived) Roman Republic (Mar 7), the Naturalization Act of 1798 is signed into law, requiring immigrants to wait 14 years rather than five to become naturalized citizens of the United States (Jun 18), Napoleon occupies Cairo (Jul 24), conscription is made mandatory in France (Sep 5), Peasants' War against the French occupiers in Southern Netherlands begins (Oct 12), lithography is invented - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This time is First Names First" it is all about Catherine/Katherine! Pick one name, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about her, and to see what if anything she could contribute your life with. Why not give a couple of minutes of your life to this for lives lived have something worthwhile to tell us - let them! Catherine of Bologna* nun/writer/artist – Bologna, Italy (1413) Catherine of Podebrady* Queen at age 13 – Podebrady, Bohemia (1449) Catherine of Aragon* Queen of England (1509-1533) as the first wife of King Henry VIII - Alcalá de Henares, Castile, Spain (1485) Catherine Parr* Queen of England (1543-1547) as the last wife of King Henry VIII/stepmother of Elizabeth I - Blackfriars, London, England (1512) Catherine Jagiellon* wife of King John III of Sweden – Krakow, Poland (1526) Catherine I of Russia* second wife of Peter the Great/Empress of Russia (1725-1727) – Viski, Latvia, Russian Empire (1684) Catherine II of Russia* “Catherine the Great” – Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia (1729) Catherine Huggins* actress/singer/director active in New Zealand – Louth, Lincolnshire, England (1821) Catherine Deneuve* actress/model/producer – Paris, France (1943) Catherine Austin Fitts* investment adviser – Philadelphia, PA USA (1950) Catherine Zeta-Jones* actress/philanthropist - Swansea, Wales (1969) Katherine Heigl* child model/actress – Washington D. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_10400” align=“alignright” width=“293”]Photo credit Arja Mielityinen[/caption] the funny looking tree (okay, there are admittedly a lot of funny looking trees around the world) in the picture taken in Icod de Los Vinos in Teneriffe, is actually not a tree at all, but a plant? It is called Millennium Dragon Tree (El Drago Milenario in Spanish), and there are claims of it being the oldest tree on the planet. But yes, even though it looks like a tree, it is nevertheless a plant - placed in the family of Asparagaceae, though in earlier classification systems, in the family Liliaceae. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_10453” align=“alignleft” width=“235”]TGC member Peter Forsberg[/caption] To be part of a winning team in Stanley Cup, World Championship and Olympic Games in ice hockey means belonging to the Triple Gold Club. To date (May 29th, 2022) there are 30 players who have accomplished that. They have all played either offense or defense. Here follows a list of them all (11 Canadians, 9 Swedes, 7 Russians, 2 Czechs, and one Finn). Continue reading

In the year 1677, the first medical publication in America is produced (Jan 21), the Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local natives (May 29), Sweden defeats the Danes in the Battle of Landskrona (Jul 14), ice cream becomes popular in Paris - and all these fine people were born: 1677-xxxx Deborah Churchill* pickpocket and prostitute executed for being an accomplice to murder - Norfolk, England (1708/c. Continue reading

In the year 2013, a powerful meteor explodes over the city Chelyabinsk in Russia (Feb 15), Benedict XVI resigns as pope, the first to do so since 1415 (Feb 28), Boston Marathon bombing takes place (Apr 15), Citizen Hearing on Disclosure begins in Washington D.C. (Apr 29), Edward Snowden discloses U.S. government’s mass surveillance program to media (Jun 6), Chinese unmanned Chang’e 3 becomes the first spacecraft to “soft” land on the Moon since 1976 (Dec 14) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This time in First Names First it is all about Christopher/ Kristoffer! So, a chronological list of persons with their first name here - pick one, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us - let them! Christopher Columbus* explorer/navigator/colonizer – Genoa, Republic of Genoa (1451) Christopher Clavius* mathematician/ astronomer – Bamberg, Bavaria, Roman Empire (1538) Christopher Lee* actor – Belgravia, London England (1922) ChristopherPlummer* actor – Toronto, Ontario CAN (1929) Christopher Lloyd* actor – Stamford, Connecticut USA (1938) Christopher Connelly* actor – Wichita, Kansas USA (1941) Christopher Walken* actor – Queens, New York USA (1943) Christopher Mitchum* actor/screenwriter/businessman – Los Angeles, CA USA (1943) Christopher Guest* screenwriter/director – New York, NY USA (1948) Kristoffer Tabori* actor – Malibu, California USA (1952) Christopher Reeve* actor – New York, New York USA (1952) pic Christopher Lambert* actor – Great Neck, NY USA (1957) Christopher Atkins* actor – Rye, New York USA (1961) Christopher Meloni* actor – Washington D. Continue reading

Fans of the horror genre welcomed the post-apocalyptic AMC series Fear The Walking Dead back in 2015, the spin-off series of The Walking Dead. The series depicts the period slightly prior to when all started going wrong, upto the times when everything most anywhere was wrong. So if you like The Walking Dead, you’ll most probably like Fear the Walking Dead as well. With different characters, but with more or less the same predicaments. Continue reading

In the year 1791, the Big Bottom Massacre in the Ohio country takes place (Jan 2), Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man is published in London, defending i.a. the ongoing French Revolution (Mar 13), the construction of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is finished (Aug 6), Washington, D.C., is named after President George Washington (Sep 9), the world’s first Sunday newspaper, The Observer, starts being published in London (Dec 4), the first American ship enters Japan, the French Revolution goes on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

AMC’s hugely popular series The Walking Dead is now into its 9th season, and doesn’t really show any signs of fading interest among its viewers. Popular around the globe, it certainly deserves its own article here in Journeys of Life. Not for the faint-hearted as we all know. The graphic and often downright dismal nature of the series is not for everyone. Nevertheless, we present here the main cast for all the seasons - chronological à la Journeys of Life - along with some trailers. Continue reading

In the year 1796, the capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York (Feb 1), the first smallpox vaccination is administered, in England (May 14), George Washington issues his Farewell Address, setting a precedent by declining to run for a third term (Sep 17), the Spanish government, not being able to supply its overseas colonies with all needed goods, lifts the restrictions against other countries trading there – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This time in our series Who Said That! a quotation that rings true to many of us as most of us get to live a long life filled with opportunities - some grasped, some missed, and some passed: _“TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW _ YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T DO THAN BY THE ONES YOU DID DO” These things can be most anything. Encouraging your kids to be the best they can be. Continue reading

Whether you believe it or not, there is ample evidence that the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials for ages. Of course, many of us have also witnessed that, but since the mainstream media doesn’t yet deal widely with the subject, it is not “public knowledge”, but rather something that many people find something to ridicule. Yet there are hundreds of serious researchers who study these phenomena. You will see here below a list of them as well as others who can be associated with this field. Continue reading

Welcome again to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. This time we’ll go through that simple but oh so useful and such an appreciated word: Thank You! Here presented the most simple form of it in different languages, more or less corresponding to the English Thanks. The way the word is written in its own language is given after the language designation. How it is pronounced is for you to find out! Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_8756” align=“alignright” width=“337”]Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman in Stand by Me (1986)[/caption] Many of us remember with fondness the movie with the same title as that fantastic piece of music, Stand by Me (released in April, 1961). The film premiered in 1986, and kind of gave that song to a whole new generation of music lovers! The movie is a coming of age story for four teenage boys, played by Wil Wheaton (as Gordie), River Phoenix (Chris), Jerry O’Connell (Vern) and Corey Feldman (Teddy). Continue reading

This time in First Names First let’s got through women with the name Jennifer/Jenny. Your “task” – should you accept it – is to pick one of the names below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them! Jenny Lind* opera singer – Stockholm, Sweden (1820) Continue reading