Welcome once again to take a dive in languages - a big part in our journeys of life. Whether we actually make any journeys geographically or merely in our minds - digitally or otherwise - knowing a few languages besides your mother tongue is always a good idea. The original theme for this article was actually something entirely different, nothing to do with cartoons, but fate chose otherwise. So this time we jump into the magical world of marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants which premiered back in 1999. Continue reading

In the year 1702, France starts building Fort Louis de la Mobile which becomes for a while the capital of French Louisiana (Jan 12), Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland (Mar 8.o.s.), the first regular English-language national newspaper is published (Mar 11.o.s.), Charles XII of Sweden conquers Warsaw (May), Spanish and Apalachee Indian forces attack Creek Indians - supported by English traders - in what is now Georgia, but they fail (Oct), in Queen Anne’s War in North America, English forces besiege St. Continue reading

In the year 1820, 86 free African American colonists sail from New York City to Freetown, Sierra Leone (Feb 6), Hans Christian Ørsted discovers the relationship between electricity and magnetism (Apr), the last hanging, drawing and quartering in Britain takes place as the Cato Street conspirators meet their fate (May 1), the Argentine Confederation established a penal colony in the Falkland Islands, man’s quest in Antarctica widens - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

This time in First Names Firstit is all about Patricia! Take your pick in the list, and find some inspiring stories behind these names. Give this a couple of minutes for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! Patricia Highsmith* novelist/short story writer - Fort Worth, TX USA (1921) Patricia Neal* actress - Packard, KY USA (1926) Patricia Routledge* actress/singer - Tranmere, Cheshire, England (1929) Patricia Wettig* actress – Milford, OH USA (1951) Patricia Cornwell* crime fiction writer - Miami, FL USA (1956) Patricia Heaton* actress - Bay Village, OH USA (1958) Patricia Arquette* actress – Chicago, IL USA (1968) Updated 3. Continue reading

Yet another new series is emerging here in Journeys of Life: Ancestor Day. You do know that you can always add your ancestors here in the year files - providing harmless information concerning really nobody but you and your family, yet enriching this site at the same time? Now you also have an opportunity to write a little story of any of your ancestors. The length of these stories is something you decide yourself, as long as they remain tactful and historically as correct as possible. Continue reading

Last year I flew with my sons from Tampa, Florida to MacArthur Airport on Long Island in order to celebrate my birthday in New York City. We took the train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station on Manhattan, and as we knew that the arrival time there would be an awkward 4 am, we had decided in advance not to take in a hotel but instead just leave our luggage at the station and head for the streets of Manhattan. Continue reading

This time Streets & Squares goes to Amsterdam. the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Here is some vocabulary at first Kade, straat and weg can all be translated as streets. Furthermore, plein is square, and park is park. Like always, clicking on the addresses will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. A. J. KROPHOLLERSTRAAT - Alexander Jacobus Kropholler (1881-1973) was an architect who designed many buildings in his birth town Amsterdam as well as elsewhere. Continue reading

It has been a long time since those days in November 1978. Some of you may not even have heard about it. But it took place 40 years ago today, in Guyana, South America. The Jonestown massacre, organized by the leaders of The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, and more precisely, Jim Jones. It doesn’t really matter with what fancy name the leaders call their cults. And you can easily read about the background of this particular cult and the event since there is plenty of information available. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess or remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll down s l o w l y so you won’t reveal the name beforehand. Who said: SMILE IN THE MIRROR. DO THAT EVERY MORNING AND YOU’LL START TO SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE. Continue reading

This article is about sets of brothers who rose to fame. As actors, directors, authors, musicians, politicians, what have you. It is intriguing to look for resemblances between members of the same family - their mannerisms, voices, gaits, and of course their looks. And between members of the same gender, it can be even more intriguing. So let’s go through some well-known sets of brothers here, from the year 1441 onward! Continue reading

Here’s another one in our series Monthly Latin. This phrase is just as eternal as any other Latin phrase, and probably known by many of you. But do you know where it originates from? The history behind it is quite interesting.  Audentes fortuna iuvat meaning of course Fortune favors the bold. The phrase is from Aeneid, a Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 B. Continue reading

The contemporary people - especially those living in Asia - associate the term Singles' Day with bargain sales. It has in fact become the largest offline and online shopping day in the world, with Asians and Westerners alike spending billions of dollars on purchases from Alibaba and other online retail companies. Singles' Day already surpasses the purchases made on the more widely known Black Friday. But today especially we mean with Singles' Day rather the fact that it is 100 years today since the end of the First World War. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! Your “task” -should you accept it - is to pick one of the names below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about the 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! Once in a while it will be a non-English name. This time the Finnish name Pekka - also with the double names, which is quite typical with Finnish names. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_6008” align=“alignleft” width=“360”]Replica of the Clermont steamboat operating on the North River (now Hudson River)[/caption] In the year 1807, the United Kingdom abolishes the slave trade in its colonies (Jan 22), the Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire - slavery though remains legal until 1833 (Mar 25), the first commercial steamboat service between New York City and Albany starts operating (Aug 17), serfdom is abolished in Prussia by law (Oct 9), the Geological Society of London is founded (Oct 13) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The IPCC - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change **-**publishes its 4th assessment report, concluding that global climate change is “very likely” to have a predominantly human cause (Feb 2), Gliese 581c, a potentially Earth-like extrasolar planet habitable for life, is discovered in the constellation Libra (Apr 24), the iPhone - the first modern smartphone - is released in the United States (Jun 29), The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is adopted in the U. Continue reading

in Istanbul, Turkey, you can take your empty plastic bottles and cans to your local metro station, recycle them, place your transit card on the screen to collect the amount, and then pay all or part of your fare with that? Now that is hats off to Turkey - even if there are lots of less desirable things happening in that country. Smart environmental thinking, for we all need to get from A to B, and this is such a good method to get people to take those bottles with them instead of creating more waste. Continue reading

Welcome to another one in the series One Day in the Life of … of people from all walks of life. If we live to be 80, we have lived around 29,200 days. We get to 10,000 days at the age of 27. So there are plenty of days for all kinds of things to happen. Something spectacular. Something life-changing. Or just a pretty ordinary day that still held something very memorable. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll down s l o w l y so you won’t reveal the name beforehand. Who said: “MAYBE THIS WORLD IS ANOTHER PLANET’S HELL” A hint: This person was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature seven times, and was widely acknowledged as one of the preeminent intellectuals of his time. Continue reading

It is Halloween today folks so this topic is hot! Some of us are fans, some of us would never choose to read a book of this genre or to watch a movie based on one. We talk about horror - which actually is a pretty wide genre. The more graphic it gets, the less likely it may be that one likes it, especially the really graphic ones. The more psychological it gets, the closer it gets to thrillers. Continue reading

In the year 1310, Muhammed III, former Sultan of the Emirate of Granada, is found dead in a pool (Mar), 54 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for heresy in France (May 11), Dante publishes his Divine Comedy, the first purpose-built accommodation for students is completed in Merton College in Oxford, England - and all these fine people were born: 1310-0430 King Casimir III the Great of Poland* - Kowal, Poland (1370/60) 1310-1129 John de Mowbray 3rd* spent first 17 years imprisoned in the Tower of London/officer - Hovingham, Yorkshire, England (1361/50) 1311-xxxx Lincoln Cathedral in England becomes the world’s tallest building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza 1311-0813 Alfonso XI of Castile* - Salamanca, Spain (1350/38) 1312-0629 Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, is crowned in London In the year 1313, the Siege of Rostock ends 1313-xxxx Cola di Rienzo* politician/popular leader - Rome, Papal States (1354/c41) 1313-0209 Maria of Portugal* Queen of Castile through her marriage to Alfonso XI - Portugal (1357/43) 1313-0801 Emperor Kōgon* 光厳天皇 the first of the Emperors of Northern Court - Japan (1364/51) In the year 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake in Paris (Mar 18), King Haakon V of Norway moves his capital from Bergen to Oslo (Aug 31), () 1314-0318 The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar is burned at the stake in Paris, France In the year 1315, Louis X is crowned King of France (Aug), Pisa defeats the forces of Florence and Naples (Aug 29), (), the new French king abolishes slavery within the Kingdom of France, Cairo (capital of Mamluk Egypt) becomes the largest city of the world, and the Great Famine of 1315–1317 (killing millions of people in Europe) begins. Continue reading