This time in Streets and Squares we take a look at a very unique place. Venice in Italy. Or Venezia, as they say in Italian. Situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. It is not easy to find eponymous streets in Venice, but still, there are some. And as always in Streets & Squares, clicking on the address links leads you to Google Maps, and clicking on the names to the person’s Wikipedia page. Continue reading

This time in First Names First we will concentrate on Joel/Yoel - a male given name meaning “Yahweh Is God”. A pretty popular name around the world. Joel Rinne* actor – Asikkala, Grand Duchy of Finland (1897) Joel Barr* electrical engineer/part of the Soviet Atomic Spy Ring – New York City, NY USA (1916) Joel Grey* actor/ singer/director - Cleveland, OH USA (1932) Joel Ryce-Menuhin* pianist/psychologist – Sterling, IL USA (1933) Continue reading

People conversing in sign language. Photo credit Natural American Sign Language by daveynin This time in Language Day let’s have a look at sign languages. Since many of the ways we show our emotions and reactions with different gesticulations and facial expressions are universal, one might think that there could be just one universal sign language. But that is of course not the case. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulations in combination with non-manual elements. Continue reading

Amanda Who? Check the list, and read about her! Picture courtesy of Gage Skidmore This time in “First Names First” it is all about Amanda! Follow one of the Wikipedia links to read about the person, and then see what if anything she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Or just thoughts for the day. Amanda Rylander* stage actress – Jäder, Sweden (1832) Amanda Clement* athlete/umpire/ first woman paid to umpire a baseball game – Hudson, Dakota Territory (1888) Continue reading

This time in Today inStreets & Squares we visit Denver, the capital of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver has a lot of numbered avenues, but also a lot of eponymous streets and places. The city itself is named after James W. Denver, and nicknamed the Mile High City due to its official elevation being exactly one mile above sea level. According to Wall Street of the Rockies, “many of the namesakes of Colorado streets, towns, counties and landmarks, tell stories of the Wild, Wild West days before statehood. Continue reading

Kevin Kivi - Oct 2, 2020Love your website. I noticed this page is missing Armand Assante. He is an actor. Most memorable for me is his role in Judge Dredd (1995) as Rico. He has also been in Gotti (1996) as John Gotti and American Gangster (2007) as Dominic Cattano. Oh, no Assante! Thank you for noticing that, I’ll be sure to add him in Armand Who? Please can I link this piece from you? Continue reading

This time in First Names First we will concentrate on the name Armand which is the French form of Herman. So mainly in use in the French-speaking world. Also Armando, the Italian form of the name. Only the year of birth given here. 1585-0909 Cardinal Richelieu* (b Armand Jean du Plessis) clergyman/ statesman - Paris, Kingdom of France (1642/57) Armand de Kersaint* sailor/politician - Paris, France (1742) Armand de Gramont* Count of Guiche/adventurer/one of the greatest playboys of the 17th century – France (1637) Continue reading

The Tower of Babel by an anonymous artist, the Hendrick van Cleve construction The most beautiful language in the world. And the ugliest of them all. Which languages are we talking about here would you say? A hint: the emphasis is on the word you. For whether we find a language pleasing to the ear or not is an entirely subjective matter. A lot of it has to do with what your first language is and what other, perhaps foreign, sounds you were exposed to as a child. Continue reading

Margaret at age 13 This is a series of articles titled “First Names First” and it is all for pure entertainment! Below you can see the list of first names. Your task is to pick one (with a link). Then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and then see what if anything she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Or just thoughts for the day. Continue reading

Chatham Street in Dublin This time Streets & Squares goes to Dublin, the capital and the largest city of Ireland. Situated at the river Liffley, it was founded as Dyflin (“black pool”) by the Norwegian Vikings in the year 841. Like always, clicking on an address will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. S in the list means south and N north of River Liffey. Continue reading

Another piece in our series First Names First! Pick one of the names that you see 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. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Give a couple of minutes to this for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. This time it is all about Marcus/Markus! Continue reading

light moves around 300 000 km in a second, whereas the speed of sound is only one millionth of it, around 330 meters per second? Based on that, there is a formula on how to count how far a lightning occurs once we know when the thunder occurs. And did you know that the person who invented the lightning rod was Benjamin Franklin? By the year 1750 Franklin - in addition to wanting to prove that lightning was electricity - began to think about protecting people, buildings, and other structures from lightning. Continue reading

Yes! Jesari! This time in Language Day we concentrate in one single language. There will be other times too when we do the same. Today’s language will be Finnish, and we concentrate here on the peculiar way the Finns shorten words with the ending -ri. Sometimes a pretty long word in Finnish (a language of many, many long words) gets to be shortened to a mere three syllable word which of course is the main purpose with abbreviation of words. Continue reading

Yet another piece in our series First Names First! This time about Priscilla! Not a very common name for sure, but still, below is a chronological list of some of the women born with that name. Pick one and then follow the Wikipedia link to read about these women, and see what if anything they could contribute your life with. Give a couple of minutes of your life to this. Lives lived all have something to tell us – let them! Continue reading

This is the 26th city in Streets & Squares, and today we visit Georgetown, the capital of Guyana which was a British colony called British Guiana, until 1966. Long before that, between 1667 and 1814, it was Dutch Guiana. At that time the capital was called Stabroek, but was renamed Georgetown by the British in 1812, in honour of the English monarch King George III. Georgetown sits on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first names here. Your “task” is to pick one, follow the Wikipedia link and see what if anything the person in question could contribute your life with. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us – let them! This time it’s all about the French name Pierre, also included names starting with Pierre. Continue reading

the Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York received the first part of its name from the small town that the first American multi-millonaire and the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Astor family, John Jacob Astor, was born in, in 1763? And that this grand hotel used to be two separate hotels - the Waldorf and the Astoria - built by two feuding relatives, William Waldorf Astor (opened in 1893) and John Jacob Astor IV (in 1897)? Continue reading

After a long while, here is another great quotation for you in our series Who Said That! A very practical advice that truly doesn’t discern what age and time we live in. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” Here was certainly a person who lived up to his own advice. We can see that in his life, and we can see it in his creations. Continue reading

This time in Language Day a word daily used and a product in high demand all over the world in 2020. The face mask. Or respirator. Like the one in this picture that looks pretty home-made - and is prettier that many of the more official face masks that seemed to be sold out in so many pharmacies and other stores everywhere. The picture at the bottom of the page taken end of March tells that story (EI hengityssuojia is Finnish for NO face masks). Continue reading

Another one in our series 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 she could contribute your life with. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them! This time it is all about Wendy! Not a very common name, but you might just find someone interesting here as well! Continue reading