This time in Streets and Squares let us travel to the Windy City - Chicago - in the U.S. state of Illinois. By going through the streets and squares and other places of the city, we get to know more about its history - as with all the previous cities we have visited in this article series. The river that starts from Lake Michigan and divides the city is called - well, what do you know - Chicago River (with its South and North Branches), and later with the South Branch turning into Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in this article series, taking us back exactly 1000 years. This time to June 15th in the year 1020. Troia is a city situated in the northernmost part of Apulia (shown in magenta in the map) , south of Benevento. According to legend, it was founded in the 10th century BC by the Greek hero Diomedes who had participated in the Trojan War and helped destroy the ancient Troy - a city in the northwest of Asia Minor (in today’s Turkey). 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 William. A name that has been widely used for centuries. Continue reading

How often do we get misunderstood when we try to tell our name, address, the license plate number (or rather, letter and number combination) of our car, etc? And when traveling abroad, it doesn’t help of course that each country has its own way of spelling. So here is a helpful list: spelling alphabets in different countries. The main order of all of the alphabets is as follows: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Å Ä Ö Continue reading

This is the 24th city in Streets & Squares, and today we visit Vienna, the capital of Austria. The big river Donau flows to the east of the city, and Donau channel through it. Lots of eponymous streets here and a lot of history! As always, clicking on the address links leads you to Google Maps, and clinking on the names to the person’s Wikipedia page. Don’t forget to also read about the people born in this city throughout the years. Continue reading

Bernard Baruch (1870-1965) the very same day the future president Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York, the so called Baruch Plan was proposed to the United Nations in that same city? The plan was a proposal by the United States government to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) during its first meeting. On June 14th, 1946. Written largely by Bernard Baruch but based on the Acheson–Lilienthal Report. 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 Anna/Ana! Anna Maria Garthwaite* textile designer – Harston, Leicestershire, England (1688) Continue reading

This time in Streets & Squares, the city of Vancouver! The westernmost city of Canada, named after the British Navy officer and explorer George Vancouver. 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. Many of the streets in Vancouver are named after colonial imperialists, omitting the fact that there is a lot of First Nations history in Vancouver. Continue reading

Yet another piece in our series First Names First! This time about Andrew! Below is a chronological list of some of them. Pick one name and then follow the Wikipedia link to read about these men, 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! Andrew Melville* scholar/ theologian/religious reformer – Baldovie, Scotland (1545-1622) Continue reading

This time in Language Day one simple but very current word, sadly to say - otherwise depicting something fine and majestic, rooted in history. We talk about the disease COVID-19, which is colloquially called Corona and here we go through what that word is in some languages, in its meaning as the royal headwear. It does have another meaning as well of course, as currency for some monarchies - also very current as it threatens to wreck the economy of both individuals and countries worldwide. Continue reading

Yet another piece in our series First Names First! This time about Grace! Below is a chronological list of some of them. Pick one name 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! Grace Sherwood* (b White) farmer/ midwife//convicted of witchcraft – Pungo, Colony of Virginia (1660) Continue reading

This time in Streets & Squares we won’t be dealing with any one city, but with any city in the world that is facing the serious threat of the COVID-19 virus, also known as the Corona virus. There actually is a city of Corona (crown in Spanish), or rather, several cities with that name. One in Riverside County in Southern California. There is also a town, city or community with that name in Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, South Dakota and Tennessee. Continue reading

Yet another piece in our series First Names First! This time about Gary! Below is a chronological list of some of them. Pick one name, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about the person, and see what if anything he 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! Gary Cooper* actor – Helena, MT USA (1901) Continue reading

Time for another great quote by some of the great minds of men and women who have walked here before us. About the importance of bringing forth the goodness in each and one of us, to the benefit of ourselves, our loved ones, and in the broader context, the society and the whole world. Goodness is the only investment that never fails. How many examples could we give of this? Countless! Continue reading

This time in Language Day we talk about today´s topic, the Leap Day. The 29th day of February that occurs every four years - the same year as the Summer Olympics. You can read about Leap Year and Leap Day in Wikipedia’s extensive articles. Here let’s just go through what we call this particular day in different countries and languages, and the etymology of the word itself. Did you know that people born on a leap day may be called “leaplings” or “leapers”. Continue reading

This time in First Names First we have** Susan** and the related names such as Susanne, Susanna, Suzanne and even Zuzana. 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! Susanna Hall* (B) (b Shakespeare) – Stratford-upon-Avon, England (1583) Susan B. Anthony* social reformer/ activist – Adams, MA USA (1820) Continue reading

We head in Streets & Squares this time to Athens, the capital of Greece since 1834, but in existence since times immemorial. Commonly thought be have been named after the Greek goddess Athena, yet modern scholars now generally agree that it is rather the opposite: the goddess takes her name from the city. Be it as it may, clicking on the address links leads you - as always in Streets & Squares - to Google Maps, and clicking on the names to the person’s Wikipedia page. Continue reading

This time in Monthly Latin something simple. Two words that cover all of us. Or do they? UNUS MULTORUM i.e. one of many. One in a mass. An average person. Unus (one) multorum (of many). But as we all are but one, even when we have the power of/over many, the old hierarchical idea of the little man should in all honesty give way to the ideological side of those two words. Continue reading

This time in First Names First ** Sebastian/ Sébastien! **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! Sebastian Münster* cartographer/ cosmographer – Ingelheim, Germany (1488) Sebastian Franck* German freethinker/humanist/radical reformer – Donauwörth , Swabia (1499) Sebastian de Aparicio* Spanish colonist – A Gudiña, Ourense, Spain (1502) Continue reading

Not all of us are religious or even spiritual, but we all can experience unconditional love. Love that conquers all, love that makes everything seem mellow and easy until proven otherwise. Love that builds bridges out of nowhere, and just never dies. And faith isn’t of course just a religious thing, but simply a belief that most anything is possible if one believes that it can be done, or that it can happen. Continue reading