Though for the day

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.

Og Mandino

Daisy Bates

Daisy Bates was an American civil rights activist, publisher and writer who played a leading role in the Little Rock integration crisis in 1957. Before that, Bates and her husband started their own newspaper in 1941 called the Arkansas State Press. The paper became a voice for civil rights even before the nationally recognized movement. Bates worked tirelessly until her death in 1999. After moving to Washington, D.C. in the 1960s, she served on the Democratic National Committee and also served in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, working her magic on anti-poverty programs. In her home state of Arkansas, it has been established that the third Monday in February is ‘George Washington’s Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day,” an official state holiday.

Betta Fish

      The betta was first discovered in Southeast Asia.  Making its home in rice paddies, drainage ditches and the warm flood plains of the region, the betta became accustomed to frequent storm flooding and devastating droughts.  The cyclic, drastic changes in its environment helped the fish to adapt - becoming a true labyrinth fish.  A labyrinth fish has the unique ability to breathe oxygen directly from the air and also take in oxygen from its gills.  As a result, bettas and other labyrinth fish can survive for short periods of time out of water and if needed, can inhale the air around them (provided they stay moist.)  This also explains why a betta can sustain itself in stagnant, oxygen-deficient water.  Although bettas can tolerate small spaces and poor water quality, they do best in small aquariums (at least two gallons) with regular water changes.  The preferred water temperature for a betta is 76-82 degrees F.

Stone Fish

The most poisonous fish in the world is the stone fish. Its sting can cause shock, paralysis, and even death if not treated within a few hours. It is a  mottled brown-greenish in color (which gives them Stone Fish camouflage) with many venomous spines along its back. It lives primarily above the tropic of Capricorn, but it main habitat is on coral reefs, near and about rocks, or can be found dormant in the mud or sand. It feeds on small fish and shrimps. The sting causes excruciating pain and a great deal of swelling rapidly develops causing death to tissues. The severity of the symptoms depends on the depth of penetration and the number of spines penetrated. The symptoms of the venom are muscle weakness, temporary paralysis and shock, which may result in death if not treated.

 Do not attempt to restrict the movement of the injected toxin.

Bathing or immersing the stung area in hot water may be effective in reducing the pain.  transport the patient to the nearest medical center. Hospitalization for intravenous narcotic analgesia, local anesthetic infiltration or regional block may be required.Definitive management consists of administration of stone fish antivenin. Indications for antivenin include severe pain,  systemic symptoms or signs of  (weakness, paralysis) and injection of a large amount of venom.

Did you know?

• The Ancient Greeks and Chinese used an optical device called the ‘camera obscura’ to project an image of the surroundings on to a screen. This invention played an important role in the development of cameras and photography.
• Although designs existed earlier, it wasn't until the 1800s that practical cameras were developed.
• The ‘Kodak’ camera was developed by George Eastman and went on sale in 1888, pioneering the use of photographic film. It was simple box camera with a single shutter speed and fixed focus lens.
• Around the year 1913, a German optical engineer named Oskar Barnack made a prototype compact camera that used 35 mm film. Named ‘Lecia’, it was put into production in 1925 after further developments.
• Reflex cameras became popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
• Single lens reflex cameras (SLR) use a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to accurately see the image that will be captured. This system uses one optical light path whereas previous cameras had two, one through the lens to the film and the other to the viewfinder.
• Polaroid cameras hit the market in 1948, allowing photographers to produce images instantly. A special chemical process was used to used to produce prints from the negatives in under a minute.
• The popularity of instant cameras took off in 1965 with the introduction of the Polaroid Model 20 Swinger, one of the top selling cameras of all time.
• Despite the technology being around in 1949, disposable cameras didn't really catch on until the 1990s when Kodak models became popular. They are cheap alternatives designed to be used once, perfect for one off events such as birthdays and vacations.
• The first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor was made in 1969 by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith. In 2009, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions which paved the way for digital photography.
• The first commercial DSLR (digital single lens reflex) was launched by Kodak in 1991.
• Photos on digital cameras are typically compressed using the JPEG standard and stored on memory cards.
• The popularity of digital cameras exploded in the 2000s as technology improved and the costs of production decreased.
• Modern digital cameras produce detailed photos made up of a huge number of pixels.
• The technology behind cameras is improving all the time with additions such as touch screens and electronic viewfinders.

Ring Pop

Ring Pop were invented by Frank Richards in 1979 as an alternative to thumb sucking, because Frank Richards' daughter was prone to thumb sucking. It is a brand of fruit flavored lollipops manufactured by Topps. They are in the form of a wearable plastic ring with a large hard candy "jewel" and come in an assortment of flavors. The flavors are berry blast, watermelon, blue raspberry, raspberry lemonade and strawberry.

Did you know?

• In 1912, toy surprises were first put into every Cracker Jack box, since then over 17 billion toys have been put into boxes (1986 estimate).
• "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," written in 1908 by Norworth and Von Tilzer contains a reference to "Cracker Jack" in the lyrics.
• The boy on the Cracker Jack box image (left) is Sailor Jack and his dog is called Bingo.
• The Sailor Jack character, and his dog Bingo, were introduced as registered trademark logos in 1919 and in use as early as 1918. They were modeled on F. W. Rueckheim’s grandson, Robert, and his dog.
• The Cracker Jack Company was sold to Borden in 1964.
• In 1997, the current manufacturers Frito-Lay purchased Cracker Jack from Borden.

Cracker Jack

A German immigrant named Frederick William Rueckheim invented Cracker Jack. Rueckheim came to Chicago in 1872 to help clean up after the famous Chicago fire. He also worked selling popcorn from a cart. Together with brother Louis, Rueckheim experimented and came up with a delightful popcorn candy, which the brothers decided to mass market. Cracker Jack was first mass-produced and sold at the first Chicago World's Fair in 1893. (The Ferris Wheel, Aunt Jemima pancakes, and the ice cream cone were also introduced at the event.)

The treat was a mixture of popcorn, molasses, and peanuts and the initial name was "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts." Legend has it that the name "Cracker Jack" came from a customer who upon trying the treat exclaimed "That really a cracker - Jack!"  and the name stuck. However, "crackerjack" was also a slang expression at that time that meant "something very pleasing or excellent" and that is more likely to have been the origin of the name. By 1896, the company devised a way to keep the popcorn kernels separate, the mixture had been difficult to handle because it tended to stick together in chunks. The wax-sealed, moisture-proof box was introduced in 1899. Immortalized in 1908 in the lyrics of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," Cracker Jack added surprises in each package in 1912.

Cotton Candy

      Cotton candy is a popular food at carnivals, amusement parks, fairgrounds or circuses. Its fibrous texture makes it unique among sugar confectioneries. Sugar confectioneries have been made for thousands of years, but the invention of cotton candy is a relatively recent event. Sweet gold rings which resembled molten glass in appearance, the predecessor to cotton candy, were developed by European chefs. They were sticky and could be made in many shapes. Cotton candy was introduced when the sugar industry advanced. The first electrical cotton candy machine was invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John C. Wharton, candy maker from Nashville and they presented cotton candy to a wide audience at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair as Fairy Floss with great success, selling 68.655 boxes at the then-high 25$, which was half of the cost of admission to the fair. They obtained a patent to protect this machine. A year later, fairy floss machines were being sold to candy stores. Since the invention of modern day cotton candy, very little has changed with regards to this device. It operated much like cotton candy machines today by heating the sugar to a liquid state and push the liquid through a screen to create the strands of sugar. There have been improvements in the design of machine and to increase reliability, because early cotton candy machines rattled and broke down constantly, but the concept remained the same. In the 1920s fairy floss was renamed to cotton candy.

     In 1900, Thomas Patton received a separate patent for his work with caramelized sugar and forming long threads of it with a fork. He later used a gas-fired rotating plate to spin the threads. In 1949, Gold Metal Products of Cincinnati, Ohio introduced a cotton candy machine with a spring base that helped tremendously. Today, it manufactures almost all cotton candy machines. Due to the lack of automated machines that could produce enough products for widespread distribution prior to the 1970s, cotton candy was only produced on a small scale. Then, in 1972, a cotton candy machine for automatic manufacture and packaging was patented. It allowed the mass production of cotton candy. Tootsie Roll of Canada Ltd., the world's largest cotton-candy manufacturer, makes a fluffy stuff, fruit-flavored version of cotton candy. Today, cotton candy is available in many different flavors including banana, raspberry, vanilla, watermelon, and chocolate. Both artificial and natural flavors may be used for the production of these flavors. The National Cotton Candy Day is a day dedicated to cotton candy in the United States which is celebrated on December 7.

Candy Cane

Around the seventeenth century, European-Christians began to adopt the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations. They made special decorations for their trees from foods like cookies and sugar-stick candy. The first historical reference to the familiar cane shape goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity services.
The clergymen's custom of handing out candy canes during Christmas services spread throughout Europe and later to America. The canes were still white, but sometimes the candy-makers would add sugar-roses to decorate the canes further. The first historical reference to the candy cane being in America goes back to 1847, when a German immigrant called August Imgard decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes.
The Stripes
About fifty years later the first red-and-white striped candy canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the stripes, but Christmas cards prior to the year 1900 showed only all-white candy canes. Christmas cards after 1900 showed illustrations of striped candy canes. Around the same time, candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavors to their candy canes and those flavors then became the traditional favorites.
Sweet Secrets of the Candy Cane
There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the humble candy cane. Many of them depict the candy cane as a secret symbol for Christianity used during the times when Christian were living under more oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a "J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament. There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts.