Category Archives: History

Quenamari Ice Plateau

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Dear Lazyweb,

Reading New Scientist for 2nd December 2006 I came across an article about the Quenamari ice plateau in their “This Week 50 Years Ago” section:

The strange feature of this ice formation is that it exists apparently without fresh supplies of moisture in the middle of a region which is entirely free from ice and snow for most of the year despite its altitude of about 18,000 feet above sea level. No glacier feeds this ice; no high mountain peaks are near enough to snatch rain from the clouds to water it. It is unique – so glaciologists say – and its existence remains a mystery.

Problem is that when you search for what’s known about it now there’s very little information, either how it formed or even whether it still exists given the current episode of global warming that’s going on.

Anyone got any clues ?

Twinings Tea – 300 Years Old This Year

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I was making myself a nice cup of Twinings Irish Breakfast when I noticed on the side of the packet that they were founded in 1706 and have been at the same address in The Strand ever since. It also said that they had been “making tea for over 290 years”, so obviously the packaging predated 2006. 🙂

They have a (Flash based) history of Twinings and Tea and, for those who can’t stand or read Flash, there is an HTML history on their US site.

Apparently they had the Govenor of Boston as a customer in 1773, though they claim that a writer of the time (unattributed unfortunately) recorded:

“…it was not Twinings tea the Boston rebels tossed into the sea.”

Obviously they too agreed that they do make a rather nice brew. 🙂

At one stage they even had their own bank, though they eventually amalgamated with Lloyds bank in 1892.

Time Team – Archaeology by TV ?

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I was watching Time Team on the ABC where they were excavating a suspected crannog and henge monument at Loch Migdale in Scotland back in 2004 when they showed a quick bit of video of the remains of a stone causeway underwater.

Whilst watching the fly over of the rocks something caught my eye, something that looked too regular to be natural and what appeared to me to be a round circular container. I had recorded it on the DVD recorder so I grabbed a few frames to show, but whilst it can be hard to see in still images it’s a bit more obvious when you see it moving so I’ve also got an animated GIF of those put together here.

Animated GIF

Continue reading →

BBC Articles on Lebanon Conflict – History and Future

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BBC correspondent Jim Muir in Lebanon has two excellent articles on the current conflict in Lebanon – “History repeats with a vengeance” and Washington risks a wider conflict.

The second article makes a very interesting point, saying:

The Hezbollah operation of 12 July was apparently launched at least partly in support of the embattled (Sunni) Hamas in Gaza, perhaps at the prompting of their mutual supporter Iran.

So the seeds of co-operation between Sunni and Shia radical groups are already there, and – encouraged by Iran and Syria – they could start sprouting elsewhere in the region.

This, I bet, is something that Israel and its US backers would probably not have envisaged when they started on this tragedy and I fear that his thought that:

If an increasingly isolated US, with anaemic support from Britain, continues to support or even encourage Israel’s absolutist approach, the consequences could be dire both in Lebanon and in the wider region.

is probably not far off the mark.

Tonights Achievement – Stalling the German Advance into Norway

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My good friend Iain and I have been playing the 1974 Game Designer Workshop Europa wargame Narvik, based on the Norwegian Campaign where both German and Norwegian/Allied troops faced off for the first time.

The Allied player (myself in this case) is trying to fight a slow retreat up Norway, hanging on as long as possible in the hope that you can muster enough forces in the north to capture Narvik and its surrounding hexes and (for a decisive victory) hang onto at least one port south of one of the “Weather Lines” that cross the board.

Well I just managed it – though Iain had been helping as I’d not played this before. I did manage to suprise him in the last few turns of the game by sneaking a couple of small Norwegian units around to a couple of lightly defended ports down south to try and grab one in case I lost the one further up. Unfortunately one was about 2 hexes too far to reach before the end of the game and the other was an indecisive battle between equally matched units..

RIP Harriet the Tortoise, 175 years old

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The oldest known living animal, 175 year old Harriet the Tortoise has died of a heart attack following a short illness at Australia Zoo in Queensland.

Harriet the Tortoise in 2002

Whilst it was long thought that Harriet was collected by Charles Darwin on his visit to the Galapagos Islands, genetic testing has shown that although she was born prior to his visit she actually came from a population that lived on an island that Darwin didn’t visit.

Doctor Who meets Dangermouse, almost..

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This is interesting, the BBC is going to replace two episodes of missing Doctor Who video footage from the series The Invasion with animation by the award winning Cosgrove Hall company. They’ve got a 30 second teaser up at the moment.

Sounds great, but I’ve been conditioned into thinking of Cosgrove Hall doing Dangermouse and so I can’t help but think that perhaps they might introduce a new character..

Penfold: Oh crumbs Doctor, there’s them nasty Cyberwotsits again! Help! Ahhhhhhh!

🙂

Via: Sandra