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Five Nuggets of Knowledge about December
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 2:41 PM EST
Learn all about Yule logs, December independence days around the world, and why this very world may end on Dec. 21, 2012 in "Five Nuggets of Knowledge about December."
1. Let's get ready to rapture
Mark the date Dec. 21, 2012 on your appointment calendar. What do Jack Van Impe and Smashing Pumpkins have in common? A belief the date 12-21-2012 signals the world as we know it will end. Well yee-haw, rally round the survivalist groups hoarding food and supplies in anticipation of the end.
The evidence? (a) The ancient Mayan calendar portends the catastrophe. (b) The sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years (Oh my!). (c) The energy flow to the earth will be disrupted causing the sun to rise in the west.
Works for us — after all we’ve always put our faith in good old hard scientific evidence, too.
Greet the doomsday date with a sizzling rendition of R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it (And I feel fine),” from their 1987 breakout album “Document.”
Mark the date Dec. 21, 2012 on your appointment calendar. What do Jack Van Impe and Smashing Pumpkins have in common? A belief the date 12-21-2012 signals the world as we know it will end. Well yee-haw, rally round the survivalist groups hoarding food and supplies in anticipation of the end.
The evidence? (a) The ancient Mayan calendar portends the catastrophe. (b) The sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years (Oh my!). (c) The energy flow to the earth will be disrupted causing the sun to rise in the west.
Works for us — after all we’ve always put our faith in good old hard scientific evidence, too.
Greet the doomsday date with a sizzling rendition of R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it (And I feel fine),” from their 1987 breakout album “Document.”
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Source: www.december212012.com
2. Put another log on the fire
This year Dec. 21 at 8:43 p.m. marks the first day of winter when the length of time between sunrise and sunset makes this date the “shortest” of the year.
A number of early European cultures, including the Celts, believed the sun stood still for 12 days in the middle of winter. This belief led to the practice of lighting a Yule log on the night of the Winter Solstice, which was burned for 12 hours as a symbol of hope and belief that the sun would return.
In England, the tradition called for burning the Yule log for 12 days. Either way, a piece of this year’s log is saved and used to light the Yule log for the following year.
Source: www.scienceworld and www.wodlands-junior.kent.uk
3. A firecracker of a month
Independence Day in December? Well, if you are a proud and patriotic Finlander, Dec. 6 commemorates the date Finland declared its independence from the Russian empire in 1917.
Dec. 12 marks the day of Independence, Jamhuri Day, for Kenyans from the United Kingdom in 1963. Jamhuri is the Swahili word for republic.
In the sports world, Kenyans have long dominated middle- and long-distance races. In fact, more than half of the top 20 list of runners in distances from 800 meters to the marathons are Kenyans. Kenyan Samuel Kamau Wanjiru won this year’s marathon at the Beijing Olympics.
Source: www.geocities.com and www.newsfromafrica.org
4. Learning to fly
St. Nick and his reindeer aren’t the only ones to take flight in December. Humankind joined the jolly fat man in the skies on Dec. 17, 1903 when Orville Wright made the first successful 12-second power flight over a distance of 120 feet as his brother, Wilbur, watched from the ground. The brothers made three more flights on that historic day before a gust of wind flipped the flyer, mangling the machine. The fourth flight had lasted 59 seconds and covered 852 feet.
In a mere 38 years, the airplane had gone from a spectacle to marvel crowds at the turn of the century to a machine of unprecedented power when Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. The surprise attack left all eight battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet sunk or damaged, 350 aircraft destroyed or damaged, and more than 3,500 Americans killed or wounded.
A century after its advent, the airplane is still the workhorse of global transportation and war and will serve millions of travelers as they take to the skies bound for holiday vacations and family get-togethers this month.
Sources: www.first-to-fly.com and www.pearlharbor.com
5.What's your sign?
Representing peace and the possibility of renewal, the translucent white petals of the narcissus blossom are reminiscent of the fresh snowfall and if your birthday is in December, narcissus is your birth flower.
Your birthstone is blue topaz — symbolic of love and fidelity. An alternative birthstone is turquoise — considered by ancients to be a sacred stone, protective against all manner of evil and ill health.
Happy birthday Sagittarius, if your day falls by Dec. 21. According to findyourfate.com, Sagittarians are positive people. They are idealists — usually modest and often spiritual, with strong values. Sagittarians study quickly with keen minds.
If you were born Dec. 22-Jan. 19, happy birthday Capricorn. The Capricornian is generally a serious character possessing a wry sense of humor. They are resourceful, a practical manager, a careful, ambitious planner. Capricorn will often vie for a position of authority.
If you were born on Christmas Day, in addition to the most popular man born on that day, you share a birthday with Sissy Spacek, Barbara Mandrell, Jimmy Buffett, Humphrey Bogart and Sir Isaac Newton.
Sources: www.flower-choice.com, www.famousbirthdays.com and www.about-birthstones.com
2. Put another log on the fire
This year Dec. 21 at 8:43 p.m. marks the first day of winter when the length of time between sunrise and sunset makes this date the “shortest” of the year.
A number of early European cultures, including the Celts, believed the sun stood still for 12 days in the middle of winter. This belief led to the practice of lighting a Yule log on the night of the Winter Solstice, which was burned for 12 hours as a symbol of hope and belief that the sun would return.
In England, the tradition called for burning the Yule log for 12 days. Either way, a piece of this year’s log is saved and used to light the Yule log for the following year.
Source: www.scienceworld and www.wodlands-junior.kent.uk
3. A firecracker of a month
Independence Day in December? Well, if you are a proud and patriotic Finlander, Dec. 6 commemorates the date Finland declared its independence from the Russian empire in 1917.
Dec. 12 marks the day of Independence, Jamhuri Day, for Kenyans from the United Kingdom in 1963. Jamhuri is the Swahili word for republic.
In the sports world, Kenyans have long dominated middle- and long-distance races. In fact, more than half of the top 20 list of runners in distances from 800 meters to the marathons are Kenyans. Kenyan Samuel Kamau Wanjiru won this year’s marathon at the Beijing Olympics.
Source: www.geocities.com and www.newsfromafrica.org
4. Learning to fly
St. Nick and his reindeer aren’t the only ones to take flight in December. Humankind joined the jolly fat man in the skies on Dec. 17, 1903 when Orville Wright made the first successful 12-second power flight over a distance of 120 feet as his brother, Wilbur, watched from the ground. The brothers made three more flights on that historic day before a gust of wind flipped the flyer, mangling the machine. The fourth flight had lasted 59 seconds and covered 852 feet.
In a mere 38 years, the airplane had gone from a spectacle to marvel crowds at the turn of the century to a machine of unprecedented power when Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. The surprise attack left all eight battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet sunk or damaged, 350 aircraft destroyed or damaged, and more than 3,500 Americans killed or wounded.
A century after its advent, the airplane is still the workhorse of global transportation and war and will serve millions of travelers as they take to the skies bound for holiday vacations and family get-togethers this month.
Sources: www.first-to-fly.com and www.pearlharbor.com
5.What's your sign?
Representing peace and the possibility of renewal, the translucent white petals of the narcissus blossom are reminiscent of the fresh snowfall and if your birthday is in December, narcissus is your birth flower.
Your birthstone is blue topaz — symbolic of love and fidelity. An alternative birthstone is turquoise — considered by ancients to be a sacred stone, protective against all manner of evil and ill health.
Happy birthday Sagittarius, if your day falls by Dec. 21. According to findyourfate.com, Sagittarians are positive people. They are idealists — usually modest and often spiritual, with strong values. Sagittarians study quickly with keen minds.
If you were born Dec. 22-Jan. 19, happy birthday Capricorn. The Capricornian is generally a serious character possessing a wry sense of humor. They are resourceful, a practical manager, a careful, ambitious planner. Capricorn will often vie for a position of authority.
If you were born on Christmas Day, in addition to the most popular man born on that day, you share a birthday with Sissy Spacek, Barbara Mandrell, Jimmy Buffett, Humphrey Bogart and Sir Isaac Newton.
Sources: www.flower-choice.com, www.famousbirthdays.com and www.about-birthstones.com
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