Because whoever invented it made it short. Who invented February?The Ancient Romans. Really?Yes, really. The word “February” comes from the Latin februare (meaning “to purify”) as February was the last month on the Roman calendar and contained the Roman feast of purification, Februa. So, the calendar started in march?Exactly. In fact, the names for September, October, November, and December are rooted in the Latin numbers septem (seven), octō (eight), novem (nine), and decem (ten) as they were the last of the ten months. Wait, what two months are missing?January and February. I thought february was a month.It is, but it wasn’t originally. See, the first Roman calendar had ten months loosely based on the lunar cycle, with six months of 30 days and four of 31. This worked for early Rome since the civilization was largely agrarian, with March beginning the planting season and December ending the harvesting season. The time in between was unimportant to the Roman farmer, so they didn’t bother naming it. So, where did february come from?A long process of calendar revisions. Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, created the months January and February to fill the winter, but there was a problem with the numbers. See, the Romans had a fear of even numbers. To remedy this, March, May, July, and October kept their 31 days, while January, April, June, August, September, and December went down to 29. February remained 28 to ensure there were an odd number of days in the year and became a month of purification. What happened to the 29-day months?Well, the calendar our friend Numa Pompilius came up with was still based on lunar months and only had 355 days, 10.25 days short of our solar calendar. These days started adding up, and eventually the calendar started not syncing up with growing seasons. Julius Caesar himself decided to fix this, creating a solar calendar comprised of January (31 days), February (28 days), March (31 days), April (30 days), May (31 days), June (30 days), July (31 days), August (31 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November (30 days), and December (31 days). So, why is feBruary so short?February is short because it is traditionally the time of the Roman festival of purity, which was created because of a superstition of even numbers. Curious? Here's some more information!
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Because the IOC hasn’t added it. What's the IOC?The International Olympic Committee. They are in charge of planning the Olympic Games, ensuring everything runs smoothly, and making sure the games are the best and most fair possible for all parties, among other tasks. One such task is choosing what sports are open for competition every four years. so, what does a sport need to Qualify as olympic-worthy?According to the Olympic Programme Commission, the branch of the IOC that “has responsibility of analysing the programme of sports for both the Games of the Olympiad and Olympic Winter Games,” the sports included must:
Well, is snowshoeing too expensive/complicated/unpopular?No, no, and no. The basic set up for a snowshoe race is a lot of snow and a path of some sort. This is neither complex nor expensive when considering the fact that Olympic events such as cross-country skiing require a similar setup. As for its popularity, there were about 4,029,000 snowshoers throughout the US in the winter of 2012-2013 according to a SIA/Physical Activity Council 2013 Participation Study, published by Snowsports Industries America (SIA). This number surpassed the number of cross-country skiers (3,307,000) for the second year in a row. As cross-country skiing is a popular Olympic event, it makes no sense that snowshoeing is left out for these reasons. Then, does it lack a histOry or tradition?Absolutely not. Several native groups, particularly in the snowier parts of North America have been using snowshoes for literally thousands of years. The United States Snowshoe Association offers an in-depth look at how snowshoes have evolved, along with their purpose, over this time on their website. Is there an international sNowShoeing federation?Yes, there is. The International Snowshoe Federation (ISSF) is approved by the IOC and organizes events and competitions worldwide. So, it doesn't meet the reCommendations layed out in Olympic Agenda 2020.Actually, it does. In fact, snowshoeing is one of the many events included in the winter Special Olympics, which is guided by the same recommendations. Wait, then what's the problem?Money. While the official IOC website states “The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind, in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play,” they still need to make a profit in order to keep things running smoothly. Let’s face it: even I didn’t really care about snowshoeing being snubbed until I did my research. A majority of the games that have been recently added to the Olympic Winter Games originated in the Winter X Games and are a lot more popular with the youth of the world watching at home. While more people may be running around in snowshoes, even more people sitting at home on their couches want to see Red Gerard flip through the air during the snowboard slopestyle event. So, why isn't snowshoeing an olympic sport?Snowshoeing isn’t an Olympic sport because, while it meets the necessary criteria, it falls short in viewership popularity, which is where it really counts. curious? Here's some more info!
What do you mean? An African or European swallow? I don't know!Well, there are 75 swallow species spread throughout the world. Of these species, about 37 reside in Africa, with only the West African swallow and the South African cliff swallow bearing the continent's name. On the other hand, the barn swallow is also referred to as the European swallow, so it's pretty clear where to look for data. So, which one are we going to use?Given that there have been significantly more studies on barn swallows, we're going to take a look at the European swallow. Wait, what is airspeed velocity anyway?It's “the relative velocity between some object,” or, for our purposes, between the swallow and the air. so, how do we find it?We use the Strouhal number, which can be calculated for birds as wingbeat frequency multiplied by stroke amplitude all over cruising speed. Stroke amplitude can be found using the formula bsin(theta/2), where b is wingspan, or the length of the wings, and theta is the stroke angle, or the angle between the highest and lowest wingtips. Cruising speed is the speed of the bird through the air, and therefore is the airspeed Velocity. So, to find the airspeed velocity of a barn swallow, we must know its Strouhal number, wingspan, stroke angle, and wingbeat frequency. in order to maintain airspeed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?Wrong. In fact, according to a 2002 study done on barn swallows and house martins flying in free flight and wind tunnels “Compared with other species of similar size, the swallow has quite low wingbeat frequency and relatively long wings.” The results of the study found that the wingbeat frequencies of barn swallows range from 2.5 to 8.4 times every second, not 43. For a nice estimate, we can use the median numbers of 6.95 and 7.07 beats per second. What about the other variables?Well, the wingspans of the two aforementioned swallows are 0.318 meters for Swallow 1 and 0.328 meters for Swallow 2. At this point, as a non-professional, I turned to the work of someone who really knows what they’re talking about. Professor Graham Taylor of Oxford University found the stroke angles of the two birds to be about 95 and 90 degrees, respectively. This allows us to calculate a stroke amplitude of about 0.23 meters for both birds. The last number we need is the Strouhal number. Lucky for us, Taylor found Strouhal numbers of 0.18 and 0.19, respectively for the birds. All that is left to do is to find the average airspeed velocity by adding the two resulting cruising speeds (8.89 meters per second and 8.86 meter per second) and dividing them by two. So, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?About 8.8 meters per second, or 20 miles per hour. Now, you may cross the Bridge of Death (and there was much rejoicing). curious? Here's some more info!
Um, because they’re delicious. But why can't we cook cookies and bake bacon?To answer this question, we must delve into the world of etymology. etymology?Yes, etymology. For those of you not well versed in your -ologies, it’s the study of the history and origin of words and how their meanings have changed over time. What does that have to do with cooking bacon?Ok, so the problem we seem to be having is that the verb “to bake” sounds a lot more like “bacon” than “cookie,” the opposite is true for the verb “to cook,” and yet it is grammatically incorrect to bake bacon and cook cookies. Am I right? Yes, and doN't Similar words share the same roots?Not necessarily. The word “bacon,” for instance, comes from the Old French bacon, translating to “meat from the back and sides of a hog.” However, “bake” comes from the Old English bacan, meaning “to cook by dry heat in a closed place or on a heated surface.” Although the words sound similar, one comes from an Old French word for back meat, and the other comes from an Old English word for cooking. Clearly there is very little correlation between the meanings of the words. But what about “cookies”?Well, the word “cookie” comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning “little cake.” “Cook,” on the other hand, roots itself in the Latin coquus, from coquere, meaning “to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest, turn over in the mind.” Once again, sounding similar is merely a coincidence. Ok, so whAt's the difference between “bake” and “cook”?Despite their different roots, “bake” and “cook” seem to have the same meaning. Definition wise, this is fairly true, as baking is considered a type of cooking. However, talk to a culinary expert and it’s a different story. Baking typically refers to cooking food in an oven of some sort, especially if the food is flour-based. This applies to cookies, but not so much to bacon. Furthermore, the words “cooking” and “baking” imply how the food is prepared. Baking is an exact science: directions must be followed exactly in order for the food to be a success. Cooking, on the other hand, is much more fluid. (Think Remy cooking soup in Disney's Ratatouille.) Simlarly, cookie dough must be measured carefully, being sure not to confuse baking powder with baking soda, while bacon is just thrown on a pan of some sort and doesn’t need a recipe whatsoever. so, why do we bake cookies and cook bacon?We bake cookies and cook bacon because the etymologies of the similar words are not alike, and, in the world of chefs, “baking” is used to describe the preparation of a precisely-measured, flour-based food in an oven, whereas “cooking” is used to describe preparing a food without specific guidelines on a hot surface of sorts. This post was suggested by Sabrina M. from Maryland. curious? Here's some more reading!
Well, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, a condominium is “a building or complex of buildings containing a number of individually owned apartments or houses,” while an apartment is “a suite of rooms forming one residence, typically in a building containing a number of these.” Wait, a condominium is a building of apartments?According to the definitions, yes. So, is there a difference?Well, physically, not really. They’re both a collection of small residences contained in one building. However, the main difference is in the ownership of the complex. ok, what's the difference?Apartment buildings are owned by one entity and then leased out to tenants, while condos are individually owned and are managed by a homeowners association (HOA). Is that it?Yep, pretty much. So how do the different types of ownership change the living environments?First of all, because condos are individually owned, there is more room for customization. Apartments, on the other hand, are much more “cookie cutter”. This also changes how much maintenance is provided. Apartment complexes often have staff on-call to help out in case of a leaky pipe or a broken heater. While the HOA will take care of maintaining common areas and everything outside the individual units, individuals are typically in charge of their own living space. Wait, condos sound a lot like townhouses.They are. In fact, there are only two major differences. First: townhouses are multi-leveled, meaning that townhouse owners only have to share their walls, while condo owners often have neighbors both above and below. For this reason, townhouses are generally larger then condos. Second: townhouses come with a yard, for which the owner is in charge of maintaining, not the HOA. Yay, yard work! so, what's the difference between a condo and an apartment?While condos and apartments look relatively similar, the main difference lies in how each complex is run, as condos are individually owned and therefore rely more on individuals than apartments, which are owned by a single entity. This gives condo owners more freedom, but also more work. Similarly, townhouses rely on the individual, not only to keep up the unit, but also the surrounding land. This post was suggested by Oscar W. from Rhode Island. Curious? Here's some more information!
Which carol? Let's start with rudolph.Well actually, the book came first. There's a book?Yes. Written by Robert May in 1939, the book was originally a part of an advertising campaign for Montgomery Ward. After the book became a hit, May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, created the classic carol, and Gene Autry recorded the song in 1949. The classic stop-motion film was released in 1964 as a TV special, and since has become a holiday favorite. Well, What about Frosty?Frosty's song came first and was originally recorded by Gene Autry a year after Rudolph. After this song was also a success, it too inspired an animation short by Rankin/Bass Productions. However, since Santa plays a role in the movie, the final line was changed to “I'll be back on Christmas day” as opposed to the original “I'll be back again someday”. And SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN?I think you know the answer to this one: the song. This one was also picked up by Rankin/Bass Productions and made into a short stop-motion animated classic. Wait, do they just Make movies out oF any old holiday song?Sure seems like it. They are also the masterminds behind The Little Drummer Boy and Here Come Peter Cottontail (which isn’t a Christmas movie, but it’s another traditional holiday song so I’m going with it). So, Which came first: The carol or the movie?Usually the carol, but occasionally the weird, unheard of book pops up. Either way, you can bet that it’ll be made into an animated short that's played in living rooms across the country for years to come. Curious? Here's some more information!
What kind of a question is that? The kind i want answered?Slow down, Captain Salty. To answer your question, a sandwich is “an item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or other filling between them, eaten as a light meal” according to the New Oxford American Dictionary. So, a burrito isn't a sandwich?Um, last I checked, burritos aren’t made with two pieces of bread. But neither are hoagies or subs.You do have a point. And what about Hot dogs? Where do they fall?Alright, alright! I get it; the dictionary definition is extremely ambiguous. Like, other fillings? You could put a piece of butter between two pieces of bread and it would count (although, why would you?). so, wHere can we find the answer?For more definitive answers, let’s turn to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, a 187 page document I have the pleasure of scrolling through to answer your questions about sandwiches. Not what I originally planned to do with my weekend, but any excuse not to my homework works for me. Well, what does it say a sandwich is?In order to be a sandwich, it has to “contain at least 35 percent cooked meat and no more than 50 percent bread” (p 154). Wait, so what's a pB&J? Apparently not a sandwich. They aren’t even discussed in the document. Really?Yes. Really. i don't like this.Neither do I, reader. Neither do I. What are BurrItos?“A Mexican style sandwich-like product consisting of a flour tortilla, various fillings, and at least 15 percent meat or 10 percent cooked poultry meat. The flour tortilla is rolled and may or may not have tucked ends. Fillings may contain, in addition to meat or poultry meat, such major ingredients as beans, potatoes, cheese, rice, tomatoes, and chilies” (p 22). But i thought sandwiches had to have 35 percent cooked meat.Ah, but it’s not a sandwich; it is merely “sandwich-like”. Do i even want to ask what a hot dog is?No, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. Hot dogs are listed as frankfurters in the category “Sandwiches (Meat or Poultry as Components of ‘Dinner Products’)”. In other words, according to the USDA, hot dogs, along with hamburgers and “sliced poultry meat with a bun”, are “a sandwich type product” (p 154). so, let me get this straight: a Hot dog and a burrito are both more of a sandwich than a Pb&j?According to the official USDA standards, yes. But why?That's the real question. As for why a PB&J isn’t included in the document, the USDA primarily regulates the labeling of meat, poultry, and egg products, since their mission is “[to help] rural America to thrive”. Last I checked, rural America wasn’t all peanut farms. However, to give you piece of mind, I did some more research and found a United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) document entitled “A Guide to Federal Food Labeling Requiremets for Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products”. Sounds really enticing, right? I’ll spare you the 177 pages of federal food regulations and let you know that, on page 9, the 14th page of the document, it talks about a “grilled cheese sandwich”. So, one might figure that if two pieces of bread with a slice of cheese slapped in between is a sandwich, that a PB&J more than qualifies. That makes me feel a little better, but i'm still stUck on this whole “burrito sandwich” thing.Then it’s time to delve into more government documents, which, by the way, are drier than a winter in the Arctic Basin. In one of the most famous rulings of burritos and sandwiches, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance considered the Mexican cuisine to be a sandwich in the 2011 Tax Bulletin. According to the bulletin, “sandwiches include cold and hot sandwiches of every kind that are prepared and ready to be eaten…A sandwich can be as simple as a buttered bagel or roll, or as elaborate as a six-foot, toasted submarine sandwich.” Remember the pieces of bread with a slice of butter in between I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that’s a sandwich in the great state of New York. Why ARE GOVERNMENTS LIKE THIS?Well, the first thing to recognize is that these documents are for regulatory purposes. The job of the the New York State Department of Taxation and Finanace isn’t to figure out what a sandwich is, but to define a sandwich for sales tax purposes. Similarly, the job of the USDA is to define what nutritionally qualifies as a sandwich. The true definition of a sandwich is clearly pretty subjective, and we may not have a definite answer, but what I think we can agree on is there's some sort of bread on both sides and something more substantial than just butter in between. So, WHAT IS A SANDWICH?A sandwich is a popular type of food that has bread with something filling in between it that governments have attempted to define as a means to regulate food inspections and sales taxes, when in actuality there is no clear definition. As such, I leave the debate to the comments. This post was suggested by a large and surprisingly aggressive side conversation during my Contemporary Thought/Political Issues class. Curious? Here's some more reAdiNg!
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