News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Hanno was the Vatican elephant. He was white and given as a gift by King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X in 1514. He was a favorite and featured in many processions. He became constipated, however, and was given a laxative that killed him. It was a sad time. The great artist Raphael designed the memorial fresco and the Pope himself composed the epitaph.
Hanno is buried under the Vatican courtyard.
The seven traditional rainbow colors, as noted by Isaac Newton, are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Most of us would call his “indigo” blue and his “blue” light blue.
The word “diamond” comes from the Greek word adamas which means unbreakable. It’s the same root for adamant.
Fayette County Seven Years War —The first war that could arguably called a “world war” in that it was fought on more than four continents started in Fayette County, Pa. The instigator was George Washington. It’s known in history as the Seven Years War and ran from 1754 to 1763. OK, we know that’s nine years but they call it what they call it.
There were 114,000 Italian soldiers killed, wounded or captured during the Battle of Stalingrad.
February will not have a full moon in 2018. For what it’s worth, February is the only month that can go without having a full moon.
Yes, Indians owned black slaves. When Andrew Jackson moved the Cherokee and other tribes from Florida, Georgia Alabama and Mississippi to Oklahoma, he let them take their black slaves with them.
Every winter, at least one septillion snow crystals fall from the sky. How big is one septillion? It’s 1 followed by 24 zeros.
There was a French poet named Gerard de Nerval. We are sure you have heard of him. He had a pet lobster. He named him Thibault. He would put on a leash and take him for walks through Paris’ public gardens.
Ernst Putzi Hanfstaengl attended Harvard where he composed popular football fight songs for the school. He later went to Germany and became a Nazi. He allegedly created the “Sieg Heil” chant.