Every Day Is Special: July 2016

July 31 – Upswing of the Revolution in the Republic of the Congo

Posted on July 31, 2016

Once upon a time, France ruled a chunk right in the center of Africa. During World War II, when France was being ruled by Nazi invaders, the city of Brazzaville, in what was then called Middle Congo, became the symbolic capital of Free France. After the war, Middle Congo benefitted from its central location in the France's African territories, and it slowly gained more and more self-rule. In 1960 it became an independent nation with the name the Republic of the Congo.

Since then, there have been uprisings and coups, the nation has had elected governments and military-established governments, and there was a period of time when the nation was a communist one-party state. In all of that, I'm not sure WHEN the upswing in today's holiday, Upswing of the Revolution, occurred.

Note: Do not get the Republic of the Congo mixed up with its larger neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The former is way more stable and prosperous than the latter!

The Republic of the Congo (sometimes called just Congo
or Congo - Brazzaville) is in dark blue in the map above.

Below, the Republic of the Congo appears in coral, to the
west of the much larger Democratic Republic of the
Congo, in yellow.

Here are some of the things that make the Republic of Congo special:

Many Congolese are loyal soccer fans; its the nation's most popular sport.

Of course the gorillas are special – and especially humanlike, don't you think?

The mighty Congo River is one of the largest in the world – and it has some very nice waterfalls!

And of course, natural beauty abounds in the Republic of Congo as much as anywhere else!

Also on this date:

Anniversary of the first U.S. patent

World Ranger Day

Author J. K. Rowling's birthday

Uncommon Instruments Day

Kevlar inventor Stephanie Kwolek's birthday

Hawaiian Flag Day

Plan ahead:

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July 30 – First Disney Foray into Technicolor

Posted on July 30, 2016

Before there were color motion pictures (animated or live-action), there were black-and-white motion pictures. Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse made his debut in the B&W film Steamboat Willie, in 1928.

Even after color was inserted into the movie biz, it was what is known as a “two-color additive color process.” The company was Kinemacolor. Color was achieved by photographing and projecting a black-and-white film behind alternating red and green filters.

As usual with “motion pictures,” which of course are a whole bunch of still pictures rapidly shown, our brain does the work of mixing rapidly alternating colors as well as seeing action rather than rapidly changing stills.

Still, it seems to me that a B&W film shown behind red and green filters would result in not-very brightly colored scenes. Rather muddy, in fact.

And I'd be right:

A sample scene of Kinemacolor

And then there was technicolor!

Starting in 1916 and being improved by leaps and bounds over the next few decades, Technicolor offered much brighter, more saturated colors. The later, more advanced 3-strip process required a special camera that used three separate rolls of black and white film. A beam splitter inside the camera caused the light coming through the lens to be split into two parts, and before the light hit the film, it passed through one of two filters. One B&W film strip collected light that had come through a green filter; the rest of the light passed through a magenta filter. Behind the magenta filter were the other two strips of film. The front film was a red-blind film – it recorded only blue light – and there was a coating on that film that prevented the blue light from continuing on to the last strip of film. The only light that hit that strip was the red-dominated light.

Super complicated, right?

The fact is, though, that this sort of “subtractive synthesis” resulted in brighter, more saturated colors than the additive process. And the because there were three colors (green, blue, and red) rather than just two (red and green), the full range of colors became available.

Just because this new process had been invented, it didn't mean that Hollywood would adopt it. But Walt Disney was one of the first (maybe THE first?). And on this date in 1932, Walt Disney's Silly Symphony called Flowers and Trees was released in full-color Technicolor.

Flowers and Trees was a success! People loved it, critics loved it, and Disney won his first competitive Academy Award, for Animated Short Subject. (That same year, 1932, he won an honorary Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse.

Check out Flowers and Trees.

Also on this date:

Art historian Giogio Vasari's birthday

International Day of Friendship

Independence Day in Vanuatu

Paperback Book Day

Anniversary of the invention of corn flakes

Birthday of the “Father of Television”

National Dance Day

Plan ahead:

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July 29 – Ólavsøka / National Day in the Faroe Islands

Posted on July 29, 2016

I wrote about Ólavsøka Eve in the Faroe Islands in an earlier post, but since Ólavsøka is considered by many Faroese people to be their national day, I figured I had to go on record about today's events.

The biggest part of Ólavsøka, for the Faroese, is the reopening of Parliament after their summer break. Before that happens, there is a procession and a Cantata—classical music and choir music sung by 160 choir singers from all over the Faroe Islands.

Where are the Faroe Islands?

These North Atlantic islands lie about halfway between Norway and Iceland. They are an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark. That means that the Faroese govern themselves but depend on Denmark for military defense, police force, justice system, and currency.