September 30 - Happy Birthday, William Wrigley

 Posted on September 30, 2021


This is an update of my post published on September 30, 2010:






Born on this day in 1861 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, William Wrigley became associated with two things: chewing gum and Catalina Island.


Wrigley started a company when he was only 30 years old—and at first his company only produced soap, baking powder, and similar practical products. Wrigley decided to package chewing gum with each can of baking powder as a gimmick to get people to want to buy his baking powder rather than some other brand. The gum quickly became more popular than the baking powder, so Wrigley began to produce and sell chewing gum.



Today Wrigley's sells gum to more than 180 countries and has 14 factories scattered all over the world. In 2004 the company purchased the Life Savers and Altoids businesses, and in 2008 Mars, Inc. (maker of Mars bars and much more) bought Wrigley's.





William Wrigley loved Catalina Island, which is off the coast of Southern California. He bought a lot of the island's land and began extensive building projects. He put in public utilities, a hotel, a casino, a line of steamships, and a pottery business that could employ local people. The pottery business used clay and minerals found on the island to produce tiles that Wrigley used in his building projects and also dinnerware and art pieces that could be sold to tourists.





Wrigley planned his projects to preserve much of the island's life and charm so all could enjoy it, and his son followed his footsteps and officially created the Catalina Island Conservancy.



By the way...


  • Chewing gum of one kind or another has been around since the Neolithic Age (late Stone Age). Chewing gum more than five thousand years old has been found!

    If you can believe it, this ancient 5,700-year-old
    birch pitch chewing gum had enough DNA
    trapped inside to show us what the chewer
    looked like and what she ate!



 
  • Chicle, which is a naturally-occurring latex (rubber) material, is what makes some gum chewy, but nowadays most gum is based on artificial rubber materials.

  • One of the worst problems with gum is when it isn't thrown away properly. Schools, theme parks, other public places, and even entire countries have banned chewing gum in order to get rid of the sticky-mess problem of gum that has been improperly disposed of. Don't be one of those people who ruins it for the rest of us!!!


Yick!


  • In Singapore chewing gum was illegal from 1992 to 2004, but now gum is allowed for medicinal purposes. It was the Wrigley company that engineered the partial lifting of the ban.
  • One of the ways that Wrigley promoted Catalina was offering prizes to the first man and woman who could swim from the island to the mainland. More than a hundred men and women tried, but only one man completed the swim—and therefore won $25,000. (It took the swimmer more than 15 hours to swim the channel.) No woman completed the swim and claimed the $15,000 prize, but the two women who came the closest to finishing won awards of $2,500 each.


  • The Catalina Casino is a circular-shaped Art Deco dance hall that is the equivalent of 12 stories tall. The ballroom floor is on the top floor, and the bottom floor is a theater. The Casino is almost surrounded by ocean.



Also on this date:







 Anniversary of the first tooth extraction with anesthesia





  













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September 29 - Anniversary of the Launch of Canada's First Satellite

Posted on September 29, 2021


This post is an updated version of my post published on September 29, 2010:




With the launching of Alouette I, on this date in 1962, Canada became the third nation to build a satellite that was successfully put into Earth orbit. 


(You might already know that the Soviet Union and U.S. were the first two space-faring nations.)



Alouette was launched by NASA in the U.S., but it was constructed in Canada, by Canadians.



It was designed to study the ionsphere, a region in the upper atmosphere—the region that many future satellites would be located. After the planned ten years of operation, the satellite was deliberately shut off. However, the satellite remains in orbit - it was calculated that it could remain in orbit for a THOUSAND YEARS! - and it is remotely possible that it could be turned on again someday.


By now there are a few thousand operational satellites in Earth orbit, from more than 50 countries—plus thousands of unused satellites (like Alouette I) and satellite parts. It seems to me that space is getting just a bit too crowded! Even if the volume of orbiting space is hugely greater than the amount of human-made stuff we have sent up there, a collision could be disastrous. The problem of space junk will have to be dealt with eventually.




SAT Facts


Satellites are used for observation for military and civilian (which just means everything that is NOT military) reasons. Look at a satellite image of your own house using Google Maps.  Or download Google Earth.



 

Satellites are (of course!) used for communication—that's why we have cell phones and satellite TV!




They're used for navigation and location devices such as GPS. If you have an I-Phone or a GPS, you can do geocaching, which is like a really cool scavenger hunt.



 

Satellites are used for study and prediction of weather and for other scientific research. I love looking at photos and more photos from the Hubble space telescope!




And of course some satellites are meant for humans! The largest satellite now in use is the International Space Station.



 



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September 28 - Confucius's Birthday

 Posted on September 28, 2021


This post is an updated version of my post published on September 28, 2010:




The traditional date given for Confucius's birthday is September 28, 551 BC (BCE). This great Chinese philosopher's birthday is celebrated in Taiwan as Teachers' Day, because Confucius was a master educator; on this day many Taiwanese students bring their teachers flowers, cards, or small gifts.


Confucius was brought up in poverty by his hard-working mother after his warrior father died, but he ended up being one of the most influential thinkers and philosophers in the world.


Confucius encouraged his disciples (students or followers) to think deeply for themselves rather than just follow rules. He believed in the perfectibility of individuals and society.


Confucius taught one of the earliest known versions of what is known as the Golden Rule (long before Jesus lived and taught). Confucius's version is sometimes called the Silver Rule:


Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.



In other words, “Don't do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”


Confucius taught a lot of philosophy—not just on matters of ethics, but also on politics and social organization.


Some people treat Confucianism as a religion, but others argue it is more of a life philosophy that can be combined with any or no religious tradition.





Learn more about Confucius!


Check out Kids Philosophy Slam.  It includes some great quotes, discussion questions, and further links.










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