Every Day Is Special: May 2022

May 31 - National Reconciliation Week in Australia

Posted on May 31, 2022

This is an update of my post published on May 31, 2011:

Reconciliation

means coming together.

And, in the case of Australia's Reconciliation Week, it means working to overcome divisions and inequality between Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, on the one hand, and non-Indigenous (largely European-ancestry) Australians, on the other.

Torres Strait Islanders

According to the official website, National Reconciliation Week (May 27 to June 3) is "a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia."

Aboriginal Australians

This year, the theme of Reconciliation Week is "Be Brave. Make Change." It's about helping to "collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures."

Cooee!

Many Aboriginal words are familiar to English speakers because they have have actually been adopted into the English language. Some of the names for animals are among my favorite words in the world: dingos, kangaroos, potoroos, wombats, wallabies, koalas, and kookaburras.

Boomerangs are weapons (and toys), billabongs are small lakes or waterholes, and yabber means (as it sounds) “to talk.”

Strangely, the word didgeridoo is not an Aboriginal word, even though it names an Aboriginal musical instrument. There are a variety of Aboriginal words for the instrument, including yadaki. The word didgeridoo is of Western origin and could be onomatopoetic—in other words, copying the sound that the didgeridoo makes.

I also thought that bandicoots and emus, Australian animals, got their names from Aboriginal languages, but in actual fact bandicoot comes from Teluga (a language of India), and emu from Arabic. Of course, there are lots of Australian slang words that are not Aboriginal in origin!

Here is a famous Kookaburra song, and here is another famous Australian bush song, "Waltzing Matilda." (Warning: the latter song tells a sad story that can be upsetting to some.)

Learn about Aboriginal art and culture!

Check out last year's post.

Also on this date:

What You Think Upon Grows Day

Anniversary of the discovery of the Catacombs

Macaroon Day

World No-Tobacco Day

Armed Forces Day in Brunei

Historical anniversaries concerning explorers

Birthday of poet Walt Whitman

Anniversary of the first U.S. copyright law

Anniversary of the charting of the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Memorial Day in the U.S.A.

Castille-La Mancha Day in Spain

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

May 30 - Krypton Discovered

Posted on May 30, 2022

This is an update of my post published on May 30, 2011:

On this date in 1898, krypton was discovered.

And by krypton, I don't mean Superman's planet!

I am of course referring to the chemical element krypton, atomic number 36. One of the “inert” or noble gases, krypton doesn't react with other elements (and only rarely can scientists force it to make compounds). Can you name the other noble gases?

Scottish researcher William Ramsey had already - several years earlier, with Lord Rayleigh - discovered the noble gases helium and argon. Ramsey worked with his English student Morris Travers to search for more gases in the helium family. On this day in 1898, they boiled liquefied air until they got rid of the water, oxygen, nitrogen, helium, and argon. The residue produced a unique spectrum with bright yellow and green lines. Ramsey and Travers named this element krypton because it had been hidden—like the other noble gases, colorless, odorless, and tasteless—and kryptos is Greek for hidden.

In the next few weeks Ramsey and Travers discovered two more noble gases, neon and xenon. That means that Ramsey was responsible for discovering almost the entire column of noble gases (lacking only radon)!

So...what about Krypton the planet?

In the DC Comics universe, Krypton is a planet, the birthplace of Superman, that was tragically destroyed by a nuclear chain reaction in its core. The explosion created kryptonite, a material that is the one weakness of the otherwise invulnerable Superman.

Kryptonite is sometimes used as a metaphor for one's great weakness, just like Achilles' heel. For example, a dieter could (exaggeratedly) say, “Chocolate chip cookies are my kryptonite.”

For more on krypton and other noble gases, check out Chem 4 Kids.

Also on this date:

Loomis Day

Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago

Arbor Day in Honduras

Mother's Day in Nicaragua

Water a Flower Day

Astronomer and mathematician Georg von Peuerbach's birthday

Canary Islands Day

Parliament Day in Croatia

National Creativity Day

Anguilla Day

Anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial

Anniversary of Mount Lassen "waking up"

National Hamburger Day

(Last Monday in May)

Memorial Day in the U.S.A.

(last Monday in May)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

May 29 - First humans climb Mount Everest!

Posted on May 29 2022

This is an update of my post published on May 29, 2011:

The tallest mountain on Earth!

More than 29,000 feet high!

People have died trying to climb it!

There are some humans who see those things as challenges to be eagerly faced and mastered.

I am not that sort of human.

But New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are, and on this date in 1953, they became the first known humans to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

Anyone climbing Mount Everest has to deal with wild weather and strong winds, altitude sickness, and lack of oxygen.

Hillary and Norgay were both experienced climbers, and for most of their climb they were following routes set by others who hadn't quite made it to the top. They were part of a British expedition led by John Hunt, and they succeeded in making the summit only on their second attempt, following an unsuccessful attempt by two other team members who came close to summiting—just 300 feet away!—and who no doubt contributed to Hillary's and Norgay's success because they blazed the trail and left caches of extra oxygen.

They were the first, but definitely not the last...

About 4,000 people have climbed Mount Everest—some achieving the summit multiple times. However, more than 300 people have died in the attempt. Most corpses have been left where they fell, and some can be seen from the most-used climbing routes!

Some of the Mount Everest climbing records include:

1978 – first ascent without oxygen tanks (Messner, from Italy, and Habeler, from Austria)

1980 – first solo ascent (Messner)

1980 – first winter ascent (Zawada, Cichy, and Wielicki, from Poland)

2005 – first helicopter landing (Delsalle, from France)

2013 – oldest person (Miura, from Japan, age 80 and 224 days)

2010 – youngest person (Romero, from U.S.A., age 13)

Kami Rita Sherpa has climbed the mountain more times than anyone else, 26 times!

Find out more...

Read one modern mountaineer's story of an unsuccessful attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Everest—there are lots of cool photos, colorful insights into the people who live near this most famous mountain, and a sensible outlook about following one's dreams and knowing when to quit.