February 16, 2011

Independence Day – Lithuania

A nation has a lot of choices of when to celebrate its “birthday” or its independence. For example, the United States celebrates its independence on July 4, the date in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. Americans could celebrate on the date that the Congress voted to declare independence (July 2), the date the declaration was signed (probably August 2), the date that, years later, the British army surrendered in Yorktown (October 19), or the date almost a year later that the Treaty of Paris formally ended the Revolutionary War (September 3). I'm pretty sure we could invent a rationale to celebrate independence on some other dates as well.

Lithuania has even more choices for when to celebrate its establishment as an independent nation. A medieval version of the country was established waaaay back in the twelfth century (1100s), and the Kingdom of Lithuania was united under Mindaugas in the 1230s. Eventually the nation was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This government was dissolved when Lithuania became part of a Polish-Lithuanian union, and the Russian Empire annexed Lithuania in 1795. Lithuanians rebelled against Russia in November of 1830 and again in January of 1863, but it wasn't until Russia was weakened by World War I, in the early twentieth century (1900s), that Lithuania was able to successfully pull away and re-establish its independence.

On September 18, 1917, a conference of Lithuanians adopted a resolution to establish its independence. On September 21, 1917, a Council of Lithuania was elected to “codify” the decision—to write out a formal declaration of independence, I guess. December 11, 1917, a first draft was passed. On January 8, 1918, a second draft was approved, and on February 16 the third and final draft was passed.

Later in the twentieth century, in 1940, the Soviet Union took over Lithuania, and again Lithuanians had to wait for the power that ruled them to weaken. Lithuania was the first country to break off from the Soviet Union in 1990, formally re-establishing independence on March 11, 1990.

One would think that perhaps this latest independence date, March 11, would be celebrated today, but Lithuanians then and now argue that the February 16, 1918, Act establishing Lithuania as an independent nation never lost its legal status. Both dates are acknowledged with receptions and observances, but it is February 16 that is the official holiday.

Browse a photo gallery of Lithuania. 

I learned a lot about Lithuania from this video.  Of course, it's very much a video cheering on only the good stuff—a rah, rah propaganda video—but well done and interesting.


For more about Lithuania's fight for independence, check out this earlier post. 

February 15, 2011

National Flag of Canada Day

Today commemorates the adoption of Canada's familiar maple-leaf flag in 1965. If you live in Canada, expect to see lots of flags flying today!

It seems that a maple leaf was chosen for the national flag to represent nature and the environment. This Canadian symbol had been used in various ways since the 1700s, and the former Canadian flag was red with the British “Union Jack” design in one corner. So the modern red-and-white maple-leaf flag grew out of the symbols and colors that had long been used.

Apparently some people assume that the number of points on the leaf (11) symbolizes something—perhaps the ten provinces of Canada plus one point for the territories. However, the number of points has no symbolic meaning. The stylized maple leaf was chosen over other maple-leaf designs after wind-tunnel tests—even in brisk winds, people can see that the red object in the center of the flag is a leaf.

Do You Know...?

Let's see how many of the provinces and major cities of Canada you've heard of...

British Columbia – This is the province where the 2010 Winter Olympics were held in and around Vancouver. The capital city is a charming European-styled town called Victoria, which is on an island just off the coast of B.C.

Alberta – This province is known for beautiful Rocky Mountain vistas and wide plains and ranches. Calgary is the largest city, and Edmonton is the capital.

Quebec – This is the French-speaking province of Canada. Montreal is a skyscraper-filled city that once hosted the Olympics, and Quebec City is the charming old capital.

The province of Nova Scotia is a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Its name means “New Scotland.” The province of New Brunswick rests between French-speaking Quebec and English-speaking Nova Scotia—and, appropriately enough, it is the only bilingual province. The smallest province is Prince Edward Island, home of the fictional character Anne of Green Gables (because it is home of Anne's author, Lucy Maud Montgomery).

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is made up of the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador. It is arctic and sub-arctic, but the ocean modifies the climate, making it warmer and wetter.

The province of Ontario lies between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay. The capital of Canada, Ottawa, is located in this province, but it isn't the capital of the province. Toronto is Ontario's capital city and the largest city in Canada. If you include the greater metropolitan area that surrounds Toronto, one quarter of the people who live in the entire nation live in there!

Manitoba has over 110,000 lakes a lot of agriculture. Its capital, Winnipeg, is also its largest city. Saskatchewan is the last province of Canada. Like Alberta, it is landlocked (it doesn't touch an ocean).

The Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories are all arctic territories of Canada. There is a lot of land up there, a lot of snow and ice and forests, but not a lot of people. However, there was a time when people poured into the Yukon—during the Klondike Gold Rush. Each of these territories has multiple official languages. All of them include French and English, but Nunavut also makes Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut official languages, and the Northwest Territories includes nine different Native-American languages on the “official” list!

February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day and

the Birthday of “the Queen of Paper Bags”

For information on Valentine's Day, see last year's post. 

Margaret Knight is sometimes called “the female Edison” and is widely acknowledged as the most famous 19th-Century woman inventor. Her paper bag machine, which made flat-bottomed paper bags as opposed to the then-used envelope-type paper bags, prompted Knight to found the Eastern Paper Bag Company.

Born on this day in 1838, in Maine, Knight crafted sleds and kites for her brothers when she was just a kid and invented a injury-prevention device for textile mills when she was just 12 years old. She received 26 patents for such things as a rotary engine, a clasp for robes, a shoe-cutting machine, a window sash, and a numbering machine.

For more on Margaret Knight...

...including the story of how a man tried to steal the idea for her greatest invention, check out Famous Women Inventors. 

For Valentine's Crafts and Recipes...

...check out Kaboose,  DLTK,  and Family Education. 

February 13, 2011

Happy Birthday, Grant Wood 

An American painter painted American Gothic—which became an American icon.

Born on this day in 1891, Grant Wood may be known largely for his paintings, but he worked as an artist with printmaking, ink, charcoal, metal, wood, and found objects. He did all kinds of things that involve art skills but that aren't necessarily considered “fine art”—painting advertisements, sketching pictures for fliers, designing stained-glass windows, teaching art, and even serving in the army as a camouflage painter. He even designed corn-themed décor for a hotel!

When it came time to design Iowa's 2004 state quarter, decision makers decided to use a Grant Wood backdrop—and clearly labeled the picture “Grant Wood.”

Grant Wood talked his dentist into posing as a farmer for the painting American Gothic, and his sister Nan posed as the farmer's daughter. Many people think that the painting is a critical comment on the narrow-mindedness and repression of rural America—but Wood himself rejected that interpretation. Some people point out that it displays traditional gender roles, with the farmer holding the pitchfork and the woman wearing an apron, and some people take the painting as honoring steadfast spirit and hard work. Apparently the painting can mean many different things to many different people—and it has been parodied many, many times.

American Gothic was a big hit right away—it created a sensation at an art show, won a prize, and was purchased by the Chicago Art Institute.

Parody the American Gothic Pair

Many artists, both professional and amateur, have created their own versions of this iconic painting. Here are some kids' efforts to inspire you. 

Here and here are some parodies created by adults. (Warning: some of the pieces shown on the YouTube video featured on the latter website are political, and some are gross.)

Learn more about Grant Wood.

February 12, 2011

Darwin Day and Lincoln's Birthday

For more on these two important birthdays, see last year's post. 

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln aren't the only folks of note born on February 12. Some other birthdays include:

Christina Ricci – 1980 – actress

Judy Blume – 1938 – author

Bill Russell – 1934 – basketball legend

Anna Pavlova – 1881 – ballerina

Barnum Brown – 1873 – paleontologist

Happy Birthday, Barnum Brown!

Quick, think of a dinosaur species name!

Even more quickly, name a carnivorous dinosaur!

If you are like most people, you probably thought of Tyrannosaurus rex after one or both of those prompts. This giant, fierce-looking meat-eater is one of the most recognizable and iconic dinosaurs and is part of modern popular culture. But you probably didn't know the name of the guy who found the first T. rex skeletons...until now.

Born on this day in 1873, Barnum Brown was named after the circus promoter P.T. Barnum. He grew up to be a paleontologist—a scientist who collects and studies fossils. It was Brown who discovered the first two partial skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex, although some teeth and fragments had been found earlier. (They were not enough of a specimen to be recognized and named as a separate species.)

At the time of his discoveries, Brown was the assistant curator of the American Museum of Natural History. He found the T. rex fossils in Wyoming (in 1900) and in Montana (in 1902). Tyrannosaurus rex lived all over the western portion of North America about 67 to 65.5 million years ago.

Brown collected many, many more fossils of dinosaurs and other creatures as well. He and his team used a flatboat to float down the Red Deer River in Canada in the middle 1910s, looking for promising-looking fossil sites. I find it funny that another group of fossil hunters, the Sternberg family, tried to outdo them by hunting for fossil sites on the same stretch of river in rivalry that was apparently friendly!

How do we know what T. rex ate?

Check out the Enchanted Learning website for a lesson on dinosaur diets. 

For more on dinosaurs, try Planet Dinosaur. 

February 11, 2011

National Foundation Day – Japan

Japanese tradition states that on February 11, 660 B.C., Emperor Jimmu founded Japan. Of course, the actual date is suspect. Not only did Japan use a completely different calendar way back then, there isn't any evidence that Emperor Jimmu actually existed. (Of course, complete lack of evidence does not prove that such a man never lived!)

This holiday, called Kigensetsu, used to be a big deal and was celebrated with large parades and festivals. Emperors of Japan used the opportunity to focus attention on their own supposed ancestral tie to Jimmu and therefore their right to rule. However, the holiday was abolished in the aftermath of World War II. It was named National Foundation Day in 1966, and the “celebration” of the day is pretty quiet these days. No parades or festivals—although people do put up Japanese flags.

History and Legend

Before people kept written records of population, harvests, buying and selling, and events, important memories were kept alive through oral telling. However, as you can imagine, oral histories tended to become less and less accurate—often more and more exaggerated—through each telling. This is why modern historians are often unsure about truly old tales—are they supposed to be true, or are they fictional tales? If the former, can we find any evidence that they are in fact true? Which parts are true?

Apparently there is no evidence for the existence of the first nine emperors in the traditional Japanese account of succession, and it is not until the 29^th emperor in the 500s A.D. that we see dates that can be verified by evidence.

Like I said, Jimmu may or may not have ever existed. Some parts of his story seem certain (or almost certain) to be legendary (not true, or at least exaggerated). Jimmu was supposed to be a direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and he was supposed to have lived 126 years. Also, as he wandered the land that is now Japan, Jimmu was led by a three-legged bird. Surely most of these details, at least, are fictional.

February 10, 2011

A Riot Over a Film! – 1920

A very popular Irish song called Kathleen Mavourneen was made into a silent film. It starred Theda Bara, a hugely popular star. (Apparently she was as big as Charlie Chaplin at the time, although I've never heard of her.) Whether the film was good or not we don't know (apparently this film is “lost”—no copies known to exist anywhere), but we do know that the reception of the film was terrible.

First, people were used to seeing Theda Bara as a vamp, a beautiful and sexy woman who destroys men for fun. Her title role in Kathleen Mavourneen was a sweet little Irish girl—and apparently that was hard for many people to swallow when she was close to 40 years old and had played tons of vampish roles.

Sadly, another reason that some people didn't accept Theda Bara as the star was that she was Jewish. Apparently some Irish Catholics were upset that a Jewish actress would play an Irish Catholic role.

I know. Sad. But true.

Another complaint was that the film portrayed Irish poverty. Sources from today say that the Irish critics were being ridiculous because castles and the middle class had also been depicted, and because other silent films with actress Mary Pickford had also shown Irish poverty. (Pickford was Canadian with English and Irish ancestry, but she was called “America's Sweetheart.”)

At any rate, during the showings of Kathleen Mavourneen, people rolled stink bombs down theater aisles, protests and riots broke out, a few people were injured, and theaters incurred thousands of dollars worth of damage. A censored version was made with material cut according to the demands of two Catholic priests—but the new, censored version still caused riots. Eventually the film was pulled.

Theaters lost money, big time. The film company lost extensive amounts of money. And Theda Bara's career was pretty much over.

Protest. Censorship. Art. Bigotry.

This tale from the past seems wholly horrible, and we could shrug it off thinking that was the “bad old days.” But there are movies made today that seem objectionable to certain groups, and we still struggle with the ethical questions that this story raises. Is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ anti-Semitic? (In other words, does it encourage bigotry to Jews?) Do the Harry Potter movies encourage witchcraft—and is that a problem? Do filmmakers have a responsibility to de-glamorize smoking? Or to discourage violence? Should art that couples together religious icons and bathroom appliances be put on display? What should people who object to movies, books, or art pieces do to voice their objections? Is there ever a good reason to censor these things?

Many of those questions are difficult to answer, but some answers are simple. Obviously, there is never a good reason for rioting and violence. And bigotry is just plain old bad. Period.