January 18 - Winnie the Pooh Day

 Posted on January 18, 2022

This is an update of my post published on January 18, 2011:

On this day in 1882, A.A. Milne was born in London, England. We celebrate his birthday by honoring his most beloved fictional character, the bear called Winnie the Pooh.

Winnie the Pooh and other animal characters such as Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo were friends with a little boy named Christopher Robin. They had many adventures involving blustery days and honey bees and such. The inspirations for these characters were A.A. Milne's real son, Christopher Robin, and his toys.

Above, Pooh and friends as drawn by author A. A. Milne.
Below, Pooh and friends as drawn by Disney artists.

Pandemic Pooh!

• Celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day by reading one of the Winnie the Pooh books, or by watching the excellent Disney video versions of the same.

• Here is the Disney Winnie the Pooh website. 
• Here are some Pooh-inspired recipes.

• Here are some Winnie the Pooh coloring pages to print.

• Here is a delightful trailer for a Disney Pooh movie that came out an entire decade ago! (Seems like yesterday!)

Also on this date:

Birthday of sound engineer Ray Dolby

Inventor Joseph Dixon's birthday

Lima Foundation Day

Thesaurus Day

Artist OTGO's birthday

Anniversary of legal precedent for cremation in the U.K.

Anniversary of Cook's "discovery" of Hawaii

Polar Bear Jump-Off in Alaska

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:

• January holidays
• January birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in January
  
  

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• February holidays
• February birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in February
  
  
  

December 30 - Happy Birthday, John Milne

 Posted on December 30, 2021

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

Born on this day in 1850, British geologist John Milne invented the first accurate seismograph.

The earth is always shaking, quaking, moving. Any day of the year, type “earthquakes” into Google, and you will see the most recent big quakes that happened that day, or the day before, somewhere in the world. But such a search only shows the big quakes, and there are many more small shakes than large quakes!

As a matter of fact, the earth experiences several million earthquakes a year!

Many of these tremors are so small or so out-of-the-way that they are not recorded, but the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center does locate and record around 55 earthquakes worldwide EVERY DAY!

So, basically, there is 100% chance that there will be an earthquake today. Because there are many, every day. But we still cannot predict where and when BIG earthquakes hit.

People think that getting in a doorway is safe during an
earthquake, but it's better to get under a sturdy piece of
furniture like a desk or table, protect head and neck, and
HOLD ON until the shaking stops.

How do we measure the strength of an earthquake? 

A seismograph is an instrument that has a weight that can move relative to the instrument frame but is attached to the frame so that, if there is no motion, it will stay fixed relative to the frame.

The motion of the ground will move the frame, but the weight will not move because of inertia. By measuring the motion between the frame and the weight, the motion of the ground is also measured.

This short video explains how seismographs work. 

By the way, a modern seismograph is sensitive enough to sense mine explosions, falling trees, or even elk footsteps!

Learn more about earthquakes here. 

Also on this date:

Announcement of the discovery of another “island universe”

Birthday of eSport hero Dendi  

Bacon Day

Anniversary of the marriage of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin

Falling Needles Family Fest Day

Author Rudyard Kipling's birthday

Rizal Day in the Philippines

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Biologist Jerry Coyne's birthday

Anniversary of a ban on masks at balls

Republic Day in Madagascar

Freedom Day for Scientology

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:

• December holidays
• December birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in December

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• January holidays 
• January birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in January
  
  
  
  

January 18, 2011

Winnie the Pooh Day

On this day in 1882, A.A. Milne was born in London, England. We celebrate his birthday by honoring his most beloved fictional character, the bear called Winnie the Pooh.

Winnie the Pooh and other animal characters such as Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo were friends with a little boy named Christopher Robin. They had many adventures involving blustery days and honey bees and such. The inspirations for these characters were A.A. Milne's real son, Christopher Robin, and his toys.

• Celebrate by reading one of the Winnie the Pooh books, or by watching the excellent Disney video versions of the same.

• Here is a Winnie the Pooh website, which has information and games and fun-fun-fun-fun-fun (as Tigger would say). And this website has recipes as well. (I wonder if some of them feature honey?)

• Here are some Winnie the Pooh coloring pages to print.

• Here is a delightful trailer for the Disney Pooh movie that will come out this summer. (Yeah!)

December 30, 2010

Happy Birthday, John Milne

Born on this day in 1850, British geologist John Milne invented the first accurate seismograph.

The earth is always shaking, quaking, moving. Any day of the year, type “earthquakes” into Google, and you will see the most recent big quakes that happened that day, or the day before, somewhere in the world. But such a search only shows the big quakes, and there are many more small shakes than large quakes!

As a matter of fact, the earth experiences several million earthquakes a year!

Many of these tremors are so small or so out-of-the-way that they are not recorded, but the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center does locate and record 50 earthquakes worldwide EVERY DAY!

As the USGS website says, there is 100% chance that there will be an earthquake today. Because there are many, every day. 

How do we measure the strength of an earthquake? With a seismograph, an instrument that has a weight that can move relative to the instrument frame but is attached to the frame so that, if there is no motion, it will stay fixed relative to the frame.

The motion of the ground will move the frame, but the weight will not move because of inertia. By measuring the motion between the frame and the weight, the motion of the ground is also measured.

This short animation explains how seismographs work. 

By the way, a modern seismograph is sensitive enough to sense mine explosions, falling trees, or even elk footsteps!

Learn more about earthquakes here.