October 28 – Great Strides Against Polio

Posted October 28, 2017

Today is the anniversary of two important events in the history of humanity's fight against a devastating illness, polio!

 First, on this date in 1914, Jonas Salk was born in New York City. He would later discover and develop one of the first successful polio vaccines.
Second, on this date in 1956, world-famous singer Elvis Presley got a polio vaccination on television. Believe it or not, this televised vaccine is credited with raising immunization levels in the U.S. from just 0.6% of the population to 80% of the population - IN JUST SIX MONTHS!!

 Polio is a crippling and often deadly disease caused by a virus. It is infectious - it spreads from person to person. It can invade a person's brain and spinal chord, and that often results in paralysis - which means not being able to move parts of your body.
Before polio was eradicated in most of
the world, seeing lots of kids and adults
with wasted-away legs, crutches, and
wheelchairs was common.

Polio victims who could no longer breathe on
own often used an iron lung (below).
One of the most famous victims
of polio is President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. He often hid his
paralysis from sight and was rarely
publicly seen in his wheelchair.

 The disease is preventable with the polio vaccine, and most the world is pretty much polio-free, now. Experts hope that this disease will be totally gone next year!
Unfortunately, now that many diseases
are rare in developed nations, many
parents have decided without good
evidence that vaccinations are bad
for kids, that they don't work, and that
they are just a way for "Big Pharma" to
get more money.

None of that is true, and if such anti-vax
parents convince many other parents to
skip vaccinations, we may have out-
breaks of almost eradicated illnesses.

Which would be so sad!
The answer to this question is, of course,
that science as a whole and most scientists
CAN be trusted. The methods of science
are the best way humans have ever come
up with to discover what is true.

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October 27 – Flag Day in Greece

Posted October 27, 2017

The flag of Greece is one of the most stand-out flags in the world, I think. That's partly because Greece kept the color story simple - just blue and white - and partly because there is a lot going on pattern-wise - the horizontal stripes plus the simple cross in the corner.




Let's face it, just avoiding the common three-stripes / three-color (tricolor) flags makes a flag a bit of a stand out!

Usually there is a story behind the colors and patterns on a flag, and in the case of the Greek flag, the story goes something like this:
White and blue stand for the white clouds in the blue sky plus the white foam flecking the blue sea.

I always think of Greek buildings as being
white and blue, as well - although there
are other colors used in some places,
of course!
The nine stripes are said to stand for the syllables of the words "Freedom or death." I know that phrase is just four syllables long - but of course we mean the Greek translation of the phrase! And I assure you that it is nine syllables!

Έλευθερία ή Θάνατος

I'd say that you can count for yourself, but you probably don't know the Greek alphabet, nor the Greek language, so you probably want to take my word for it.

Another possible explanation for the nine stripes is that, in Ancient Greek mythology, there are nine Muses of literature, science, and arts:

Calliope - goddess of epic poetry
Clio - goddess of history
Euterpe - goddess of music, song, and lyric poetry
Erato - goddess of love poetry
Melpomene - goddess of tragedy
Polyhymnia - goddess of hymns
Terpsichore - goddess of dance
Thalia - goddess of comedy
Urania - goddess of science



The cross in the corner of the flag stands for the Eastern Orthodox Christian church.
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October 26 – St. Demetrius's Day


Posted October 26, 2017

In Bulgaria, this is not only a feast day / saint day, it is also considered a name day. All the folks named Demetrius, Dimiter, Dimitrina, Dimo, Mitra, Dragan, Drago, and Dimka can celebrate their names today!

Kids celebrating their name day often bring desserts to school, and people visit their friends who are celebrating. Feasts are laid out for invited and uninvited guests to share. Often people give presents to their loved ones on their name day.

Some of the name-day greetings are, "May you hear your name from grandchildren and great-grandchildren!" and "May you hear your name only in good things!" and "May your name be healthy and well."

St. Demetrius is said to bring winter. He rides a red horse, according to tradition, and the first snowflakes fall from his beard. (Most of the pictures of the young saint don't have a beard. I think he grew that out later in life?)

In actuality, the first snowfalls are expected shortly after this feast day, which is the reason for that tradition!

Bulgaria looks very bright-and-sunny in the summer:



But it's gorgeous in the winter, too:







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