December once again! So it is time for little bits of information sure to enlighten.
Bits: In 1850 native Americans were counted as 400,764 population and in 1890 the Native Americans population was down to 248,253. The American frontier was declared officially closed in 1890. From the Atlantic to the Pacific Indian tribes no longer enjoyed their traditional way of life. Almost all were confined to government-run reservations.
Pieces: Clara Barton was the first female recording clerk at the U.S. Patent Office circa 1861. She found that the army was completely unprepared to care for its wounded. She began to collect medicine, food, clean clothing, blankets and other supplies. She created a supply network throughout the war which later expanded to become the American Red Cross.
Bits: Michelangelo’s six-ton, 17-foot tall symbol of divine victory “David” resides in Florence, Italy. In 1501 Michelangelo Buonarroti, a 26-year old Florentine, was commissioned to carve a large-scale work for Florence’s cathedral. And visitors today still can see the spirit in David’s eyes. Five smooth stones rest in David’s hand ready to fling stones at Goliath.
Pieces: Scientists have known when a meteor hit, just over 66 million years ago off the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, that this ended the Cretaceous period of the Earth’s history. Seventy-five percent of species of plants and animals disappeared in the mass extinction that followed, including dinosaurs. Do not concern yourself with the global warming because it is the Earth’s natural way of changings.
Bits: The Baths of Caracalla were Rome’s public baths built around 212 A.D.. The earthquake of 847 destroyed most of the buildings. Artworks recovered from the ruins include famous sculptures such as the Farnese Bull and the Farnese Hercules.
Pieces: My paternal great grandfather Johan Fridell was born June 23, 1855 in Friel, Skaraborg, Sweden. Johan wed Emma Charlotta in Illinois December 1884 after they had both arrived in the States in 1881 and 1882. They gave birth to my grandfather, Charles, who wed Mayme Smith Fredell and then had eight children, the eldest of whom was my father, Raymond. We are the product of many loving lives. The Swedes are a light-hearted group of people who know how to enjoy living.
Bits: Christopher Columbus stocked many maps and marine charts in his Cordoba bookshop. He had many books including a Latin translation of Marco Polo’s writings printed in Antwerp. His passion for books was inherited by his son, Hernando Colon. Hernando sailed with his father on his fourth and final voyage to the Americas. Hernando gave up exploration for the world of books, becoming the greatest collector of the 16th Century with a library of 15,000 volumes.
Pieces: After years of serious and intensive research, it is now believed that Arnold van den Berg, a member of the Jewish Council in Amsterdam, was the one who betrayed the Anne Frank family in hiding. Arnold died in 1950 after giving away addresses of Jews in hiding so he could remain safe and not be deported to a concentration camp. War brings out the evil men do, but also the good of people who rise to the occasion with kindness. The first causality of war is the truth.
Pieces: Do you enjoy the fragile nature of the orchid? Orchids evolved during the late Creataceous period 76 to 105 million years ago. Orchid fossils have been found older than 30 million years. The orchid family Orchidaceae embraces 26,000 species in 749 genera. Dinosaurs overlapped the orchid and became extinct 65 million years ago. The earth, this planet on which we live, has her own rhythms and times.