The Great Zimbabwe, or “stone buildings”, is the name given the ruins of an ancient city in the the country of Zimbabwe, which is named after it. The Great Zimbabwe and its satellite ruins extend a radius of 100 to 200 miles, a diameter almost as great as the country of France. The Great Zimbabwe was [more...]
Montana is the place where we learn that real men wear make-up and dodge rampaging bulls for a living. Montanans are a diverse mix of hard-working ranchers, trout bums, miners, artists, historians, outdoor enthusiasts, small business owners and a whole lot more. Montana is full of wonder and jammed with everything that one thinks of about [more...]
Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and the country’s largest city. The original name for Jakarta was Sunda Kelapa. The earliest record mentioning this capital city can be traced as early as the fourth century. The city was renamed “Jakarta” by the Japanese during their World War II occupation of Indonesia and the name stuck even [more...]
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan, and the country’s 10th largest city. While Islamabad is considered a “fairly young city” it still has thousands of years of history behind it, and is the site of one of the earliest human settlements in Asia. However it wasn’t till 1960 that Islamabad was “designed and built” as the [more...]
Helsinki is the capital of Finland and the country’s largest city. Helsinki was founded in 1550. It was after Russia’s victory in the Finnish War in 1809 that Helsinki was made the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Finland and has remained the capital since. Half the city seems to be water, and the geography of [more...]
Lancashire Hot Pot (or hotpot) is a simple traditional “slow food” from Lancashire in north-west England. Because it’s made in one huge pot, it’s an easy way to cater for large groups. It originated in the heyday of the Lancashire mills, probably as a way to provide a hot lunch (which Lankys confusingly call dinner) [more...]
The Calorie Restriction diet, also known as the Longevity Diet, is gaining a fair amount of attention for its potential role in promoting greater health and slowing the aging process. The intent of the Calorie Restriction diet is to eat highly nutritious foods in a caloric range which sustains health while maintaining a lower-than-average weight. Followers [more...]
The growing of ornamental grasses is becoming more popular, especially as water restrictions and drought bring their case against our water loving flower gardens. It wasn’t too long ago that many gardeners would shy from these ‘weedy’ grasses and opt for flowers and ornamental perennials. Ornamental grasses have had some bad publicity, and it’s not entirely [more...]
The state of Missouri is in the Midwest, between Kansas and Illinois. When you vacation is Missouri, you can check out internationaly known landmarks such as the St. Louis Arch, or visit other Missouri attractions such as the natural beauty of the Ozarks, the underground wonder of Missouri’s caverns, or listen to the sounds of Branson’s [more...]
For the many visitors who come each year, Mississippi is more than just part of something larger. It is more than a region or a feature on a map, Mississippi is a land unto itself. And within its borders lie many of the things visitors seek. You can find back street clubs churning out Mississippi [more...]
According to the AVMA (1), there are more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S. and nearly 82 million pet cats. Ownership A little more than 43 million households own dogs and nearly 37.5 million households own cats. The average number of dogs per household is 1.7. Cat owning households have an average of 2.2 cats. DOGS Percent of [more...]
Once UK shops have cleared out their Valentines, they stock up with Mother’s Day cards. In amongst them will be a few that wish you a Happy Mothering Sunday. It’s the Sunday about half way between Pancake Day (Mardi Gras) and Easter, and has been a day for recognising English mothers for several centuries. If you [more...]
Bull and Bear Markets refer to trends in a market, particularly the Stock Exchange, as described in detail on this Quezi article. As noted in the article, their origin is unknown and open to speculation. But can we identify when the phrases first appeared in print? Bull Market and Bear Market, as locations, were both found [more...]
Surely the most fun you can have with tomatoes is at the tomato throwing festival held each year in Buñol, Spain? Food fights don’t get much better than this! This unusual festival started in 1945 when a fight broke out during a parade and the miscreants raided a market stall for tomatoes to throw at their [more...]
Havana is the capital of Cuba and the country’s largest city. Havana was founded in 1514. Then the settlement had to be moved a number of times because of mosquitos but finally settled on the west side of Havana Bay in 1519. Much of Havava’s ‘charm’ can be found along the narrow streets lined with crumbling buildings [more...]
Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe and the country’s largest city. Harare was founded in 1890 as Fort Salisbury and later became simply known as Salisbury. It became a municipality in 1897 and a city in 1935. The name was changed to Harare in 1982 on the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence. Harare is a city of [more...]
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. The city of Hanoi is at least 5000 years old and has been the capital of Vietnam for a thousand of those years. During that history, marked by destruction, wars and natural disasters, Hanoi still preserves many of its ancient architectural wonders including over 600 pagodas and temples. The city [more...]
Guatemala City is the capital of Guatemala and the country’s largest city. In Spanish colonial times the city was a village with a monastery which was founded in 1629. However the settlement of the city far predates that. Within Guatemala city is the ancient city of Kaminaljuyu which had been settled in the first millenium BC. [more...]
There are more than 56,000 pharmacies in the United States. The NACDS reports that there are over 39,000 pharmacies operated by traditional chain pharmacy companies, supermarkets and mass merchants. In addition there are nearly 17,000 independent pharmacies. (1) Walgreens and CVS dominate the drug store chain market with the largest number of stores and the highest sales. According [more...]
Geane or Gene was once the English name for Genoa, Italy, which was known for producing a particular kind of cloth. Similar everyday fabric woven in 16th century England was named after it; at first called ‘Gene fustian’, but soon known simply as geanes or jean. (Spelling was still very variable!) In 19th century America jean [more...]