Happy New year to one and all!
----------------------------------------
The following individual subject timelines have been added:
Air crashes; Artists; Baseball; Beer & Wine, CIA-FBI; Disasters; Dow Jones; Earthquakes & Nuclear Explosions; Fashion; Historians; Food; Games & Toys; Labor; Money; Philosophers; Theater; and Writers. As with all the files, the contents are by no means complete, but they have reached a size as to provide some usefulness.
----------------------------------------
New clothes: I have made an attempt to enhance the front page with a little color and re-organization. This is an ongoing effort and criticism is welcome.
----------------------------------------
Quick Topic: I created a link some time ago for users to post issues to the QuickTopic site (top front page link). Here opinions and questions can be raised for public access. I myself pretty much ignored the site and was surprised to find a lot of postings. I will check it more often and try to address user issues when I can.
----------------------------------------
The New Year brings in a new CyberSurfari game for students. My clue for this semester is as follows:
Irene Lubberwort, the sister of Prof. Makrotous Lubberwort, the one with the big ears who loves junk food, is helping her brother research that famous scientist who they say discovered gravity after an apple fell on his head. Dust off your time machine and jump back to the year 1686 and find the name of the book written by that famous scientist.
----------------------------------------
Every year about this time I have to make the decision of whether or not to continue my efforts in tracking major world events on a daily basis. I have kept this up for over 6 years now and it is not an easy task, especially with a full time job. I have decided to continue the chore for at least another year due to the particular instability of the times.
----------------------------------------
May these winds of war soon pass to yesterday
Averted by a massive berm of righteous common sense!

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]
 

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #43
Jan 15, 2003

Recent readings from "The Landscape of History" by John Lewis Gaddis pointed out to me, among other things, just how powerful the historians basic tool of narrative can be. Last week I had the honor of attending a performance by the Lithuanian Vilnius String Quartet at the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame, Ca. This event brought together an unusual number of very disparate, yet intertwined elements. Some of these elements I weave together below in timeline form. In one sense they all culminate with the concert, in another they all live on contributing more details our rich "historical landscape." Though a narrative would indeed be the best form here, the following short timeline will have to suffice for now.
I pulled out all the references here for the sake of brevity.
---------------------------
1810 Jun 8, Robert Schumann (d.1856), German composer, was born in Zwickau, Germany.
---------------------------
1827 Catherine McAuley (1787-1841), founded the sisters of mercy in Dublin, Ireland. They engaged chiefly in works of spiritual and corporal mercy.
---------------------------
1856 Jul 29, Robert Schumann (46), German composer, died. He had starved himself to death in a madhouse. The 1947 film "Song of Love" was based on the Robert and Clara Schuman. In 2000 J.D. Landis authored "Longing" a novel based on the love affair between Robert Schuman and Clara Wieck.
----------------------------
1863 Frederick Kohl was born. He later inherited a fortune from his father’s shipping business, the Alaska Commercial Co.
-----------------------------
1879 Sep 10, M.K. Ciurlionis, Lithuanian artist and composer, was born.
-----------------------------
1900 Edith Dunlop, the 1st wife of Frederick Kohl, died.
-----------------------------
1904 Frederick Kohl married singer Mary Elizabeth "Bessie" Godey of Washington D.C.
-----------------------------
1906 Sep 25, Dimitri Shostakovich (d.1975), Soviet composer who wrote 15 symphonies, was born. His work included the Violin Concerto No. 2.
-----------------------------
1911 Mar 28, M.K. Ciurlionis (b.1875), Lithuanian artist and composer, died.
-----------------------------
1912 In Burlingame Charles Frederick Kohl (d.1924) and his wife summoned John McBain to build a half-million-dollar, Tudor-styled, 42,000-sq-ft mansion on 40 acres along what later became Adeline Drive.
-----------------------------
1914 Dec 25, In Burlingame Charles Frederick Kohl and his wife Mary Elizabeth opened "The Oaks," their 63-room mansion on Adeline Drive for their 1st party. It was sold on Kohl's death to the Sisters of Mercy and became Mercy High School in 1932. The Kohl Mansion at 2750 Adeline Dr. was built in 1914-1915 for $525,000.
------------------------------
1916 Charles Frederick Kohl separated from his wife Mary Elizabeth. Frederick moved to the St. Francis Hotel in SF and Bessie travelled to Europe to sing for the troops.
------------------------------
1921 The film "Little Lord Fauntleroy" starred Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. The Burlingame, Ca., house of Charles Frederick Kohl served as Dorincourt castle.
------------------------------
1921 Charles Frederick Kohl committed suicide at the Del Monte Lodge near Monterey. His lover Marion Lauderback Lord inherited his Burlingame house and much of his estate.
------------------------------
1923 The film "Half Dollar Bill" starred William Carleton and Anna Nilsson. It was shot in part at the Victorian home of Capt. William Kohl in San Mateo, Ca. The home became San Mateo Junior College later the same year.
------------------------------
1924 Feb, The Sisters of Mercy moved into the Kohl mansion in Burlingame, recently purchased for $230,000 from Marion Lauderback Lord.
------------------------------
1931 The Sisters of Mercy moved out of the Kohl mansion in Burlingame to newly built facilities. The mansion became Mercy High School.
------------------------------
1975 Dimitri Shostakovich (b.1906), Soviet composer who wrote 15 symphonies, died. His work included the Violin Concerto No. 2. Symphony No. 13, "Babi Yar," was written to commemorate the massacre of Jews during WW II, and premiered in the US in 1970. Symphony No. 12, "The Year 1917," was dedicated to the memory of Lenin.
------------------------------
1982 Mercy High School introduced a concert series in the great hall of the Kohl Mansion.
------------------------------
2002 John Lewis Gaddis authored "The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past."
-----------------------------
2003 Jan 12, The Vilnius String Quartet performed a concert at the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame, Ca. The program included the music of MK Ciurlionis (1875-1911), D. Shostokovich (1906-1975), and R. Schumann (1810-1856).
(KMB, 2003)
-----------------------------
I am looking to find a few people to submit short contributions to these newsletters. If you would like to make a contribution, please let me know.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #44
Feb 1, 2003

In the early 1960s I was fortunate to get a small summer job in an immunology research laboratory at Children’s Hospital in Detroit. The work there focused on identifying and studying various disease related proteins. It was led by Dr. M. Poulik, a recent arrival from Czechoslovakia, who also got me the job. One of the principal techniques used there was called 2-dimensional, gel electrophoresis. This procedure essentially migrated blood serum proteins through a special gel under an electric field, after they were already separated in a previous run using paper chromatography or another gel. The multi-dimensional aspect of this process stuck with ever after and when I took up gathering data for the timelines, I applied the multi-dimensional aspect.
--------------------------
The series of unrelated events, gathered in various Today in History files, I have laboriously turned into the sequential timelines. In order to provide even more context and relevancy, I spliced all the events, whenever possible, into their appropriate geographic and subject context (this is still ongoing). Thus the TLS work as a 4-D tool. I prove to myself the utility of this methodology on a daily basis when adding new items. The ties between new information and previously entered items often only become exposed in the 3rd or 4th dimension of location and subject, because the original dates were not specifically identified. So to take Feb 1 as an example, as good a day as any and my b-day to boot, we see that Boris Yeltsin was born in the Urals (1931) just days before Isabel Peron (Feb 4) was born in Argentina, at about the same time as the Japanese were preparing to broadcast their 1st televised baseball game (Feb 12), and just prior to the 1st release of Dracula. That’s enough to call for an Alka-Seltzer (Feb 21).
--------------------------
I have updated 2002 to included the Nov and Dec files. The NL Archive files has been updated thru 2002.
--------------------------
I would here like to introduce my 1st outside Timeline contributor. Starla, a young hair-dresser from Delaware, has agreed to do occasional contributions.
--------------------------
Hair Today, the 1st of an ongoing series:

What is "beauty"? What makes a person beautiful." Why? This question can be answered in as many ways as their are cultures in this world. And some of those different beauty ideals seem pretty bizarre, even frightening, to us. In America, we are obsessed beyond all good sense with weight and proportions. "You can never be too rich or too thin" says a character in the Stephen King book "The Talisman." And that about sums it up for what we, as a group, think is good-looking.
---------------------------
But in parts of Nigeria, being thin is not a desirable condition for a young  woman. Nigerian bridegrooms, when seeking a wife, value fatness above almost  all else. So young Nigerian girls spend a good deal of time in a "fattening room" where they occupy themselves in eating as much as they can hold and in lounging  about avoiding exercise. A fat bride is desirable because it shows that the bride's family has enough money to feed her, which is an important consideration in a society where dowries are still paid. Sitting around and eating to become beautiful may sound appealing to many, but other beautification practices aren't likely to catch on anywhere else.
---------------------------
Everyone is of course aware of the old, unpleasant and thankfully now-obsolete Chinese practice of the binding of women's feet, which was begun when a girl was about six or so, in order that her feet should not grow any larger. Though by most other standards what resulted from this was a deformity and a handicap, to the Chinese the smaller and more shrunken a woman's feet, the better. It was a mark of the upper class and indicated that the woman did not have to do any work and might even be carried about in a sedan chair if she felt like going someplace. Peasant women did not bind their feet since they were expected to work in the fields and could not have done so unless their feet were normally developed. Thus, bound feet was a symbol of privilege.
---------------------------
Many of us shudder at the thought of tattoos or body piercing, but again, this is another case of "it could be worse." In parts of New Guinea, women decorate themselves by burning their skin with small red-hot round stones, making dozens of these round scars on their arms and torsos. Male Australian aborigines coming of age undergo a ritual in which their nose is pierced, a front tooth is knocked out and a deep circular scar is carved into their chests. And among certain African tribes, boys destined to become warriors submit to having their teeth filed into sharp points or  their faces slashed, the resulting scars being signs of virility and courage and all those other warrior-like qualities.
---------------------------
And the prize for "most savage cosmetic treatment" goes to the Yanomani tribe of Venezuela. Recognized in "Felton and Fowler's Best, Worst, and Most Unusual" as the most violent civilization (for lack of a better word) on Earth, this tribe thrives on brutality and bloodsport. They fight continually among themselves and other tribes, committing rape, pillage and murder for the fun of it. A favorite pastime is a fight (often to the Death) between males, the object being to split your opponent's head open with a club or whatever happens to be hand. The injuries inflicted, if the person survives, leave grisly and lifelong scarring, and this and all other scarring is much prized in both sexes. People compare their injuries and boast of them the way American kids compare baseball cards or Barbie dolls. Women make rivals of each other over who has been most scarred and battered by her husband. The man with the most dramatic wounds is considered the choicest mate.
---------------------------
So next time you complain about the discomfort of having your eyebrows or legs waxed, or dread two hours with your head saturated with noxious perming solution, count our blessings. It could indeed be much worse.

Starla
---------------------------
As always your comments, suggestions and contributions are much appreciated.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #45
Feb 15, 2003

My newsletter #21 (Feb 15, 2002) presented my Love Babies list, a gathering of historical characters born on or around Nov 15, 9 months after Valentine’s day. For those of you who missed it, it is available in the NL #1 Archive.
---------------------------
As a exercise in timeline use let’s imagine that Feb 15 is itself a day that has gestated for 9 months and look at some of the interesting events of May 15 that "one way or another" relate to love or the lack thereof:

392 May 15, Valentinianus II (21), emperor of Rome (375-392), was murdered.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1536 May 15, Anna Boleyn and Lord Rochford were accused of adultery, incest, treason. [see May 2, May 19]
(MC, 5/15/02)
1618 May 15, Johannes Kepler discovered his harmonics law.
(HN, 5/15/98)
1862 May 15, General Benjamin F. ("Beast") Butler decreed "Woman Order," that all captured women in New Orleans were to be his whores.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1894  May 15, Katherine Anne Porter (d.1980), American author, was born. She is best remembered for her book "Ship of Fools." "Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it. Hate needs no instruction, but wants only to be provoked." "I do not understand the world, but I watch its progress."
(WUD, 1994 p.1120)(AP, 1/25/98)(AP, 3/4/99)(HN, 5/15/99)
1970 May 15, Beatles' last LP, "Let It Be," was released in US.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1972 May 15, George Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremer while campaigning in Laurel, Maryland, for the Democratic presidential primary. He was left paralysed.
(HFA, '96, p.30)(SFC, 8/16/96, p.D11)(AP, 5/15/97)(HN, 5/15/98)
We shall see what this year brings.
------------------------------
The winter edition of the student Cyber-Surfari contest has closed. My submission for their Spring Contest is as follows:

Igy Lubberwort, the lazy nephew of Prof. Makrotous Lubberwort, has been hired to take care of Mak’s house, while the Prof. goes on a well-deserved vacation. Igy has decided to check out the professor’s ancient film collection. Dust off your time machine and jump into the special subject film archive to find the name of one of the old 1896 films that has caught Igy’s eye.
-----------------------------
Cuba travel link: the folks at www.sprachcaffe.com, an int’l. language school, have offered a link exchange with the timelines. I placed their link in the Cuba file.
-----------------------------
New additions include the NASA file in the special subject section.
-----------------------------
The folks at Family Tree Magazine have decided to feature the Timelines website on their homepage Feb 16, 2003. They have a very nice website and magazine for those interested in family genealogy and I have placed a link to their homepage near the top of my front page.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com
-----------------------------
An now for Hair Today: An irregular timelines feature by:
Starla: on assignment from a lady’s head salon someplace in Delmarva:

Dear *la,
My hair stands on end every time I read the morning paper, whether or not I shampoo before reading it. Can you help me?
-------------------------------
Dear Frizz: It would be better if you read the paper while your hair is still
wet. Wet hair, because it is necessarily heavier than dry hair, won't hold a static charge, and won't stand up no matter what you read. You may however, if you are angry enough by what you read, notice that your wet hair will actually steam. Be careful of scalding.
-------------------------------
Dear *la,
I just watched the annual Delaware Pumpkin' Chunkin' contest on TV and noticed that all the male contestants seemed to have long hair. I have also noticed that most terrorists also appear to have long hair. Do you believe that there is some biological relation- ship here.
Bubba A
-------------------------------
2002  Nov, Delaware’s annual Pumpkin’ Chunkin’ contest was won by the 2nd Amendment team from Michigan.
(DC, 2/9/03)
-------------------------------
But of course there's a connection! How far removed is catapulting a giant pumpkin  from hurling a live grenade or Molotov cocktail. If either one hits you great damage will certainly result. The guys with the short hair all have more important things to do on their Saturdays than flinging large gourds about. They play golf and plan wars, or entertain clients, or sit comatose in their recliners watching televised sports.
--------------------------------
Dear *la
Can you recommend something that I can take to keep my hair kinda' medium. I do not want to play golf and plan wars, or turn into a grenade or gourd thrower.
Bubba A
--------------------------------
Try scissors, but don't use them yourself. A professional should use this miracle implement on your hair every time it starts pushing past medium. Do not allow said professional to perform this procedure on you if she/he has first placed a bowl on your head. You'll be less than medium that way.
--------------------------------
Have you ever noticed that, the first time you shampoo your hair, you don't get that many suds? Then when you lather up a second time, you can make lots of bubbles? Ever wonder why this is so? Like so many troubling questions lately, the answer involves oil. Your own oil, to be exact. When you first put soap in your hair, the oil on your scalp coats the bubbles in the soap, causing them to be small and break easily and making it difficult for more to form. But after you've washed it the first time, most of that oil is gone, so a second squirt of shampoo foams up nicely. This phenomenon can also be observed when pouring a beer or soda. Stick your finger into the foamy head on the drink and you will reduce it immediately. This is one experiment nobody can sue me over if you try it at home. Find out the answers to many more of these burning mysteries in the "Imponderables" series of books by David Feldman at: www.imponderables.com
-------------------------------
If there’s something that makes you wanna just tear your hair out, do not hesitate to contact either *la or myself.
Donations and general remarks are also accepted.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #46
March 1, 2003

I would first like to thank Mr. Robert White for his kind donation. That makes a total of $80 for 2003 to date.
  ----------------------------
  Updated files include: 1525-1549, 1898-1899, Japan, Mexico, Vatican. New files in the subject section include: Nobel prize winners.
  ----------------------------
  Rebecca Groeneveld, Santa Monica city librarian, sent a note that included the following:
The Santa Monica Public Library is joining libraries across the nation in sponsoring a "Citywide Reads" Project, aimed at fostering community through literature. We have chosen the book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, and during the months of April and May, we will ask all who live, work, attend school, etc. in the City of Santa Monica to read this book and come to the over 25 book discussions and events we will sponsor thru ought the city to discuss the book and its themes. The book is a coming of age story for two boys in China during the Cultural Revolution. They are sent "up to the mountains" for re-education and find there a stash of Western literature that transforms their lives, as well as those around them in "The Phoenix in the Sky" mountain village. As a way of providing participants with historical context around these events, I would like to provide a timeline of China, and snippets of world history during the decade 1966-1976. We will be creating both a printed pamphlet of information, as well as a more extensive web presence for this information. Could I use the information you provide as a guide for our participants? Of course, I would very clearly indicate where the information came from, with links to your site. This information would truly enhance the experience of our Citywide Reads Project.
Permission was of course granted with the caveat that the TL data is intended as a research tool and not as a primary source.
  ----------------------------
  On another note Rolf Hasse sent me the following:

OK, you should check your facts before putting a bunch of horse shit on your website. Opus Dei was NOT founded by a Mexican peasant in the 1500s, you ignorant dufus. It was founded in the 1940s by a priest in Spain. Makes me wonder how many of your so-called historical "facts" are inaccurate, or just plain wrong. Stay off the drugs, son.
  ----------------------------
I thanked Mr. Hasse for his comments and responded as follows:

The entries on Opus Dei in the timelines follow below. You will note that the 1531 entry begins with the word legend and that there is a bracketed reference to the 2002 entry in which AP identifies the founding of Opus Dei to 1928. I have for years urged users to help me in finding and eliminating errors. My entries are almost all identified by source material. One of my major reasons for undertaking the project was due to the enormous amount of errors in numerous places including daily print and various internet sources. My methodology allows for quick feedback and correction. I only ask that a proper ref be provided along with the corrections. Due to the large scope of the project, it is way beyond my capacity to verify all the factual data. I work alone in my spare time and the timelines are provided as an independent research tool for which I receive no significant funds. I am saddened by your dismissive tone and suggest that you try helping correct errors that you find rather than make making cheap and inappropriate comments. I do thank you for bringing my attention to Opus Dei entries. It is clear that the WSJ or SFC erred in one of the articles cited. I will delete the mention of Opus Dei in the 1531 Dec 12 entry.
1531  Dec 12, Legend held that a dark-skinned Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant outside Mexico City and left an imprint on his cactus-fiber poncho. The poncho became an icon for the Virgin of Guadalupe. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Indian peasant, had visions of the Virgin Mary and founded Opus Dei. In 2002 Pope John Paul II planned to canonize him. The Vatican's main source was a religious work that dated to 1666. [see Oct 6,2002]
 (SFC, 2/1/99, p.A9)(WSJ, 2/27/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/17/02, p.A1)(AP, 7/30/02)

1999 Dec 11, In Chile presidential elections were held. Ricardo Lagos, a leftist moderate, was the candidate for the governing Concertacion. Joaquin Lagos, a right-wing populist, was a member of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization.
(SFC, 12/11/99, p.A16)

2002 Oct 6, Pope John Paul II raised to sainthood Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer the Spanish priest who founded the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei (1928), only 27 years after his death. [see 1531]
 (AP, 10/6/02)
  ----------------------------
My star contributor to the irregular "Hair Today" feature suffered a computer crash and will not post until she's able to "score a new axe." By accident I recently ran across another article titled "Hair Today" by Glenn O'Brian from the Nov or Dec issue of Paper Magazine (p.54). Mr. O'Brian wrote a nostalgic essay that recalled the late 60's when a Hippie's mane of hair meant something. He then poignantly questioned how we have gotten from then to the brink of war now: "Where did we go wrong?" My own hope is that the question is premature. Local and int'l. protests indicate that the collective "we" is on the right track. If and when bombs fall the question to be asked will be: How does a nation stop a leader who acts in opposition to the will of the nation?
  ----------------------------
Hair Yesterday: A few odd strands:

80 Million Upper Cretaceous terrestrial siltstones and sandstones in Big Bend National park, Texas, has fossil of Quetzalcoatlus. It is the largest known Pterosaur with a wingspan of 12 m. It was probably a scavenger and was covered with hair.
 (TE-JB, p.81)

c800CE The inhabitants of the British Isles did not comb their hair until they were taught by the Danes about this time.
 (SFC, 6/30/96, Z1 p.5)

850-930  Hucbaldus Elnonensis, was a French monk and composer, who became known for writing poetry about the hairless. He wrote "Ecloga de Calvis," (In Praise of Bald Men) for Hatto, a bald archbishop. All 150 lines of the Latin verse begin with the letter c (calvus means bald in Latin).
 (WSJ, 11/23/98, p.B1)

1600-1700 In England the Roundheads were members or adherents of the Parliamentarians or Puritan party during the civil wars of the 17th century. They were called roundheads by the Cavaliers in derision because they wore their hair cut short.
(WUD, 1994, p.1248)
1644 The Manchu emperors of China ordered all subjects to shave the top of their heads and wear the rest of their hair in a braid. The men complied until 1911 but the women did not.
 (SFEC, 9/8/96, Z1 p.6)
  ------------------------
As always your comments and donations are much appreciated.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #47
March 15, 2003

My star reporter Starla (*la) is still without a computer, so the Hair Today feature will be temporarily replaced with the following: 50 years ago I was a boisterous lad of 6 years and around me events took place of which I had absolutely no conception. Today I can look back, put on my 6-year-old hat, and note in retrospect the following: Hank Williams died on the 1st day of 1953 (beware the drugs and alcohol). Pres. Truman announced the development of a hydrogen bomb (beware the hydrogen bomb). Gen. Eisenhower was inaugurated as president (beware the military-industrial complex). Mr. Muggs joined the Today Show (beware of monkeys on TV talk shows). Sen. Morse presciently left the GOP due to its domination by Conservatives (beware conservative domination in government). "You Are There" premiered with Walter Cronkite (am I or am I not there). Peter Pan opened in NYC (where is there in never-never land). Superman syndicated on TV (I can spread my molecules apart and walk through any wall). Pres. Eisenhower refused clemency to the Rosenbergs (beware of presidents who defy the Pope). Ted Williams was shot down in Korea (over there again). Baseball is not a business (beware the law of the land). Watson and Crick discovered DNA (remember  Rosalind Franklin). Stalin died and the Chechens were allowed to return home (no comment). And how about that American nucular (sic) bomb that accidentally fell over North Carolina.  More later.
-----------------------------
You are one of some 620 subscribers to the Timelines Newsletter. Consider for a moment if the TL web site were not available. In an effort to increase usage and possibly donations, I would like to offer all of you the opportunity of requesting a handful of my timelines business cards, to pass out to friends and colleagues who might be interested in the timelines.ws web site. This is a relatively inexpensive form of advertising and a great conversation piece. I will be happy to provide for free a handful of cards to all who request them. Just send an e-mail with your address included. Be assured your address will not be used for any other purpose.
-----------------------------
I have established a direct link with the QuickTopic service so that any posts there will trip an e-mail to me on any matter in question. The QuickTopic link is near the top of TL front page.
------------------------------
Updated files included: "Black History" and "Food" in the special subjects section.
------------------------------
From:
Rick Waterhouse
Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation

Hello,
I am working with a group based in Delaware, which is in the process of building a science and technology center. One of our exhibits will be a changeable timeline of discoveries and innovations, with interactive capabilities to allow its use for educational activities with school students and the general public. I was happy to find your site on the web. It looks like there is a wealth of information here. I will talk to our director about making a donation to the maintenance of the site. Our website with information about our organization and ITEC, the center we are building, can be found at dasef.org. Can you tell me if you are affiliated with a learning institution or some other corporate organization? I am curious about why you have decided to provide this website. Thanks for your time. (No pun intended.) I thanked Rick for his interest and comments and posted a link to the foundation at the top of the Technology subject file. I have not heard any more on the matter.
------------------------------
As always your comments, donations and suggestions are highly appreciated.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #48
Apr 1, 2003

A work-related fall 2 weeks ago set my sacroiliac back a bit. The pain has eased but shortly after the fall I ran into some major computer problems that resulted in the loss of a year’s worth of work. I was lucky enough to have had a month-old backup of the TL files. Recent updates on the web site provided me with more critical files and the retrieval of old papers just before recycle night saved the rest. My sacro did not appreciate any of this. I have now incorporated a routine back-up program to make such disasters more tolerable.
-----------------------
The timelines custom-made, up-to-date CD is still available at $50 plus $5 for shipping. I will provide a 50% student discount. Last month’s special offer of free timelines’ business cards is still open.
-----------------------
A sharp-eyed user noted that 1990 Jan-Jun was posted in duplicate. I updated this file.
User feedback also pointed out that the following posted event was considered at the time but never actually happened:
1581  Nov 7, Queen Elizabeth I and Francois of Anjou were wed."
The item was removed from the appropriate files. Thus updated files include 1581, Nov 7, Great Britain 1551-1710, and France up to 1649.
------------------------
My star contributor Starla is back and has decided to submit some sage advice for those of you considering a tattoo. Apropos I searched the timelines for a little background on tattoos and came up with the following:

1833  Jul, In Australia the native warrior Yagan was shot dead by teenage bounty hunters. He had been a go-between for his people and European settlers in Western Australia and later an implacable foe. His head and the tribal tattoo on his back were hacked off and taken to Britain for study and display. The body parts were returned in Sep 1997. A statue was erected in his honor on an island park in Perth in 1983. It was repeatedly vandalized and its head was sawed off in 1997 shortly after the homecoming of Yagan’s real head.
 (SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A20)
1898  In the Marquesas Islands missionaries forbade the natives to tattoo their bodies.
 (SFEC, 8/25/96, p.T6)
1919  May 29, An eclipse occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in Africa and the other in Brazil. It was found that pictures of the stars surrounding the sun were slightly shifted in the radial direction, in complete agreement with the prediction of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. The 1951 play "Rose Tattoo" by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled "The Eclipse of May 29, 1919."
 (SCTS, p.29)(SFC, 10/12/96, p.E3)
1919  May 29, Arthur Eddington, a British astronomer, mounted an expedition to Sobral, Brazil, to watch an eclipse and gather data to verify Einstein's theory of relativity. Though his results were ambiguous he claimed triumph. In 1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The Golem," an account of the expedition.
 (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A18)
aside
c1590-1600 In late 16th century Prague Rabbi Judah Bezalel Loew, the Maharal, used clay and the mysticism of the Kabbalah to fashion the Golem, a human-like creature to help avenge Jewish persecution.
 (WSJ, 4/17/02, p.D7)
1921  H. Leivick wrote his Yiddish play "The Golem." It was translated to English in 1966.
 (WSJ, 4/17/02, p.D7)
1965  Mar, In this issue of American Scientist Henry David Block showed how easy it was to build a computer that learns using just dixie cups and cardboard. Block called his computer G-1 (G is for Golem, the robot slave of Jewish legend). He used the game of Nim to illustrate his subject.
 (NOHY, 3/90, p.204)
1982  Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote "The Golem."
 (SFEC, 12/22/96, BR p.7)
back on track
1966  South Carolina passed a law banning tattoo parlors.
 (WSJ, 7/22/02, p.A1)
1997  Feb 27, A jury in Fayetteville, N.C., convicted former Army paratrooper James N. Burmeister of murdering a black couple so he could get a skinhead tattoo. He was later sentenced to life in prison.
 (AP, 2/27/98)
------------------------
Hey, loyal fans, I'm BAAAAAck! Miss me? I thought so.
Today's topic is going to be about tattooing. Yes, I am well aware that tattooing has nothing to do with hair, but it's a matter of looks just the same and I do have a few things to say, mainly aimed at those of you who are contemplating getting one. Before you ask, yes, I have a tattoo, so I speak with at least a little experience. And no, you cannot see a pic. Naughty, naughty. It's on my shoulder. A red rose in flames. A small one. Things to remember and consider when getting a tattoo:
1. It should not be a hasty decision. If you are going to get something so  permanent, why not take the time to make sure you get exactly what you want? Look at designs, talk to tattooed friends, find something you really love. Then wait a few days and see if that's still the design you want.
2. I assume I don't need to tell you to go to a reputable tattooist. If the  place doesn't look or smell clean, don't go there. Period. Nuff said.
3. Make sure your tattooist uses a pattern for the design rather than trying  to do it freehand. Tattoos done freehand look bad.
4. Be mindful of where you have the tattoo put on, and be aware that the tattoo will change in appearance if you lose or gain a lot of weight. I have  a friend with Mickey Mouse on her stomach. She had a baby and now Mickey looks stretched and thin. Also, a tattoo that is on a place like the foot will tend to get rubbed a lot and in the beginning this can mess up the design.
5. My friend's Mickey Mouse brings up another issue: childish  designs. In my admittedly biased and probably uncharitable opinion, if a person is old enough to get tattooed, then he or she is a wee bit too old to be wanting a cartoon or Disney character emblazoned on their flesh. Fifty years from now, will many people even remember say, the Smurfs? Corollary: please, not really stupid designs. Any hate emblem of course is likely only to cause bad feelings and make the wearer look like a jerk. And stuff like a dotted line and the words "CUT HERE" or a sign on the stomach saying "Fuel tank" are not necessary. 6. One final point, at the risk of sounding like somebody's mother: Remember, it's PERMANENT! Yes, you can have it lasered or salted or whatever, but these "removal" procedures often leave scarring that was worse than the tattoo was, and more noticeable. If you are at all unsure, try a temporary tattoo, the kind that comes off with alcohol or several washings with soap and water. That will give some idea of what it'll be like to be
decorated.
If you ignore *la's sage advice and get a tattoo that doesn't turn out right or you get tired of it after two weeks, you will really know the meaning of "marked for life."
Cheers!
*
---------------------------
As always your comments, donations and suggestions are highly appreciated.

Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #49
May 1, 2003

A heavy workload and computer problems caused me to miss the Apr 15 (Easter edition) of this newsletter. I recently took a week vacation and decided to update my PC to Windows XP to improve operating stability. The process literally ate my whole vacation. I lost all my Windows 98 programs an went through many hoops getting everything back to running order. I also upgraded to AOL 8.0 and in the combined process lost all my e-mail files. I would like to thank those who have submitted recent corrections and comments regret that I can't mention them by name.
-----------------------
Updated files due to various corrections and additions include the countries: Georgia, Germany to 1820, Great Britain,  Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, Uzbekistan.
 The US states: Arkansas, Kansas.
 The days: Jan 3, Feb 13, Apr 7, Apr 10, Jun 19, Jun 21, July 20, Aug 18, Nov 15.
 The month of Mar 2003; and the years: 600-999, 1300-1399, 1400-1449, 1725-1749, 1800-1849, 1875-1876, 1919, 1945, 1959, 1984, 1991.
 Subjects: Black History, Computers.
-------------------------
A note of interest for all who have ever wondered about where the term "Cold Turkey" comes from:
1921  Oct 13, In the Treaty of Kars Turkey formally recognized the Armenian Soviet Republic.
 (EWH, 4th ed, p.1086)
1921  Oct 13, The Daily Colonist in Victoria BC mentioned the term "cold turkey" in reference to quitting an addiction. This was the first know use of the term in print.
 (SFEC, 1/25/98, Z1 p.8)
-------------------------
On Coca Cola: A recent AP note gives France credit for the origins of Coca Cola:

1885   In Dr. Jacob's pharmacy in Atlanta, "French coca wine," the future symbol of "the American way of life" as Coca Cola became known, made its debut [see Mar 29, May 8, 1886].
 (AP, 5/3/03)
1886  Mar 29, Coca-Cola went on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claimed it could cure anything from hysteria to the common cold. John Stith (Doc) Pemberton, pharmacist, concocted a bath of a dark, sugary syrup meant to be mixed with carbonated water and sold at the city’s soda fountains. This was the beginning of Coca Cola, which then contained enough cocaine to give the a drinker a buzz and more caffeine than the drink contains today. Sales at the soda fountain of Jacob‘s Pharmacy averaged 9 drinks a day in the first year. The story is told by Frederick Allen in his book "Secret Formula." The drink was named by Frank Robinson and he created its signature script logo. [see May 8]
 (WSJ, 11/23/94)(WSJ, 10/4/96, p.A1)(HN, 3/29/01)
1886  May 8, Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola, which contained cocaine. The name for the soft drink came from his bookkeeper, Frank Robinson. Sales of Coca Coal at the soda fountain of Jacob‘s Pharmacy averaged 9 drinks a day in the first year. [see Mar 29]
 (AP, 5/8/97)(HN, 5/8/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(HNQ, 10/23/00)(MC, 5/8/02)
--------------------------
Hair Today: Things to Do with Hair Besides Messing with it

Hello again, faithful readers! You know, people often come to me and say  "Starla, what GOOD is hair, other than something to wash and brush and color?" Interesting question, and one I will endeavour to shed some light on here. Unexpected uses for hair: Hair (especially blonde hair) is often used in hygrometers, devices that measure atmospheric humidity. The theory is that the hair is good at absorbing moisture in the air (just look at your own hair when it's muggy and damp outside) and it goes limp or frizzles up accordingly and is easy to interpret. Most everybody knows about testing someone's honor by leaving your diary out where it can be seen, closed but with a single hair laid across it. Remember where you put the hair, and when you come back, note its position. If it's exactly where it as before, then your secrets are (probably) safe. And if you get some minor irritation in your eye, I have a friend who swears by making a little brush out of a hank of hair (this obviously works better with long hair) and using the end to gently wipe at the irritated orb. Be gentle, please! And finally: do you want to wake up somebody quietly, without a lot of nudging and cajoling? A hair or two brushed under the nose is very effective. Funny too.
Starla

For the next issue we shall ask our star reporter, Starla, to delve into the origins of the term: "Get out of my hair" and other similar hair related exclamations!

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]
 

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #50
June 1, 2003
 

Due to sheer overload this newsletter will now be continued on a monthly rather than bi-weekly basis. Updated files over the last 30 days include the following:
Years: 1 Mil BCE-0CE; 0CE-999CE; 1100-1199; 1200-1299; 1700-1724; 1750-1799; 1898-1899; 1974; and 1986.
Countries Category: Arabs, France (1650-1795), India, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam.
US States: New York
Subjects: Computers
The apparent random nature of the above files is due for the most part to major error corrections, which would be too numerous and time-consuming to enumerate here.
------------------------------------
FYI: A user has pointed out that: "Genghis Khan never succeeded in controlling Vietnam.  As a matter of fact, his son had to escape through the sewer twice to avoid capture."
------------------------------------
In an effort to correct errors in the timelines, I would like to solicit volunteers to assist with the following chore. I would like to assign volunteers to examine the information in the files of the "today in history" section, beginning with Jan 1. Each day in history is of a size that can be examined and verified for accuracy from the www or other sources without too much difficulty. If you have some time and would like try your hand in verifying data for any day of the year, let me know. There is no particular rush. I would then take any corrections found and resolve them in any year, country, state or subject files that they may also fall in.
------------------------------------
During a recent barber experience I lost myself deeply in a volume of the "The Secret History" by Procopius, the 6th century lawyer and historian who wrote about the reign of Justinian and Theodora in Byzantium. The barber went wild and sheered off most of my scalp. Thus the promised feature story on the origins of the term "Get Out of My Hair" has been superseded by the following: Here's Starla:

Hair Today:

A recent sad story told to me by a certain history buff and timeline website operator has prompted me to get up on my soapbox and write to my dear readers on a topic of great importance: Getting Along with Your Hairdresser. Because face it, if you and your stylist don't see eye to eye, you pay the price. In a couple different ways: One, the money you pay for an unsatisfactory job; two, emotional upset at not getting what you want and having to pay anyway; and three, you are the one stuck with the clock-stopping hair disaster. Who needs that? And how can you avoid it?
1. Find a stylist/salon you like and stick with it. This will allow your stylist to get to know your likes and dislikes and your hair's unique little idiosyncrasies better than a stylist you just pick at random because you happen to be nearby and have never seen before. Familiarity does not breed contempt, in this case; it breeds understanding.
2. Be very clear about what you want. As a hairdresser, I can tell you we really hate to be told "Oh, just cut a little off, I don't care." If you want just the overgrown ends trimmed of, all you have to do is say so.
3. If you have a new style in mind, bring a picture from a magazine so we'll know exactly the look you're talking about. If at all possible, try and bring a picture of a person wearing that style whose hair is as similar as possible to your type and texture of hair. Not all styles work for every hair type.
4. Keep an eye on the mirror while the cutting/styling is in progress so you can ask that changes be made early on if it isn't turning out the way you want. Better to change your mind before the whole head is finished.
5. If you're unsatisfied with the way it turned out, ask (nicely, please!) if something can be done to repair or at least minimize the damage right there. Often adjustments can be made, which while your hair won't look as great as you'd hoped, it at least isn't something that will cause most people to shriek and point at your head.
6. If nothing helps and/or your stylist just isn't "getting it" DO NOT feel obligated to leave a tip. Yes, we love to get tips, but we don't like taking your money when we know you're unhappy with our work. A tip is by definition a little extra reward for good service. Obviously if you're disgruntled, the service wasn't good, at least not to you, so you shouldn't feel like you have to spend anything other what you already paid. It is helpful but not necessary, if you (nicely!) explain why you are not leaving a tip, so if you come back, we'll know better.
7. And if all else fails and you are now faced with the choice of either wearing a paper bag on your head, or looking like a Chia Pet, remember: it  will grow out.

Cheers!
Starla

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #51
July 1, 2003

I spent a recent week working in Portland. With a little free time and extensive searching I found the point where the Willamette River runs into the Columbia. I'd spent some hours looking for the hidden spot on more than one occasion. Many of the locals did not know the place and once there I found a nice sign posted on how Lewis and Clark missed it 2 times while passing, because their canoe travelled along the northern shore of the Columbia and an island hid the connection. Local Indians finally steered Lewis & Clark straight. Funny for me to make the same error 200 years later with a car and a map and directions from half a dozen locals including a police officer. But persistence finally got me to the park area where numerous rabbits jumped along the pretty wooded trail urging me forward. Down by the actual confluence I stumbled across a couple coupling on the Columbia beach. I though about asking them about the rabbits and Lewis & Clark and the whole magic of the flowing rivers, but figured they would not be pleased and moved quietly on with my furry companions. Sorry I didn't have a camera... it would have been nice to have some shots of the rabbits and the rivers meeting...
------------------------------------
e-mail:
Greetings! I was researching about the Hodges meteorite that fell in Sylacauga, November 30, 1954. I came across a reference, in your pages of Alabama timelines - about an Alabama woman being hit by a meteorite - a year after this event - in December 1955. I am very interested in this, for an article I am writing about meteorites. Would it be possible for me to obtain the original references which quote this incident? If you could give me any useful information about this event, I would be extremely grateful.
I am happy to have encountered your timelines site through my search.
with warm regards,
 
Dr. N. Rathnasree, Director, Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, India.
-------------------------------------
e-mail:
Your NYC timeline lists both 1889 Apr 30 and 1931 Apr 30 as the opening dates of the George Washington Bridge.  I believe the bridge opened 1931 Oct 25.
Item corrected.
------------------------------------
A cross-link with Discover Paris has been added to the bottom of the front page. Their links section has
a number of historical items and various valuable travel links.
http://www.discoverparis.spb.ru/?id=links
------------------------------------
e-mail:
Excellent advice from a hairdresser.  Hope you don't mind that I pass it on to our Cosmetology Dept.
Also, thought you might like to know that your site is ranked 46,117 out of 875,000 most visited sites on
the Internet.  Congratulations!  That's pretty well in the top 5% of all the sites on the WWW.
Irene Lee: A Research Guide for Students  www.aresearchguide.com
-------------------------------------
This month's "Hair Today" feature on "Hair Styles and Gossip in Uruk During the Time of Moses" has
been post-poned pending approval signatures from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ariel Sharon, Pope John
Paul II and Dick Cheney.
-------------------------------------
I have established e-mail contact with world traveller Elliott Hester, syndicated travel columnist. He is
traveling around the world on a $60 per day budget and his articles appear in the Sunday sections of
many newspapers. I suggested that he use the timelines to help orient his travels and asked that he
sprinkle in more historical dates in his articles.
-------------------------------------
Updated files due to various errors: Jan 11, 20, Mar 10, Apr 1,13,30,Jun 21,23,Oct 10-11,24, Dec 15.
Years: 1626-1660,1750-1770,1871-1874,1883-1884,1887-1890,1916-1917,1920-1921,1930-1931,
1964,1980,2001
Countries: Britain, Ireland
States: Colorado, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York
Cities: NYC
Subjects: Computers

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #51
Aug 1, 2003

I have made a few changes to the front page look. I pushed the garish rewards icons down to the bottom and created a new Timelines of History logo. I also accepted a small advertisement from Google, which is tastefully directed to subject matter that is appropriate to timelines users. Income from "click-thrus" over the last 2 weeks has passed $5.00, which of course annualizes to $120, just about enough to cover 3 months of my new broadband connection with Comcast, which is a major asset for processing the website.
-------------------------------------
A month or 2 ago I asked for volunteers to help verify data. One person did respond and we have begun working thru entries beginning with Jan 1. This is a huge task and if anybody else would like to join the effort, please let me know.
-------------------------------------
For those of you who engage in some investment activity, I have subscribed to a site titled: www.investorshub.com
This site has numerous boards for discussing various investments and other subjects. I have entered the "Timelines of History" as a subject for discussion.
-------------------------------------
A few weeks ago I was contacted by people involved with a PBS documentary who wished to use the Guatemala timeline as a reference on their web site associated with the documentary "Discovering Dominga." I was honored to oblige and the PBS presentation was very powerful. Check out the website.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/discoveringdominga/special_witnessfl.html
-------------------------------------
From Irene Lee and her site "A Research Guide for Students":

I've add a few more links to Timelines of History under Dewey 332.4 Money, 796.357 Baseball, 781.65 Jazz music in A Research Guide for Students at:
http://www.aresearchguide.com/332-337.html#332.4,
http://www.aresearchguide.com/780-799.html#796.357,
http://www.aresearchguide.com/780-799.html#781.65.
When I find some time, I will add more links where suitable and relevant to student research. Also, this is to let you know that I have updated the description of your excellent site under Dewey 902 Historical chronology at http://www.aresearchguide.com/900-940.html#902
-----------------------------------------
An now for this month's special: Here is Starla (*la) on:

"Western Women's Hair Through the Recent Ages and Why"

Men, be honest with me: what's the first thing you notice about a woman? Besides THOSE!
Their hair, right? Color of, length and texture of, style of? Right? Men have always had a keen eye for women's hair, even if they pretend not to notice. Knowing this, our ancestors had some strict hair rules for their women to abide by, to "protect their virtue." In the medieval period in Europe, the mere sight of any female hair was considered highly erotic, and for that reason females of all ages wore caps indoors and out at all times. Of course in those days of infrequent bathing, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This rule gradually relaxed after the Puritan age, although many churches still ask women to wear head coverings when they enter. However, during the 19th century, hair left long and loose was considered wanton, and on reaching puberty, young girls were supposed to begin pinning their hair up on top of their heads. Since their hair was long to begin with, these "up-dos" could become very elaborate, even heavy. One southern custom held that a girl mustn't let a man touch her hair or see it down until they were married. In those days, a stray lock of hair was a real temptation.
With the advent of women's suffrage and liberation, western women expressed their newfound independence by doing away with the "up or down" issue. Thus was born the "bob" of the 1920's flapper. This style proclaimed "I am my own woman and my hair is mine to do with as I see fit. And now I don't have to pin it up and nobody can tell me to, since I've cut it too short to pin!" With that in mind, I decided to ask a few male friends of mine what their preferences were in regards to women's hairstyles. And though times have changed, the majority of my male survey-takers say they like long hair best. One said he liked long hair especially when it was pulled back in a ponytail because it was feminine and sporty at the same time; a broadminded guy, bless his heart. One said he didn't really care what length hair was so long as it was clean and didn't have so much spray in it that he could see his reflection. Another said he's always liked long curly hair but not long straight hair, which he says often looks oily. The only man whose opinion was radically different was Karl (18), who said "I really go for chicks with short spiky hair." Karl, I should add, has short spiky hair so that may account for his pointed taste. My own boyfriend, incidentally, says he likes long straight dark hair. Which I have. Lucky me. And by the way, NONE of my male friends has any great fondness for women wearing caps.

*la
-------------------------------------
Updated files due to various errors:
Days: Jan 1, 2,7; Feb 11; Mar 14; Apr 7;  May 1,15;Jun 27;Jul 1,2,3,4,12,13;Aug 3, Sep 25; Nov 27;Dec 8,18,30.
Years: 0-299; 300-599; 600-999; 1200-1299; 1525-1549; 1661-1699; 1750-1770; 1811-1820; 1871-1874; 1875-1876; 1879-1882; 1922-23; 1930; 1931; 1936-37; 1972; 1986; 1960, 1969; 1988; 1993 Jul-Nov; 1997 Jan; 1998 Jun & Nov; 2003 Jan-May
Countries: Argentina, Bavaria, England, Ethiopia, France 1650-1795 & 1921-1967, Germany 1821-1916, Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, Mexico, Somalia, Spain, Switzerland, Vatican
States: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania; Texas, Washington, Vermont
Subjects: Artists, Computers
------------------------------------------

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #52
Sept 1, 2003
 

I looked back in my records to see if I could find an exact date for the beginning of this project, so as to be able to plan a birthday party for myself. My 1st timeline was in paper form back in 1973, but I can call that only the beginning of a gestation period. I found a number of entries taken from the WSJ that date back to Jan, 1994, with extensive use of the Journal beginning in 1995.
My collection of expense receipts goes back to Apr 1, 1996, with a receipt for the SF Chronicle. In that little stack I found the following horoscope cut-out for Aquarius:
"Go with what you feel is right. People may not understand what you're doing at first, but if you're committed to it, they'll back you up."
In 1997 I began collating the AP's "today in history" into a running timeline form. That took a year and was followed by collating "today in history" from the HistoryNet and other sources. I believe that I finally posted the "Timelines of History" to a website hosted by theGlobe.com in the Fall of 1998. That would also coincide with getting my domain 1st name algis.com. So we can say that this Fall the project is at least 5 years old. Presents are most welcome.
----------------------------------
The following appeared in the travel section of the San Francisco Chronicle on 8/24/03:
"I always enjoy the Travel Section for its quality, variety, detail and reader's feedback. I also often gather historical data for inclusion into my Web site (timelines.ws), which features a universal world timeline and timelines for all of the United States and most countries. Travel anywhere is always enhanced with some knowledge of the area's past. I suspect your readers would appreciate knowing about this resource."

I submit this because you might like to consider using it as a template for your local newspaper, and thereby help spread public awareness of the T of H site.
---------------------------------
I was recently informed of the web site titled Wikipedia @ www.wikipedia.org. It is an extensive collaborative effort in building a free web-based encyclopedia. Among its many subjects are a variety of timelines on many subjects. I have posted a link to the site and will post more as I find over-lapping subject matter.
---------------------------------
A correction from  Dick Morris in Anchorage, Alaska:

1837  Dec 29, A steam-powered threshing machine was patented in Winthrop, Maine.
(MC, 12/29/01)

It is incorrect that this was a steam-powered threshing machine. The inventors were my great, great, great, grandfather, Hiram A. Pitts and his twin brother, John A. Pitts, and I have done quite a bit of research on them and their inventions. I've looked at the patent application and it was not steam powered. A typical source of power for the threshing machine would have been another item that they patented, a "horse power," which is a treadmill powered by a single horse.

Correction accepted and item changed as follows:

1837    Dec 29, A threshing machine powered by a single horse treadmill was patented in Winthrop, Maine by twins Hiram A. and John A. Pitts.
 (DM, 8/5/03)
---------------------------------
Updated files due to numerous other corrections and new data include:
Countries: Argentina, Australia, Britain (1711-1799), Bulgaria. China (1925-1994), France (1870-1920)(1968-2000), Germany (1945-1990), Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Libya, Liechtenstein (new), Littles (various small entities), Mexico (1998-2003), New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia (1945-1987), Sao Tome (new), Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uganda, Vatican, Venezuela.
States: California (1860-1922), Illinois, Maine, Mass, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania.
Cities: SF (1893-1929), SF Bay Area to 1919, Chicago, NYC (1900-1949).
Subjects: Airlinestuff (new), Air Crashes, Earthquakes, Environment, Food, Nobel, Suicides (new), Technology, US Presidents, Women, Writers.
Years: 1476-1499, 1525-1549, 1750-1770, 1867-1870, 1750-1770, 1831-1840, 1841-1849, 1850-1854, 1864-1866, 1895-1897, 1898-1899, 1902-1904, 1905-1907, 1912-1913, 1938, 1939, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994; 1995; 1997 (Mar-Apr), 1998 (Apr), 1999 (May)(Aug); 2001(May-Jun), 2003 (Mar)(Apr)(Jun)(Jul).
---------------------------------------
A now for *la and "Hair Today:" A short historic overview of the all-American male head:

A little thing called my "conscience" has been nagging at me ever since I wrote that piece on Women's Hair Through the Ages." It waits till I am peacefully reading a book, or about to drift off to sleep, then it starts up with "Pssst, Starrr-laaah! Aren't you being a tad SEXIST here, writing a column on women's hairstyles in history and not saying Word One about the hair of men? Aren't you ASHAMED?!" Well no, actually I'm not ashamed a bit, but I did get to thinking and I decided it would be enlightening to take a quick look at the topic of men's hair over the last few centuries. So here goes:

In the time of the American Revolution, American men had long hair. This was considered normal, unlike in the 1950's where a long-haired boy was viewed with deepest suspicion and contempt. George Washington went a step further by tying back his long hair with a ribbon! Imagine that! Even more amazing, the noted pirate Captain Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) braided his famous beard with colored ribbons. He was obviously a Willie Nelson fan. On formal occasions, distinguished gentlemen covered their own hair with wigs, which were elaborately curled and powdered to look white, the idea being that a white wig made the wearer look older and wiser in the ways of the world. It took several years for US presidents to feel comfortable displaying their natural hair in public. Men's hair in general tended to be long by today's standards right through the late nineteenth century, when frontiersmen like Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok were noted for their thick flowing manes and beards. This was mostly a function of rough frontier life, when there was simply too much to contend with to waste time cutting hair or shaving.

No one knows why men's hairstyles began to get shorter in this century, but they did. Possibly it had something to do with the GI haircuts our boys had to wear during the two World Wars. If this is true, could it be that perhaps people who sneered at long hair were associating the style with men who got out of fighting for their country? Whatever the reasoning was, by the 1950's the stereotypical "all-American" boy had very short hair. The stereotypical "bad boy" had Elvis hair, longer than his "good" brother, and slicked and greased in front to make the famous Elvis pompadour. And then came the sixties, when young men all over the country chose to rebel against convention in any way they could, and that included their hairstyle. Not for these rebels the short military-style haircuts their fathers favored. No, if these fellows were against the military-industrial complex, they were certainly against GI type hair. And so they let it grow long, sometimes making ponytails, sometimes not, anything to show they were free thinkers.

And so we have "hair today." Long hair bereft of its shock value now hangs merely as a personal mark of style rather than a political statement. Thankfully today, anything goes with regards to male hair, be it a ponytail, dreadlocks, a crew cut, even a shaved head, anything so long as it's not the bowl haircut you see on Christopher Robin in the Winnie the Pooh books, but who wears that anyway? In fact, so many guys now have long hair that you might almost say we've come full circle. George Washington would feel right at home. Almost.

xoxo *la
---------------------------------

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]
 

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #53
Oct 1, 2003
 

I often get a comments regarding content in the timelines, but rarely does an expression come across as eloquent and passionate as the following. My initial response was to do some extra research and make some appropriate additions and changes to the subject matter in question. The changes were found to be somewhat acceptable, but more comments followed, which led me to propose more changes. The 2nd set of additions were not well received and we are now in a rather passionate discussion over the matter. By way of introduction I present below the initial e-mail. I would very much appreciate your comments on the matter.

Dear Algis,

What a wonderful and comprehensive job you have done with your site. I can see you have a true passion for history.
In light of what you stated, "My intention was to create a reliable and easy to use timeline that began right from the Big Bang"... I noted the word "reliable." Undoubtedly, you value the truth. Equally as well, you are also no doubt aware history is a matter of perspective. If we are only exposed to one side of a story (or if our prejudices don't allow ourselves to be open to another side), then truth can suffer. In the interest of truth, I wanted to point out to you that you have reported the Armenian "Genocide" from strictly the Armenian perspective.
Professor John Dewey (of Dewey Decimal System fame) wrote in 1928 ("The Turkish Tragedy"): "It is at least time that Americans ceased to be deceived by propaganda." That time has still not arrived, and unfortunately, you appear to be among the ranks of the deceived.
This frequently politicized topic often ignores the real historical facts, and relies on war time propaganda that was concocted for a variety of reasons... including inducing the United States into the war, taking the heat off atrocities against Jews by the Allies'
Russian ally (by creating a new monster... the Turks), and to justify the land grab scheme by the victorious powers which conducted secret treaties even before the war, on how to dismember the Sick Man of Europe.
Were you aware there was a Nuremberg type trial (in the form of the Malta Tribunal) and all the arrested Ottoman officials were found innocent? None of the war time propaganda documents, such as Lord Bryce's Blue Book or Henry Morgenthau's "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story"... nor the missionary Lepsius' accounts, or even the photos of the Armenian-German Armin Theophil Wegner, were found to be admissible as real evidence. Curiously, the British debunked their Blue Book on the Germans (which contained such nonsense as the "Hun" bayoneting Belgian babies, and making the enemy into soap) after the war and even apologized to the Germans in 1936... and yet these works are still taken at face value by those who are still ignorant or have an agenda that has little to do with the truth.
There were and are various factors involved in perpetuating the myth of the Armenian "Genocide." (Genocide is a word that has come to be used haphazardly; I'm referring to its meaning under the 1948 U.N. Convention, where we are basically talking about a state-sponsored policy for extermination of a people… where not only "intent" must be proven, but there is an article regarding political alliances. The Armenians pass themselves off as innocent victims... and certainly there were plenty of innocent victims among them... but they mostly followed their revolutionary leaders in violently allying themselves with the Allies, particularly the Russians.)
Sir Charles Eliot, in his book Turkey in Europe (London, E. Arnold, 1900) tells us that until the years succeeding the Turkish-Russian War of 1877-78, "the Turks and Armenians got on excellently together... The Russians restricted the Armenian Church, schools and language; the Turks on the contrary were perfectly tolerant and liberal as to all such matters... The Armenians were thorough Orientals and appreciated Turkish ideas and habits... (They) were quite content to live among the Turks.... The balance of wealth certainly remained with the Christians."
It was only as the "Sick Man of Europe" began its disintegration process, and the lands ruled began to break away, did the Armenians... usually at the hands of the Russians, and the British/French as well... decide to get in on the nationalistic action. The tactic of the Armenians had been to provoke the Ottomans through massacres and violence of their own, knowing that the sympathetic Christian powers would come to their rescue.
When the Ottoman Empire was at her weakest is when the Ottoman-Armenians treacherously turned. Even many loyal Ottoman-Armenians who did not want to listen to their revolutionary leaders complied, knowing the price to be paid in the hands of the terroristic Dashnaks and Hunchaks.
"The long-anticipated day of deliverance for the Turkish Armenians is at hand and the Armenians are prepared for any sacrifice made necessary by the performance of their manifest duty."
An Armenian newspaper from the Ottoman Empire, as quoted in The New York Times article, ARMENIANS FIGHTING TURKS ("Besieging Van—Others operating in Turkish Army's Rear,") November 7, 1914. (Russia declared war on the Ottoman Turks only five days previously.)
You can see from the date above (pre-1915) the Armenians were indisputably traitorous; this is a high crime in any nation, especially one at war. And this lies at the very root of the resettlement program that followed.
You have written in http://timelines.ws/20thcent/1914_1915.HTML:
1915  Apr 24, The Ottoman Turkish Empire began the brutal mass deportation of Armenians during World War I. A massacre of Armenians by Turks took place. Turkish police arrested hundreds of the most prominent Armenians in Constantinople, took them into the hinterlands and shot them. With that the terror spread through Turkish Armenia spearheaded by the "Special Organization" of soldiers of the Turkish leader Enver. Of the 1.75 million Armenians in Turkey at the outset of World War I, 250,000 fled into Russia and 1 million were systematically killed. Henry Morgenthau, US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, alerted Pres. Wilson of massacre of Armenians by the Turks. Evidence and photographs of the camps were provided to Morgenthau by Armin Wegner, German Red Cross official and Johannes Lepsius, a German missionary. British diplomat Lord Bryce hired Arnold Toynbee to document the slaughter. Franz Werfel later wrote "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh."
 (AP, 4/24/97)(HN, 4/24/98)(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A10)(HNQ, 5/30/99)
Some questions that need to be asked:
If the Turks and Armenians got along so beautifully for centuries, and with the "merchant class" Armenians controlling much of the economics of the country (necessary not to disrupt at the dark hour of war), there was no need for the Armenians to be deported (the correct word is relocated, or resettled; deportation means banishment outside a nation's borders) unless they treacherously turned against their country. If these people betrayed their country, they had to be led by leaders. This is why the Armenian leaders got arrested, and the story of their being taken "into the hinterlands and shot"... where is the proof of that..? (Which Armenian or Armenian-friendly source did you get that from?) No doubt some were executed, as any traitor would be in any country, especially a country facing a life or death struggle with war on multiple fronts.
Armenians were massacred, mainly by Kurds who often acted out of retribution for Armenian slaughters of their families. Most of the violence perpetrated against the Armenians occurred in areas where Ottoman control was weakest. If you read the actual ciphered Ottoman telegrams (Some are quite fascinating, like the ones declaring exceptions to the resettlement policy, such as Catholic & Protestant Armenians, soldiers & their families, some workers, etc. ... added to the fact that Armenians in the west [in cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Edirne] were not subjected to the resettlement... what a strange genocide policy; did Hitler exempt any Jews?), there was great sensitivity shown toward the Armenians (beware of forged "Talat Pasha" telegrams by Aram Andonian) ... but the relocation program didn't go smoothly, since resources in the bankrupt country were scarce, and every man was needed at the front. Especially against the Ottomans' mortal enemy, the Russians, which maintained a policy of real genocide, ethnically cleansing Muslim lands they had been taking over in the previous century or two. (You're Lithuanian, and I shouldn't have to explain how heavy-handed the Russians could be.)
What is "Turkish Armenia," by the way? (Do we call California and Texas "American Mexico"?) Armenians did not form a majority in any of the Six Vilayets in the Empire's East. The only times Armenians formed a majority is when they "systematically"... and that word can be appropriately used regarding how the Armenians conducted themselves... killed the Muslims from lands they wished to occupy. What is now present-day Armenia has zero Muslims. Not all that long ago, the Muslims formed the majority.
Regarding "the 'Special Organization' of soldiers of the Turkish leader Enver. Of the 1.75 million Armenians in Turkey at the outset of World War I, 250,000 fled into Russia and 1 million were systematically killed.":
The "Special Organization" is nonsense created by Armenians, anxious to draw up the Nazi parallel. If you'll look into the matter, you will not find any documented proof.
From Armenian leader Boghos Nubar (whose 1919 letter to the Times of London clearly spells out Armenian belligerence) to the Armenian Patriarch in 1921, to a 1998 Armenian proclamation that appeared in the New York Times, the Armenians claim one million Armenians survived. Over half a dozen neutral sources calculate the Armenian population of from 1.0 to 1.5 million. Do the subtraction, and you'll find the real number of Armenians who died... and it does not add up to much more than one-half of one million.
The result of Armenian dead is from ALL causes... not just massacres, but also famine, disease and combat; Armenian historian Richard Hovannisian himself estimated (in "Armenia on the Road to Independence," 1967, p. 67) that some 150,000 Armenians died of famine while and after accompanying the Russian retreat. There were many more Armenians who died from famine, since "all over Turkey thousands of the populace were daily dying of starvation," according to Ambassador Morgenthau's ghostwritten "Story," when Ottoman men were mobilized into the military en masse, and there were few left to till the fields.
Regarding Ambassador Morgenthau: the ex-lawyer was a racist, claiming the Turks had inferior blood. He relied on his Armenian assistants, who were his eyes and ears. Some of his letters and diaries differed significantly from the book ("Ambassador Morgenthau's Story"), which was ghostwritten and puts quotation marks around conjured up words. Morgenthau, Lepsius and Bryce shared information amongst themselves. Dr. Heath Lowry's excellently researched "The Story Behind Ambassador Morgenthau's Story" tells more. If you want to listen to an American ambassador, Admiral Mark Bristol took the reins in 1919, and he was a man of integrity. (Because of his even-handedness, Armenians criticize him for being "pro-Turk"... what he was was "pro-Truth." He investigated the massacres, unlike Morgenthau, who never left the confines of Istanbul.)
The photographs of Armin Wegner... have you seen them?... show mainly suffering people, and a few corpses, apparently famine victims. These conditions were prevalent throughout the entire dying nation. The pictures do not prove a systematic extermination policy by the government. ("Camps?" Are you implying a parallel to Auschwitz and Dachau? I have not come across any such "barbed wire" pictures.)
As for Lepsius and his missionary ilk, along with British propagandists who ran Wellington House, headed by Bryce and Toynbee (Toynbee admitted ALL of the evidence in their now-discredited Blue Book came from the missionaries), let's turn to Professor Justin McCarthy's excellent Presentation on British Propaganda:
Propagandists could play upon the great respect Americans held for the missionaries who had gone to the Ottoman Empire, and who often appeared in the newspapers as national heroes for a Christian Nation... The Relief Organization engaged in an eight-year policy of vilifying Turks, from 1915 to 1923. It is interesting that in 1923, once the Turks had won and the Mission obviously would not survive unless they got along with the Turks, suddenly all changed. Suddenly Turks were being praised by missionaries. But until then, the Turks were evil... Their main purpose was to collect money... They used a not-so-good means to get the money, which was to vilify the Turks in every way, because there is nothing that draws in funds like portraying a horrible enemy that is oppressing these people and will succeed unless you help, unless you contribute. Which is what they did.... Studying what they preached unfortunately takes a long time. You must read much truly disgusting literature. What they wrote was not what one would expect of clergymen. Yet one reason they were so successful is exactly that people expected that clergymen would not lie.
Franz Werfel's "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh" is not "evidence."  Perhaps you are not aware that this is a work of fiction? Rabbi Albert Amateau testified that his friend Werfel was taken in by Armenian falsifications. ("Werfel confessed to me his shame and remorse for having written that story, in which he had blamed the Ottomans as the aggressors and terrorists." You can also read more in Professor Erich Feigl's "The Myth of Terror.")
What is often tragically overlooked in this debate... because Turkish/Muslim lives are not considered that valuable in our part of the world... are the defenseless Turkish villagers systematically eliminated by the Armenians. A British colonel, for example, reported that the Armenians "massacred between 300,000 and 400,000 Kurdish Muslims in the Van and Bitlis districts." (12.9.1919, U.S. Archives 184.021/265) The anti-Turkish 1968 book "The Kurds" reports the Armenians killed 600,000 Kurds. Documented Ottoman archives have settled on a figure of around 520,000 Turks/Muslims murdered, directly at the hands of the Armenians. (2.5 to 3 million Turks died from all WWI causes. You mistakenly have written, in the section beginning with "1914-1919 During WW I nine million people died" a few lines above the Armenian "Genocide" entry, that only .5 million Turks died.)
One of the murdering Armenian leaders, General Dro (Drastamat Kanayan), who evidently targeted Turkish children in his slaughters, utilized his skills for mass murder during the Nazi regime... when the Armenians fought with the Wehrmacht, and Dro was called the "Jew Hunter" by the Nazis.
It appears more Armenians massacred Turks than the other way around; furthermore, there is much clearer evidence that the Armenians acted systematically, making their crimes more genocidal in impact. The Jewish Times said in its June 21, 1990 opinion:
  "An appropriate analogy with the Jewish Holocaust might be the systematic extermination of the entire Muslim population of the independent republic of Armenia which consisted of at least 30-40 percent of the population of that republic. The memoirs of an Armenian army officer who participated in and eye-witnessed these atrocities was published in the U.S. in 1926 with the title 'Men Are Like That.' Other references abound."
There are always two sides to a story, as you know... and I realize it's strange to consider this other side, as we prefer to think of Turks as oppressors, and not as victims.  If truth is your goal, however, you cannot ignore this other side so completely.
Best,
Holdwater
---------------------------------------

Thanks to Peter Braun for the following correction:

1824    Dec 22, Chiefess Kapiolani, a Christian, defied Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, and
lived.  Tennyson's eponymous poem celebrated the event.
(www.aracnet.com/~sbvoices/days_dec.html)

Special thanks also to Anthony D'Abreu of Little London, UK, for his ongoing numerous technical corrections.
----------------------------------------
Our feature "Hair Today" will be not be presented this month because our star hair care specialist, StarLa, is buried under a load of perms and having a very "bad hair" month. She promised to rejoin us next month.
----------------------------------------
Updated files include:
Years: 1Mil-0CE, 1476-1499, 1790-1799, 1811-1820, 1831-1840 1902-1904, 1905-1907, 1910-1911, 1914-1915, 1920-1921, 1949, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1994 Jan-May, 1997 Sep-Oct, 1998 Apr, Sep, 1999, 2000
Countries: Albania, Algeria, Arabs, Armenia, Chile, Cypress, East Timor, Egypt, France (1796-1869) (1968-2003), Germany (1917-1938), Great Britain (1942-1971), Greece, Guinea-Bissau, India, Iraq, Israel to 1961, Kyrgyzstan, N. Ireland, Liechtenstein, Nigeria, Persia, Philippines, Russia (1911-1944), Scotland, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Turkey to 1960.
States: District of Columbia (new), Hawaii, Pennsylvania
Cities: Chicago, NYC
Subjects: Artists, Nobel winners, Poets, US Presidents (B)
 

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #54
Nov 1, 2003

I have placed an expanded query form from Atomz.com into the local search engine box, which allows for some very specific searches. I believe it is quite an improvement over the previous form.
In an effort to scale up the project, I am considering putting a major portion of the timelines on a subscription basis. Donations and CD sales have not generated any significant income and in order to carry through my retirement plan and devote full time to the project, a certain amount of revenue will need to be made. Your comments on this would be much appreciated.
I would like to thank Anthony D'Abreu of Little London, UK, for his ongoing discovery of errors for correction. Mr. D'Abreu, who works as a writer and media analyst, has also agreed to do some research assistance for me on the question of transforming the site to subscription-based usage.
--------------------------------------
Re: Internet yellow pages. I posted an e-mail in Jan 2003 to Harley Hahn to get the timelines listed in his Internet Yellow Pages. A reply arrived 2 weeks ago:

As you may know, there is an item in the Yellow Pages called "Historical Timelines" and you can find it in the "History: World" section.  I have three timeline sites. I looked at your Web site and I like it a lot -- you did a great job -- so I added in it to the item, which I have renamed "Timelines". The book is now online, so people who subscribe to the Web site (see below) will now see your site.
If you like my writing, there is something now you may be interested in.  I have just finished a long project to put some of my books and other interesting material online.  Take a look at this:

http://hhe.harley.com/info/

The new project, called The Harley Hahn experience, is a subscription Web site that I have been working on for over a year.  It costs only $20/year for a great deal of interesting material.
You will find the entire Yellow Pages (the newest edition), as well as two other full books and a lot of other material.  All the links are live, which makes it very easy to explore anything you want.

Moreover, when the new edition (for 2004) comes out, it will be online.  (There will not be a paper edition this year.)  If you subscribe, you will automatically see the 2004 edition appear when it is read. If you look at it, please let me know what you think.  In particular, I think you will enjoy reading the book called "Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity". Also, you may want to sign up for my free newsletter:
http://www.harley.com/newsletter/signup.html

Once again, I am sorry I took so long to reply to your message, but I'm glad you wrote: your Web site is excellent. -- Harley Hahn
http://www.harley.com/
---------------------------------------
Link established with Laos Resources: http://www.iaqi.com/laos-directory/
---------------------------------------
FYI: The Apple OS 9.2 running Internet Explorer has problems with PayPal.
---------------------------------------
Updated files include:
Cities: Chicago, NYC
Countries: American Indians, Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Burundi, Byzantium, Chile, Great Britain (1551-1710)(1942-1971)(1972-1997), Colombia, France (1870-1920), Hungary, India, Iraq, North Ireland, Israel, Ivory Coast, Libya, Netherlands, Palestine, Russia (1911-44), Sardinia (new), Serbia, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey (to 1960)
Periods: 1400-1449, 1450-75, 1600-25, 1875-76, 1891-1894, 1902-04, 1908-1909, 1910-1911, 1912-1913, 1914-15, 1916-17, 1924-25, 1931-32, 1936, 1937, 1969, 1973, 1982, 1998, 2000 (Mar-Apr), 2002 (Aug, Sep), 2003 (Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct)
Subjects: Food, Technology, Television, Theater
US States: Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington
-------------------------------------------
And now!!! On loan from a hair salon somewhere in Delmarva, here is Starla and:
"Hygiene through the Ages"

Or rather, the LACK of hygiene in history.

We today are a "clean" society. We spend untold millions each year on soaps, deodorants, skin scrubs, bath beads, you name it. We spend even more untold millions per year on detergents, cleansers and disinfectants. We really do seem to embrace the old saying that "cleanliness is next to godliness." However, it wasn't always so. In Roman times, bathing was not just a hygienic ritual. It was almost a cultural institution. Those Romans bathed several times a day if they could, and the bathhouses were centers of socializing. Who knows how many political decisions were made by a bunch of Roman guys soaking in scented steam? This fondness for the bath is also why ancient Rome boasted the state-of-the-art (for its time) plumbing system.

This healthy living suffered a severe setback with the spread of Christianity through the Empire. Early Christians wished to distance themselves as much as possible from "heathen ways." And especially, they wished to distance themselves from HEDONISTIC heathen ways. And what cold be more hedonistic than luxuriating in your bathtub for hours on end? So the Roman fondness for bathing was thrown out with the bathwater, and thus began the Age of Grunge, aka the Middle Ages. During this time, not only was bathing considered immoral and unhealthy, but NOT bathing was a status symbol. The "best people" were proud of the fact that they could expect to be bathed only twice in their lives: once at birth, and then again upon death, after it didn't matter anymore how they smelled. Queen Isabella of Spain, the very Isabella who financed Columbus's trip to the New World, boasted openly that she had NEVER bathed in her life. During this time period, those who could afford it used lots of perfumes in an effort to hide their unpleasant odors, from themselves as well as from others. Fashionable ladies carried nosegays (small bouquets of scented flowers) with them wherever they went, to be sniffed when others' odors got to be too much.

It's no surprise that during this time, especially in the larger cities of Europe, disease and vermin were the norm rather than the exception. Gradually however, as civilization progressed, the rules against "hedonistic" activities were relaxed, and also, people began to make the connection between filth and disease. They began to make more of an effort to keep themselves and their clothes and homes cleaner. Still, these efforts were hampered by the lack of good plumbing. In places where water had to be hauled from a well, which might be some distance from the home, and must be heated over the stove, which must be kept hot with wood that had to be cut... well, nobody was taking a daily bath yet.

Thus was born the institution, familiar to most "Little House on the Prairie" readers as the Saturday Night Bath. Why Saturday? Easy. Saturday was the ideal night for the weekly bath because most people wanted to be fresh and clean for church on Sunday, and then too, no work was going to be done on the Sabbath, so it worked out rather well. This custom of weekly bathing persisted well into the 20th century in many rural areas, but with improved understanding of sanitation and how diseases are spread (Thank you Dr. Pasteur et al) and widespread installation of indoor plumbing, it became not just possible but desirable to bathe or shower every day. And now, wishing to distance ourselves from our slovenly and malodorous ancestors, we Americans, in particular seem to go overboard at times in our obsession with scented, extra-strong or disinfecting products. Indeed, some experts maintain that our demand for disinfectant this and antibacterial that has contributed to the development of resistant strains of bacteria that cause serious disease and have not known cure as of yet. I would be happy to expound on this a little more, but my bubble bath's about to run over and is calling me. So, till next time...

xo *la
-----------------------------------

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]

Timelines of History
http://timelines.ws
Newsletter #55
Dec 1, 2003
 

I would first off like to thank Anthony D'Abreu, English media analyst, for his recent 14-page analysis of the timelines.ws website. Mr. D'Abreu took time off from his current book project on patterns in recent history to not only provide a professional analysis of the website in its current form, but to also provide specific suggestions and directions for moving the project forward:

 "There are less than 100 General Timelines sites claiming to cover at least two thousand years of historical events and of these only around 15 cover the last fifty years’ events by the year and even fewer by the month. Only one timelines site, the subject of this review – Timelines.ws – covers events across two millennia by the year, the month and the day, though inevitably the density of this detail drops away before the year 1700. Several newspaper or news agency sites do provide this daily level of detail but only for the last six or seven years and the archive source is generally restricted to the paper or agency operating the site."

Mr. D'Abreu's analysis focused on my request for future development options including the possibility of putting it on a subscription basis. His numerous suggestions covered such subjects as current plagiarism, target audience, increasing awareness, use of advanced search engine capabilities such as subject clustering, possible alliance with a major news organization, global news sourcing, possible fee ranges, metrics on site usage and WWW visibility, page re-design etc. etc. etc. My head is still swimming in the range of subjects that need attention.

At the end of my response and sincere thanks I wrote the following:
 There are an enormous number of details and possibilities to explore here and I am most grateful for your efforts in helping me to clarify my ideas and to develop a strategy to guide future efforts. Until I am able to devote full time to these efforts, I will be stuck in a perpetual catch-up game of content update with no guarantee of either tangible or intangible success. Since at this point it could all vaporize over-night, I am not too obsessed with fighting off copycats or plagiarists. What is most helpful now are the very specific spoon-size suggestions that I can implement as I prepare to handle the larger picture.

That final point I would like underscore to all timeline users. Your comments and suggestions are highly valued. In the near future I will have to make some very critical decisions that include quitting my day job in order to pursue this project full time. How much would you pay, if anything, for a subscription to use the timelines?
-----------------------------------
Following up on one of Anthony D'Abreu's many suggestions I posted a copyright statement on the web site on 11/15/03. The items in the timelines are all public domain information, but their organization and unique presentation on the timelines website is subject to copyright protection.
-----------------------------------
Missed it again!
2003  Nov 14, The White House honored winners of the National Medal for the Humanities.
 (SFC, 11/14/03, p.I10)
-----------------------------------
Expectations for 2003 from my futures file. Note the reference dates for each item.

2003 Dec, The expected completion date of the $17.4 billion int’l. space station. The cost was estimated up in 1998 to $24.7 billion, and possibly delayed by 3 years.
(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A10)
2003 Tuition at public colleges will cost $66,443 and $138,829 at private collages.
(WSJ, 12/9/94, p.R-23)
2003 The US Senate in 1997 set Medicare eligibility to begin climbing from 65 and to reach 67 in the year 2027.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A3)
2003 California Air Resources Board mandated that electric vehicles account for 10% of the cars sold in the state.
(WSJ, 11/15/96, p.A12)
2003 The new National Air & Space Museum annex at Dulles Int'l. Airport was scheduled for completion. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy (53), a Hungarian-American and president of the largest aircraft leasing company, donated $60 million to the project in 1999.
(SFC, 9/30/99, p.A12)
2003 A space mission to Pluto was planned with arrival in 2013.
(WSJ, 12/7/95, p.A-1)
2003 A new space-based telescope was scheduled for launch.
(SFC, 8/17/98, p.A2)
2003 A Wired consensus predicts that Free Internet Access will be available in Public Libraries by this time.
(Wired, Dec., '95, p.68)
2003 The new $1 billion National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif., should become operational. It will be able to simulate the flow of radiation in a nuclear fireball.
(SFC, 6/15/96, p.A10)
2003 Project Oxygen, an int'l. fiber-optic link led by Neil Tagare and begun in 1997, was scheduled for completion.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.B7)
2003 Indonesia expects to build a 130-seat jet by this time.
(WSJ, 8/11/95, p.A-6)
2003 Portugal Telecom will open its telephone service market to competition.
(WSJ, 7/25/96, p.B8)
2003  A US orbiter will survey Mars and a lander will explore the surface.
(SFEC, 5/25/97,  p.12)
---------------------------------------
Update files due to corrections:
Countries: Afghanistan, Antarctica, Arabs, Arctic, Britain 1711-1799, Croatia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, France (1921-1967), Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq (B), Italy thru 1929, India 1991-2003, Littles (A), Malaysia, Micronesia (new), Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Swaziland (new).
States: California (1962-1983), Idaho, Louisiana, So. Carolina, Washington state.
Cities: NYC (1900-1949)
Subjects: Airline stuff, Black History, Calendar (new), Cartoons (new) Fashion, Food, Games, Murders (new), Microbiology (new), Poets, Technology, Nobels.
Years: 600-699, 1771-1779, 1780-1789, 1790-1799, 1831-1840, 1841-1849, 1864-1866, 1867-1870, 1875-1878, 1895-1897, 1902-1904, 1905-1907, 1910-1911, 1920-1921, 1928, 1938, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1999 (Aug) 2001 (Dec), 2003 (Apr, Oct).
-----------------------------------------
My young star reporter, and full-time hair-dresser StarLa (aka *la), is out on assignment this month. I have asked her to research the historical importance of hair in all the religions of the world going back to 10k BC. Hopefully this will help keep her mind properly focused and provide us with some interesting insights next time round.

Best regards to all,
Algis Ratnikas
[email protected]