[Vhfcn-l] Monday musings

[Gary Thewlis]

If Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark
rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.

Marcus Bridgstocke

 

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through
snow.

Jeff Valdez

 

When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus,
it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has
merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.

Edward R. Murrow

 

Never raise your hand to your children; it leaves your midsection
unprotected.

Robert Orben

 

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private
and wash your hands afterwards.

Robert Heinlein

 

Oh, sometimes I like to put the sand of doubt in the oyster of my faith.

Edith Pargeter - In the Cadfael book The Leper of St Giles

 

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Remembering Mary Katharine Goddard

 

As one of the country's first female publishers, Mary Katharine Goddard
played a significant yet overlooked role in the American Revolution. She
printed a Baltimore-based newspaper that ran articles about various
Revolutionary War battles, and continued to print the paper even after her
offices were raided. As the first female postmaster in the colonies, she
also ran the Baltimore Post Office and undoubtedly facilitated some
important correspondence in her day.

 

However, her biggest assignment came in January 1777, when Congress asked
her to print copies of the Declaration of Independence and deliver them to
the 13 colonies. Her next step was a bold one. At the bottom of each page,
she added her own name into the mix. "Baltimore, in Maryland: Printed by
Mary Katharine Goddard," the text reads. (Though her name was printed as
Mary Katharine, she is often referred to as Mary Katherine in various
texts.)

 

This copy of the Declaration was the first to include the full list of
founders' signatures. The only two names that appeared on previously printed
copies were Continental Congress president John Hancock and secretary
Charles Thomson. At the time, of course, signing a document that declared
independence from Britain was akin to treason-and being a woman didn't help
matters, either.

 

This wasn't the first time Goddard had published her name, though. Two years
earlier, she had begun printing her name at the bottom of a newspaper called
The Maryland Journal and the Baltimore Advertiser after her brother and
business partner, William, left town to pursue other interests, according to
the New York Public Library. Instead of including her full name, though, she
had opted for "Published by M.K. Goddard."

 

It's unclear what prompted Goddard to print her full name at the bottom of
the Declaration of Independence, but historians can venture a guess.
"Perhaps Goddard was trying to secure her place in the story of the nation's
founding. We can only speculate," writes the library, which owns two copies
of the document, dubbed the Goddard Broadside.

 

Unfortunately for Goddard, her powerful position in the printing industry
was short-lived. Her brother returned to Baltimore in 1784 and took over the
newspaper once again, and her name was removed. She continued to serve as
the postmaster for another five years until the new Postmaster General,
Samuel Osgood, pushed her out of the job in 1789, arguing that women didn't
have the stamina for it. More than 200 people in Baltimore signed a petition
demanding her reinstatement, but it was an unsuccessful bid.

 

Instead, Goddard ran a bookstore until her death in 1816. But she got the
last laugh: Her name can still be seen on one of the nation's most important
historical documents.

 

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In 1947, heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under
25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80
deaths. 

 

The anemometer is an instrument which measures the force, velocity, or
pressure of the wind. 

 

The base of the Great Pyramid of Egypt is large enough to cover 10 football
fields. 

 

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory in 1582 AD, and was
adopted by Great Britain and the English colonies in 1752. 

 

The highest point of the earth, with an elevation of 29,141 feet, is the top
of Mt. Everest in Tibet.

 

The metal instrument used in shoe stores to measure feet is called the
Brannock device.

 

Though it goes to 10, 9 is estimated to be the point of total tectonic
destruction from an earthquake (2 is the smallest that can be felt unaided.)