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Lemonade

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Lemonade

Lemonade is a delicious beverage.

  • Lemonade is a sweet beverage that is traditionally flavoured with lemon.
  • Lemonade is typically homemade or manufactured commercially, and the latter is carbonated to make a soft drink and often contains citric acid as the flavouring ingredient.
  • The primary ingredients of homemade lemonade, are sugar, lemon juice and water.
  • Lemonade, although typically used as a beverage, can be made into a frozen snack or dessert.
  • Lemonade is sometimes coloured pink, due to the addition of red berry juices or food colouring, and is often sweeter.

Lemonade, Homebrand, Window, 1.25 L, flavoured soft drink, Woolworths, bottle, Ten Random Facts

  • Lemonade recipes can vary widely among countries, with some including ginger, alcohol, mint or pear in their mixes.
  • Lemonade was possibly invented by the Egyptians, as there is evidence of sweetened bottled lemon juice, known as ‘qatarmizat’, being made and exported from the 900s AD.
  • Lemonade is traditionally yellow to white in colour, although can be coloured differently with fruit juices and food colourings.
  • Lemonade has its own national day of the same name, in the United States of America, and is celebrated annually on the 20th of August.
  • Homemade lemonade has a significant quantity of vitamin C and carbohydrates.

 

Bibliography:
History of Lemonade, 2012, 20-20 Site, http://www.2020site.org/history/history-of-lemonade.html
Kartha D, History of Lemonade, 2009, Buzzle, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-lemonade.html
Lemonade, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemonade
Wright C, History of Lemonade, 2014, CliffordAWright.com, http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/id/95/

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Toco Toucan

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Toco Toucan

These are the bright and colourful Toco toucans.

  • Toco toucans are colourful birds found in the central to eastern South American tropics.
  • Toco toucans are from the family Ramphastidae, the family of toucans and aracaris.
  • ‘Toco toucans’ are also known as ‘toucans’ and ‘common toucans’ and they have the scientific name Ramphastos toco.
  • Toco toucans have a body predominately black in colour, with a throat coloured white, a yellow to orange coloured bill, and have eyes surrounded with blue skin.
  • Toco toucans grow to be approximately 55 to 65 centimetres (22 to 26 inches) in length and weigh from 500 to 876 grams (1.1 to 1.9 pounds).

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Toco Toucan
Image courtesy of Dario Sanches/Flickr
  • Toco toucans vocalise with croaks, rattles and clacks, and they do not fly well, so they generally glide or move via tree lines.
  • Toco toucans’ diet mainly consists of fruit, but they also eat small lizards, amphibians and birds, insects and eggs.
  • The bill of a Toco toucan is very large in comparison to the size of the bird, that can grow to be 15.8 to 23 centimetres (6.2 to 9 inches) in length, and is used for reaching, picking and peeling fruit, and for the purpose of heat transfer.
  • Toco toucans usually live in groups of six or so birds, and typically have two to four chicks each year, which hatch after around 17 to 18 days.
  • Toco toucans can live up to 20 years in the wild, and are popularly kept in captivity, although they are susceptible to disease.
Bibliography:
Toco Toucan, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toco_Toucan
Toucan, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/birds/toucan/

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Lacebark Tree

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Lacebark Tree

Lacebark trees are full of striking features.

  • Lacebark trees are semi-deciduous trees, native to dry rainforests of eastern Australia in parts of New South Wales and Queensland, and are closely related to the Queensland Bottle Tree, the Illawarra Flame Tree and other kurrajong species.
  • Lacebark trees are medium sized and can grow up to 30 metres (98 feet) in height, but they are usually shorter than this.
  • The lacebark tree comes from the family Malvaceae, the family of mallows, and its scientific name is Brachychiton discolor, ‘discolor’ referring to the leaves that are dark green on the top side and a much lighter colour on the underside.
  • Lacebark trees have flowers, fruit, twigs and leaves covered in dense hairs that are fuzzy like felt.
  • Lacebark trees are usually planted for decorative purposes, are drought tolerant, frost resistant and grow best in full sun.

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  • Lacebark trees bloom during summer months and the flowers are coloured pink and technically do not have petals, but rather sepals that look like petals.
  • Lacebark tree fruits, or seedpods, grow to be 7 to 20 centimetres (2.8 to 7.9 inches) in length, and hold up to 30 seeds that are approximately 9 millimetres (0.35 inches) in length.
  • The wood of lacebark trees can be used in woodwork, and have been traditionally used for making indigenous Australian shields.
  • The seeds of lacebark trees can be roasted and eaten, and the hairs in the pods can cause irritation to human skin.
  • ‘Lacebark trees’ are so called due to the markings on the bark, especially as the tree ages, and they are also known as ‘scrub bottle trees’, ‘pink flame trees’, ‘hat trees’, ‘Queensland lacebarks’, ‘sycamores’, ‘pink kurrajongs’, ‘white kurrajongs’, ‘lace kurrajongs’ ‘lacebark kurrajongs’ and ‘bush kurrajongs’.

Bibliography:

Brachychiton Discolor, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachychiton_discolor
Bush Kurrajong – Brachychiton Discolor, n.d, Exploring the World of Trees, http://tree-species.blogspot.com.au/2007/12/bush-kurrajong-brachychiton-discolor.html
Lacebark Tree, n.d, Daleys, http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/plant/Lacebark-Tree-Brachychiton-Discolor.htm

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Galápagos Islands

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Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are islands full of isolated beauty.

  • The Galápagos Islands are a distribution of islands that have been governed by Ecuador since 1832, and were created by volcanic activity, and are located in isolation around the Pacific Ocean’s equator, and are just over 900 kilometres (560 miles) away from Ecuador.
  • The ‘Galápagos Islands’ are also known as the ‘Islas Galápagos’, in Spanish, and ‘Archipiélago de Colón’.
  • The Galápagos Island archipelago is made up of 18 main islands, 3 small islands and 107 tiny islands or rocks, and is the home to over 25,000 people, spread over five islands.
  • The Galápagos Islands became a national park in 1959 and an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
  • The Galápagos Islands were accidentally discovered by Europeans, due to a storm, in 1535, by the Spanish Bishop of Panamá, Fray Tomás de Berlanga, who was on his way to Peru, in South America.

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Part of a Galápagos Island
Image courtesy of Charles Zeielinski/Flickr
  • The Galápagos Islands have a land mass totalling approximately 8,000 square kilometres (3,089 square miles), with Isabela, the largest island, being 5,827 square kilometres (2,250 square miles) in area, in an ocean area of 45,000 square kilometres (17,000 square miles).
  • The first known map of the Galápagos Islands was created in 1570, by the Belgian Gerardus Mercator and Flemish Abraham Ortelius, who were cartographers.
  • The Galápagos Islands are accessible by boat and aircraft, with only two airports; one on the island of Baltra, and the other on San Cristobal, and is host to 116 tourism spots, 54 of which are on land, while the rest is devoted to marine activity.
  • The Galápagos Islands are home to many endemic species, including 180 plant species, 47 animal species, and 530 marine species, and is also home to numerous other plant and marine species, and some of their most notable animals are the marine iguana, and the Galápagos land iguana, giant tortoise, sea lion and hawk.
  • The Galápagos Islands are at constant threat of being damaged by tourism, excessive fishing and introduced species of fauna and flora.
Bibliography:
Galápagos Islands, 2014, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1
Galápagos Islands, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands

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Christopher Columbus

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Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus – the man who didn’t discover America.

  • Christopher Columbus was an explorer, navigator and colonist of Italian origin, who was a catholic, and although he was not the first to discover America, he is notable for bringing America to the attention of the Europeans.
  • Christopher Columbus was born in Italy, but his exact birth date is unknown, and is said to be between the 31 October, 1450, to 30 October, 1451.
  • ‘Christopher Columbus’ is spelt ‘Cristoforo Colombo’ in Italian, ‘Cristóvão Colombo’ in Portuguese and ‘Cristóbal Colón’ in Spanish.
  • According to Christopher Columbus’ texts, his first experience at sea was when he was young, between 10 to 13 years old.
  • King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, catholic monarchs of an area that became part of Spain, agreed to finance four voyages that Christopher Columbus made to and from the Americas, between the years of 1492 and 1503, although he didn’t arrive home from his last voyage until November 1504, after being stranded for a year on the island of Jamaica.

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Columbus Statue
Image courtesy of Accidental Hedonist/Flickr
  • Christopher Columbus was approximately 54 when he died on 20 May, 1506, in Spain, possibly from ongoing illness and arthritis.
  • Christopher Columbus is honoured by a Columbus Day, held in October each year, and is celebrated throughout Spain, and much of North and South America.
  • Christopher Columbus has been featured on many postage stamps, with two billion manufactured in 1893 for the 400th anniversary of his landing on American soil.
  • Christopher Columbus was not featured in any known primary artwork of his time, and therefore there is no accurate depiction of his appearance, though he has been the subject of many art pieces, from sculptures to paintings.
  • Christopher Columbus married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the governor of the Portuguese island, Porto Santo, and had a son named Diego, although she is said to have died when Diego was young, and Columbus later had a son with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, named Ferdinand.
  • Bibliography:
Christopher Columbus, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), 2014, Royal Museum Greenwich, http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/explorers-and-leaders/christopher-columbus

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Stapler

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Stapler

These stapler facts will staple all that information together.

  • Staplers are machines that use thin staples, typically made from metal, to hold items, such as paper, together.
  • ‘Staplers’ are also known as ‘staple binders’, ‘stapling machines’, ‘paper fasteners’, and ‘staple drivers’.
  • Staplers can be manual, meaning they require force from one’s hand; or electric, which generally function automatically or with the press of a button, and are either battery operated or are plugged into an electrical power outlet.
  • It is believed that a stapler was first invented in the 1700s for the French King Louis XV, in France and the staples were engraved with the royal insignia.
  • Staplers usually hold a quantity of staples in a cartridge, that are pushed one at a time through the paper or other material to be stapled, and the staple is usually forced to bend behind the material as it hits the metal plate, an ‘anvil’, located at the base of the machine.

Stapler, Orange, Yellow, Metal, Black, Ten Random Facts, Office,

  • The invention and modification of the stapler is evident in the later half of the 1800s, while the earliest known patent for a machine to use a staple and clinch it (bend the staple) is dated 1877, and was invented by American Henry Heyl, from Philadelphia.
  • Staplers are most often made from a combination of metal and plastic, and come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes, with each machine holding staples of a particular size.
  • The first stapler to become a financial success in the commercial world, is said to be the one designed by American George McGill, in 1879 in New York, and the modern style hand operated machine was available from as early as the 1940s, the invention of which is commonly attributed to John Munford, from England.
  • A stapler can have special features, like a long arm, to staple books; an anvil that can be moved so that the staple folds outwards like a pin, for a less permanent securing method; and variations like the machine with no anvil, called a ‘staple gun’, which can secure items without needing to access the back of the material.
  • Staplers are most commonly used in work, school or home environments, as well as hospitals, where there are special surgical ones that can be used to staple skin together during surgery.

 

Bibliography:
Antique staplers & other paper fasteners, 2013, Early Office Museum, http://www.officemuseum.com/staplers.htm
The History of Staplers, 2004, Wayback Machine, http://web.archive.org/web/20070831072958/http://www.oldstaplers.com/stapler_history.html
Staplers, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapler
Welcome, 2008, DIAO, http://www.stapler.cn/history.asp

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