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Coriander Seeds

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Coriander Seeds

Coriander seeds are actually fruit!

  • Coriander seeds are used as a spice to flavour cooking, and are also known as ‘dhania’ and ‘coriandi seeds’.
  • Coriander seeds are the fruit of an annual herb that grows up to 50 centimetre (20 inch) high.
  • Coriander seeds are believed to be native to the Mediterranean and Middle East areas.
  • Coriander seeds are from the family Apiaceae, the family of carrots and parsley, and come from the plant that has the scientific name of Coriandrum sativum or common names ‘cilantro’, ‘Chinese parsley’ and ‘Mexican parsley’.
  • Coriander seeds are often used in curries, as well as in the spice mix ‘garam masala’, and is commonly found in dishes particularly from Southeast Asia to Africa to the Middle East.

Coriander Seeds, white, spice, fruit, Ten Random Facts, Bowl,

  • Coriander seeds are high in manganese, calcium, magnesium and iron.
  • Coriander seeds have the flavour of lemon citrus and nuts, and they generally help thicken the sauces that they are usually found in.
  • Coriander seeds are commonly used ground or whole, roasted, dried or fresh.
  • There are different varieties of coriander that produce different sized coriander seeds, and they range from 1.5 to 5 millimetres (0.06 to 0.2 inches) in diameter.
  • Coriander seeds have been used traditionally for medicinal purposes to treat a wide variety of ailments and they are said to have anti-diabetic properties.
Bibliography:
Coriander, 2006, OzPolitic, http://www.ozpolitic.com/gardening/coriander.html
Coriander, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander

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Les Paul

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Les Paul

Ever heard of Les Paul?

  • Les Paul was a guitarist that worked particularly in the areas of jazz, blues and country, and invented some music related items.
  • Les Paul’s full name is Lester William Polsfuss and was born on 9 June, 1915, in Waukesha in USA’s Wisconsin.
  • Les Paul invented one of the first solid body electric guitars in 1940, and later had one named after him.
  • Les Paul is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and won two Grammy Awards in 2006.
  • Les Paul’s first instrument to learn was the harmonica, then the piano, followed by the guitar, and later he became a semi-professional guitarist, harmonica player and country singer by age thirteen.

Les Paul, Black, White, jazz, club, 2008, New York, Live, Ten Random Facts, Guitarist

Les Paul 2008
Image courtesy of Thomas Faivre-Duboz/Flickr
  • Les Paul originally had the stage names ‘Red Hot Red’ and ‘Rhubarb Red’, and was also known as ‘Wizard of Waukesha’.
  • At a young age, Les Paul invented a hands-free holder for a harmonica, that went around his neck that could be used while he was performing.
  • Les Paul met his second wife (he divorced his first wife Virginia Webb), Iris Summers, known as Mary Ford, in 1945, whom he married in 1949, but divorced in the early 1960s, just before Paul’s retirement.
  • Les Paul semi-retired in 1965, but still performed until his death, ending his life with 40 albums.
  • Les Paul nearly electrocuted himself in 1941, survived a major car accident in 1948, had significant heart surgery in 1987, suffered from arthritis, and eventually died on 12 August, 2009, age 94, due to pneumonia complications.
Bibliography: Les Paul, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
Baker, Les Paul, So Much More Than A Guitar, 2014, The Les Paul Foundation, http://lespaulfoundation.org/about-les-paul.html

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Blue Plumbago

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Blue Plumbago

Pretty, pretty blue plumbagos.

  • ‘Blue plumbagos’ are also known as ‘cape plumbagos’ and ‘cape leadworts’.
  • Blue plumbagos are from the family of Plumbaginaceae, which is the family of plumbagos and leadworts.
  • Blue plumbagos are decorative perennial flowering bushes that can climb, which are native to South Africa.
  • Blue plumbagos can grow up to be 6 metres (20 feet) in height, and sunny and semi-shaded areas are the best spots for them to grow.
  • Blue plumbagos have flowers that bloom in different shades of both blue and white that mainly flower in summer and autumn, and sticky hairs that are found near the flowers.

Blue Plambago, Flower, cape, Auriculanta, Ten Random Facts, Australia, Plant, Bush, Shrub, Bundle

  • The scientific name of a blue plumbago is ‘Plumbago auriculata’, with ‘auriculata’ referring to the ear-shaped leaves.
  • Blue plumbago flowers are approximately 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) in diameter, and they grown in clusters, and have long tubes at the base of the five petals.
  • Blue plumbagos have won the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society, and are popular in gardens.
  • Blue plumbagos often do not flower on the first year after the planting of its seed, from which it is readily grown.
  • Blue plumbago leaves are green and shiny and can grow up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) in length, that can attract some insect pests.
Bibliography:
Plumbago auriculta, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbago_auriculata
Plumbago auriculta, n.d, Missouri Botanical Garden, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a542

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Perito Moreno Glacier

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Perito Moreno Glacier

A natural ice pack: Perito Moreno Glacier.

  • Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier that is found in the National Park, Los Glaciares, Argentina, in South America, and its source is the Southern Patagonian Ice Field found in the Andes Mountain system.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the most prominent attractions for tourists in southern South America, in the Argentine Patagonia region, and the area has vehicle access via a road.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier covers an area of 250 kilometres squared (97 miles squared) and spreads to a length of 30 kilometres (19 miles).
  • Perito Moreno Glacier has a total height of 170 metres (558 feet) of ice, with around 74 metres (240 feet) protruding from the water’s surface.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier has ruptures, due to pressure build up from dammed water, that occur approximately every four to five years, although they can occur more or less frequently, with the most recent event on the 19 January, 2013.
perito Moreno glacier, ice, iceberg, moving, 2008, Argentina, Panorama, south America, Flickr, Ten Random Facts
Panorama
Image courtesy of Steven Newton/Flickr
  • It is possible to venture onto Perito Moreno Glacier through an organised tour, with trails ranging from one and a half to five hours.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier sees winds that can blow up to speeds of 130 kilometres/hour (81 miles/hour).
  • Perito Moreno Glacier is a fresh water reserve, and is the third largest on earth.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier is named after Argentine’s Francisco Moreno, an explorer in the late 1800s and early 1900s, who was also known as ‘Perito Moreno’, the word ‘perito’ meaning ‘expert’ or ‘specialist’, which he officially became in 1902.
  • Perito Moreno Glacier acted as a natural barricade for Argentina during conflicts with the neighbouring Chile.
Bibliography:
Calafate – Perito Moreno Glacier – Argentina, n.d, CASCADA Expidiciones, https://www.cascada.travel/About/Calafate-Perito-Moreno-Glacier-Argentina
Perito Moreno Glacier, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier

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Giant Armadillo

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Giant Armadillo

Giant armadillos dressed in armour.

  • Giant armadillos are mammals that are native to South American tropical forest areas, and are found on approximately half of the continent.
  • Giant armadillos are from the family Dasypodidae, which is the family of armadillos.
  • Giant armadillos have a tough encasing of hard scales and plates which is used primarily for defense.
  • The scientific name of a giant armadillo is ‘Priodontes maximus’ and they have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.
  • A ‘Giant armadillos’ is also known as a ‘tatou,’ ‘ocarro,’ ‘tatu-canastra,’ and ‘tatú carreta’.
Giant Armadillo, Sand, Brown, Dark, Shell, Mammal, Flickr, Ten Random Facts
Giant Armadillo
Image courtesy of Amareta Kelly/Flickr
  • Giant armadillos’ diet mainly consists of termites and ants, but also vegetation, worms, spiders, snakes and larvae.
  • Giant armadillos have long claws including one claw that is sickle-like, 80 to 100 teeth and they are also nocturnal.
  • Giant armadillos grow up to 150 centimetres (59 inches) long, including the tail that is approximately a third of its length, and from 28 to 54 kilograms (62 to 119 pounds) in weight.
  • Giant armadillos generally do not live with others of the same species, and usually live in burrows.
  • Giant armadillos are a threatened species and are listed as vulnerable, due to the destruction of their habitat and poaching by humans for their meat and for black trade.
Bibliography:
Giant Armadillo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_armadillo
Giant Armadillo, n.d, Kids’ Planet, http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/armadillo.html

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Dictionary

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Dictionary

An excerpt from a dictionary:
fact (fakt) – noun
1. A thing that is known or proven to be true.

  • Dictionaries are typically a collection or book of words that usually give the definition, pronunciation, etymologies and/or phonetics of words.
  • Dictionaries are often dedicated to one or two particular languages of words and are generally alphabetically arranged.
  • The oldest dictionaries known to have existed were on stone tablets from the Semitic empire, around 2300 BC, which were discovered in Syria, West Asia, and were lists of words in both Akkadian and Sumerian languages.
  • The term ‘dictionary’ came from the word ‘dictionarius’ with the Latin meaning ‘of words’, which is believed to have been invented in 1220 by John of Garland (also known as Johannes de Garlandia), and English philologist.
  • The first reliable and significantly influential dictionary in English was called ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’ and also known as ‘Johnson’s Dictionary’, by writer Samuel Johnson of Great Britain, in 1755, who took nine years to complete the task single-handedly.

Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, Words, Words, Book, Ten Random Facts, Open

  • It wasn’t until 1884 that the next great dictionary was written and released in sections, known as the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ by Oxford University Press, which took until 1928 to be completed, and was then published in 12 volumes, that continues to be updated every three months, and is still considered to be the most comprehensive source on words in English.
  • Dictionaries are traditionally printed in book form but more recently are available digitally and via the internet.
  • There are two main types of dictionaries, specialised and defining, with the first a dictionary of technical words and the latter of simple, generally used words.
  • ‘Dictionaries’ are also known as ‘lexicons’, and ‘lexicography’ is the activity of compiling or writing a dictionary.
  • Comprehensive dictionaries generally contain all or most words in use in the language, however, most printed forms of a dictionary contain only the most generally used words to keep the book size and cost manageable, as comprehensive ones like the Oxford English Dictionary contain over 21, pages.
Bibliography:
Dictionary, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary
Our modern age has dictionaries of all kinds and sizes, 2014, Wyzant, http://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/english/etymology/words-mod-dictionaries

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