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Cumin

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Cumin

Cumin: a humble little spice that will improve your cuisine.

  • Cumin is a historical spice that comes from a plant of the same name, native to parts of the Mediterranean, Middle East and India, which is from the family Apiaceae, the family of carrot and parsley.
  • ‘Cumin’ is also known as ‘cummin’, ‘jeera’, and ‘jira’, and the plant’s scientific name is Cuminum cyminum.
  • Cumin seeds are ridged and are a yellow-brown colour, 3 to 6 mm (0.1 to 0.23 inches) long, which are visually similar to caraway seeds, and they have a peppery, earthy and citrus flavour.
  • What is known as black cumin, comes from a different, but related plant known as Bunium bulbocastanum, or the unrelated plant, Nigella sativa, both of which have a different flavour.
  • Cumin was used in mummification processes in Ancient Egypt, and in the Middle Ages, cumin was used to symbolise love and faithfulness.

Cumin, Ground, Yellow, Powder, Ten Random Facts, spice, Cummin,

  • Approximately 70% of the world’s cumin (270,000 tonnes or 300,000 tons per year) is produced in India, and is also the main exporter of the spice, although the country also uses all but 10% of what it produces.
  • Cumin seeds are used mainly as a spice, either grounded or whole, in soups, gravies, pickles, bread products, and spice mixes, especially curry powder, as well as bird food.
  • Cumin has been used for medicinal purposes, and is sometimes used to treat muscle cramps and problems in the digestive system, such as vomiting and appetite loss.
  • Cumin has a relatively high content of iron and is a good source of manganese, calcium, vitamin B1 and phosphorus.
  • Cumin was historically very popular among the Greeks and Romans, due to it being a good replacement of pepper that was expensive at the time.
Bibliography:
Cumin, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumin
Cumin seeds, 2014, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=91

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Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

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Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

These facts are as grand as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

  • The ‘Temple of Artemis at Ephesus’ is also known as the ‘Temple of Artemis’ and the ‘Temple of Artemis at Ephesos’, and it has also been referred to as the ‘Temple of Diana’.
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was a temple built by the Ancient Greeks to honour and worship Artemis, the goddess of fertility, the hunt and moon.
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus has a long history, and it is believed that in 700 BC a temple was erected on the site, and later, in approximately 550 BC, Chersiphron, an architect from Cretan, and his son Metagenes, designed and rebuilt a temple on the site, with the financial help of King Croesus (King Kroisos as he is also known) of Lydia.
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was situated in the ancient city of Ephesus, which can be found near Selçuk, a town in modern Turkey.
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed and rebuilt at least three times, notably damaged by a flood and by fire, and was finally torched by the Goths in 268 AD and was probably not fully rebuilt after that.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Ruins, Site, Turkey, Pole, Remains, Ten Random Facts, Flickr

Ruins
Image courtesy of Dennis Jarvis/Flickr
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was larger the last time it was believed to be rebuilt in 323 BC, with the final temple measuring approximately 137 by 69 metres (450 by 226 feet) and as high as 18 metres (59 feet), with at least 127 columns.
  • The third Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is noted among the Seven Wonders of the World.
  • The remains of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus were first discovered in 1869, on a deliberate search by John Turtle Wood, who was originally an architect and engineer from Britain.
  • The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was made mostly of marble, with many sculptures of high relief throughout the temple, as well as carved columns.
  • Not only was the temple used to worship Artemis, it is believed the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was also used as a marketplace.
Bibliography:
Temple of Artemis, 2011, Kusadasi.biz, http://www.kusadasi.biz/historical-places/temple-of-artemis.html
Temple of Artemis, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis

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Speedometer

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Speedometer

Do not drive over the speed limit while reading these speedometer facts.

  • ‘Speedometers’ are also known as ‘speed meters’ and historically, ‘velocimeters’, that were typically made from metal alloy materials, but are now partly or mostly made from plastics.
  • Speedometers are devices which measure the speed of a vehicle that travels on land, and most automobiles have been equipped with one since 1910.
  • In 1888, Josip Belušić, an inventor from Europe’s Croatia, invented the first electric speedometer.
  • On 7 October, 1902, eddy current speedometers were first patented by Otto Schulze, a German inventor, and these magnetically driven instruments have been the most popular speed measuring instruments in the last hundred years.
  • The ‘visible’ part of the speedometer has a moving needle surrounded by spokes and numbers, and the location of the needle on the device indicates the speed.

Speedometer, White, km/h, electric, 20 to 220, Ten Random Facts, Car

  • Eddy current speedometers have a cable that is connected to gears, usually in the transmission, that connects to a magnet which affects the needle on the instrument, that indicates the vehicle’s speed.
  • The type of speedometers in new use today are commonly electronic, invented in the 1980s and 1990s, involving sensors and electromagnetic pulses that are read by a computer.
  • Inaccuracy of speedometers most commonly occur due to faults, and differences in tyre diameters, with very minor errors occurring for reasons such as temperature.
  • Some speedometers use the Global Positioning System, or GPS, to calculate speeds, with accuracy depending on the accuracy of the GPS.
  • Leonardo da Vinci designed concepts of a speedometer type of instrument, and ancient civilisations had crude ways of measuring speed and distance.
Bibliography:
Kretschmann, Speedometer, 2014, How Products are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Speedometer.html
Speedometer, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedometer
Vintage Speedometers, 2013, Rare Car Relics, http://www.rarecarrelics.com/vintage_speedometers.php

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Greater Flamingo

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Greater Flamingo

Tall, pink flamingos are greater flamingos.

  • Greater flamingos have the scientific name Phoenicopterus roseus, and are from the wading bird family, Phoenicopteridae, that only consists of six species of flamingos.
  • Greater flamingos are native to areas in Africa, Europe’s south and South Asia.
  • Greater flamingos are titled as the world’s largest flamingo, with figures of approximately 110 to 150 centimetres (43 to 60 inches) in height and 2 to 4 kilograms (4.4 to 8.8 pounds) in weight; with records of 187 cm (just over 6 feet) and 4.5 kg (10 lb).
  • Greater flamingos have red feathers in some areas, and black flight feathers, but they are well known for their pink-white feathers that are best seen when the bird is standing, although flamingos are born with white and grey feathers that are absent of pink colouration for two years or more.
  • Greater flamingos obtain their pink coloured body and plumage by eating organisms that contain carotenoid pigments, that are mostly found in the algae they eat, and if their diet consists mostly of algae, they will be a deeper colour pink than those that feed mainly on shrimp and the like.

Greater Flamingo, Pink, White, Adult, One Leg Full, Zoo, Bronx Zoo, New York, United States, statuesque, Ten Random Facts, National Geographic

Adult Flamingo
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • The Greater flamingo’s diet mainly consists of shrimp, tiny fish, seeds, blue-green algae and other algae, molluscs and plankton, and they obtain their food by filtering the food from water in their bill.
  • Greater flamingos can live to be over 60 years old in captivity, with the oldest Greater in captivity dying at an age of around 83 years old in Australia’s Adelaide Zoo, in early 2014.
  • The tongues of Greater flamingos were historically eaten luxuriously by Roman emperors.
  • Greater flamingos generally live in colonies, which helps to protect them from predators, that can be as large as a thousand or more birds, in habitats of lakes, particularly alkaline lakes, and mudflats.
  • When calling, greater flamingos produce a sound like a honk of a goose, and they lay one white egg per season in a nest of mud.
Bibliography:
Greater Flamingo, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Flamingo
Greater Flamingo, n.d, Adelaide Zoo, http://www.zoossa.com.au/adelaide-zoo/animals-exhibits/animals/birds?species=Greater%20Flamingo

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Play School (Australia)

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Play School (Australia)

“Open wide, … it’s Play School.”

  • Play School is an award winning television program, that has educational and entertainment content targeted at children in the preschool years, and is broadcasted at least once every weekday on multiple ABC, Australian Broadcasting Company channels.
  • The first Australian version of Play School was produced and broadcasted on 18 July, 1966, and was based on the same-named British program that began in 1964.
  • Play School generally features games, activities like craft and cooking, and songs, as well as telling the time, naming the day of the week, and looking through the window into ‘reality’.
  • In 2000, Play School commenced major changes to its set, such as making it more colourful and changing features such as the clock and the windows.
  • Play School won Logie’s Most Outstanding Children’s Program, in 1998, appeared in the Logie Hall Of Fame in 2006, and won Aria’s award for Best Children’s Album in 1997.

Play School, Graphic, Come and Play, Blocks, Logo, Little Ted, Jemimah, Cartoon, Ten Ranom Facts, ABC Australian TV Program

Logo
Image Courtesy of Play School
  • Play School have released 17 albums containing many popular songs, with many more featured on the program.
  • Play School is typically presented by two people, and has had more than 100 people featured as presenters on the program during its history.
  • Play School has a repertoire of over 4,500 episodes in over 45 years and 46 seasons, and is the second longest running children’s television show in the English-speaking world.
  • Play School features many different toys, with the main toys named Big Ted, Little Ted, Jemima and Humpty.
  • In a week, Play School, on estimate, is viewed by 4 out of 5 children under the age of six, at least once during that time.
Bibliography:
Play School (Australian TV Series), 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_School_(Australian_TV_series)
Taylor R, Play Schooling for 45 Years, 2011, Television.au, http://televisionau.com/2011/07/play-schooling-for-45-years.html

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             Playschool CDs

Vegemite

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Vegemite

“Happy little vegemites.” – Slogan.

  • Vegemite is a healthy black-brown food spread made primarily from yeast extract, as well as malt and vegetable extracts, with the addition of salt and flavours.
  • Vegemite was invented by the Australian chemist, Cyril P Callister, in 1922 in Melbourne, for the Fred Walker Company, later owned by Kraft, and is now the property of Mondelēz International.
  • Vegemite qualifies as a savoury foodstuff, and is popularly used as spread on products such as bread or toast, biscuits and crumpets, often with cheese, lettuce, tomato, butter or avocado, and as a flavouring in dishes like soup, stew and casseroles.
  • Consumers buy approximately 22 million jars of Vegemite each year, and the spread is one of a number of similar products, including Marmite of New Zealand, Britain and South Africa, Promite of Australia, Cenovis of Switzerland and Hefeextrakt of Germany.
  • Vegemite is very high in a range of B vitamins, although it is best spread thinly, as the taste is quite salty, and it can taste a bit like malt, as well as being a little bitter.

Vegemite, Yeast Extract Spread, Food, Black, Dark, Container, Ten Random Facts

  • The name ‘Vegemite’ came from a chance competition in 1923, with prize money of 50 pounds, that was equivalent to $3,527 in 2010, and was named by Hilda and Laurel Armstrong.
  • The spread was renamed ‘Parwill’ for a time, a name from its new slogan ‘If Marmite… then Parwill’, due to lack of sales, but it was changed back to ‘Vegemite’ for the same reason.
  • Vegemite lacked popularity until 1937, when a limerick competition with substantial prizes caused the product to become more well known, and it was later used to supplement the Australian army’s nutrient intake in World War II, and within a decade of the competition, the product was used in 9 out of 10 homes.
  • Vegemite was, in 1984, Australia’s first product to be commercially and electronically scanned using a barcode at a checkout.
  • Vegemite has been sold in various sized glass jars, porcelain jars, tins, tubes, pots, plastic cups, portion control packaging, and a number of reusable containers, and the product has been combined with cream cheese to produce a product called ‘Vegemite Cheesybite’.
Bibliography:
Vegemite, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite
The Vegemite Story, n.d, Vegemite, http://www.vegemite.com.au/pages/the-vegemite-story.aspx

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