Tag Archives: Europe

London

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London

Don’t get lost in the vast metropolitan of London!

  • London is one of the greatest cities worldwide, and it is located in Europe’s England, in the United Kingdom, and it is the capital of both England and the UK.
  • London is the home to four World Heritage Sites: the Westminster Abbey and Palace that includes the Big Ben; Tower of London; Kew Gardens; and a section of the area of Greenwich; and it is also home to many other notable sites including Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square.
  • The first main colonisation of London, originally known as Londinium, was by the Roman Empire from 43 AD, and while it housed up to 60,000 people in the second century, it eventually declined until it was mostly deserted for up to 200 years, however, once it was re-established by King Alfred from 886 AD, it grew to become a central power in the 11th century.
  • London has been struck by numerous devastating disasters throughout history, including the Black Plague of 1665 to 1666, the Great Fire of 1666, and the Blitz bombing during World War II.
  • London was the first city to have held the Olympic Games on three occasions, in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

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Part of London
Image courtesy of fkwiatkowski/Flickr
  • As of 2013, London was the largest city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan population of more than 13.5 million people, and it covered an area of 1,583 square kilometres (611 square miles) with the main city in the centre, and this ‘Greater’ region contained approximately 8.5 million people, of which approximately 36% were born in other countries.
  • Temperatures in London range on average from 2.1°C to 23.6°C (35.8°F to 74.5°F); and the lowest and highest recorded temperatures were -13.6°C and 38.1°C (7.5°F and 100.6°F respectively).
  • It has been claimed that London is one of the ‘greenest’ cities in the world, and it is the home to many parks, such as Hyde Park, and as such, it contains over 2,000 vegetation species, 60 bird and 120 fish species, as well as many other animal species.
  • London had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around $669 billion in 2005, with primary income based in the finance sector, with tourism being another prominent area, with more than 14 million individuals visiting the city annually.
  • London is home to much history and culture, particularly in the arts, such as seen by the multiple museums and galleries, and it is often depicted in literature.
Bibliography:
London, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London
London at a Glance, n.d, Visitlondon.com, http://www.visitlondon.com/discover-london/london-highlights/london-at-a-glance?ref=nav

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Quiche

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Quiche

Feel exquisite whenever you eat quiche.

  • Quiche is a pastry food dish like a lid-less pie, that is usually cooked in an oven, and is commonly eaten as a savoury food.
  • Quiche fillings are made primarily of cream or milk and eggs, and meat like bacon, vegetables, cheese and seafood are common additions,
  • A wheat-based pastry usually covers the base and sides of a quiche, however other grains can be used, and some have no pastry at all.
  • Quiches, originally known as ‘tarts’, were being made in the medieval period in Europe, and the recipes that became popular are said to have come from Germany, in Europe, as early as the 1500s, and these were adapted by the French, especially in the region of Lorraine.
  • The term ‘quiche’ comes from the German word ‘kuchen’, meaning ‘cake’, and it was altered by the French to the common word used today.

Quiche, Food, Pastry, Culinary, French, Ten Random Facts, Dish, Bacon

  • Quiches can be eaten at warm, cold or room temperatures, and they are commonly eaten for brunch or a lunch meal, and small individual ones are often eaten as finger food at parties and other occasions.
  • In the 1950s, quiches became more widely known in England, and they became popular in America in the 1970s.
  • Among the hardest techniques to master in the art of making quiches, is preventing any of the liquids from leaking outside the pastry, which is one of the reasons for partially baking the pastry before filling it.
  • During the 1900s, quiche was often considered to be a food avoided by ‘real’ men, as it often contained only small quantities of meat.
  • Quiches vary in the quantities of vitamins and minerals they contain, depending on their ingredients, but they are high in calcium, protein, riboflavin and selenium due to the milk and egg content.

 

Bibliography:
Quiche, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiche
What is Quiche?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-quiche.htm
FAQs: pie & pastry, 2000, Food Timeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpies.html

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Olm

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Olm

Olms are not aliens from another dimension, but they certainly look strange!

  • Olms are amphibious animals that live in underwater cave habitats in Europe’s central and south-eastern areas.
  • An ‘olm’ is also known as a ‘proteus’, ‘cave salamander’ and a ‘human fish’, due to the animal’s colour being similar to European human skin colour.
  • The olm has the scientific name Proteus anguinus and comes from the family Proteidae, a family of aquatic salamanders, and the animal is the only living member of the Proteus genus.
  • Olms range in lengths from 2.5 to 40 centimetres (1 to 16 inches) and weigh between 2 and 150 grams (0.1 to 5.3 ounces).
  • The colour of an olm can be white, pink or pale yellow, due to the lack of colour-inducing chemicals in the animal’s skin, and while it looks somewhat similar, it is only distantly related to the axolotl.
Olm, Purple, Animal, Aquatic, Salamander, Amphibian, Ten Random Facts, Water, Rare, FlickrOlm
Image courtesy of SanShoot/Flickr
  • Olms have short frilly gills; a long eel-like body, that moves in similar ways; as well as four small legs, while the back legs have two digits and the front have three.
  • Most olms lack visible eyes, as they are covered with skin, and they sense their surroundings using receptors, as well as relying on hearing and smell.
  • Full maturity does not occur until olms are 10 years old or more, and females lay between 5 and 70 eggs at a time, deposited among rocks, after which the eggs hatch into roughly 2 centimetre (0.8 inch) long tadpoles.
  • While olms are protected in some countries and have few predators, they are classified as vulnerably endangered and are threatened by man-made chemicals seeping into the water.
  • Olms have a diet that mainly consists of worms, snails and insects, although they are said to be able to live without food for ten years, and they have a lifespan of up to 50 years or more.
Bibliography:
Olm, 2014, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/olm/
Olm, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olm

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Smarties

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Smarties

“Only Smarties have the answer” – the brand’s slogan in Europe.

  • Smarties are food items produced by Nestlé, and are made primarily of chocolate that has been coated in a coloured shell made of sugar and other ingredients.
  • Smarties are particularly common in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Italy and Netherlands.
  • Smarties are circular in shape, and they are like a flat sphere, generally 15 millimetres (0.6 inches) in diameter and approximately 5 mm high.
  • Smarties typically come in the eight colours of green, yellow, orange, mauve, red, pink, brown and blue, while the latter has been previously substituted with white.
  • Smarties are not commonly found in the United States, as the name has already been trademarked by another company for a candy that looks like a tablet or pill.

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  • Smarties were invented in 1882 by Rowntree’s of York, an English confectionery company which Nestlé bought in 1988, however, they are no longer manufactured in York, but they are produced in other countries, including Germany, Canada, and Australia.
  • Smarties were not named as such until 1937, and they were originally called ‘chocolate beans’, although variations of this former term have been used as names for other brands of similar candy not produced by Nestlé.
  • From 2006, Smarties produced in various countries gradually changed from artificial to natural colours, causing blue to be changed to white, until a natural replacement was found.
  • Smarties are commonly eaten as a sweet snack, and are sometimes used as a topping with ice-cream, or for decorative baking purposes.
  • Smarties can be commercially bought in cylindrical or hexagonal containers, packets, or boxes, or purchased combined with ice-cream, chocolate or other confectionery.

 

Bibliography:
Smarties, 2014, Nestle, http://www.nestle.co.uk/brands/chocolate_and_confectionery/chocolate/smarties
Smarties, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties

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Gear

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Gear

Gears are in nature and in machines… just where to look?

  • Gears are items used in machinery, and have the primary function of transferring power from a source to an application.
  • ‘Gears’ are also known as ‘cogwheels’, and when different sized ones are meshed against each other, the result is that the application speed will be different to the source speed.
  • Gears have protruding spikes, or ‘teeth’ , that interlock, or ‘mesh’ with others that have teeth of the same size, causing all those that are meshed to move when a force is applied to one.
  • Gears originated in Ancient Greece, particularly around 300 to 200 BC, when Archimedes, a Greek polymath, discovered many of the item’s properties and physics.
  • The most common type of gear is named the ‘spur’, that is circular or cylindrical in shape, and has teeth that sit on the circumference, parallel to the central rotating point; while other types can have curved or other differently shaped or positioned teeth, including internal teeth, or teeth that are placed along the item’s width.
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Gears
Image courtesy of Brent 2.0/Flickr
  • When a gear changes direction while moving, a lapse, or ‘backlash’ is created, caused by a space, due to the positioning of the teeth as they mesh.
  • Gears are typically made of metals such as steel or iron, but plastic ones are also available, and they come in numerous shapes and sizes.
  • The size of gears can be measured in ‘modules’, which is typically the item’s diameter divided by the number of teeth, although they can be measured in ‘pitches’ when using imperial units, which is a teeth per inch measurement.
  • Gears are generally made using a mold, and the molding technique generally reduces or eliminates the need for finishing touches.
  • Insects from the planthopper family, Issidae, such as an Issus nymph, have legs that include a gear mechanism, that causes the insect to jump at a tremendous speed.
Bibliography:
A Brief History of Gears, 2014, Ronson Gears, http://www.ronsongears.com.au/a-brief-history-of-gears.php
Gear, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear

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Crochet Hook

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Crochet Hook

Crocheting without a crochet hook must have been pretty difficult.

  • A crochet hook is a tool used in the art and craft of crocheting, and the tool is manipulated with one’s hand to make a series of loops from yarn, thread or other fibres, to create fabric or cord.
  • ‘Crochet hooks’ are also known as ‘crochet needles’ and the word ‘crochet’ is a French word that comes from the Old Norse word ‘krókr‘ meaning ‘hook’.
  • Crochet hooks are typically long and stick like with a hooked end, and sometimes they have a handle for better comfort and/or grip.
  • Crochet hooks come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, with at least 25 different sizes that are graded using letters or numbers.
  • Crochet hooks can be used in knitting to pick up dropped stitches, and for other craft purposes, and they can also be used to maintain hair dreadlocks.

Crochet Hook, Many, Wooden, Shiny, Textile, Tool, Craft, Invention, Ten Random Facts

  • Crochet hooks can be held like a knife or a pencil, although one technique is not necessarily better than the other, and it comes down to personal preference as to which is used.
  • Crochet hooks were most likely invented in the early 1800s, and first made of wire, and possibly originated in Ireland, Europe.
  • Some unique versions of crochet hooks include the much longer Tunisian hook, used in Tunisian crochet; and the cro-hook, used for double-sided crochet, that is particularly effective using two different colours of yarn.
  • Crochet hooks are typically made of plastic, wood, or aluminium, and originally they were made of steel, bone, ivory, and other materials.
  • It is common that only a single crochet hook is used in the practice of crochet, and it can be used in either the left or right hand, depending the user’s dominant hand.

 

Bibliography:
Crochet Hook, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crochet_hook
Marks R, History of Crochet, 2009, CGOA, http://www.crochet.org/?page=CrochetHistory

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