'EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS', THE MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD

Today, The Grandma has been reading about el Día de Muertos, a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mexico on a day like today every year.

The Day of the Dead, in Spanish el Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos, is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. 

It largely originated in Mexico, where it is mostly observed, but also in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. Although associated with the Western Christian Allhallowtide observances of All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning.

The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and aztec marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favourite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.

The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias.

In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

More information: The New York Times

Mexican academics are divided on whether the festivity has genuine indigenous pre-Hispanic roots or whether it is a 20th-century rebranded version of a Spanish tradition developed during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas to encourage Mexican nationalism through an Aztec identity.

The festivity has become a national symbol in recent decades and it is taught in the nation's school system asserting a native origin.

Views differ on whether the festivity has indigenous pre-Hispanic roots, whether it is a more modern adaptation of an existing European tradition, or a combination of both as a manifestation of syncretism. Similar traditions can be traced back to Medieval Europe, where celebrations like All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are observed on the same days in Southern Europe.

Critics of the native American origin claim that even though pre-Columbian Mexico had traditions that honoured the dead, current depictions of the festivity have more in common with European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind us the ephemeral nature of life.

Over the past decades, however, Mexican academia has increasingly questioned the validity of this assumption, even going as far as calling it a politically motivated fabrication.

All there was were long processions to cemeteries, sometimes ending with drunkenness.

The historian Ricardo Pérez Montfort has further demonstrated how the ideology known as indigenismo became more and more closely linked to post-revolutionary official projects whereas Hispanismo was identified with conservative political stances. This exclusive nationalism began to displace all other cultural perspectives to the point that in the 1930s, the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was officially promoted by the government as a substitute for the Spanish Three Kings tradition, with a person dressed up as the deity offering gifts to poor children.

In this context, the Day of the Dead began to be officially isolated from the Catholic Church by the leftist government of Lázaro Cárdenas motivated both by indigenismo and left-leaning anti-clericalism.

One key element of the re-developed festivity which appears during this time is La Calavera Catrina by Mexican lithographer José Guadalupe Posada.

Opposing views assert that despite the obvious European influence, there exists proof of pre-Columbian festivities that were very similar in spirit, with the Aztec people having at least six celebrations during the year that were very similar to Day of the Dead, the closest one being Quecholli, a celebration that honoured Mixcóatl (the god of war) and was celebrated between October 20 and November 8.

This celebration included elements such as the placement of altars with food (tamales) near the burying grounds of warriors to help them in their journey to the afterlife. Influential Mexican poet and Nobel prize laureate Octavio Paz strongly supported the syncretic view of the Día de Muertos tradition being a continuity of ancient Aztec festivals celebrating death, as is most evident in the chapter All Saints, Day of the Dead of his 1950 book-length essay The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Regardless of its origin, the festivity has become a national symbol in Mexico and as such is taught in the nation's school system, typically asserting a native origin. It is also a school holiday nationwide.

More information: National Geographic

The boundaries which divide Life from Death
are at best shadowy and vague.
Who shall say where the one ends,
and where the other begins?

Edgar Allan Poe

TSAR BOMBA, THE MOST POWERFUL EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created that was tested on a day like today in 1961.

The Tsar Bomba, in Russian Царь-бо́мба, (code name Ivan or Vanya), also known by the alphanumerical designation AN602, was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested.

Tsar Bomba was developed in the Soviet Union (USSR) by a group of nuclear physicists under the leadership of Igor Kurchatov, an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.

Tested on 30 October 1961, the scientific result of the test was the experimental verification of calculation principles and multi-stage thermonuclear charges.

The bomb was dropped by parachute from a Tu-95V aircraft, and detonated autonomously 4,000 metres above the cape Sukhoy Nos of Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya, 15 km from Mityushikha Bay, north of the Matochkin Strait.

The detonation was intended to be secret, but was detected by United States intelligence agencies, via a KC-135A aircraft (Operation SpeedLight) in the area at the time. A secret U.S. reconnaissance aircraft named Speed Light Alpha monitored the blast, coming close enough to have its antiradiation paint scorched.

The bhangmeter results and other data suggested the bomb yielded around 58 Mt, which was the accepted yield in technical literature until 1991, when Soviet scientists revealed that their instruments indicated a yield of 50 Mt. As they had the instrumental data and access to the test site, their yield figure has been accepted as more accurate.

More information: Atomic Heritage Foundation

In theory, the bomb would have had a yield in excess of 100 Mt if it had included the uranium-238 fusion tamper which figured in the design but which was omitted in the test to reduce radioactive fallout. Because only one bomb was built to completion, that capability has never been demonstrated. The remaining bomb casings are located at the Russian Atomic Weapon Museum in Sarov and the Museum of Nuclear Weapons, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Technical Physics, in Snezhinsk.

In the mid-1950s, the United States had an unconditional superiority over the USSR in nuclear weapons, although thermonuclear charges had already been created in the USSR at this time. Also, there were no effective means of delivering nuclear warheads to the US, both in the 1950s and in 1961. The USSR was not therefore able to muster a possible realistic retaliatory nuclear strike against the US.

Given the Soviet Union's actual strategic disadvantage in relation to America's nuclear weapons possessions, foreign policy and propaganda considerations during the leaderships of Georgy Malenkov and Nikita Khrushchev made a response to the perceived US nuclear blackmail imperative. The creation of the Tsar Bomba represented a necessitated bluff in order to maintain the concept of nuclear deterrence.

Also on June 23, 1960, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued on the creation of a super-heavy ballistic missile N-1 (GRAU index-11A52) with a warhead weighing 75 tonnes.

The development of new designs of nuclear and thermonuclear ammunition requires testing. The operability of the device, its safety in emergency situations, and the calculated energy release during an explosion must be confirmed.

More information: The National WWII Museum

The bomb was officially known as product 602 (изделие 602) or AN602, and codenamed "Ivan". The usage of different names can be a source of confusion. The Tsar Bomba, being a modification of the RN202, is sometimes mistakenly labelled as RDS-37, RDS-202 or PH202 (product 202).

Unofficially, the bomb was known as Tsar Bomba and Kuzka's mother (Кузькина мать, Kuz'kina mat'). The name Tsar Bomba (loosely translated as Emperor of Bombs) comes from the fact that, like the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell, it is the most powerful bomb in history. The name Kuzka's Mother was inspired by the statement of Khrushchev to then US Vice President Richard Nixon: We have funds at our disposal that will have dire consequences for you. We will show you Kuzka's mother!

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) designated the bomb (or its test) as JOE 111.

Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Communist Party, announced the upcoming tests of a 50-Mt bomb in his opening report at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on October 17, 1961. Before the official announcement, in a casual conversation, he told an American politician about the bomb, and this information was published on September 8, 1961, in The New York Times.

The Tsar Bomba was tested on October 30, 1961.

The Tsar Bomba is the single most physically powerful device ever deployed on Earth, the most powerful nuclear bomb tested and the largest man-made explosion in history.

More information: The Bulletin

There are two problems for our species' survival
-nuclear war and environmental catastrophe
-and we're hurtling towards them. Knowingly.

Noam Chomsky

JERRY LEE LEWIS, THE LAST LEGEND OF ROCK AND ROLL

Yesterday, sad news arrived from Nesbit, Mississippi. Jerry Lee Lewis, the American singer, songwriter and pianist passed away.

The Grandma wants to talk about the career of the last legend of Rock and Roll.

Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935-October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist.

Nicknamed the Killer, he was described as Rock and roll's first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century. 

A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

Crazy Arms sold 300,000 copies in the South, and his 1957 hit Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On shot Lewis to fame worldwide. He followed this with the major hits Great Balls of Fire, Breathless, and High School Confidential. His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin once removed.

His popularity quickly eroded following the scandal and with few exceptions such as a cover of Ray Charles's What'd I Say, he did not have much chart success in the early 1960s. His live performances at this time were increasingly wild and energetic. His 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by many music journalists and fans in general as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums ever.

In 1968, Lewis made a transition into country music and had hits with songs such as Another Place, Another Time. This reignited his career, and throughout the late 1960s and 1970s he regularly topped the country-western charts; throughout his seven-decade career, Lewis had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart. His No. 1 country hits included To Make Love Sweeter for You, There Must Be More to Love Than This, Would You Take Another Chance on Me, and Me and Bobby McGee.

Lewis's successes continued throughout the decades and he embraced his rock and roll past with songs such as a cover of The Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace and Mack Vickery's Rockin' My Life Away.

In the 21st century, Lewis continued to tour around the world and released new albums. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best selling release, with over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by Mean Old Man in 2010, another of his best-selling albums.

More information: Jerry Lee Lewis

Lewis had a dozen gold records in rock and country. He won four Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.

Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

In 1989, his life was chronicled in the movie Great Balls of Fire, starring Dennis Quaid.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022.

In 2003, Rolling Stone listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology at number 242 on their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

In 2004, they ranked him No. 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Lewis was the last surviving member of Sun Records' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55, which also included Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley.

Music critic Robert Christgau said of Lewis: His drive, his timing, his offhand vocal power, his unmistakable boogie-plus piano, and his absolute confidence in the face of the void make Jerry Lee the quintessential rock and roller.

Lewis was born to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Louisiana.

In November 1956, Lewis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to audition for Sun Records. Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a session musician for other Sun artists, including Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

In May 2022, Lewis was announced as a member-elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame, to be inducted in October 2022.

Lewis was an incendiary showman who often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and backside, sometimes climbing on top of the piano during gigs and even apocryphally setting it on fire.

Like Chuck Berry's guitar playing, Lewis's piano style became synonymous with rock and roll, having influenced generations of piano players.

On October 28, 2022, Lewis died at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi, following a bout of pneumonia, at the age of 87.

More information: The Guardian

 I work to please my audience.

Jerry Lee Lewis

JULIA F. ROBERTS, ONE OF THE MOST BANKABLE STARS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Julia Roberts, the American actress who was born on a day like today in 1967.

Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. 

Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards.

The films in which she has starred have collectively grossed over $3.9 billion globally, making her one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.

After an early breakthrough with appearances in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989), Roberts established herself as a leading actress when she headlined the romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990), which grossed $464 million worldwide.

She starred in numerous commercially successful films throughout the 1990s, including the cult romantic comedies My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999) and Runaway Bride (1999), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the biographical drama Erin Brockovich (2000).

She achieved further film success in the following decades with Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), August: Osage County (2013), Wonder (2017), and Ticket to Paradise (2022).

Roberts also received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the HBO television film The Normal Heart (2014), had her first regular television role in the first season of the Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller series Homecoming (2018), and portrayed Martha Mitchell in the Starz political limited series Gaslit (2022).

In addition to acting, Roberts runs the production company Red Om Films, through which she has served as an executive producer for various projects she has starred in, as well as for the first four films of the American Girl franchise (2004-2008).

She has acted as the global ambassador for Lancôme since 2009. She was the world's highest-paid actress throughout the majority of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. She was paid $300,000 for Pretty Woman (1990), and received then-unprecedented fees of $20 million and $25 million for her roles in Erin Brockovich (2000) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003), respectively. As of 2020, Roberts' net worth was estimated to be $250 million. People magazine has named her the most beautiful woman in the world a record five times.

More information: Instagram-Julia Roberts

Roberts was born on October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, to Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts. She is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. Her father was a Baptist, her mother a Catholic, and she was raised Catholic. Her older brother Eric Roberts (born 1956), from whom she was estranged for several years until 2004, older sister Lisa Roberts Gillan (born 1965), and niece Emma Roberts, are also actors. She also had a younger half-sister named Nancy Motes.

Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child. She played the clarinet in her school band. After graduating from Smyrna's Campbell High School, she attended Georgia State University but did not graduate. She later headed to New York City to pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click Modeling Agency and enrolled in acting classes.

Following her first television appearance as a juvenile rape victim in the first season of the series Crime Story, with Dennis Farina, in the episode The Survivor, broadcast on February 13, 1987, Roberts made her big screen debut with an appearance in the dramedy Satisfaction (1988), alongside Liam Neeson and Justine Bateman, as a band member looking for a summer gig.

Roberts has contributed to UNICEF as well as other charitable organizations. Her six-day visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1995, as she said, to educate myself, was expected to trigger an outburst of donations -$10 million in aid was sought at the time- by UNICEF officials.

In 2006, she became a spokeswoman for Earth Biofuels as well as chair of the company's newly formed advisory board promoting the use of renewable fuels.

In 2013, she was part of a Gucci campaign, Chime for Change, that aims to spread female empowerment.

In 2000, Roberts narrated a documentary about Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder, designed to help raise public awareness about the disease, and in 2014, she was the voice of Mother Nature in a short film for Conservation International intended to raise awareness about climate change.

More information: Oprah

You can be true to the character all you want
but you've got to go home with yourself.

Julia Roberts

JOHN M. CLEESE, THE CO-FOUNDER OF MONTY PYTHON

Today, The Grandma has been reading about John Cleese, the English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer, who was born on a day like today in 1939.

John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.

Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report.

In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python co-stars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983).

In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth co-wrote the sitcom Fawlty Towers, in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.

In 2000, the show topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes; and in a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Basil was ranked second on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

Cleese co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and Fierce Creatures (1997), both of which he also wrote. For A Fish Called Wanda he was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has also starred in Time Bandits (1981) and Rat Race (2001) and has appeared in many other films, including Silverado (1985), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), two James Bond films (as R and Q), two Harry Potter films (as Nearly Headless Nick) and the last three Shrek films.

Cleese has specialised in political and religious satire, black comedy, sketch comedy, and surreal humour. He was ranked the second best comedian ever in a 2005 Channel 4 poll of fellow comedians. With Yes Minister writer Antony Jay, he co-founded Video Arts, a production company making entertaining training films.

In 1976, Cleese co-founded The Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows to raise funds for the human rights organization Amnesty International. Although a staunch supporter of the Liberal Democrats, in 1999 he turned down an offer from the party to nominate him for a life peerage.

More information: Twitter-John Cleese

Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, South West England, England, the only child of Reginald Francis Cleese, an insurance salesman, and his wife Muriel Evelyn, the daughter of an auctioneer. His family's surname was originally Cheese, but his father had thought it was embarrassing and used the name Cleese when he enlisted in the Army during the First World War; he changed it officially by deed poll in 1923.

Cleese was educated at St Peter's Preparatory School (paid for by money his mother inherited), where he received a prize for English and did well at cricket and boxing. When he was 13, he was awarded an exhibition at Clifton College, an English public school in Bristol.

Cleese could not go straight to Cambridge, as the ending of National Service meant there were twice the usual number of applicants for places, so he returned to his prep school for two years to teach science, English, geography, history, and Latin. He then took up a place he had won at Downing College, Cambridge, to read law. He also joined the Cambridge Footlights. He recalled that he went to the Cambridge Guildhall, where each university society had a stall, and went up to the Footlights stall, where he was asked if he could sing or dance. He replied no as he was not allowed to sing at his school because he was so bad, and if there was anything worse than his singing, it was his dancing. He was then asked Well, what do you do? to which he replied, I make people laugh.

Cleese was a scriptwriter, as well as a cast member, for the 1963 Footlights Revue A Clump of Plinths. The revue was so successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and taken to the West End in London and then on a tour of New Zealand and Broadway, with the cast also appearing in some of the revue's sketches on The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1964.

After Cambridge Circus, Cleese briefly stayed in America, performing on and off-Broadway. While performing in the musical Half a Sixpence, Cleese met future Python Terry Gilliam as well as American actress Connie Booth, whom he married on 20 February 1968.

Also in 1965, Cleese and Chapman began writing on The Frost Report. The writing staff chosen for The Frost Report consisted of a number of writers and performers who went on to make names for themselves in comedy.

Monty Python's Flying Circus ran for four series from October 1969 to December 1974 on BBC Television, though Cleese quit the show after the third. Cleese's two primary characterisations were as a sophisticate and a loony.

More information: Harvard Business Review

In 1988, Cleese wrote and starred in A Fish Called Wanda as the lead, Archie Leach, along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. Wanda was a commercial and critical success, becoming one of the top ten films of the year at the US box office, and Cleese was nominated for an Academy Award for his script. Kline won the Oscar for his portrayal of bumbling, violent, narcissistic ex-CIA agent Otto West in the film.

In 1999, Cleese appeared in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough as Q's assistant, referred to by Bond as "R". 

In 2002, when Cleese reprised his role in Die Another Day, the character was promoted, making Cleese the new quartermaster (Q) of MI6. 

In 2004, Cleese was featured as Q in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, featuring his likeness and voice. Cleese did not appear in the subsequent Bond films, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall; in the latter film, Ben Whishaw was cast in the role of Q.

Cleese achieved greater prominence in the United Kingdom as the neurotic hotel manager Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, which he co-wrote with his wife Connie Booth. The series won three BAFTA awards when produced, and in 2000 it topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

Cleese is Provost's visiting professor at Cornell University, after having been Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large from 1999 to 2006. He makes occasional well-received appearances on the Cornell campus.

In 2001, Cleese was cast in the comedy Rat Race as the eccentric hotel owner Donald P. Sinclair, the name of the Torquay hotel owner on whom he had based the character of Basil Fawlty. That year he appeared as Nearly Headless Nick in the first Harry Potter film: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), a role he would reprise in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

More information: British Comedy Guide

Comedy always works best when it is mean-spirited.

John Cleese

ULURU RETURNS TO THE PITJANTJATJARA ABORIGINALS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Uluru, the large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia, whose ownership was returned to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals on a day like today in 1985.

Uluru (Pitjantjatjara), also known as Ayers Rock, and officially gazetted as Uluru/Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. 

It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, 335 km southwest of Alice Springs.

Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area, known as the Aṉangu. The area around the formation is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings.

Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Uluru and Kata Tjuta, also known as the Olgas, are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park.

Uluru is one of Australia's most recognisable natural landmarks and has been a popular destination for tourists since the late 1930s. It is also one of the most important indigenous sites in Australia.

The local Aṉangu, the Pitjantjatjara people, call the landmark Uluṟu (Pitjantjatjara). This word is a proper noun, with no further particular meaning in the Pitjantjatjara dialect, although it is used as a local family name by the senior traditional owners of Uluru.

On 19 July 1873, the surveyor William Gosse sighted the landmark and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. Since then, both names have been used.

More information: Uluru Australia

In 1993, a dual naming policy was adopted that allowed official names that consist of both the traditional Aboriginal name (in the Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and other local languages) and the English name.

On 15 December 1993, it was renamed Ayers Rock/Uluru and became the first official dual-named feature in the Northern Territory. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to Uluru/Ayers Rock on 6 November 2002 following a request from the Regional Tourism Association in Alice Springs.

The sandstone formation stands 348 m high, rising 863 m above sea level with most of its bulk lying underground, and has a total perimeter of 9.4 km. Both Uluru and the nearby Kata Tjuta formation have great cultural significance for the local Aṉangu people, the traditional inhabitants of the area, who lead walking tours to inform visitors about the bush, food, local flora and fauna, and the Aboriginal dreamtime stories of the area.

Uluru is also very notable for appearing to change colour at different times of the day and year, most notably when it glows red at dawn and sunset.

Kata Tjuta, also called Mount Olga or the Olgas, lies 25 km west of Uluru. Special viewing areas with road access and parking have been constructed to give tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk.

The Mutitjulu Arkose is believed to be of about the same age as the conglomerate at Kata Tjuta, and to have a similar origin despite the rock type being different, but it is younger than the rocks exposed to the east at Mount Conner, and unrelated to them. The strata at Uluru are nearly vertical, dipping to the south west at 85°, and have an exposed thickness of at least 2,400 m. The strata dip below the surrounding plain and no doubt extend well beyond Uluru in the subsurface, but the extent is not known.

Historically, 46 species of native mammals are known to have been living near Uluru; according to recent surveys there are currently 21. 

More information: Northern Territory

Aṉangu acknowledge that a decrease in the number has implications for the condition and health of the landscape. Moves are supported for the reintroduction of locally extinct animals such as malleefowl, common brushtail possum, rufous hare-wallaby or mala, bilby, burrowing bettong, and the black-flanked rock-wallaby.

The mulgara is mostly restricted to the transitional sand plain area, a narrow band of country that stretches from the vicinity of Uluru to the northern boundary of the park and into Ayers Rock Resort. This area also contains the marsupial mole, woma python, and great desert skink.

The bat population of the park comprises at least seven species that depend on day roosting sites within caves and crevices of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Most of the bats forage for aerial prey within 100 m or so from the rock face. The park has a very rich reptile fauna of high conservation significance, with 73 species having been reliably recorded. Four species of frogs are abundant at the base of Uluru and Kata Tjuta following summer rains. The great desert skink is listed as vulnerable.

Aṉangu continue to hunt and gather animal species in remote areas of the park and on Aṉangu land elsewhere. Hunting is largely confined to the red kangaroo, bush turkey, emu, and lizards such as the sand goanna and perentie.

Of the 27 mammal species found in the park, six are introduced: the house mouse, camel, fox, cat, dog, and rabbit. These species are distributed throughout the park, but their densities are greatest near the rich water run-off areas of Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the park or the immediate region. Many rare and endemic plants are found in the park.

The growth and reproduction of plant communities rely on irregular rainfall. Some plants are able to survive fire and some are dependent on it to reproduce. Plants are an important part of Tjukurpa, and ceremonies are held for each of the major plant foods. Many plants are associated with ancestral beings.

More information: Parks Australia

 The greatest stain upon this great Australian nation's character,
without any question,
is the great gaps that exist between our Aboriginal brothers and sisters
in terms of their health, their education, their living conditions,
their incarceration rates and life expectancy.
It's a great stain.

Bob Hawke

MOUNT MERAPI ERUPTS IN YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Mount Merapi, the stratovolcano located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, that erupted on a day like today in 2010.

Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 km north of Yogyakarta city which has a population of 2.4 million, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 m above sea level.

Smoke can often be seen emerging from the mountaintop, and several eruptions have caused fatalities. A pyroclastic flow from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22 November 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it was designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.

On the afternoon of 25 October 2010, Merapi erupted on its southern and southeastern slopes. A total of 353 people were killed over the next month, while 350,000 were forced to flee their homes; most of the damage was done by pyroclastic flows, while heavy rain on 4 November created lahars which caused further damage. Most of the fissures had ceased erupting by 30 November, and four days later the official threat level was lowered. Merapi's characteristic shape was changed during the eruptions, with its height lowered 38 m to 2,930 m.

More information: Global Volcanism Program

Since 2010, Merapi had experienced several smaller eruptions, most noticeably two phreatic eruptions which occurred on 18 November 2013 and 11 May 2018. The first and larger of these, caused by a combination of rainfall and internal activity, saw smoke issued up to a height of 2,000 m. There have been several small eruptions since the beginning of 2020, which are of great interest to volcanologists.

The name Merapi is a compound of Sanskrit Meru meaning mountain with Javanese api which means fire. Thus Merapi can be loosely translated as Mountain of Fire or Fire Mountain.

In late October 2010, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, Geological Agency (CVGHM), (Indonesian language-Pusat Vulkanologi & Mitigasi Bencana Geologi, Badan Geologi-PVMBG), reported that a pattern of increasing seismicity from Merapi had begun to emerge in early September.

Observers at Babadan 7 km west and Kaliurang 8 km south of the mountain reported hearing an avalanche on 12 September 2010.

On 13 September 2010, white plumes were observed rising 800 m above the crater. Lava dome inflation, detected since March, increased from background levels of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm per day to a rate of 11 mm per day on 16 September.

On 19 September 2010, earthquakes continued to be numerous, and the next day CVGHM raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Lava from Mount Merapi in Central Java began flowing down the Gendol River on 23-24 October signalling the likelihood of an imminent eruption.

On 25 October 2010, the Indonesian government raised the alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level (4) and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 10 km zone were told to evacuate. The evacuation orders affected at least 19,000 people; however, the number that complied at the time remained unclear to authorities. Officials said about 500 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the weekend of 23-24 October, and that the magma had risen to about 1 km below the surface due to the seismic activity.

After a period of multiple eruptions considered to exceed the intensity and duration of those in 1872 on 10 November 2010 the intensity and frequency of eruptions was noticed to subside.

By this time, 153 people had been reported to have been killed and 320,000 were displaced. Later the eruptive activities again increased requiring a continuation of the Level 4 alert and continued provision of exclusion zones around the volcano. By 18 November the death toll had increased to 275. The toll had risen to 324 by 24 November and Syamsul Maarif, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) explained that the death toll had risen after a number of victims succumbed to severe burns and more bodies were found on the volcano's slopes.

In the aftermath of the more intensive eruptive activities in late November, Yogyakarta's Disaster Management Agency reported that there were about 500 reported cases of eruption survivors in Sleman district suffering from minor to severe psychological problems, and about 300 cases in Magelang. By 3 December the death toll had risen to 353.

Merapi is very important to Javanese, especially those living around its crater. As such, there are many myths and beliefs attached to Merapi.

More information: ESA

Those who seek power somewhere outside
rather than within themselves
should carefully look at the volcanoes!
All the power is within you!
And all you have to do is take it out!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

1857, SHEFFIELD FOOTBALL CLUB IS FOUNDED IN ENGLAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Sheffield Football Club, the oldest existing club still playing football in the world, that was founded in England on a day like today in 1857.

Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire.

They currently compete in the Northern Premier League Division One East.

Founded in October 1857, the club is recognised by FIFA as the oldest existing club still playing football in the world. 

Sheffield FC initially played games under the Sheffield Rules and did not officially adopt the new FA rules until 1878.

The club competes in the Rules derby with near neighbours Hallam. 

In 2007, they were inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, to commemorate their 150th anniversary.

On the pitch, the club's finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup, a competition conceived after a suggestion by Sheffield. They also finished as runners up of the FA Vase in 1977.

In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick-abouts without any official rules. Subsequently, two members, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, formed the Sheffield Football Club.

More information: Sheffield FC

The inaugural meeting of the club took place on 24 October 1857 at Parkfield House in the suburb of Highfield.

The original headquarters was a greenhouse on East Bank Road lent by Thomas Asline Ward, father of the first club president Frederick Ward, and the adjacent field was used as their first playing ground. Initially, Sheffield FC games were played among club members themselves and took the format of Married v Singles or Professionals v the Rest.

Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the club's rules of play, which were decided upon at the club's AGM on 21 October 1858, and published the following year. They were referred to as the Sheffield Rules, and were the first detailed set of rules of football to be published by a football club (as opposed to a school or university).

At the time, before the formation of the Football Association (FA), many different kinds of football were popular in England. For example, each of the various public schools played football according to their own individual rules, and these varied widely. The Sheffield Rules were later adopted by the Sheffield Football Association when it was formed in 1867.

Sheffield's near neighbour, Hallam, was formed in 1860 and in the same year the two clubs first met each other in a local derby which is still contested today. By 1862 there were 15 clubs in the Sheffield area.

Sheffield have played at a number of grounds around Sheffield. Initially they played at Strawberry Hall Lane Park. However, like all of the early grounds they played at, it was not owned by the club. In the following years they would play at Old Forge ground and a ground near Hunter's Bar on Ecclesall Road.

More information: FIFA Museum

There was much reluctance from the owners of Bramall Lane to see the pitch used for football. They did not relent until a charity match between Sheffield and Hallam was suggested in late 1862. The ground was used by Sheffield for its more important fixtures but relations with the owners remained strained. They collapsed altogether in 1875 when the club vowed never to play at the ground again.

In 1921, Sheffield settled at the new Abbeydale Park ground. They moved to Hillsborough Park in 1988, then to Owlerton Stadium and Don Valley Stadium. In 1999, Richard Tims got involved with Sheffield FC when he was invited to a home game in Don Valley Stadium. He noted that the club was struggling in a way they were playing in a rented stadium. He took over the club and helped it secure its own ground, the Coach and Horses Stadium in Dronfield, Derbyshire.

The club bought the Coach & Horses ground in Dronfield in 2001, which was previously the home of Norton Woodseats F.C., a notable football team who reached the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup in 1939. It was the first time the club had owned its own ground. The ground has a capacity of just over 2,000 with 250 seats in the stand behind the southern goal.

In March 2019, it was revealed that Sheffield FC was in talks with the Sheffield Transport Sports Club (STSC) to move the club back to its home city after plans to relocate to the Olive Grove sports ground in the Heeley district of Sheffield fell through in 2016.

In March 2021, plans for the new stadium based at the STSC facility in the Meadowhead area of Sheffield were revealed. The proposed 4,000 person capacity stadium features a heritage centre celebrating the city’s role in football history.

More information: History of Soccer

In football, the result is an impostor.
You can do things really, really well but not win.
There's something greater than the result,
more lasting -a legacy.

Xavi

ALEXIA PUTELLAS SEGURA, THE GOLDEN CATALAN PLAYER

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Alexia Putellas Segura, the best contemporary female footballer in the world.

 

Alexia Putellas Segura (4 February 1994) is a Catalan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Futbol Club Barcelona, which she captains.

Having won all major club and individual awards available to a European player by 2022, she is widely regarded as the best contemporary female footballer in the world, and one of the greatest of all time.

Putellas has played for FC Barcelona since 2012 after spending most of her youth career in the ranks of Espanyol. Since joining FC Barcelona, she has won six league titles, seven Copas de la Reina, and one UEFA Women's Champions League title.

In FC Barcelona's 2020-21 season, she played an essential role as her team won the UEFA Women's Champions League as well as the resulting continental treble, both for the first time in their history.

Putellas later went on to win the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, the Ballon d'Or Féminin, and The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2021, becoming the first player to win all three in the same year.

In 2022, despite missing the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 due to injury, she won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award and the Ballon d'Or Féminin, each for a second consecutive year, making her the first woman to do so.

As of 2022, Putellas has the second-most all-time appearances for FC Barcelona Femení behind former left back Melanie Serrano, and is currently their second-highest all-time scorer behind former striker Jennifer Hermoso.

More information: FC Barcelona

Alexia Putellas Segura was born on 4 February 1994, to Jaume Putellas Rota and Elisabet 'Eli' Segura Sabaté in Mollet del Vallès, a municipality in the province of Barcelona.

Putellas has been a supporter of FC Barcelona since her early childhood. As a child, Putellas would travel with the Penya of Mollet del Vallès to watch FC Barcelona's matches at the Camp Nou with her father. She would also watch FC Barcelona matches at a local bar called La Bolera with her family.

Despite being born into a basketball-playing family, Putellas first began playing football in 2001 at seven years old. The first club she played for was with CE Sabadell, after she was enrolled through a family friend who played for the club.

In 2005, Putellas spent a year in FC Barcelona's youth academy. When she was twelve, Putellas joined the youth teams of RCD Espanyol, where she stayed for four years.

Putellas moved back to FC Barcelona in the summer of 2012.

On 25 August 2022, Putellas was awarded the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season. Months later, on 17 October 2022, Putellas won the Ballon d'Or Feminin for the second consecutive year, making her the first female to win the award twice.

More information: History of Soccer

Guanyem i serem eternes.

Però és com juguem,

no oblideu que

des del primer minuts fins el darrer,

fins el darrer,

som el Barça fins al final.

 

We win and we'll eternal.
But it's about how we play,
don't forget that
from the first minute to the last,
to the end,
we are Barça to the end.

Alexia Putellas

GREENWICH, BECOMES THE WORLD'S PRIME MERIDIAN

Today, The Grandma has been reading about  The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, that was designated as the world's prime meridian by the International Meridian Conference, on a day like today in 1884.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, ROG known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux, is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park in south east London, overlooking the River Thames to the north.

It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passes through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, the precursor to today's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The ROG has the IAU observatory code of 000, the first in the list. ROG, the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House and the clipper ship Cutty Sark are collectively designated Royal Museums Greenwich.

The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August. The old hilltop site of Greenwich Castle was chosen by Sir Christopher Wren, a former Savilian Professor of Astronomy; as Greenwich Park was a royal estate, no new land needed to be bought.

At that time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal, to serve as the director of the observatory and to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation. He appointed John Flamsteed as the first Astronomer Royal. The building was completed in the summer of 1676. The building was often called Flamsteed House, in reference to its first occupant.

More information: RMG

The scientific work of the observatory was relocated elsewhere in stages in the first half of the 20th century, and the Greenwich site is now maintained almost exclusively as a museum, although the AMAT telescope became operational for astronomical research in 2018.

There had been significant buildings on this land since the reign of William I. Greenwich Palace, on the site of the present-day Maritime Museum, was the birthplace of both Henry VIII and his daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I; the Tudors used Greenwich Castle, which stood on the hilltop that the Observatory presently occupies, as a hunting lodge. Greenwich Castle was reportedly a favourite place for Henry VIII to house his mistresses, so that he could easily travel from the Palace to see them.

In 1676 the main building of the observatory, now known as Flamsteed House, was completed on Greenwich hill.

British astronomers have long used the Royal Observatory as a basis for measurement. Four separate meridians have passed through the buildings, defined by successive instruments.

The basis of longitude, the meridian that passes through the Airy transit circle, first used in 1851, was adopted as the world's Prime Meridian at the International Meridian Conference at Washington, DC, on 22 October 1884, voting took place on 13 October.

Subsequently, nations across the world used it as their standard for mapping and timekeeping.

The Prime Meridian was marked by a brass, later replaced by stainless steel, strip in the Observatory's courtyard once the buildings became a museum in 1960, and, since 16 December 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.

More information: The Royal Parks

This is the chronology of Greenwich:

-1675. 22 June. Royal Observatory founded by King Charles II.

-1675. 10 August. Construction began.

-1714. Longitude Act established the Board of Longitude and Longitude rewards. The Astronomer Royal was, until the Board was dissolved in 1828, always an ex officio Commissioner of Longitude.

-1767. The fifth Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne began publication of The Nautical Almanac, based on observations made at the Observatory.

-1818. Oversight of the Royal Observatory was transferred from the Board of Ordnance to the Board of Admiralty; at that time the observatory was charged with maintaining the Royal Navy's marine chronometers.

-1833. Daily time signals began, marked by dropping a time ball.

-1838. Sheepshanks equatorial, a 170 mm aperture refracting telescope installed.

-1893. The 28-inch Great refractor installed.

-1899. The New Physical Observatory, now known as the South Building, was completed.

-1924. Hourly time signals, Greenwich Time Signal, from the Royal Observatory were first broadcast on 5 February.

-1931. Yapp telescope ordered.

-1948. Office of the Astronomer Royal was moved to Herstmonceux in East Sussex.

-1957. Royal Observatory completed its move to Herstmonceux, becoming the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO). The Greenwich site was renamed the Old Royal Observatory.

-1990. RGO moved to Cambridge.

-1998. RGO closed. Greenwich site was returned to its original name, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and was made part of the National Maritime Museum.

-2011. The Greenwich museums, including the ROG, became collectively the Royal Museums Greenwich.

More information: Historic UK

The only reason for time is so 

that everything doesn't happen at once.

Albert Einstein

1824, PORTLAND CEMENT IS PATENTED IN ENGLAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Porland cement, the most common type of cement, that was patented on a day like today in 1824.

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout.

It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th century by Joseph Aspdin, and is usually made from limestone. 

It is a fine powder, produced by heating limestone and clay minerals in a kiln to form clinker, grinding the clinker, and adding 2 to 3 percent of gypsum.

Several types of portland cement are available. The most common, called ordinary portland cement (OPC), is grey, but white Portland cement is also available. Its name is derived from its resemblance to Portland stone which was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.

It was named by Joseph Aspdin who obtained a patent for it in 1824. His son William Aspdin is regarded as the inventor of modern portland cement due to his developments in the 1840s.

The low cost and widespread availability of the limestone, shales, and other naturally-occurring materials used in portland cement make it one of the lowest-cost materials widely used over the last century. The most common use for portland cement is in the production of concrete.

Concrete is a composite material consisting of aggregate (gravel and sand), cement, and water.

Concrete produced from Portland cement is one of the world's most versatile construction materials, and has changed the world in almost every observable aspect. It is one of the most widely used substances on Earth, and as such, portland cement manufacturing is currently vital to the world's economy. It is one of the construction industry's largest cause of climate changing carbon dioxide emissions.

Portland cement was developed from natural cements made in Britain beginning in the middle of the 18th century. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone, a type of building stone quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.

The development of modern portland cement, sometimes called ordinary or normal portland cement, began in 1756, when John Smeaton experimented with combinations of different limestones and additives, including trass and pozzolanas, relating to the planned construction of a lighthouse, now known as Smeaton's Tower.

More information: Cement

In the late 18th century, Roman cement was developed and patented in 1796 by James Parker.

Roman cement quickly became popular, but was largely replaced by portland cement in the 1850s.

In 1811, James Frost produced a cement he called British cement. James Frost is reported to have erected a manufactory for making of an artificial cement in 1826.

In 1811 Edgar Dobbs of Southwark patented a cement of the kind invented 7 years later by the French engineer Louis Vicat. Vicat's cement is an artificial hydraulic lime, and is considered the principal forerunner of portland cement.

The name portland cement is recorded in a directory published in 1823 being associated with a William Lockwood and possibly others.

In his 1824 cement patent, Joseph Aspdin called his invention portland cement because of its resemblance to Portland stone. Aspdin's cement was nothing like modern portland cement, but a first step in the development of modern portland cement, and has been called a proto-portland cement.

William Aspdin had left his father's company, to form his own cement manufactury. 

In the 1840s William Aspdin, apparently accidentally, produced calcium silicates which are a middle step in the development of portland cement.

In 1848, William Aspdin further improved his cement. Then, in 1853, he moved to Germany, where he was involved in cement making. William Aspdin made what could be called meso-portland cement, a mix of portland cement and hydraulic lime.

Isaac Charles Johnson further refined the production of meso-portland cement, middle stage of development, and claimed to be the real father of portland cement.

More information: Science Direct

In 1859, John Grant of the Metropolitan Board of Works, set out requirements for cement to be used in the London sewer project. This became a specification for portland cement. The next development in the manufacture of portland cement was the introduction of the rotary kiln, patented by Frederick Ransome in 1885 (U.K.) and 1886 (U.S.); which allowed a stronger, more homogeneous mixture and a continuous manufacturing process.

The Hoffmann endless kiln which was said to give perfect control over combustion was tested in 1860, and showed the process produced a better grade of cement. This cement was made at the Portland Cementfabrik Stern at Stettin, which was the first to use a Hoffmann kiln.

The Association of German Cement Manufacturers issued a standard on portland cement in 1878.

Portland cement had been imported into the United States from Germany and England, and in the 1870s and 1880s, it was being produced by Eagle Portland cement near Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In 1875, the first portland cement was produced in the Coplay Cement Company Kilns under the direction of David O. Saylor in Coplay, Pennsylvania.

By the early 20th century, American-made portland cement had displaced most of the imported portland cement.

Portland cement manufacture can cause environmental impacts at all stages of the process. These include emissions of airborne pollution in the form of dust; gases; noise and vibration when operating machinery and during blasting in quarries; consumption of large quantities of fuel during manufacture; release of CO2 from the raw materials during manufacture, and damage to countryside from quarrying. Equipment to reduce dust emissions during quarrying and manufacture of cement is widely used, and equipment to trap and separate exhaust gases are coming into increased use. Environmental protection also includes the re-integration of quarries into the countryside after they have been closed down by returning them to nature or re-cultivating them.

Portland cement is caustic, so it can cause chemical burns. The powder can cause irritation or, with severe exposure, lung cancer, and can contain a number of hazardous components, including crystalline silica and hexavalent chromium. 

Environmental concerns are the high energy consumption required to mine, manufacture, and transport the cement, and the related air pollution, including the release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, dioxin, NOx, SO2, and particulates.

More information: Becosan

It is not the beauty of a building you should look at;
its the construction of the foundation
that will stand the test of time.

David Allan Coe