The Search For FAMILY HISTORY Begins With Names

What’s in a name? For anyone, a name defines who a person is. It is how one is addressed, how one signs, and the central feature that differentiates one from the other person. To the family history searcher, one’s name is a concrete marker that tells of the place where one comes from, a bit of history across time.

Names are important because it points to the general direction of the origins of the owners. Constructing a family tree becomes a tad easier because now it has a place to start – the family name.

A broad understanding of the origins, characteristics, and nature of names and name-giving is needed to undertake the search for your family history.

History of names

Until about a thousand years ago, people got by with just one name. And that was all one actually needed in those times where only a few ventured more than a few miles away from their homes. Even members of the royalty did not complain about having only one name each.

Later, as the population grew, people began the practice of further distinguishing a person from his friends and neighbors. “Paul the son of Robert” is called such because he is different from “Paul the farmer”. “John the smith” is called to distinguish him from “John the son of Thomas”. Around the year 1500, most surnames (the affiliation to the first name) became inherited and the practice is thankfully still used today.

For the people who come from Europe, most of their surnames drew meanings from their occupations, their father’s name, the place where they came from, or some descriptive words.

Names from occupations

Someone named MILLER essentially worked in a place where they ground grains to flour. BISHOP could be somebody working for the Bishop, and CARTER could be a maker or a driver of carts. Today, however, it is hard to accurately pinpoint names and their meanings because of changes in pronunciation or spelling.

Names from the fathers

Different countries have different variations on how the father’s name is inherited by the sons. The Irish “O”, the Gaelic “Mac”, the Norman “Fitz” are some of them. Examples are Johnson (the son of John), MacDonald (the son of Donald), Fitzgerald (the son of Gerald), and O’Connor (the son of Connor).

Names from places 

Ancient people usually named newcomers with the name of the place where they came from. A guy who came from the east had EASTWOOD for a surname. CHURCHILL came from a place near a church on a hill. BROOKS is someone who lived near a creek or brook.

Nicknames

Sometime in the Middle Ages, people created pet names for their neighbors and friends based on personality or looks. These names evolved and later became surnames. Examples are Michael ARMSTRONG, John GOODMAN, and Peter WHITE.

Wrong spelling 

It should not surprise a family historian going over old records to find errors in spelling and other inconsistencies in the names. Such problems certainly make the job of a family historian difficult, but not impossible.

There were many reasons for these problems. First, spellings were not standardized before. Anyone could spell their names every which way they wanted or how they heard them.

Sometimes, the problem was in pronunciation. Or it could be in the handwriting where the ornate old style had some different letters looking the same. (Capital letters L and S used to be written the same way and the old writing of letters A, O and U were almost identical.)

Importance of names

Surnames are usually given more attention because it is inherited. Even if it may be altered and corrupted in many ways through the passage of time, some original form is retained somehow.

Given names are also important in a way that they were given intentionally by the parents and represent their special thoughts and feelings for the individual. While they may not have the same weight of attention given to surnames, they still merit careful study because they can have in them valuable intimations about your family history.

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HORSES - Breeds, A To Z

Dartmoor Pony (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A horse is a horse of course.  Right?  Well, not exactly.  There are more breeds of horses than Carter has liver pills.  We're just going to touch on a few examples here, otherwise we're going to need a book about 2000 pages long.  

For example, and we'll just start with the letter A, there is the Australian Stock Horse.  This is one of those horses that arose from selective breeding due to the demands of the environment.  The history of this breed actually began in 1788.  When the first breed of horses was brought to Eastern Australia by the First Fleet.  These horses were of mixed English Thoroughbred and Spanish stock and they were hardy enough horses that they were a perfect choice for the cavalry.  

Moving along to the letter B, we have the Basotho Pony.  This horse is found only in Lesotho, which is in South Africa.  The horse is used almost exclusively for riding.  The breed itself was developed sometime after 1825 from the Cape Horse.  By the start of the 20th century, this breed almost completely disappeared due to the exporting of the horses and cross-breeding with Arab and Thoroughbred horses.  Fortunately, during the later part of the 20th century, a society was formed to revive the breed.  

One of the most famous breeds of horses starting with the letter C is the Clydesdale.  This horse was developed in a district of Scotland.  It is a heavy draft horse breed.  The breed itself was developed by farmers in Lanarkshire, which is the old name for Clydesdale.  This horse was mainly bred to meet the agricultural needs of farmers.  The Clydesdale is a real workhorse.  Make no mistake about that.  

The letter D gives us the Dartmoor Pony.  This horse is one of nine breeds that are specific to the British Isles.  This particular breed comes from a barren moorland called Dartmoor, which is located in Devon, England.  These are very old horses that go all the way back to the reign of King Henry I.  Today, Dartmoor Ponies are found all over Great Britain as well as countries like France, Sweden, and Germany.  

Moving along to the letter E, we have the Eriskay Pony.  This particular pony is the only surviving variety of the Hebridean pony.  It is found on the Hebrides Islands off the coast of Scotland.  Today this particular breed of the pony is almost extinct.  Recent DNA testing of these animals shows that they are of very ancient origin.  These horses are mostly used for transportation and common chores such as pulling carts and even taking children to school.

And in case you are wondering, yes there are breeds of horses that begin with the letter Z.  One of them is the Zaniskari Pony, which is found in Northern India.  This particular breed is what is called a riding and pack breed.  

Yes, there are more breeds of the horse than you can possibly imagine. 

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What Is A DRONE?

An Hermes 450 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection taking off,
with a CBP Border Patrol agent using the remote to steer the UAV.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A drone, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as well as many other names, is a device that will fly without the use of a pilot or anyone on board. These ‘aircraft’ can be controlled remotely using a remote control device by someone standing on the ground or by using computers that are on-board. UAV’s, in the beginning, were typically controlled by someone on the ground but as technology has advanced, more and more aircraft are being made with the aim of being controlled via on-board computers.

The idea of an unmanned aerial vehicle can be traced back to early in the twentieth century and was originally intended to be solely used for military missions but have since found a place in our everyday lives. Reginald Denny, who was a popular film star as well as an avid collector of model airplanes was said to produce the first-ever remote piloted vehicle in 1935. Since this date, the aircraft has been able to adapt to new technologies and can now be found with cameras as well as other useful extras. As a result of this, UAVs are used for policing, security work and surveillance and firefighting, they are even used by many companies to check on hard to reach assets such as piping and wirework adding an extra layer of safety and security.

The rise in popularity of these devices has, however, brought some negatives as well as positives as new rules and regulations have had to be introduced to control the situation. As the UAVs were getting stronger and technologies were improving, it meant that they could fly higher and further away from the operator. This has led to some troubles with airport interference all over the world. In 2014, South Africa announced that they had to tighten security when it comes to illegal flying in South African airspace. A year later and the US announced that they were holding a meeting to discuss the requirements of registering a commercial drone. 

As well as the previously mentioned uses, drones are now also used for surveyance of crops, counting animals in a certain area, looking over a crowd among many others. Drones have managed to change the way that many industries are run and have also allowed many businesses to become more efficient. Drones have also helped to increase safety and also contribute when it comes to saving lives. Forest fires and natural disasters can be monitored and the drone can be used to alert the relevant authorities of anyone that is in trouble and in need of help. The exact location of these events can also be found with ease. 

Drones have also become a hobby for many people around the world. In the US, the recreational use of such a device is legal; however, the owner has to take some precautions when attempting to fly. The aircraft must adhere to certain guidelines that have been laid out; for example, the device cannot be more than 55 pounds. The drone should also avoid being used in a way that will interfere with airport operations and if a drone is flown within five miles of an airport, the airport traffic control tower must be made aware beforehand. 

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The UNIVERSE through a Child’s Eyes

Galaxies are so large that stars can be considered particles next to them
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is something about parenthood that gives us a sense of history and a deeply rooted desire to send on into the next generation the great things we have discovered about life.  And part of that is the desire to instill in our children the love of science, of learning and particularly the love of nature. 

Your fascination with the universe and how to explore it as we so often do in the field of astronomy can be highly academic and dry as maybe it was if you took a course in astronomy.  But when you get out there in the field at night, your equipment is just right and the night sky comes alive with activity, there is no other experience like it for majesty and pure excitement.  And that is the kind of experience we want our children to come to love as much as we do.

It’s actually not a big jump from play to learning for children when it comes to learning about the natural world, science, and astronomy.  Exploration is a natural part of being a child and growing up in a fascinating world and universe.  So if we can find ways to take that natural desire to explore and instill a life long passion for astronomy, we will have given our children a truly great gift.

So with a few simple family activities, we can instill that love of astronomy in our offspring.  Here are some ideas.

* Make star gazing part of family life.  You already love to go outdoors as often as possible to enjoy the stars.  So don’t let that be your private passion.  Get everybody into the act.  The kids will love it and look forward to those nights as much as going to the circus.

* Make each new experience in growing into astronomy a fresh threshold.  So the first experiences might be what you experienced as a kid, just laying on your back out in the country with the panorama of the stars overhead trying to take it all in.  Go ahead and challenge them to count the stars.  It’s a fun exercise and one they will save to use as a joke on their kids when they do this same thing in a few decades.

* Take them along the road of learning, introducing binoculars so they can focus on particular areas of the night sky.

* Now they are hooked and want to know about why some of the stars are brighter than others.  They have no idea they are going to astronomy school and don’t even know it.  You can tell them about the constellations as you point out how to find them by keying off the North Star.  By being able to find things in that mass of stars and knowing there is such a vast amount more they can pick out, they are ripe for learning from star maps and about how the galaxies work.

* Think of their excitement as they notice the changes in the night sky.  The phases of the moon and the effect of the rotation of the earth on the position of the planets.  Help them find their favorite celestial bodies each night.  Before long they will learn to chart the movement of the stars just like the early astronomers did.

* Now you will get caught up in the excitement of finding new things to reveal to your excited crew of fledgling astronomers.  When you reveal that you are going on a safari to see an eclipse, a meteor shower or the once in a lifetime appearance of a comet, that gift will as big as anything you might spring on them for Christmas.

The wonders of the night sky will captivate your children the way it has you for years.  And you will have done them the greatest favor you ever could do by making them lifelong lovers of the universe.

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AMERICA Conquers the Air

The Wright brothers at the International Aviation Tournament
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you ask any student even in elementary school why the town of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is significant to American history, they will know the answer immediately.  They will know that this was the place that Orville and Wilber Wright made the first working airplane and discovered that man could fly.  

Today, with thousands of airplanes taking to the sky at any given moment and the experience of flying high above the earth as common as riding a bicycle, it seems that a world where men did not fly is as far away as the ancient Romans.  But we have to travel in time back to the days before the Wright brothers made their phenomenal discovery and the invention of the first aircraft when there was a time when it was firmly believed that man would never fly like a bird and indeed, the man was meant to never fly but always be a terrestrial being.  We can be grateful that the Wright brothers did not hold to that belief.

The date of that first successful flight was December 17, 1903.  It was on that fateful day that Orville and Wilber successfully flew the first controlled, powered, heavier than air airplane.  This breakthrough ranks as one of the greatest inventions of American history and in truth, one of the great inventions of all time as the man had been dreaming of being able to fly as far back as we have primitive drawings illustrating that dream.

The Wright brothers were well suited to go through the tedious research to finally create a machine that could accomplish this feat.  We all know that great inventions are often the results of hundreds or thousands of failures and tests by which the inventor refines his ideas and makes new discoveries that take him to step by step toward that final breakthrough.  That was certainly true of the Wright brothers.

First flight of the Wright Flyer I, December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our reference to flight becoming as common as riding a bicycle is well chosen because it was the Wright brother's vocation as mechanics repairing printing presses, motors, and bicycles that gave them the knowledge of the inner workings of such machines that were needed to create a machine that could sustain flight.  Their work to perfect the design of the common bicycle leads them to believe that conquering flight was not a question of providing sufficient power to the aircraft as it was providing mechanisms of control and balance to properly keep the aircraft steady with sufficient consistency that it could take to the air.

Long before that first successful flight, the Wright brothers conducted their research.  Using their bicycle shop as a makeshift laboratory, they first experimented with gliders and unmanned aircraft to refine their theories and their designs.  But finally, on December 17, 1903, they achieved their dream of manned flight, even if only for a short time.  Orville Wright’s account of that first flight is scientific and understated.

"Wilbur started the fourth and last flight at just about 12 o'clock.  The first few hundred feet were up and down, as before, but by the time three hundred feet had been covered, the machine was under much better control.  The course for the next four or five hundred feet had but little undulation.  However, when out about eight hundred feet the machine began pitching again, and, in one of its darts downward, struck the ground.  The distance over the ground was measured to be 852 feet; the time of the flight was 59 seconds.”

Little did the Wright brothers know that entirely new industry would be built around these simple experiments.  Moreover, they had achieved a dream man had dreamed for centuries, to actually be able to fly above the ground and come back safely.  It is truly one of the great accomplishments of American history.

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All You Need To Know About SPIRIT WINES

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Moderate wine consumption produces a better balance of these two. Additionally, wine has an anticoagulation effect which makes the blood less likely to clot. 

The health benefits of drinking alcohol can't be underrated. Mainly because of the evidence that it can greatly prove your health. 

However, not all alcoholic beverages can provide healthful gains. Between wines and spirits, wines provide more healthful benefits compared to spirits. 

Generally, spirits refer to purified or extracted alcohol. The process of distilling alcohol is usually done by heating a “fermented liquid.” The liquid is made to disperse in the air making it change from a liquid state to a gas or vapor and then squeezed back into its liquified form. Learn the art of Wine Tasting. 

Spirits are generally made from any natural material that can be “fermented” to produce alcohol. You could surmise that wine with a little percentage of alcohol can be transformed into spirits by increasing its alcohol content and decreasing its liquid substance. 

Measurements 

Since spirits are distilled forms of any organic substance including wines with the abundance of alcohol content, these particular types of beverages are measured and assessed depending on their alcohol content. Most countries that manufacture spirits use a particular means of measurement. The common way is to use the “Gay-Lussac system” or measuring the spirits according to “alcohol by volume” or ABV. 

For example, a particular spirit that is classified as 60% ABV means that it has 60% alcohol. In the United States, spirits or any alcoholic beverage are classified in accordance with their alcohol content by using “proof of scale.” The “proof” of an alcoholic beverage, particularly spirits, has their ABVs doubled. For instance, if a spirit has a 30% ABV, it is classified as 60% proof. 

Classifications 

Spirits are, basically, classified according to the kind of fermenting material that is used in the process of fermentation and distillation. 

To know more about the classification of spirits, here is a list that can help you out: 

1. Brandy 

This is a type of spirit that is made from a “fermented” grape sap. The alcohol contents of brandy are generated from a meticulous distillation process of grape juices, mostly from wines. 

2. Gin, Vodka, etc. 

These spirits are generated from distilled beers that are naturally made from grains. 

3. “Fortified wines” 

These are special kinds of spirits made from a combination of “fermented wine” and extracted spirits, which are, more often than not brandy. 

These are just a few of the many classifications of spirits. They may differ from the kinds of materials that they have originated from but they are all extracted and distilled to produce alcohol. That is why they are known as spirits. 

Chemical and food experts have known for years that wine contains rich deposits of vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars that are often beneficial to good health. Wine is also rich in potassium and low in sodium. Red wines have more of these elements due to the juices longer contact with the grape skins. Red wines are also rich in Vitamin B which comes from the grape skins as well.

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How Long Should You Rest Between MUSCLE BUILDING Sessions?

In an earlier article, we concluded that muscles must be worked to failure if an adequate hypertrophic response is to occur. Whether this involves one or more sets is irrelevant as in either scenario the muscles must be worked to failure and beyond. This causes significant microscopic damage to the muscle tissues and it is during the period of recovery that protein synthesis undertakes the repair process that results in bigger muscle fibers.

But how long does this process take and when is it safe to expose those same muscles to further intensive exercise? Scientific studies suggest that muscle fiber degradation takes approximately five to seven days to repair and recover. Any further exposure of the affected muscle to the intensive activity will interfere with the recovery process and actually prevent it from achieving maximum growth. However, using the muscle to assist in exercising other body parts or even taking part in the low-intensity aerobic exercise will not prevent recovery.

It follows therefore that each muscle group should be trained intensively only once each week in order to allow full recovery. This can be achieved by incorporating a split training regime that allows you to work out several times each week but still exercise each muscle group intensively only once every seven days.

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