During his presidential campaign in 1840, the opponents of Martin van Buren (1782-1862) said he “wallowed in raspberries,” which meant he lived with shocking extravagance.
***
The singer and musician known as Prince was named Prince Rogers Nelson when he was born in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The small singer (he stands 5 feet 2 inches high) is primarily known for his big hit songs in the 1980s, including “1999” (1982), “When Doves Cry” (1984) and “Raspberry Beret” (1985).
***
The name of the prince in the Disney movie “Cinderella” (1950) was Prince Charming.
***
The prince in the 1937 Disney movie “Snow White” had a minor role and was never referred to by name.
***
In the 1812 fairy tale “Little Snow White,” by the Brothers Grimm, a daughter was born that was “as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as ebony wood,” so she was named Snow White.
***
About one in every 17,000 people has Albinism. Their bodies do not produce melanin. Albinos have little or no pigment in their skin and hair.
***
People with albinism always have vision problems, because of abnormal development of the retina.
***
The Latin prefix for the word white is alba. The word albedo refers to the percentage of light an object reflects. A perfectly white reflecting surface has an albedo of 1.0, a black absorbing surface has an albedo of 0.0.
***
Recommended for you
The color white is made up of all colors.
***
Clouds are made up of water droplets and ice crystals. The water and ice reflect all colors equally. The colors combined make clouds appear white.
***
Do you know what the words nimbostratus, altocumulus and cumulonimbus describe? See answer at end.
***
A barometer measures atmospheric pressure. A rain gauge measures the amount of rainfall and other forms of precipitation. An anemometer measures wind speed in miles per hour. These are all tools used by meteorologists.
***
The first weather satellite was launched into orbit in 1960. The satellite, called TIROS (Television InfraRed Observational Satellite) drastically changed the ways weather was forecast.
***
The Weather Channel debuted in 1982 and was available in 9 million homes. Today, The Weather Channel reaches more than 87 million cable subscribers.
***
In 1985, The Weather Channel developed the “Weather Star” system that enabled them to gather all of the National Weather Service’s local data into their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. With this development, The Weather Channel could send localized weather reports and forecasts to cable stations within minutes.
***
Answer: They are all types of clouds. There are four basic cloud classifications: stratus, cumulus, cirrus and nimbus. Stratus clouds are horizontal, layered clouds. Cumulus clouds are large and puffy. Cirrus clouds are thin and an altitude above 20,000 feet. Nimbus clouds are rain clouds. The words for the four basic cloud descriptions can be combined to describe every type of cloud. Luke Howard (1772-1864), an English chemist and pharmacist, established the cloud classifications in 1803.
Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? Email knowitall(at)smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 ext. 114.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.