Category Archives: History

Mercy Whitney, the wife of Kauai missionary Samuel Whitney, wrote the oldest record of a formal dinner on Kauai.

Her host was Prince George Kaumualii, the son of Kauais last king, who served the princely fare at Waimea on July 25, 1821.

The dinner consisted of fried fish, baked pork, salt beef and boiled chicken, onions, sweet potatoes and several varieties of fruit.

Another recipe that was recorded was for scotch cake, written in the late 1800s at Eliza Sinclairs Makaweli House, high in the hills above Pakala.

Its ingredients were flour, butter and white sugar, mixed, kneaded and baked to a golden brown.

Sinclairs grandson was Eric Knudsen, a rancher who hunted wild cattle in Kokee when few people went there.

After a hunt, Eric and his guests would meet at Halemanu, his summer home in Kokee, at the place where Hawaiian bird-catchers had camped long ago.

Lean beef ribs, laid on an iron grill over a bed of coals, served with red Hawaiian salt and poi, proved good eating after a day outdoors.

Hale Nani, the estate of another rancher, William Hyde Rice, was a grand place for visitors.

It was located in Lihue adjacent to what is now Rice Street between Waa Street and Kalena Street.

Its most famous guest, Queen Liliuokalani, stayed there in 1891, and was royally entertained by Rice and his wife, Mary.

On the day of the queens arrival, hundreds of children passed before her.

Later, scores of people brought gifts in her honor at a hookupu (ceremonial gift-giving), followed by a performance of the Royal Hawaiian Band.

A farewell luau in her honor was attended by 2,000 people at Kalapaki, Rices home on Nawiliwili Bay where the Royal Sonesta now stands.

Perhaps the greatest luau ever held on Kauai took place at the Keapana Valley mansion of sugar-planter Col. Z.S. Spalding in September 1912, on the day of his 75th birthday. Three thousand people came to celebrate, many of them arriving by plantation train. Sixty-two tables were laden with food and drink and a band played sweet melodies.

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ISLAND HISTORY: Historic vignettes of good food and good times on Kauai - Thegardenisland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio Geese come in gaggles, deer in herds, fish in schools or shoals.

So whats the correct collective noun for butterflies?

A new display in the revamped exhibit wing at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, scheduled for completion in December 2024, seems destined to raise that question.

The display will sandwich dozens of translucent, high-resolution photos of butterflies and moths between 10-foot-high sheets of glass standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window framing views of the museums Thelma and Kent H. Smith Environmental Courtyard, which was overhauled at the end of 2020.

A new rendering of the exhibit shows how sunlight will flood through the window, creating a luminous experience blending natural beauty and the exacting science of species classification. Beyond that, though, there will be that pesky question about how to refer correctly to butterflies, plural.

And the answer, according to the website animalsandenglish.com, is that groups of butterflies may be referred to as a flight, a flutter, a kaleidoscope, a rabble, a shimmer, a swarm, and a wing.

All of this is a slantwise way of introducing the notion that the latest designs for revamped exhibits at the museum, released to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, show that the project is intended to evoke wonder and delight in multiple ways.

Chiefly, the new exhibit areas are designed to show off selections from a collection of 5 million specimens in spaces that are flooded with light and connected to the natural world outside. The goal is to keep visitors curious, comfortable, engaged, and eager to spend time.

The dynamic is not going to be what a lot of people remember of old natural history museums as dark, dusty places, said Patrick Gallagher, president and founder of Gallagher & Associates, a design firm with offices in three U.S. cities and Singapore. This is going to be a bright, living environment.

In an update, museum staff and members of the design team provided a new snapshot of the institutions evolving, 17-year, $150 million project to renovate and expand its complex on the west side of Wade Oval in University Circle.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's expansion and renovation includes the already completed Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden Presented by KeyBank.Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Conceived in 2007, the multi-part project has included the construction of a 300-space garage, the new Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden, completed in 2016, and the completion in late 2020 of Gateway projects worth $8.9 million that included a re-do of the Smith Courtyard, and a renovation of Murch Auditorium.

The overall project is intended to modernize an institution that expanded 10 times since it moved to the west side of Wade Oval in University Circle in 1958.

A series of architecturally nondescript additions over the years led the museum to become a dark, inwardly-focused place with exhibits that looked more and more like musty throwbacks.

The renovated Thelma and Kent H. Smith Environmental Courtyard at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History centers on a meandering path and a paved area with a relief map of Northeast Ohio watersheds.Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Sonia Winner, the museums president and CEO, said it has raised $108 million for the project, up from $89 million a year ago.

In June, the museum broke ground for the biggest single component of the expansion and renovation, a $47.8 million phase that includes a new exhibit wing north of the institutions main entrance, and the renovation of older exhibit areas to the south.

Both will be joined by a new central Visitors Hall connecting the main entrance off Wade Oval to the parking garage on the north side of the museum complex.

Designed by DLR Group | Cleveland, the new wing will occupy the old site of the Perkins Wildlife Center, just north of the Shafran Planetarium & Ralph Mueller Observatory, a shiny cone of copper-colored metal.

The DLR design, destined to open up the museums presence on Wade Oval, is intended to evoke the natural history of Northeast Ohio through visual references to the glacier that covered the region until the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago.

A rendering by DLR Group Cleveland depicts new landscaping around the future expansion and renovation of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The new exhibit wing, plus a new lobby and caf and the central Visitors Hall will be covered by a curving, snow-white roof made of cast concrete panels with flowing shapes like those of a glacier.

Large areas of glass will admit sunlight directly into exhibit areas. Landscapes around the building will be designed to resemble those of a glacial moraine, where vegetation takes root on contours smoothed by receding ice.

Inside, the new wing will house exhibits related to the origins of the universe, the history of Earth and the emergence of life.

Visitors will find exhibits recounting the emergence of elements in the periodic table through the heat and compression of supernova starbursts. Theyll be able to use specially designed scopes that will narrative views the outside world. And theyll walk past dinosaur skeletons will appear to jog in front of the big wings big windows..

Two lab areas within the new wing will enable the museums staff scientists to engage the public in scheduled programs about ongoing museum research.

A third new space, the Ames Family Curiosity Center, will be located at the entry to the new wing, just off the new central Visitors Hall.

The Ames Family Center at the natural history museum will center on an interactive display.Cleveland Museum of Natural History / Gallagher & Associates

Inside, a staff scientist will be on call to answer questions about scientific phenomena in the news, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or climate change. Visitors may also bring in specimens to discuss or examine.

The Ames Center will center on an interactive display resembling a circular tabletop, which will be connected to video displays projected on a circular display overhead.

South of the Visitors Hall, existing exhibit areas will be revamped to focus on Biological Processes such as evolution, the diversity of life, mankinds impact on the natural world, and Northeast Ohio flora and fauna.

The biological exhibits will fit within older portions of the museums footprint that cant be opened up to daylight like the new exhibit wing to the north. That makes them ideal for light-sensitive specimens, such as taxidermy displays, and for immersive environments with projected imagery.

Exhibit areas devoted to "Biological Processes" at the natural history museum will include video displays and light-sensitive specimens.Cleveland Museum of Natural History / Gallagher & Associates

Exhibits in the biological area will include a panoramic display of taxidermy specimens from the arctic to the equator, backed by projected images of landscapes instead of traditional painted dioramas.

Also on view will be an animated video of the ferocious Dunkleosteus terrelli, a terrifying shark-like creature, recently named the Fossil Fish of Ohio.

Senior exhibit designer Jenny Lilligren, a member of the Gallagher team, said that she and her colleagues took inspiration from the glacial motifs and flowing shapes in the DLR design.

Among other things, the designers looked at the famous glacial grooves carved into a limestone outcrop on Kelleys Island, and the ways in which meltwater ripples over layers of eroded shale in Northeast Ohios many creeks.

Accordingly, the designers envisioned the new exhibit areas with pathways flowing around crystalline display cases acting like boulders in a stream.

The new display cases will be designed to enable specimens to be viewed from all angles, and to make them appear to float on nearly invisible mounts, or supporting armatures.

One of the interiors proposed for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History expansion and renovation.Cleveland Museum of Natural History / Gallagher & Associates

White ceilings and walls will reflect abundant daylight in the new wing, where displays of rocks and fossilized dinosaur bones can be exposed to full daylight without harm.

Accent colors and large-scale graphics and throughout the museum will be set within shapes that have smoothed, rounded edges, as if they were carved by a glacier or flowing water.

Overhead, a system of hanging battens, or strips of wood, will be organized in wave patterns designed to reinforce the main pathways through exhibits, while subtly referring to the idea of rippling streams.

Lilligren said the design team chose the fonts, or typefaces used for signs and text panels, with special care.

Large-scale thematic titles for exhibits, placed high up on walls, will use Museo, a font with gently rounded serifs, or flourishes at the ends of letters, a style that Lilligren called friendly and approachable.

A display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History will scan taxidermy specimens arrayed against a digital backdrop rather than a traditional diorama.Cleveland Museum of Natural History / Gallagher & Associates

The smaller body type used for explanatory labels and texts will use Din, a typeface without serifs that is typically used for traffic signs and technical manuals. Lilligren said the font is intended to look straightforward, honest, and trustworthy important considerations for a museum devoted to science.

At every level, the exhibit designs are intended to shape the museum experience, without drawing attention overtly, Lilligren said.

Its not something you have to think about because weve thought about it for you, she said.

Ease of orientation is also key to the museums new architecture and exhibit designs.

Instead of the current circuitous layout, the museum will be organized around its big new Visitor Hall, which will run like a river or a glacial stream through the center of the museum as a place of arrival and departure.

Here, the designers intend to install a few powerful exhibits to stoke curiosity and provide iconic touchpoints.

Theyll include old favorites, such as the 70-foot-long reconstructed fossilized skeleton of the museums Haplocanthosaurus delfsi, known as Happy.

The reconstructed fossilized skeleton of "Happy,'' a massive dinosaur, will be featured in the new Visitor Hall at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Cleveland Museum of Natural History / Gallagher & Associates

And theyll include the museums newly conceived display of butterflies, a series of delicate, miniature splashes of life and color.

The Visitor Hall, Lilligren said, really is a space where we want people to come in and be wowed, and say, ' I want to see more. "

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Cleveland Museum of Natural History designers aim to banish darkness from a once-dowdy institution with brigh - cleveland.com

The Dare County Library has announced that a Smithsonian Institution poster exhibition highlighting the unique history of women inventors will be hosted at its Manteo and Kill Devil Hills locations throughout the months of January and February 2022.

The exhibition, which is titled, Picturing Women Inventors, showcases the many breakthroughs, motivations and challenges that American women have encountered while pursuing their goals and ambitions as inventors throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

The exhibition will be on display at the Kill Devil Hills Library from January 3 through January 31 before making the move to the Manteo Library, where it will be on display from February 2 through February 28.

Presented by the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the poster exhibition explores the inventions of 19 highly accomplished American women ranging from astronauts and athletes to engineers and computer pioneers, stated a Dare County press release. Throughout American history, women of all ages and with diverse backgrounds and interests have created inventions that change countless lives every day; however, women havent always had equal opportunities to be inventors or received as much recognition as their male counterparts.

Among the 19 women inventors who are featured in the exhibition are Marilyn Hamilton, who after a hang-gliding accident in 1978 left her paralyzed went on to invent a lightweight and easy-to-maneuver wheelchair, as well as Alexis Lewis, who at only 12 years old in 2011 was inspired to adapt a traditional Native American sled known as a travois by adding wheels in order to create a simpler way for people to transport their children and belongings to camps and hospitals in Somalia.

The Picturing Women Inventors exhibition is presented at no cost to libraries, schools, museums and community organizations by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The exhibition is sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN initiative, as well as Ericsson, a provider of information and communication technology.

For more information about the exhibitions upcoming visit to Dare County, visit http://www.DareNC.com/Libraryor contact the Kill Devil Hills Library at 252-441-4331 and the Manteo Library at 252-473-2372.

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Dare County Library highlights history and accomplishments of women inventors - The Coastland Times | The Coastland Times - The Coastland Times

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still breaking box office records.

Sonys latest web-slinging Marvel adventure has grossed $1.53 billion worldwide, cementing its place as the eighth-highest grossing movie ever at the global box office (not adjusted for inflation).

Over the weekend, No Way Home generated another $64 million internationally and $33 million domestically, enough to push the films tally past slots nine through 12 on all-time rankings, which belonged to The Avengers ($1.518 billion), Furious 7 ($1.515 billion), Frozen II ($1.45 billion) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion). Does it have enough steam to take down the films that stand in six and seventh place, Jurassic World ($1.67 billion) and The Lion King ($1.66 billion)? Thatll be the next box-office test of No Way Homes impressive staying power.

At the domestic box office, Spider-Man: No Way Home has remained a force on the big screen despite the rapidly spreading omicron variant of COVID-19. With $668 million in ticket sales, it is now the sixth-highest grossing movie in history at the domestic box office, surpassing Titanic ($659 million) and Jurassic World ($652 million). In no time, it should take fifth place, which belongs to Avengers: Infinity War ($678 million), and could eventually land in fourth place, where Black Panther ($700 million) currently sits.

Internationally, the newest Tom Holland-led comic book adaptation has collected a stellar $867.5 million since debuting in December. Over the weekend, No Way Home opened in Japan with $11.8 million, which is ahead of ticket sales for 2017s Homecoming by 76% and ahead of 2019s Far From Home by 35% in the same country. Among holdover markets, No Way Home brought in solid receipts in the United Kingdom ($6.2 million), Mexico ($2.5 million) and Indonesia ($1.2 million).

The film has done especially well in the U.K. Hollands birthplace amassing $105.8 million to date. Other top-earning territories include Mexico with $69.7 million, South Korea with $55.8 million and France with $55.2 million. No Way Home isnt playing in China, which is the worlds biggest moviegoing market.

Elsewhere at the international box office, Universals animated musical comedy Sing 2 picked up $17 million from 54 overseas markets. The film, which opened around Christmas, has made $81 million internationally and $190.8 million globally so far.

Another holiday release, Disney and 20th Centurys The Kings Man, added another $13.4 million from 43 territories over the weekend. That pushes the prequel in the Kingsman spy comedy franchise to $49.2 million overseas and $74.3 million worldwide, a lackluster result.

The Matrix Resurrections has also struggled to attract audiences in North America, where it debuted day-and-date on HBO Max, and overseas. The fourth installment in the Warner Bros. sci-fi action series generated $7.7 million from 76 markets, boosting its tally to $90 million internationally and $124.5 million globally. Its a weak result for a film that cost $190 million, a hefty sum that doesnt include global marketing fees. Resurrections opens in China on Friday, which could be a boon to ticket sales or could fail to make a dent. During the pandemic, Hollywood movies havent made much of an impact in Chinese movie theaters and it certainly doesnt help that The Matrix Resurrections came out weeks ago everywhere else.

In fifth place (among Hollywood movies), Disneys musical fable Encanto earned $5.8 million from 36 international territories. The well-reviewed family film, which is currently on Disney Plus, has grossed $123 million overseas and $215 million globally to date.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home Stands as Eighth-Highest Grossing Movie in History With $1.5 Billion Globally - Variety

Welcome, Hubie, to the world of the three.

A brief history of the 3-point shot: It entered basketball in 1961 as the gimmick of a promoter, Harlem Globetrotters impresario Abe Saperstein. He had formed the American Basketball League in the hopes of competing with the NBA and the three would help shape the new leagues separate identity. When the league folded in the middle of its second season it was adopted by the Eastern Professional Basketball League, then, without question, the second-best collection of basketball talent in the world. The ABA incorporated the three when it began operation in 1967. It came into the NBA in 1979, and into college ball in 1986.

What this all means is that any basketball fan under the age of 50 has no serious recollection of a world without the three.

Brad Stevens was 3 years old when the NBA adopted the three. He was 10 when it came into the NCAA. Hes never had anything against the three, especially since his 10-year old basketball-loving Hoosier self was cheering madly as Steve Alford nailed seven threes in the 1987 NCAA championship game to lead Indiana past Syracuse.

With Stephen Curry as its reigning high priest, the 3-point shot has now managed to secure a hostile takeover of the game, the operative phrase being, The worst shot in basketball is the long two. It is generally acknowledged that most nights you live or die by the three.

Given the disproportionate importance of the three in todays game, it is somewhat surprising to learn that the shot hardly took the NBA by storm when it was introduced 43 years ago. In fact, some of the early numbers were somewhat laughable.

Take, for instance, the Atlanta Hawks. In the first year of the rules existence the Hawks were 13 for 75 on 3-point shot attempts. For, yes, 82 games. The Lakers were 20 for 100. The Kansas City Kings 25 for 114. Portland was 26 for 132. The 76ers were 27 for 125. OK, you get the idea.

The Celtics? You know, of course, that Chris Ford made the very first one and that Larry Bird was a highly respectable .406 shooter (58 for 143). As a team, they were 166 for 422 (.384).

Oh, and guess who was coaching those timid Hawks? Hubie Brown, thats who. The simple fact is he just didnt have anyone who could make them with any regularity. He had left Louie Dampier behind.

Cedric Maxwell isnt surprised to learn all this. In the beginning everybody looked at it like it was fools gold, he recalls.

Now, you would think there would be a gradual acceptance of the concept as NBA teams adapted to the brave new world. So I was stunned to discover that after five full seasons with the rule, there were nine NBA teams in the 1984-85 season that took fewer 3-point shots than they did in that first year.

In some cases, such as the Spurs (206 to 202), SuperSonics (189 to 185), Nuggets (255 to 235), and Pistons (219 to 199), the difference was marginal. But after taking a league-leading 543 3-point attempts in the first year, the Clippers dropped to 188 in Year 6. It must be noted that the Clippers Brian Taylor led the league in attempts (239) and makes (90) that first year. The Celtics also had a big dropoff, going from 422 attempts to 309 six years later.

What, I wonder, does this mean? Youd have to ask those coaches, Stevens says.

One of those coaches was Brown, who had moved in the interim from Atlanta to New York. You still went with your strengths, he explained, and in his case his big strength was the extraordinary skill of Bernard King, who was on his way to scoring 32.9 points a game while going 1 for 10 on threes for the season.

But, in time, things would change, and Hubie says it had to do with a specific emphasis on individual improvement and an important rule change. Teams begin expanding their coaching staffs, with full-time shooting instructors bringing in new drills and making sure things would be carried out over the summer.

Equally important in transforming the game was the elimination of hand-checking and a new fear of flagrant fouls.

Look at the Detroit Bad Boys, Brown points out. Michael Jordan was on the floor more times against them in 15 minutes than guys today are in 82 games.

The fact is that Curry never has to worry about such things.

There is no question the players are now aligned very differently. Stevens finds the whole topic fascinating.

When I see those old films, I marvel at the post players of the day, he says. They had so much less space to work with.

Maxwell (1 for 19 lifetime on threes) is the first to tell you he would have had to reinvent himself somewhat in order to keep his job today.

I remember talking to Elton Brand a number of years ago, Maxwell says. I was kidding him about leaving the low post to spend more time outside. Youve gone over to the dark side, I told him.

Speaking of dark sides, what can one say about going an embarrassing 4 for 42 on threes, which the Celtics did Dec. 29 against the Clippers? Shouldnt they have a Plan B when the bombs arent falling?

I couldnt believe that when I saw it, Brown says.

I know the analytics guys might disagree, says Stevens, but I believe when things like that happen you need to get to the basket, get to the rim, and maybe get to the foul line. Its helpful just to see the ball go through the basket.

Like it or not, its the new game and it isnt going away.

Do people really want to see teams taking 40 or 50 threes a night? Brown inquires.

For most of the fans, its all they know. I guess they answer is, Yes.

Bob Ryan can be reached at robert.ryan@globe.com.

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In the history of the NBA 3-pointer, there have been some misses along the way - The Boston Globe

There might not be any Philadelphia Phillies elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, so instead of looking forward, lets take a minute to look back.

On January 8, 1995, Mike Schmidt was officially elected to the Hall. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest players in franchise history, if notthe greatest.

Schmidt spent his entire professional career with the Phillies, who drafted him in the second round of the 1971 June draft. The 22-year-old infielder debuted on September 12, 1972, and would spend 18 years in a Phillies uniform.

Over those 18 years and 2,404 regular-season games, Schmidt hit.267/.380/.527 with a.908 OPS. He hit 548 career home runs, including 13 seasons of 30+ home runs, and is one of only 18 players in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game. Heled MLB in home runs six times, including three years in a row between 1974-76, and frequently led in on-base, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases.

Schmidt finished his career with 10 Gold Glove awards, including nine consecutively between 1976-84. He was a Silver Slugger six times and elected to 12 All-Star Games. He won three MVP awards, including going back-to-back in 1980-81.

The third baseman was instrumental to the Phillies winning their first-ever championship in 1980. On October 4, his 11th-inning home run against the Montreal Expos won the Phillies the NL East and cemented his first MVP season.

During that postseason, Schmidt hit.289/.353/.467 with a.820 OPS, a pair of doubles, and a pair of home runs. In addition to a World Series ring, Schmidt won World Series MVP for his efforts.

Despite being an All-Star in his age-39 season, Schmidt retired abruptly early that year. On May 29, 1989, he suddenly announced that he was retiring, saying he felt like a shadow of the player [he] used to be.

However, the player he used to be will forever be one of the greatest to wear a Phillies uniform. He is the franchise leader in WAR among position players, Offensiveand Defensive WAR, games played, plate appearances, runs scored, total bases, home runs, RBI, walks, runs created, adjusted batting runs and wins, extra-base hits, times on base, sacrifice flies, intentional walks, WPA, and championship WPA.

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This day in Phillies history: Mike Schmidt elected to Hall of Fame (January 8, 1995) - That Balls Outta Here

After needing a seriously long lie down to process that crazy 2021 F1 season, were now ready and super excited for 2022. With just over two months until we go racing again (yippee), it got us thinking what the longest and shortest wait between two F1 seasons have been.

With so many races now on the calendar, it can sometimes feel like theres no rest between races. In 1950 there were only seven races, up to 15 by 1973, and F1 crossed over the 20 races threshold in 2012.

The 2021 season was the longest in F1 history, stretching from the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28th and ending in Abu Dhabi on December 12th with a whopping 22 races!

With more races and a calendar that finishes in mid-December, its left the winter break steadily shrinking over the past decade.

The gap between the 2010 season-finale to the 2011 season opener was 134 days. However, if everything goes according to plan, the record-breaking 23-race calendar for 2022 will reduce the break to only 99 days.

So will this be the shortest winter break yet?Surprisingly not.

The 99 days that separate the chequered flag to lights out is the joint-fifth shortest gap in F1 history, tied with 1973-4, 1974-5 and 1979-80. Yet the off-season is the shortest since the 1981-82 break.

To find the record for the shortest-ever winter break, youll need to go all the way back to F1s first decade in existence. Off the back of Aussie Jack Brabhams first World Championship title in 1959, the 1960 grid were back in action only 58 days later.

The tiny 58-day gap is the result of the last race finishing at the Sebring on December 12th and the 1960 season getting underway unusually early in Argentina on February 7th.

In total, 11 seasons have had winter breaks under 100 days but none in the past 40 years; there were 78 days between 1976 and 1997, 85 days from 1954-55 and 1977-8 and three 99-days-long.

Bizarrely, despite how long the seemingly never-ending wait felt between the 2019 and 2020 seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic, it wasnt actually the longest of all time. The gap between Lewis Hamilton sealing his sixth F1 championship in Abu Dhabi on December 1st 2019, to Lando Norris maiden podium at the Red Bull Ring on July 5th 2020, was a whopping 218 days.Crikey!

Yet it was 49 days shy of the longest ever off-season, following the first World Championship in 1950. 267 days separated the two seasons.However, this doesnt tell the full story as there were plenty of non-championship F1 races happening; they just didnt count towards the title.

The last time a winter break reached over 200 days was in 1961-62. As the calendars extended, more flyaways were added, and the setup became increasingly formalised, including pre-season testing.

However, as F1 bosses continue to push for more races worldwide featuring double and triple-headers, theres not going to be enough days to fit all the racing in!

Are the winter breaks getting too short? Let us know in the comments below.

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What Are The Shortest And Longest Winter Breaks In F1 History? - WTF1

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Three men with deep Pittsburgh-area connections played key roles in what's considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

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Super Bowl III was the first championship game to bear the trademark Super Bowl name. Played on Jan. 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the game pitted the AFL Champion New York Jets against the NFL Champion Baltimore Colts. The Jets were 19 points underdogs.

Three days before the game, Jets quarterback Joe Namath stunned reporters and fans alike by personally guaranteeing his teams victory. Those who scoffed at the prediction could only shake their heads when the Jets stunned the Colts 16-7.

Three men with deep Pittsburgh-area connections played key roles in whats considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

Namath, who was born in Beaver Falls, led his high school football team to the WPIAL Class AA championship with a 9-0 record. Namath also was a standout guard in basketball and outfielder in baseball and after graduation, received offers from several Major League baseball teams including the Pirates, Yankees, Indians, Phillies and Reds. Explaining that his mother wanted him to get a college education Namath accepted a football scholarship from Coach Paul Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama. Namath led the Crimson Tide to a National Championship in 1964. A year later, drafted by the Jets, he was named AFL Rookie of the year.

On the other side of the field in Super Bowl III was another Pittsburgh native, Johnny Unitas, who was considered one of the greatest NFL players of all time. Unitas, a graduate of St. Justins High School in Pittsburgh, attended the University of Louisville where injuries hampered his performance during his senior year. The Steelers drafted Unitas in the ninth round, but he was cut by head coach Walt Kiesling who didnt think Unitas was smart enough to quarterback an NFL team. The Colts thought he had potential and signed Unitas in 1956. A year later, his first as a full-time starter, Unitas led the league in passing yards, touchdown passes and was named the NFLs Most Valuable Player. He would earn MVP honors again in 1964 and 1967 and lead the Colts to championship titles in 1958, 1959, 1968 and Super Bowl V. Injured during Super Bowl III, Unitas came off the bench, engineering the Colts only touchdown drive late in the game.

The final Pittsburgh connection to Super Bowl III was a defensive backfield coach named Chuck Noll. A day after the loss to the Jets, Noll interviewed for the head coaching job with the Steelers.

Learn more about the citys past at The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh Facebook page.

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This Week in Pittsburgh History: The Local Connections to a Super Bowl Upset - Pittsburgh Magazine

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Powerful political forces in China, Russia and the United States are currently engaged in aggressive attempts to rewrite history to consolidate political positions and, as Orwell states, control the future. Examine the following.

In China: For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has ferociously attempted to erase the history of the 1980s movement for democracy. On the mainland, Chinese authorities ban any memorials or public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen protests for liberty and democracy. Human rights scholars estimate that close to 1,000 civilians lost their lives, and over 900 were wounded in the Tiananmen massacre when the Communist government brutally suppressed the protestors. The Chinese Communist Party subsequently banned discussion of the massacre and labeled democracy organizers as counter-revolutionaries.

The former British colony of Hong Kong had been the only place on Chinese soil where pro-democracy protesters killed in Tiananmen Square could be commemorated. This changed in December 2021 as Chinese authorities moved to squelch these remembrances. Three public monuments dedicated to the memory of the 1989 Tiananmen protests were forcibly removed including: a 20-foot bronze Goddess of Democracy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; a Tiananmen massacre wall relief sculpture at Hong Kongs Lingnan University; and a 26-foot statue known as the Pillar of Shame at the University of Hong Kong, which commemorated the pro-democracy protesters killed during the Tiananmen crackdown. Chinese artist Chen Weiming stated: They (the Chinese communists) want to remove the real history of the brutal crackdown. They wouldnt allow any different viewpoints to continue to exist in Hong Kong.

In Russia: In December 2021, the Russian government shut down the most prominent human rights organization, Memorial International. Memorials work focused on the identification and commemoration of the millions of victims of Stalinist purges and labor camps. The organization chronicled the persecutions of the Stalin labor camps and attempted to preserve the memory of its victims. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and other dissidents founded the organization over three decades ago. Putin labeled the organization as foreign agents and supporters of terrorism. The Russian Supreme Court supported Putin and ruled that Memorial must close and be liquidated.

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Putin seeks to mold public opinion around a positive view of the former USSR and soften the image of Stalins regime. Putin thus focuses on the glorious accomplishments of the former Soviet Union as a powerful superpower. According to The New York Times, the Kremlin has moved aggressively to remove interpretations of Russian history by organizations it does not control. Stalins tough rule can appeal to many Russian citizens facing an insecure future and provide a rationale for Putin to continue to amass authoritarian political power.

In the U.S.: Republican Party leadership is attempting to reframe the history of the Jan. 6 riot and insurrection as no big deal. PolitiFact labeled the Republican deluge of justifications, excuses and conspiracy theories the Lie of the Year for 2021. PolitiFacts list of Republicans lies include: falsely claiming that the riot was instigated by left-wing activists; likening the event to a normal tourist visit; denying the visible and filmed role of white supremacists and far-right militia groups in the riot; suggesting that the whole affair was staged by the government; and claiming that the rioters were now held as political prisoners.

America has never before experienced such a violent attempt by an organized mob to prevent the peaceful democratic transfer of power to a new administration. We were all witnesses and can confirm Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonells description of officers punched, kicked, shoved, sprayed with chemical irritants and even blinded with eye-damaging lasers by a violent mob. We saw the insurrection cause $1.5 million in property damage. We saw the rioters brandishing bats, crutches, flagpoles, skateboards, hockey sticks, knives, zip ties, chemical sprays, a fire extinguisher and other makeshift weapons. The University of Illinois Cline Center for Advanced Social Research stated that the Jan. 6 attack qualified as an attempted coup.

Yet many Republican leaders seem intent on whitewashing the demonstrable facts about Jan. 6 in order to cover for the anti-democratic actions of the Trump administration. Their strategy is working. According to an ABC News-Ipsos survey published on Jan 3, 52 percent of Republicans believed that those involved in the attack on the Capitol were protecting democracy; and 40 percent of Republicans stated that violent actions could be justified. The continuous repetition of lies about Jan. 6 have an impact and are difficult to overcome. Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol stated: The effort to rewrite history in the service of political power goals is not unheard of in America or anywhere else. What is brazen is the history they want to rewrite includes pictures of what actually happened.

Once a lie is accepted as common knowledge, it can take decades to undo the damage. For example, the lie that the Civil War in the United States was about protecting Southern culture and not about slavery significantly helped prevent civil rights protections for African-Americans for over 100 years. The myths about the Tiananmen Square massacre will help to hold back current movements for democracy in China. Putins revisionist history of Stalinism will help to push public opinion to accept an authoritarian leader and dismiss human rights. Republican attempts to conceal and misrepresent the Jan. 6 insurrection has already invigorated white nationalists and caused many others to question the viability of American democracy itself.

George Orwell was prescient. Through controlling our understanding of the past, leaders around the world today hope to control our future.

William F. Felice is professor emeritus of political science at Eckerd College He is the author of six books on human rights and international relations. He can be reached via his website at williamfelice.com.

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What happens when Russia, China and the US erase history | Column - Tampa Bay Times