The first lotteries held in colonial America were economically significant in that they helped finance national and private ventures. Between 1744 and 1774, 200 lotteries are recorded to have taken place. These lotteries facilitated the construction of churches, canals, bridges, libraries...etc. Princeton and Columbia Universities were founded on the finances generated by lotteries in the 1740’s just as the Academy Lottery financed the construction of the University of Pennsylvania in 1755. Many colonies during the Indian and French Wars appealed to lotteries to raise finances for fortifications and local militias. A prime example is the State of Massachusetts’s use of lottery money to finance the “Expedition against Canada”.
For the defense of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin himself organised a lottery to finance the purchase of a cannon. George Washington managed Colonel Bernard Moore’s “Slave Lottery” in 1769 in which land and slaves were advertised in the Virginia Gazette as prizes.
Whilst there never did exist a vampire called ‘Dracula’, there did exist a man called ‘Dracul’ on whom the character was based. Vlad III Dracul (1431-1476), a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, was famed for his excessive cruelty both during his lifetime and after. Estimates place the number of his victims between 40,000 and 100,000, comparable to the entire number of executions performed during four century span of the European witch-hunts.
Vlad III was referred to most frequently as Vlad ‘Tepes,’ ‘Tepes’ translating to ‘impaler’, Vlad’s preferred method of torture. Reports have it that an invading Ottoman army fled Wallachia when they encountered a gruesome sight on the banks of the Danube; thousands of rotting corpses and r4i gold cards impaled. Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople famed also for excessive cruelty, returned home in disgust upon seeing 20,000 impaled bodies outside Târgoviște, Vlad’s capital.
Yet modern Romanian literature and folklore depicts Vlad Tepes as a hero, voting for him in the 2006 ‘Mari Romani’ television series as one of the ‘100 Greatest Romanians.’ This is due to 19th century patriotic literature in which Vlad Tepes was depicted as a geroic warrior protecting Wallachia from the invading Ottomans.
So winter's on it's way, even if there is the odd flicker of sunshine now and then it's quickly chased away by huge strong winds, chills and downpours of rain!
I threw out a lot of my old winter clothes, because they were just that: old. Now I really need to go and look at decent jackets for men but I need help! I'm always worried that whatever I pick out I'll like then but change my mind later.
I always used to ask my mum to come with me, she always needs something anyway and she's a great help, sometimes I'll pick out things that are a bit chavvy, and I only realise they're chavvy when she tells me!
But I'm a bit old to be asking my mum to go shopping with me, and with no sensible lady in my life at the moment I'm at a complete loss! I guess I'll just have to trust my own judgement. Watch this space...
Photo: net_efekt (Flickr)
Over two billion litres of bottled water are sold in the UK every year, but only one in five plastic bottles is recycled. Millions of barrels of oil are used to manufacture plastic bottles and transport mineral water across the globe, producing massive carbon emissions.
We should have clean, filtered water dispensers out in the streets that people can use to fill up their own water bottles and flasks and do away with the need for bottled water. They have water fountains in schools, why not bring them to the streets?
In some parts of the world people have no access to water on tap, can you imagine their reaction at us turning our noses up at tap water and paying for bottled water, which is no healthier?
Bottled water is a waste of money, resources and the environment, and we should all know better and turn to the tap.
Photo: epSos.de (Flickr)
It was my nephew's birthday this week, and his mum told me he'd been hinting about remote control cars, so I snapped up the gift idea straight away - I was clueless otherwise!
The only problem was, when I went to the toy shop to choose one, the range was so impressive I ended up buying two, one for him and one for myself at the tasty cost of £80 each! They were just too great, I couldn't resist!
As you can probably imagine, he was absolutely over the moon when he opened it! And don't worry, I didn't do the typical Christmas morning goof but came prepared with a set of Ansmann rechargeable batteries for each car - wouldn't want to be stuck with no batteries!
They're serious machines! We took them to an abandoned car park and raced them around for hours.
It was a ridiculous spend, but it was so much fun. I got a cool RC car, and am the "best uncle ever" - win win.
Photo: budgieJen (Flickr)