Ambulances...History of

Ambulance History

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During the Crusades of the 11th Century, the Knights of St John received instruction in first-aid treatment from Arab and Greek doctors. The Knights of St John then acted as the first emergency workers, treating soldiers on both sides of the war of the battlefield and bringing in the wounded to nearby tents for further treatment. The concept of ambulance service started in Europe with the Knights of St John, at the same time it had also become common practice for small rewards to be paid to soldiers who carried the wounded bodies of other soldiers in for medical treatment.
The Surgeon-in-Chief of the French Grand Army, "Baron Dominiquie Larrey" created the first official army medical corp. in 1792. Trained attendants with equipment moved out from the field hospitals to give first-aid to the wounded on the battlefield and/or carried them back by stretcher, hand-carts and wagons to the field hospitals.
Motorized ambulance vehicles have been in use since the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1950s the United States pioneered helicopter-ambulances during the Korean War. In 1968, St Vincent's Hospital in New York City started the first mobile coronary care unit.

Galileo Galiliei...Invention of the thermoneter

What is a Thermometer?
Thermometers measure temperature, by using materials that change in some way when they are heated or cooled. In a mercury or alcohol thermometer the liquid expands as it is heated and contracts when it is cooled, so the length of the liquid column is longer or shorter depending on the temperature. Modern thermometers are calibrated in standard temperature units such as Fahrenheit or Celsius.

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Early History
The first thermometers were called thermoscopes and while several inventors invented a version of the thermoscope at the same time, Italian inventor Santorio Santorio was the first inventor to put a numerical scale on the instrument. Galileo Galilei invented a rudimentary water thermometer in 1593 which, for the first time, allowed temperature variations to be measured. In 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the first mercury thermometer, the modern thermometer. Thermometer
At the start of the seventeenth century there was no way to quantify heat.
Santorio Santorio
Santorio invented several instruments, a wind gauge, a water current meter, the "pulsilogium," and a thermoscope, a precursor to the thermometer. Santorio was the first to apply a numerical scale to his thermoscope, which later evolved into the thermometer.

Dieting; Have a good breakfast

Heart Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Food is our fuel. The breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We can fuel our body with healthy food to give a rejuvenating start to our day. Many scientific studies have proved beyond doubt that a healthy breakfast is the key to good health. Good breakfast boosts our energy, increases the attention span and provides enough calories to start our day successfully. If we skip breakfast we can experience short attention span, low blood sugar, low productivity at work, and lack of alertness and all these things further deteriorate our overall quality of life.
Still most of us skip breakfast. Sometimes we think that skipping breakfast will help in reducing weight. But the truth is exactly the opposite. If we eat a nutritious and balanced breakfast we will feel full and satiated for a long time. The breakfast will kick start our metabolism and more calories will be burnt translating into weight loss. Feeling of satiation will prevent us from snacking at odd hours. We can derive the above stated benefits only when we eat a balanced meal in the morning.
A nutritious breakfast can take good care of your heart too. All you have to do is choose your food carefully. Your breakfast should contain high fibers, good cholesterol and it should be low in fat and bad cholesterol. This will keep your heart healthy.
A Quaker oats meal incorporates most of the good qualities of a breakfast. Quaker oats are whole grain food. They are high in fibers and low in fat. Most nutritionists tell you to eat fresh fruits in the morning. You can add fresh fruits to your Quaker oats breakfast to enhance both its value and taste. Repeated studies have shown that eating a high-fiber breakfast can also help in lowering the cholesterol level. Even the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the same. According to the AHA we should include about 25-30 grams of fiber each day from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes in our food. So when it comes to heart-healthy breakfasts, follow the simple habits mentioned above. When you buy packaged food try to develop a habit of reading labels.
You can start your day’s first meal with Quaker oats as one of the cornerstones of a heart-healthy diet. It has high fibers and can be prepared in no time since most of us are rushed in the morning. Oatmeal consists of soluble fibers that keep the cholesterol level low. Quaker oats are low in saturated fat too so all the more reason to include it into your healthy heart breakfast.

Mother Theresa

MOTHER TERESA

1979 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Leader of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity

Excerpt from the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

"I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."

Background

• Aug 27, 1910 - Sep 5, 1997
• Maiden name: Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
• Place of Birth: Skopje, Yugoslavia (what is now Macedonia)
• Residence: Calcutta, India
  
• Biographical highlights:
  • 1928 - went to India and taught at a convent school in Calcutta
  • 1937 - took her final vows
  • 1948 - left the convent to work alone in the slums; received some medical training in Paris
  • 1950 - the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresea's sisterhood) started
  • 1952 - House for the Dying opened
  • 1957 - the Missionaries of Charity started work with lepers and in many disaster areas of the world
  • 1971 - awarded the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize
  • 1979 - awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Prize winners for Medicine and Physiology..1985

Michael S. Brown

Joseph L. Goldstein

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1985 was awarded jointly to Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein "for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism"

Trivial but interesting facts,

Unusual trivia

In Jonathan Swift's book "Gulliver's Travels" have a look at chapter 3 of "A Voyage To Laputa". It reads : "They have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the centre of the primary planet exactly 3 of his diameters, and the outermost 5". There is nothing unusual in that except Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726 and Mars' 2 moons were first discovered by US astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877!

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Italian mathematician Geronimo Cardano published the laws of chance governing card & dice games. But he became most famous for his accurate horoscope predictions. He even predicted his own death in 1576 - even down to the exact hour. When the time came he was still healthy, so he killed himself rather than being proved wrong!

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When Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, Halley's Comet was visible in the sky over Florida, Missouri. It did not pass very near to the earth that year, but its presence was enough to create a legend. Aware throughout his life that he was born when Halley's Comet was visible, Mark Twain predicted in 1909 that he would die when it returned: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.... The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'" He was right. When Mark Twain died on April 21, 1910, Halley's Comet was once again visible in the sky.

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Winston Churchill was not only a great speech maker, his wit was also legendary. In the House of Commons Nancy Astor MP, angry with Churchill, said 'If I were married to you, I'd put poison in your coffee'. Churchill replied 'Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it'. Another female MP, Bessie Braddock when seeing Churchill intoxicated, said 'Winston you're drunk' to which Churchill replied 'Bessie you're ugly. And tomorrow I shall be sober'.

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King Mithridates VI ruled in Asia Minor in the first century BC. He was so afraid of assassination by poisoning, he came up with a novel idea. He gave himself small doses of poison each day in the hope that he would naturally build up a resistance to poisons. It was so successful that when the Romans invaded in 63 BC, instead of being captured he tried to commit suicide, but the poison he took had no effect on him. Eventually the King ordered a slave to kill him with his sword!

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After being killed during the celebrated Battle of Trafalgar, British Admiral Horatio Nelson was put into a large barrel of brandy to preserve his body during the voyage back to England. When the ship arrived back home Lord Nelson was removed from the barrel and the crew celebrated his achievements by drinking the remaining brandy!

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Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England and scourge of the monarchists died peacefully on 3rd Spetember 1658. 18 months later the monarchy had been restored and the royalists wanted revenge for the regicide of King Charles I. Cromwell's corpse was exhumed from his tomb in Westminster Abbey and dragged through the streets of London to Tyburn. He was then given a symbollic hanging. 6 hours later his corpse was taken down from the gallows and beheaded by an executioner. His head was then paraded through the streets before being stuck on an iron spike and displayed atop Westminster Hall.

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In the late 1950s Lincoln City Football Club had a centre half named Ray LONG who was over 6 foot tall, and a left winger called David SHORT, who was only 5ft 4. Another piece of football trivia, the great strikers Dixie Dean and Jimmy Greaves, were both aged exactly 23 years 290 days, when they both scored their 200th league goals!

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In July 1981, a tortoise was sentenced to death for murder. Tribal leaders in an eastern Kenyan village formally condemned the tortoise because they suspected it of causing the deaths of six people by magic. However, because none of the villagers was prepared to face the tortoise's wrath by carrying out the execution, it was chained to a tree instead. The tortoise was later freed after the government promised an inquiry into the six deaths.

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After the death of her husband, poet Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) kept his heart wrapped up in silk until she died.

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The cruise liner Queen Mary, now at harbour in Los Angeles, was originally meant to be known by a different name. A director of Cunard - the ship's owners - met King George V intending to name the ship Queen Victoria. He asked if the vessel could be named after 'the greatest Queen this country has ever known'. The King replied 'That is the greatest compliment ever paid to my wife. I'll ask her'. Hence, the ship became the Queen Mary.

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The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and Great Britain in 1896.  Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

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In 1994 Los Angeles police arrested a man for dressing as the Grim Reaper - complete with scythe - and standing outside the windows of old people's homes, staring in.

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Team work always pays.

 

People who are part of a team and share a common direction get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the trust of one another and lift each other up along the way.

 

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go through it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the power of the flock

If we have as much understanding as a goose, and share information with those who are heading the same way that we are going.   ….We will always stay in the formation

 

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose takes over. It pays to share leadership and take turns doing hard jobs.   The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed

   

Words of support and inspiration help energize those on the front line, helping them to keep pace in spite of the day-to-day pressures and fatigue.    It is important that our honking be encouraging. Otherwise it’s just – well honking!  When one of us is down and things get rough, it’s up to us to stand by each other ……..So that we stay in formation & reach the destination.

 

So next time you see a formation of geese, remember...

IT IS A REWARD, A CHALLENGE AND A PRIVILEGE to be a contributing member of a TEAM.

Discovery of Bakelite

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1863. He immigrated to the United States in 1889. His first major invention was Velox, a photographic printing paper that could be developed under artificial light. Baekeland sold the rights Velox to George Eastman and Kodak for for one million dollars in 1899. He then started his own laboratory in Yonkers, New York, where he invented Bakelite in 1907, a synthetic substitute for the shellac used in electronic insulation.
Bakelite was made by mixing Carbolic Acid with Formaldehyde, it is considered the first plastic. In 1909, Bakelite was introduced to the general public at a chemical conference. Baekeland founded the General Bakelite Corp. In 1944, Baekeland died at the age of eighty years in Beacon, N.Y.

Bakerlite was used to manufacture everything form telephone handsets or costume jewelry for example as well as engine parts and insulation for electronics.

Nobel Prize in economics 1998

Amartya Sen

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1998 was awarded to Amartya Sen "for his contributions to welfare economics".

Nobel Prize in medicine in 1985

Michael S. Brown

Joseph L. Goldstein

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1985 was awarded jointly to Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein "for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism"