These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Tuesday Trivia

Electronics, Power, Energy ...... where would we be without it? Well, fer sher, there would be no Tuesday Trivia!

ELECTRICITY
Electricity travels at the speed of light - more than 186,000 miles per second!

A spark of static electricity can measure up to three thousand (3,000) volts. A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts – and it lasts less than one second.

Electricity always tries to find the easiest path to the ground. It can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal manure.

The first power plant – owned by Thomas Edison – opened in New York City in 1882. One power plant can produce enough electricity for 180,000 homes.

Thomas Edison didn’t invent the first light bulb – but he did invent one that stayed lit for more than a few seconds.

Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity – but he did prove that lightning is a form of electrical energy.

POWER & ENERGY
One-quarter of all the energy in the United States is used to heat and cool homes and buildings, according to the U.S. Research and Development Administration.

According to the Federal Power Commission, the United States produces more than twice as much electricity as any other country in the world. Its closest competitor was the Soviet Union.

Over any given twenty four hour period, the fifty major hotels and gambling casinos in the Las Vegas area use 1.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to provide power for a city of some 35,000 inhabitants.

The average automobile traveling at 57 miles per hour gets only two-thirds the gas mileage of a car moving at 50 miles per hour.

The lighthouse in Creach d'Ouessant on the coast of Brittany in France gives out a light equal to that of 500 million candles, It would take 6,253,000 flashlights to make a light that bright.

In order to equal the amount of energy transmitted every day from the sun to the earth, it would be necessary to burn 550 billion tons of coal, more than could be mined (given present methods) in a thousand years.

ELECTRONICS
The first vending machine was invented by Hero of Alexandria around 215 BC. When a coin was dropped into a slot, its weight would pull a cork out of a spigot and the machine would dispense a trickle of water.

The very first projection of an image on a screen was made by a German priest. In 1646, Athanasius Kircher used a candle or oil lamp to project hand-painted images onto a white screen.

Music was sent down a telephone line for the first time in 1876, the year the phone was invented.

One hour before Alexander Graham Bell registered his patent for the telephone in 1876, Elisha Gray patented his design. After years of litigation, the patent went to Bell.

During the 1860s, George Leclanche developed the dry-cell battery, the basis for modern batteries.

The first electronic mail, or "email", was sent in 1972 by Ray Tomlinson. It was also his idea to use the @ sign to separate the name of the user from the name of the computer.

6 comments:

  1. I wonder how many parts of the world still have to do without electricity. Seems like not many. I get hits on my blog from all over the world. They must have electricity there.

    I did forward one of your comics, the one about the mother whose high school senior told her she had a 'must attend' meeting, to a close relative whose son is also a senior. She said it described her situation exactly.

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  2. Very interesting trivia Mike is always telling me to slow down when I drive now I will have to remember not to speed cause it wastes gas.

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  3. I know, Dave, I get hits from all over, too. I know there are areas without electricity, but I think it is growing smaller and smaller.

    Heh, heh, isn't it funny how those funnies strike home so often?

    Bobbie, that's right! One time my sister was stopped for speeding, and she told the cop she was rushing home so she wouldn't run out of gas. He explained to her the same thing!

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  4. Thank goodness for electricity!! :-) Nothing drives me crazy faster than our electricity being out. (Unless it's water being out.)

    Adn thank goodness for email! I'm not a phone person, so I LOVE email!

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  5. This just reminds me of the Fannie Flag books "Standing In The Rainbow" & "Can't Wait To Get To Heaven". Aunt Elner LOVED Thomas Edison and electricity!

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  6. Cheryl, aren't we spoiled with our luxuries (running water an electricity)?? I'm OK with using the phone, but I love my email, too. Great way to communicate!

    Queenie, I'd forgotten about those books!

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If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!