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Hafiz 2013

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From the history!
8/7/2013 8:31:49 AM
Old Knocker-up Vs modern alarm clock!!

Old English occupation: Knocker up

A knocker-up (sometimes known as a knocker-upper) was a profession in England and Ireland that started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution and at least as late as the 1920s, before alarm clocks were affordable or reliable. A knocker-up's job was to rouse sleeping people so they could get to work on time.
The knocker-up used a truncheon or short, heavy stick to knock on the clients' doors or a long and light stick, often made of bamboo, to reach windows on higher floors. At least one of them used a pea-shooter. In return, the knocker-up would be paid a few pence a week. The knocker-up would not leave a client's window until they were sure that the client had been awoken.

A knocker upper would also use a 'snuffer outer' as a tool to rouse the sleeping. This implement was used to put out gas lamps which were lit at dusk and then needed to be extinguished at dawn.
There were large numbers of people carrying out the job, especially in larger industrial towns such as Manchester. Generally the job was carried out by elderly men and women but sometimes police constables supplemented their pay by performing the task during early morning patrols.
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, includes a brief description of a knocker-up. Hindle Wakes a play written by Stanley Houghtonand then a movie (of the same title) directed by Maurice Elvey, includes a knocker-up.
A 'knocker-upper' appears at the very beginning of the musical, 'The Wind Road Boys', by Paul Flynn. He walks along a group of children who are all holding slates with a number chalked upon them. The number on the slates denotes at what hour the householder wished to be woken in the morning and he calls and raps on the windows with his stick accordingly.

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Hafiz 2013

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RE: From the history!
8/23/2013 6:27:54 AM
Dancing Epidemic!!
In 1518, there was a “Dancing Epidemic” occurred in Strasbourg, 400 people
danced uncontrollably for one month and died of heart attack.


In July of 1518, a woman referred to as Frau Troffea stepped into a narrow street in Strasbourg, France and began a fervent dancing vigil that lasted between four and six days. By the end of the week, 34 others had joined her and, within a month, the crowd of dancing, hopping and leaping individuals had swelled to 400.

Authorities prescribed ‘more dancing’ to cure the tormented movers but, by summer’s end, dozens in the Alsatian city had died of heart attacks, strokes and sheer exhaustion due to nonstop dancing. For centuries this bizarre event, known variously as the dancing plague or epidemic of 1518, has stumped scientists attempting to find a cause for the mindless, intense and ultimately deadly dance.

Various explanations have come up and include one that states it was a certain mold that grew on bread, another was that the dancers had faced the wrath of Saint Vitus while historian John Waller, who authored the book ‘A Time to Dance, A Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518′, from which the possible explanations emanate, is of the view that a phenomenon known as ‘mass psychogenic illness’ was the cause. This is some form of mass hysteria usually preceded by intolerable levels of psychological distress (there was a series of famines due to cold winters and scorching summers prior to the occurrence and many people died from malnutrition and disease).
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Hafiz 2013

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RE: From the history!
9/5/2013 2:17:05 PM
The Journey to the bottom of the sea!

Scientists have discovered hidden underwater traces of a city that existed at Alexandria at least seven centuries before Alexander the Great arrived.

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: From the history!
9/5/2013 5:07:35 PM
Quote:
The Journey to the bottom of the sea!

Scientists have discovered hidden underwater traces of a city that existed at Alexandria at least seven centuries before Alexander the Great arrived.


WOW, that is really impressive! An exquisite work of art indeed.

Miguel

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Hafiz 2013

226
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791
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RE: From the history!
9/14/2013 4:19:02 AM
Mono wheel cycle!!


Monowheels are one of those interesting historical curiosities that (sadly) just didn’t catch on. This particular monowheel was built by the Italian M. Goventosa from Udine, in Northeast Italy, just before WWII. It looks like it’s powered by a single cylinder air-cooled engine and it’s drivetrain is unlike anything ever seen, It is not even entirely sure how it works.

There are actually people still building and selling monowheels, if you’ve ever wanted one you can hit the link here and pick up a rather polished red example to use whilst pootling around your country estate.


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