Tag: africa

To Boldly Go…to a Musical

All of the following are about today’s date, 22 March, but in a variety of years.

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk.
Wikipedia
  1. William Shatner was born today in 1931 in the Canadian city of…
    • Montreal, Quebec
    • Toronto, Ontario
    • Vancouver, British Columbia
  2. On this day in 1508, Ferdinand II of Aragon commissioned a new chief navigator of the Spanish Empire. Born in the Republic of Florence, he was…
    • Amerigo Vespucci
    • Vasco da Gama
    • Christopher Columbus.
  3. The Arab League was formed this day in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (now Jordan) and…
    • Tunisia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen
  4. The first Masters Tournament took place at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on this date in…
    • 1934
    • 1938
    • 1941
  5. The 22nd March 1948 saw the birth of the English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is well known for his collaboration with Tim Rice. The first of their works to be performed publicly was…
    • Evita
    • Jesus Christ Superstar
    • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Amerigo Vespucci. Wikipedia

Good luck! The answers will be posted later today.

Historical Milestones and Cultural Icons: From Bach’s Birth to Twitter’s First Tweet—Answers

Field of Battersea.
A print caricaturing the Wellington–Winchilsea duel
by William Heath.
Wikipedia

The answers to my earlier pot are shown in bold below.

  1. 1685—Johann Sebastian Bach, a German composer, blended northern and southern German styles in his early compositions. He composed numerous cantatas, including the St. John Passion, and is known for his mastery of counterpoint and harmonic organisation.
    Jack Dorsey, 2014.
    Wikipedia
  2. $2.9m—Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is a social networking service that allows users to share short text messages, images, and videos. It was created in 2006 and quickly grew to over 100 million users by 2012.
  3. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington—The Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchilsea engaged in a duel at Battersea Fields, with Wellington firing first and missing, and Winchilsea firing into the air. This act of deloping cleared Winchilsea of cowardice allegations, allowing him to apologise unconditionally. The duel was the second, and last, fought by a sitting Prime Minister following the 1798 Pitt–Tierney duel on Putney Heath.
  4. San Diego, California—San Diego Comic-Con, founded in 1970, is a multi-genre entertainment event showcasing comic books, science fiction/fantasy media, and pop culture. It is the largest convention of its kind, attracting over 130,000 attendees annually.
    Stanley, a newspaper reporter and tireless self-promoter, was hired by the New York Herald to find the missing Livingstone in 1871, winning himself wealth and reputation. Kalulu is in the backgound.
    Wikipedia
  5. 700 miles (1,125 km)—Stanley travelled to Zanzibar in March 1871, claiming to have outfitted an expedition with 192 porters, though his diaries suggest a smaller number. After facing challenges including the death of his horse and desertion of porters, he found David Livingstone in Ujiji, Tanzania, famously greeting him with “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”; this phrase was probably made up by Stanley after the event. Stanley joined Livingstone in exploring the region, later recounting his experiences in a book.
Routes of Henry Morton Stanley.
The Red route is the 1871-1872 is the expedition to find Livingstone.
Wikipedia

Historical Milestones and Cultural Icons: From Bach’s Birth to Twitter’s First Tweet

Johann Sebastian Bach
Wikipedia

All questions relate to today, 21 March.

  1. Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer of the Brandenburg Concertos and The Well-Tempered Clavier, was born this day in…
    • 1685
    • 1745
    • 1815
  2. Twitter, now X, was founded today in 2006 and Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder, sent the first public tweet, “just setting up my twttr.” Fifteen years later Dorsey auctioned this tweet as a nonfungible token (NFT) with the proceeds going to charity. It was bought using ether cryptocurrency for the equivalent of…
    • $1.4m
    • $2.9m
    • $5.8m
  3. 21 March saw the last time a serving UK Prime Minister fought a duel. Who was the Prime Minister?
    • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
    • William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
    • William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
  4. A Comic-Con held its inaugural event on this date in 1970 and is now described by Forbes magazine as being “the largest pop and culture festival in the world”: it is held in…
    • Red Rock, Arizona
    • San Diego, California
    • Las Vegas, Nevada
  5. Henry Morton Stanley set out to find Dr David Livingstone today in 1871. His expedition was successful, finding Livingstone after trekking through tropical forest for…
    • 300 miles (482 km)
    • 450 miles (725 km)
    • 700 miles (1,125 km)

“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”, an illustration from Stanley’s 1872 book How I Found Livingstone. Wikipedia

Blessed Be This Noble Land—Answer

Flag of Botswana
[Image from Wikipedia]
  1. Bechuanaland
  2. Rain

The title of this post Blessed Be This Noble Land is the national anthem of Botswana.

Coat of Arms of Botswana.
[Image from Wikipedia]

The motto Pula, which means rain and also blessing, is the name of Botswana’s currency.

On the 21 February 1966 the Earl of Longford, the British Colonial Secretary, announced that Bechuanaland, a British protectorate, would gain independence on 30th September 1966, subsequently being renamed Botswana.

This landlocked country in Southern Africa is bordered by Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip) to the west and north, Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast, and South Africa to the southeast and south. Botswana’s borders feature a minor section along the Zambezi River with Zambia, while its boundary along the Chobe River with Namibia was settled in a 1999 International Court of Justice ruling favoring Botswana. Despite remaining one of the least densely populated nations globally, with over 2.4 million people inhabiting an area similar in size to France, Botswana, named after its dominant Tswana ethnic group, has transitioned from being one of the world’s poorest and least-developed states to a peaceful and increasingly prosperous democratic state. Approximately 70 percent of its flat, topographically consistent territory forms part of the Kalahari Desert.

Blessed Be This Noble Land

Coat of Arms of Botswana.
[Image from Wikipedia]

The British Colonial Secretary, announced on 21 February 1966 that a British protectorate would gain independence later in the year and be renamed Botswana.

  1. What was the name of the British protectorate?
    • Barotseland
    • Bechuanaland
    • Nyasaland
  2. Botswana has a one word motto Pula, what does it mean in English?
    • Lion
    • Rain
    • Self

The answers will be posted later today.