Tag: geography

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How: 26 February

The following Who, What, When, Where, Why and How all relate to this date: 26 February.

Who

A singer-songwriter born this day in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas, US. recorded songs such as Hey, Porter; Cry, Cry, Cry and I Walk the Line and in the 1950s became the top country and western recording artist. He later became a champion for social justice and penal reform.

  • Who is being described?
    • Johnny Cash
    • Jim Reeves
    • Hank Williams

What

From Here to Eternity by James Jones was published today in 1951 and later was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name.

  • What was the novel mainly about?
    • Roald Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition
    • Roman Catholic Church’s Papal Conclave
    • US Army in Hawaii

When

Grand Canyon
[Image from Wikipedia]

On 26 February the Grand Canyon National Park was established by the US Congress.

  • When was this?
    • 1899
    • 1909
    • 1919 

Where

Napoleon
[Image from Wikipedia]

Napoleon escaped exile from an island on this day in 1815 and made his way to Paris where, on his arrival on 20 March, a period now known as the Hundred Days began.

  • Where was the island situated?
    • South Atlantic Ocean 
    • English Channel
    • Mediterranean Sea

Why

The Berlin West Africa Conference concluded on the 26 February 1885.

  • Why had it been convened some 3 months previously?
    • German Empire sought all territory between the Niger and Zambezi Rivers
    • Portugal wished to control the Congo Basin
    • Great Britain desired sole control of West Africa south of the Sahara

How

Victor Hugo, born today in 1802, is, according to Encyclopædia Britannica, renowned in France as one of the country’s greatest poets but that is not the case abroad.

  • How is he widely thought of elsewhere?
    • As a musician
    • As a novelist
    • As a painter

The answers will be posted later today. 

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.

Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Seas—Answer

Q1. A.60 days and 21 hours
Q2. B. USS Triton
Q3. A. Captain Edward L. Beach Jr.
Q4. B. Jules Verne

Map of the 1960 circumnavigation of the world by the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586).
[Image from Wikipedia]

Operation Sandblast, as this first-ever submerged circumnavigation of the globe was named, was accomplished by the United States Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine, USS Triton (SSRN-586), in 1960.

Captain Edward L Beach announcing Operation Sandblast to crew onboard USS Triton, 17 February 1960. [Image from Wikipedia]

First Submerged Circumnavigation

Led by Captain Edward L. Beach Jr., the Triton departed New London, Connecticut on 16 February 1960 to head to the start /finish line for the journey—the St. Peter and Paul Rocks in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, near the Equator.

Details of the Voyage

  • Dates: February 24 to April 25, 1960
  • Duration: 60 days and 21 hours
  • Distance travelled: 26,723 nautical miles* (49,491 km; 30,752 miles)
  • Average speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)

The Triton crossed the equator four times and notably, Triton’s overall navigational track during Operation Sandblast was similar to that of the historic Spanish expedition that successfully completed the first circumnavigation of the world.

Historic First Circumnavigation

In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan started an epic journey that took his expedition all the way around the world; Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano finished it in 1522. Of the 270 men and five ships that set sail, only about 40 men and one ship made it back. Magellan died in battle in the Philippines in April 1521.

Nao Victoria, the only ship in the fleet to complete the circumnavigation. Detail from a map by Abraham Ortelius, 1590.
[Image from Wikipedia]

*Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

The title is a poetic licence as the actual distance travelled converts to 10,251 leagues. This conversion from 26,723 nautical miles to leagues was carried out at metric-conversions.org.

Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

USS ___ (SSRN-586) heading out for the beginning of the circumnavigation
16 February 1960.
[Image from Wikipedia]

On 16 February 1960 a United States nuclear-powered submarine departed New London, Connecticut to circumnavigate the world whilst submerged. The submarine would follow the route of the first circumnavigation of the world, started under the command of Ferdinand Magellan and completed by Juan Sebastián Elcanofrom between 1519 and 1522.


Q1. How long did this submerged circumnavigation take?
A. 60 days and 21 hours
B. 87 days and 9 hours
C. 115 days and 17 hours

Q2. What submarine carried out this voyage?
A. USS Thresher
B. USS Triton
C. USS Tullibee

Q3. The commanding officer of this submarine also wrote several books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Run Silent, Run Deep: who was he?
A. Captain Edward L. Beach Jr.
B. Captain William D. Sand
C. Captain Thomas J. Shore II

Q4. The title of this piece is a take on the title of the 19th century novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Who wrote that novel?
A. Victor Hugo
B. Jules Verne
C. H.G. Wells

The answers will be posted later today.

Capital Cathedral—Answer

Helsinki

The cathedral is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the centre of Helsinki, Finland and was also known as St Nicholas’s Church until Finnish independence in 1917.

Martin Luther
[Image from Wikipedia]

A notable neoclassical landmark in Helsinki, the building features a tall, green dome encircled by four smaller ones. Designed by Carl Ludvig Engel as the centrepiece of his Senate Square layout, it is surrounded by other smaller structures he created. The church’s design is a Greek cross, symmetrical in all directions, with each arm adorned with a colonnade and pediment. Engel’s plan included an additional row of columns at the western end for the main entrance, but this was never realised.

Altar, with Carl Timoleon von Neff’s painting The Descent of Jesus from the Cross donated by Nicholas I
[Image from Wikipedia]

Pointed Mountains—Answer

Norway

The Svalbard Treaty, signed in 1920, recognizes Norway’s sovereignty over the archipelago while granting equal commercial rights to signatories.  The treaty restricts military use and establishes a visa-free zone, with 48 parties to the treaty as of 2024.

A polar bear warning sign on Svalbard
[Image fromWikipedia]

Svalbard is located in the Arctic Ocean, north of mainland Europe. The largest island, Spitsbergen, is home to the largest settlement, Longyearbyen. Spitsbergen, the original name of the archipelago, comes from Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz, who described the pointed mountains (Dutch, spitse bergen) he saw on the west coast of the main island in 1596.