T Hannah Whitall Smith |
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![]() Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Letters, 1952
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![]() The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice we give to others. Anonymous |
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![]() One of the advantages of being a captain is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it. William Shatner as Kirk, in "Dagger of the Mind" |
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Never give advice... A wise man won't need it A fool won't heed it. Unknown |
cu·bi·cle
noun 1. A
small compartment, as for work or study. 2. A small sleeping compartment, especially within a dormitory.
[Middle English, from Latin cubiculum, bed chamber, from cub³re³re, to lie down.]!
Definitions from American Heritage Dictionary
Over the next several days the facts here on the DM will be about
Serendipitous Discoveries.
This is the first fact on this subject.
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SERENDIPITY 8 It
is well known that nitroglycerin is very explosive. Nitroglycerin was used throughout the
world for mining and tunneling. The liquid explosive saved enormous time and money in the
building of the Central Pacific railroad and similar projects. It is also well know that
it is rather unpredictable and sometimes quite touchy. The unstable nitroglycerin will
sometimes explode with the slightest tickle and at other times it seems not able to
explode no matter how roughly it is handled. Nobel was already a known inventor. At age 30 he had patented his first major invention; a blasting cap to set off the nitroglycerin explosive. He set about to make nitroglycerin safe. He patented a method for adding it to methyl alcohol. This proved to be impractical. He next tried to use various powdered or fibrous materials to tame the liquid. He tried sawdust, brick dust, charcoal and others, all of which were unsatisfactory. Stories say that it was an accident that led him to the discovery of how to tame the explosive. The story says that a metal container of nitroglycerin sprung a leak and the liquid soaked into the packing between the cans. The packing material was kieselguhr, a light, cheap, porous material found in Germany. This story is probably not true. Records show that Nobel arrived at the use of kieselguhr as the ideal absorbent by means of careful scientific experimentation. |
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Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica | The New Shell Book of Firsts
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"Sources: | On This Day | Britannica |" |
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"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." Joseph Addison |
TRUE FACT ... Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day. SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University
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Have A Great Day Phillip Bower |
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