The game of Tetris

To understand Tetris, you have to dive into the game itself. It’s simple, yet complex. The player doesn’t have to fight too many graphics. There are no characters or structured plots. The game of Tetris is all about rotating falling pieces of “puzzle” to create a solid. Once you do this, the pieces disappear. As you go through each phase of the game, the pieces start falling faster. It’s tough to beat the speed and build your perfect puzzle before the tower of pieces hits the top. Then, you start all over again.

The inventor

Russian computer engineer Alexey Pajitnov was 29 when he invented Tetris. While working as a coder for the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Pajitnov was creating his game on the side. For the name, he joined his favorite sport of tennis with the word “tetromino.” He created Tetris for fun. He was surprised when it became a hit. The way it became a hit was even more of a surprise.

Illegal activity

During the 1980s, it was illegal to do private business in the Soviet Union. Pajitnov worked with his colleagues to port it into a PC format. They shared the game with friends. Tetris was smuggled into Hungary next. It began to move across Europe. Finally, Robert Maxwell’s company, Mirrorsoft got ahold of it. They decided to put out the first commercial versions of Tetris.

Time to license

Tetris was developed at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. This meant the game belonged to the Soviets instead of Pajitnov. The people that bought or even owned rights to Tetris could possibly lose them unless they challenged the Soviets. Henk Rogers, a Dutch computer programmer, changed all of this. He brokered a big deal with the Soviet company, Elorg. This deal changed Tetris to a handheld version. Rogers took this version to Nintendo to work with the Game Boy. Robert Maxwell and Andromeda’s Robert Stein were fighting to secure the rights at the same time. It was no good. Rogers held the rights in his hands.

The release

The release of Tetris gets a little tricky. It was licensed for other consoles besides the Game Boy. A Tetris game developed for the Nintendo by Atari was also in the works. Remember, the rights were hard to come by, and Atari didn’t have the rights to make the game. There were approximately 100,000 copies of these games in existence. There was also the Sega Mega Drive version. It was developed, but couldn’t get the licensing. These are still floating around, but a very rare find.

A big hit

Tetris made its way around the world, even with all of the obstacles. Besides the video game world, it also hit the music scene with its recognizable sounds. The music was created by Hirokazu Tanaka. This music was so popular that theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber released a mixed version of the theme song.

Next time you sit down to play a game of Tetris, think back on these crazy facts. It was a game that was smuggled out of the country to make a huge hit across the globe. A game of little puzzle pieces smuggled its way into our video game-loving hearts.

The world has progressed quite significantly from the very first mobile device.

All it takes to capture a picture on today’s smartphones is a swipe or tap rather than a button, and we can live stream footage from any location. It’s easy to forget that these conveniences emerged within the past few decades due to technological advances, but we do just that.

For this reason, we figured it would be instructive to travel back in time and investigate the origins of the first cell phone and other significant developments that led to our current state of affairs.

What was the First mobile phone in history ever made?

The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x is the world’s first commercially available mobile phone. It was released to stores in the United States in 1983.

The invention of the first cell phone

The traditional birthdate of the first mobile phone is 3rd April 1973. On this day in history, the very first documented cell phone call occurred.

Even yet, it is interesting to note that the first attempts at building a mobile phone date back to the 1940s. These earlier models were more akin to a 2-way radio than modern cell phones.

The Genius Behind the First Cell Phone

Motorola, led by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper, created the first cell phone. In spite of competition from Dr. Joel Engel and the team at AT&T, Motorola was the first company to market the first device after successfully implementing their idea.

The First Mobile Phone Call

As mentioned above, we see that the first mobile phone call happened on 3rd April 1973. Using the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, Martin Cooper called AT&T’s Dr. Joel Engel, marking the first-ever mobile phone call.

As Cooper puts it, he told Joel, “I’m calling you from a real cellular telephone. “A hand-held mobile phone,” It seems like there was dead air on the other end of the line when he tried to make contact. Perhaps there were some kinks to iron out, or Dr. Engel was simply at a loss for words.

The Cost of the First-Ever Cell Phone Call

The original cell phone, released in 1983, saved consumers $3,995. That is about $10,000 in terms of today’s currency.

The Weight of the First Cell Phone

The weight of the first cell phone was extremely high compared to the standards of the present devices. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was around 23cm (9 inches) and weighed approximately 1.1kg (2.5 pounds). Its battery life was roughly 30 minutes during calls and 6 hours in standby mode.

Tracing the Origins of the Smartphone Today

Let’s trace the path from the DynaTac 8000x to today’s smartphone. Read on to understand how the smartphone we use today came to being.

The First Mobile Phone with a Camera

The Samsung SCH-V2000 was the first mobile phone to incorporate a camera. The phone had a 20-photo capacity but no transfer options. Instead, it required a network connection to a computer before it could view the images.

Many people consider the Sharp J-SH04 the first camera phone because although it was not the first one, it was the first with photo-sharing capabilities.

Both phones first appeared on store shelves in 2000 in Asia. We can indeed say that these phones have an advanced state of the art in mobile communication by one significant step.

The First Smartphone Ever Made

IBM released the Simon Personal Communicator (SPC) in 1994, widely regarded as the first smartphone. The hefty gadget included a touchscreen, email, and other preinstalled features like a calculator.

The First Flip Mobile Phone

In 1996, Motorola introduced the StarTAC, the first flip-style mobile phone.

However, the NEC TZ-804 can rightfully claim to be the first flip phone. The gadget, which was first introduced in 1991, seems to have been forgotten by history.

The First Internet Access Cell Phone

First introduced in 1996, the Nokia 9000 was the world’s first mobile phone to provide Internet connectivity. WAP technology was once synonymous with something very different from what it means now.

This phone, also called the “Communicator,” was designed to fold up like a laptop computer and equipped with a complete Keypad.

A tense confrontation occurred in the Baltic Sea near the Aland Islands on May 19, 1917. During the final quarter of the world’s first global war, a German submarine stopped a neutral Swedish merchant ship heading towards a Russian port. The German captain believed the S.S. Kyros carried supplies intended to aid Czar Nicholas II’s military efforts.

He permitted the crew of the freighter to evacuate into lifeboats before sinking the ill-fated vessel to the bottom of the icy sea. Its cargo, including 900 bottles of premium cognac and fine Benedictine brand liqueurs, chilled on the ocean floor some 253 feet below sea level. Fishermen trawled around the site for decades, oblivious to the wreckage below. Then, in 1999, a salvage team finally discovered the shipwreck.

A Stunning Discovery

Ocean X launched an ambitious effort to retrieve the cargo of the S.S. Kyros. They hoped to recover at least some intact bottles. The team previously found and salvaged a different ship transporting some 3,000 bottles of rare champagne across the Baltic. They successfully recovered and auctioned 2,000 bottles; the find eventually commanded prices ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per bottle.

The salvage team obtained a pleasant surprise when they explored the remains of the S.S. Kyros. They recovered a veritable trove of rare (and often still securely sealed) alcoholic beverages. The contents included 50 cases of De Haartman & Co. cognac, a brand no longer in production. Additionally, the Swedish ship had carried 15 cases of Benedictine liqueur, a label owned by Bacardi. Now vintage and valuable as collector’s items, many of the sealed bottles reportedly appear intact. The salvage company ordered testing to confirm the condition of the contents.

Employing High Tech Salvage Tools

Divers have historically faced challenges performing salvage operations in the frigid, dark waters of the Baltic Sea. Poor visibility hampers recovery operations in many locations there. Reportedly, Space X relied in part upon underwater drones to help find and salvage the shipwreck site.

The use of remotely operated vehicles offered assistance in finding and collecting the scattered bottles from the depths of the ocean floor. Drones operate dependably in environmental conditions which imperil human safety. The retrieval of the WWI Era cargo holds the potential to yield interesting historical information. The salvage efforts demonstrate the utility of underwater drones as tools for conducting some types of challenging maritime archaeological research.

Today let’s start simple and discuss the tradition of eating ham as a meal at Easter. At first glance, the tradition doesn’t make a lot of sense. Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A man that is the God of the Christian religion and who was a Jew himself. Eating meat that Jews don’t eat to celebrate the death and resurrection of a Jew seems strange. Some say that it is because Christians eat ham and Jews don’t that we eat ham but that is just a convenient explanation. The truth is far simpler. 

Today we don’t really think of meats as having a season. Modern refrigeration techniques and global supply chains mean we can have whatever meat we want fresh or frozen and available whenever we like. However, in the old days, this was not possible. An animal’s season would depend on its growth cycle and how large the animal was. For pigs and cows, the best time to slaughter them was in autumn. 

These animals were killed in autumn because they were big animals and it took a lot of time to butcher them. The cold weather coming in would preserve the meat for longer before they had time to properly preserve it by curing the meat. Then the meat would be cured and stored over the winter. Autumn was also a great time to butcher the pig as their diet at this time made them particularly tasty. 

Before autumn pigs eat things like apples and acorns which are a perfect natural seasoning for pork and ham. Ham would then be stored over the winter. Because it was able to last a long time when cured it meant that other meats were already eaten. Often ham was the only meat left around Easter time. Therefore when a celebration came around, like Easter, it made sense to celebrate with a large ham feast.

In Europe around Easter, lamb is more common again because of the seasons. Lamb is fitting for Easter as Jesus was often called the ‘Lamb of God’. Yet it is far more likely that as young lambs were being killed about 2 months before the holiday and would be ready just in time for the Easter festivities that this was the reason they were the meal of choice. 

Many celebrations that we know today can be linked to what was available at the time. For example, we also eat chocolate eggs during Easter and this is because eggs were at peak production time during the spring. In other cultures, eggs were eaten at the same time of year and celebrated even if they didn’t believe in Easter. In Iran, for example, their new year is around the same time as Easter and they celebrate by decorating eggs. The Easter bunny also makes a lot of sense as German pagans celebrated the spring equinox is a time of fertility. Because rabbits are known as a particularly fertile animal, they were chosen.

Whatever the celebration it is appears that the ritual is based on some clever reason, often to do with originally pagan rituals. After all, even Halloween is based on an old Irish pagan holiday. These celebrations have remained but evolved over many hundreds of years and show how theories and beliefs evolve over time.

One of the most vital discoveries by Native Americans include the understanding of growing corn as a crop, which started as early as 10,000 years ago and was taught to colonial settlers from Europe when they settled their ship at sea. Indigenous farmers have selectively bred corn so that its ears would be more palatable and digestible for humans until it has become the modern crop eaten globally. Other methods Native Americans discovered and are still being used throughout the world including the creation of raised garden plots, or “chinampas,” which entailed techniques to enrich the soil and pile it atop one another which preceded modern raised-bed agriculture.

Centuries before the West developed synthetic and chemical solutions for the ills of man, Native Americans also contributed their part in the medicinal field, having created their own syringes fashioned from the skeletons of small woodland animals or birds, and helped pioneer the usage of pain relievers made from plants and roots in nature in the Western world. By grinding down select flora and specimens such as jimsonweed, injecting; applying to the site of pain or ingesting the concoction (either raw or brewed in teas), some of the effects were produced by similar chemicals used in modern-day aspirin and had the function of mild anesthetics. Several tribes have even used natural contraceptives through ingesting stoneseed from the Columbia Puccoon plant, or used the wildflower goldthread as a treatment for oral pain, in addition to a form of mouthwash.

In the commercial and industrial avenue, Native Americans invented many things which were only commercialized by Europeans who had the business sense and manufacturing wherewithal to do so. Among these include the pervasive usage of rubber, perfected by American engineer and self-taught chemist Charles Goodyear after making the sap from the Indian rubber plant heat and cold-resistant. The explorer Christopher Columbus, upon discovering hammocks, which were beds made from cotton netting and suspended between two vertical objects such as trees or poles, introduced the invention aboard his own ships and later on thousands of other European naval ships.

Designs and concepts from the kayak shape for canoes, suspension bridges to snow goggles created by the Inuit tribe from Northern Canadia and Alaska have been copied and refined with modern engineering and materials for usage all over the globe. With so many technological marvels, it may be understandable as to how early European settlers drew imaginary connections with the Native American tribes to mythical Phoenician or Israelite ancestors (source: https://www.history.com/news/native-american-inventions).

While 1,500 shipwrecks sound like far too many for one lake, it makes a little more sense when you understand just how large the lake is. The largest lake in the world is Lake Superior measuring in at 82,000 km squared. Technically the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest lake as it is a completely landlocked body of water surrounded by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Azerbaijan. It measures 371,000 km squared and so is bigger than Germany by area.

Lake Michigan is in the top six largest lakes in the world and measures at 58,000 km squared. This means that it is larger than Croatia. When you consider that these lakes are larger than many countries it starts to make sense that a number of ships were wrecked there. 

While you would not expect choppy conditions in a lake, the body of water was so large that if there were storms, ships could get wrecked quite easily. Lake Michigan was used a lot during the late 19th and early 20th century as a shipping route for timber. There is one particular spot in the lower peninsula that has a large cluster of shipwrecks as sailors believed it was a sheltered route thanks to a cluster of islands, the Manitou Islands, during storms. 

Recently the US Coast Guard went on a patrol of the area and photographed a number of the shipwrecks. While some can be seen year-round the Coast Guard said it was the perfect condition to see all the shipwrecks. This is because every year Lake Michigan freezes over in many places. When spring comes the ice melts leaving cold clean water behind. As the warmer weather comes in it creates algae which make the water cloudier. This means that for a limited time there is a rare opportunity to see some fascinating wrecks in Lake Michigan.

In some places, the water is not even that deep so the shipwrecks are quite close to the surface of the water. The Coast Guard took photos of five large shipwrecks. One of the wrecks was a 121-foot boat called the James McBride. It was buried with a shipment of wood during a particularly violent storm. The wreckage is about ten feet underwater so it could be easily reached by swimmers if they went far enough out in the lake. The ship sank in 1857 so it would be one amazing wreckage to swim around. 

Another shipwreck that was pictured was the 133-foot boat called The Rising Sun. It was a passenger boat that crashed during a snowstorm in 1917. Records state that the ship was mainly taking farmers south to sell their goods. The boat is buried about eight feet underwater so the passengers were able to easily make it to land and safety. In fact, when the rescue boat returned hours later there was still one man asleep in his room. The ship had sunk without him even realizing, now that is a deep sleeper. He was lucky that the ship sunk in only eight feet of water or he would have been a very different kind of ‘deep’ sleeper.

While you may be tempted to swim in the waters and explore the wreckages we would recommend waiting for warmer weather. During the spring the temperature can still be around -1 degrees celsius so it would not be a pleasant swim.

Dish Soap

Dish soap is among the tried and true methods when you don’t have a plunger. Pour a half cup of dish soap or chunks of melted bar soap the toilet and let it stand several minutes. If the toilet is still clogged, pour hot water, but not boiling, into a bucket or other container, and pour it into the toilet. Attempt to flush the toilet, and repeat the procedure if needed.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

Try this method when the bowl is half full, or adjust the water level. Slowly pour two cups of vinegar followed by a cup of baking soda into the toilet, let it stand for about an hour, and try flushing. It should produce a fizzing action to break the clog. Add a gallon of hot water if the water level is low.

Snake or Wire Method

Unbend an old coat hanger until it from the hook until it is straight, and wrap a cloth around the hook end to avoid scratching the toilet. Keep feeding the hook it into the toilet until you feel a blockage and try to dislodge it. If it doesn’t work, the clog may be too far away for it to reach, so try a snake. A snake is a wire device sold at most home improvement stores that you insert down into the toilet by unwinding the handle until you hit the clog, and then you unwind it.

Create Pressure

Only try this step when everything else fails and wear rubber gloves because it may get messy. Remove water as much water as you can from the toilet bowl with an old plastic container. Fill a plastic bottle with warm water, and hold your thumb over the opening. Set the bottle into the outlet opening located on the bottom of the toilet. Remove your thumb, gently squeeze the bottle to exert pressure into the pipe to possibly dislodge the blockage. You may need to repeat the method.

Sometimes, the clog is too stubborn for DIY methods to work. In this case, you will likely need a plumber to fix it.

Though it seems like the historical development of weapons is only meant to get bigger and more ambitious, there are many ways in which weapons develop alongside the cultural fears and expectations of a particular society. In other words, the concept of what is intimidating depends on the society that it is being used against. For example, the Trojan horse may not be considered a terrifying weapon in contemporary society, but it represented a lot more when it was first introduced in ancient Greece.

Did you know that there are even some weapons whose powers are still underestimated by society? In fact, there are some weapons that are still mysteries to us! The “Greek Fire” is one of those weapons, being one of the most destructive forces to wreak havoc in ancient Greece. However, a majority of people still don’t know just what this weapon was and what it represented.

To help you understand more about the history of Greek Fire, we’ll be taking a brief look into this history and impact of this antiquated weapon:

The Origin of Greek Fire

Nobody knows about the exact origin of this weapon, but many people think that it was originally sourced from oil that was found in Crimea. There aren’t exact instructions on how this weapon worked, but historians have gathered that the oil would be heated up significantly and then was put into a long tube, subsequently spitting it out like flames.

If you think this sounds like a flamethrower, you’re not wrong—Greek Fire definitely feels reminiscent of that piece of modern technology. However, you must remember that the ancient Greeks were centuries away from the invention of flamethrowers, making the invention of Greek Fire an even more impressive technological feat.

Though the exact inventor of Greek Fire is often contested, many people believe that it was created by Kallinikos, a man who made a name for himself in Constantinople. Though he originally was from Heliopolis (what would now be referred to as Lebanon), he decided to travel to Constantinople between 674 AD as the Byzantine Empire was still suffering from war-related injuries.

It was in Constantinople that Kallinikos would invent Greek Fire, eventually showing others how this unique weapon could be used to completely destroy other empires in war. One of the most notable examples of Greek Fire being referred to is from 941 AD when the weapon was used against Russians during an invasion. Apparently the effects of the weapon were so terrifying that many people were committing suicide as a way of escaping the painful effects of Greek Fire.

Of course, most of us also know that there is a downside to being connected constantly to the outside world. According to studies, being immersed in the digital world can become a major source of stress if we aren’t careful. It’s not only our smartphones that can cause issues with extended use, either. Video games, while great for hand-eye coordination, can also cause issues by suppressing the frontal lobe of our brains. This can hinder our attention, memory, and even problem-solving skills.

While it’s not a bad thing to relax with a video game or stroll through the apps on our phone to stay connected, it’s very important to find the right balance. No one should be so addicted to their video games or smartphones that they lose sight of the real world. Luckily, there are some easy ways that you can take back control of your digital use. Read on to learn more.

Figure out just how much time you spend a day on technology, including your smartphone, television, and video games. Some newer phone models have a setting that will even show you a breakdown of the time you spend on various apps. On average, Americans spend about six hours per day on entertainment. Once you have this figure, decide where you can reduce your time spent on digital activities. A reduction of 10 to 20 percent is a good start.

Do your best to prioritize family dinners again. Yes, we know it can be hard to get everyone together in one room every day. But try to have your dinner together at the table as much as possible, not in front of the television where you may be used to sitting. Ask everyone to set their phones down for the duration of the meal. Talk together as a family. This is especially important for families with children. Studies have shown that teenagers who engage with their parents and siblings at meals are at a lower risk of engaging in high-risk behaviors.

Change up the way you do your chores and tasks. Changing up the way you respond to tasks throughout your day can reduce the stress that comes when your lifestyle is centered around technology. Return a phone call and then knock some writing off of your list. Take five minutes to return a couple of texts before reading that report. You’ll feel less stressed if you can break things up when you have to be on your phone or computer.

The inventor of these compounds, Thomas Midgley, Jr., born in 1889, hailed from Pennsylvania where he practiced as a chemist and inventor. Midgley received many scientific awards throughout his life, but modern research of his work reveals that his work with leaded gasoline and CFC has damaged the planet in extreme ways, poisoning the planet and human beings as well. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering, Midgley joined Delco research laboratory, an extension of General Motors, under the supervision of Charles Kettering to develop new technology for automobiles.

The main issue addressed by Kettering and Midgley was the problem of engine knock. Midgley discovered engine knock was mitigated by the use of tetraethyl lead as an additive to the fuel. In addition, he realized TEL enhanced the speed and overall performance of an automobile. TEL went on the market in 1923 with the influence and guidance of the oil and automobile industries. Consequently, Midgley became vice president and was on the board of directors of a new company named Ethyl, a GM and Standard Oil subsidiary.

Midgley and Ethyl’s representatives never mentioned the word “lead” when communicating about TEL. Midgley himself became a victim of lead poisoning when he washed his hands in TEL to prove it was not poisonous as he had always claimed. Additionally, in October of 1924, 5 plant workers died and 35 others reported sickness due to exposure to lead while producing TEL. Midgley and the rest of the upper echelon of Ethyl blamed the workers by suggesting they did not follow proper safety precautions.

After the accident at the plant, TEL took on a scandalous reputation and was banned in several states. Later, due to immense corporate pressure, the federal Bureau of Mines released a report much in favor of the use of TEL and disputing its negative reputation. Coupled with an effective marketing campaign, lead gasoline became the standard for automobiles. The decades after the use of leaded gasoline began, people reported birth defects and other physical abnormalities.

An additional harmful invention of Midgley’s were chlorofluorocarbons which were used in refrigerators to reduce flammability. CFCs were discovered to damage the ozone layer and create greenhouse gas which reduce our protection from ultraviolet radiation. Although CFCs eliminated exploding refrigerators, this chemist’s work can be viewed with a critical eye due to the unintentional damages his inventions caused, his hubris and indifferent attitude towards safety.