BOC#002
3 MINUTE MUNCH
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BIKINI GETS ITS NAME FROM…
…the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands? It was here that the first public testing of nuclear bombs took place. The association was made due to the supposed ‘explosive’ effect created by the revealing garment in the 1940s.
YOU’D HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN FOR THINKING IT WAS MEDIEVAL, BUT THE FIRST LOBOTOMY…
…was performed by Nobel Prize winning Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz in 1930 as a cure for schizophrenia. Instruments were placed through the eye socket to sever the brain’s frontal lobe. One of history's most notorious lobotomies was carried out in 1941. The patient was none other than 23 year old Rosemary Kennedy, sister of President JFK. Her lobotomist, Walter Jackson Freeman, was so inspired by Moniz’s work, that on one occasion, he lobotomised 225 people during a twelve day tour. While two percent of his patients died, Rosemary Kennedy spent the next sixty-four years in care homes. Unimaginable!
IN LONDON’S HYDE PARK…
…there’s a hidden Victorian pet cemetery tucked away close to the Lancaster Gate entrance. Established by gatekeeper Mr. Winbridge, over 1000 furry friends are buried beneath tiny marble headstones. The owners were mostly local well-to-do ladies who lived in the grand residences surrounding the park.
THE PHRASE TO SET OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT…
…dates back to the Romans who thought left sided things to be superstitious and guided by evil spirits. The latin word for ‘left’ is ‘sinister.’ Gaius Petronius, one of Emperor Nero’s advisors insisted that Romans only entered or exited buildings with their right foot. He even had soldiers placed at the entrances to public buildings to ensure his rule was obeyed.
BOOK PASSAGE FROM A GAME OF THRONES BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS…
…is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles. - Jeff Keller
IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE…
…You must be content to be thought foolish and stupid. - Epictetus.
“THE WORLD IS FULL OF PEOPLE…
…whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to an idealised past” - William Robertson Davies, A Voice from the Attic, 1960
WORD OF THE WEEK:
Oligopoly - In economics, a Monopoly occurs when a single company dominates a market for a product or service with no competition. An oligopoly occurs when two or more companies share a market with neither dominating the other.
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