Somewhat Smart: 2012

Sunday, August 12, 2012

1936 Olympics - Baseball Demo Game

1936 Olympics - BR Bullpen: Baseball was a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany and featured a single game.

The single exhibition game was played on August 12, 1936 prior to the track and field competions between two American teams. The single nation arrangement had been made after the original matchup between Japan the United States was scrapped after the Japanese team withdrew. The two teams were named the "World Champions" and the "U. S. Olympics". The World Champions won, 6-5 in front of 90,000 spectators in Berlin's Olympic Stadium. The exhibtion was organised by Les Mann, who had pushed strongly for inclusion of baseball as an Olympic sport. He also served as the game's umpire.

Source: Baseball-reference.com

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

3D printed 'Magic Arms' give a little girl use of her limbs -- Engadget

Technology is awesome. (via Engadget)

Don't get us wrong, we adore 3D printers and the whole additive manufacturing movement. But, if all you're going to get out of the ABS-jets are some companion cubes and a raptor claw, well then, we don't think there's much hope for the technology. Thankfully there are people out there (much better people than us, we might add), who have turned to 3D printers to actually improve peoples lives. Take, for example, the tale of two-year-old Emma, born with the congenital disorder arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). The disease causes a person's joints to become locked in a single position, in Emma's case, it was her arms. There are prosthetics that can help, but most are made of metal -- including the anchor vest -- which would make them too heavy for a 25-pound girl.
Instead of going off the shelf, doctors turned to a 3D printer from Stratasys to create custom molded parts and a lightweight vest for Emma. The result: the two-year-old who once could not lift her arms is now able to play, color and feed herself

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/08/3d-printed-magic-arms-give-a-little-girl-use-of-her-limbs/

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

The Purple Heart

From the history of the Purple Heart:

The award known as the Purple Heart has a history that reaches back to the waning days of the American Revolution. The Continental Congress had forbidden General George Washington from granting commissions and promotions in rank to recognize merit. Yet Washington wanted to honor merit, particularly among the enlisted soldiers. On August 7, 1782, his general orders established the Badge of Military Merit:

"... The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit directs whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings, over his left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding."

This award was open only to enlisted men and granted them the distinction of being permitted to pass all guards and sentinels as could commissioned-officers. The names of the recipients were to have been kept in a "Book of Merit" (which has never been recovered). At the present time there are three known recipients of the Badge of Military Merit: Sergeant Elijah Churchill, 2nd Continental Dragoons; Sergeant William Brown, 5th and Sergeant Daniel Bissel, 2nd Connecticut Continental Line Infantry.
Washington stated that the award was to be a permanent one, but once the Revolution ended, the Badge of Merit was all but forgotten until the 20th century.

General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing suggested a need for an award for merit in 1918, but it was not until 1932 that the Purple Heart was created in recognition of Washington's ideals and for the bicentennial of his birth. General Order No.3 announced the establishment of the award:

"...By order of the President of the United States, the Purple Heart, established by General George Washington at Newburgh, August 7, 1782, during the War of the Revolution is hereby revived out of respect to his memory and military achievements.

By order of the Secretary of War:
Douglas MacArthur
General, Chief of Staff

On May 28, 1932, 138 World War I veterans were conferred their Purple Hearts at Temple Hill, in New Windsor, NY. Temple Hill was the site of the New Windsor Cantonment, which was the final encampment of the Continental Army in the winter of 1782-1783. Today, the National Purple Heart continues the tradition begun here in 1932, of honoring veterans who have earned the Purple Heart.

The Purple Heart has undergone many changes with respect to the criteria for being awarded. At first, the Purple Heart was exclusively awarded to Army and Army Air Corps personnel and could not be awarded posthumously to the next of kin. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order allowing the Navy to award the Purple Heart to Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard personnel. Also in that year, the Purple Heart was made available for posthumous award to any member of the military killed on or after December 7, 1941.
Originally the Purple Heart was awarded for meritorious service. Being wounded was one portion of consideration for merit. With the creation of the Legion of Merit in 1942, the award of the Purple Heart for meritorious service became unnecessary and was therefore discontinued. The Purple Heart, per regulation is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after April 5, 1917 has been wounded, killed, or has died after being wounded.

Source: http://www.thepurpleheart.com/history/

Monday, August 06, 2012

August 6 1969: Sonic boom shatters hundreds of windows in Kelowna, B. C.

On August 6th 1969 a sonic boom from a U. S. Navy Blue Angel jet blew out hundreds of windows in downtown Kelowna, British Columbia..

After an investigation the U.S. Navy paid for the broken glass. The damage was estimated at $250,000 CDN -- worth about $1.3 million in 2004 dollars.

Watch a CBC report on the incident here.

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror

What does it take to land the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars? A heat shield, a parachute, rocket engines and the skycrane maneuver.

Planned touchdown is for August 6, at 1:31 a.m. ET Monday morning (10:31 p.m. PT August 5, Sunday night).

Marilyn Monroe Movies: 5 Great Performances

AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire's 5 great movie performances by Marilyn Monroe:

_ "Some Like It Hot" (1959): It's the best film she was ever in – the Billy Wilder classic is listed as the greatest comedy ever by the American Film Institute – but also, the role of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk is just so quintessentially "her."
_ "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953): Describing her performance as gold-digging Lorelei Lee as iconic would not be hyperbole. Her rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" remains so enduring
_ "The Seven Year Itch" (1955): Here's Monroe again at the center of one of film's most famous images: standing over a New York City subway grate, letting the wind from a passing train send her ivory, pleated halter dress billowing all around her. But the whole performance is a great example of her screen presence in a nutshell: naive, sweet, beguiling and irresistible.
_ "Bus Stop" (1956): A rare opportunity for Monroe to show some dramatic ability. But really, everything she can do is on display here: Joshua Logan's film, based on the William Inge play, offers the full range of Monroe's abilities.
_ "The Misfits" (1961): A poignant pop culture time capsule: This is not just Monroe's final film but Clark Gable's, too. Co-star Montgomery Clift would be dead a few years later. Monroe's then-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, wrote the script for her to give her a meatier role.

Full text at:Huffington Post
Marilyn Monroe died 50 years ago on August 5th.
Except for The Misfits all movies listed are available from Netflix.