The History of the Tea Bag

Tea Infusers and origins of the Tea Bag The arrival of tea in Britain in the seventeenth century altered the drinking habits of this nation forever. The late eighteenth century saw black tea overtake green tea in popularity for the first time, which also accelerated the addition of milk. In the nineteenth century widespread cultivation of tea in India began, leading to the imports of Indian tea into Britain overtaking the imports of Chinese tea. And in the twentieth century there was a further development that would radically change our tea-drinking habits - the invention of the tea bag. popular infusers included tea eggs and tea balls The purpose of the tea bag is rooted in the belief that for tea to taste its best, the leaves ought to removed from the hot water at the end of a specific brewing period. Then there is the added benefit of convenience - a removable device means that tea can be made as easily in a mug as in a pot, without the need for a tea strainer, and that tea pots can be kept clean more easily. But the earliest examples of removable infusing devices for holding tea were not bags. Popular infusers included tea eggs and tea balls - perforated metal containers which were filled with loose leaves and immersed in boiling water, and then removed using an attached chain. Thomas Sullivan and an accidental American invention Needless to say, it was in America, with its love of labour-saving devices, that tea bags were first developed. In around 1908, Thomas Sullivan, a New York tea merchant, started to send samples of tea to his customers in small silken bags. Some assumed that these were supposed to be used in the same way as the metal infusers, by putting the entire bag into the pot, rather than emptying out the contents. It was thus by accident that the tea bag was born! Responding to the comments from his customers that the mesh on the silk was too fine, Sullivan developed sachets made of gauze - the first purpose-made tea bags. During the 1920s these were developed for commercial production, and the bags grew in popularity in the USA. Made first of all from gauze and later from paper, they came in two sizes, a larger bag for the pot, a smaller one for the cup. The features that we still recognise today were already in place - a string that hung over the side so the bag could be removed easily, with a decorated tag on the end. Use of Tea Bags in the UK While the American population took to tea bags with enthusiasm, the British were naturally wary of such a radical change in their tea-making methods. This was not helped by horror stories told by Britons who had visited the USA, who reported being served cups of tepid water with a tea bag on the side waiting to be dunked into it (an experience which is still not as uncommon in the USA as it should be!). Teabag and loose leaf teaThe material shortages of World War Two also stalled the mass adoption of tea bags in Britain, and it was not until the 1950s that they really took off. The 1950s were a time when all manner of household gadgets were being promoted as eliminating tedious household chores, and in keeping with this tea bags gained popularity on the grounds that they removed the need to empty out the used tea leaves from the tea pot. The convenience factor was more important to the British tea-drinker than the desire to control the length of infusion time, hence the appearance of tea bags that did not have strings attached. by 2007 tea bags made up 96 per cent of the British market It was Tetley in 1953 that drove the introduction of tea bags in Britain, but other companies soon caught up. In the early 1960s, tea bags made up less than 3 per cent of the British market, but this has been growing steadily ever since. By 2007 tea bags made up a phenomenal 96 per cent of the British market, and there can hardly be a home or workplace in Britain that does not have a stash of the humble, but vital, tea bag.

 The Octobass, a cello like instrument invented by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1849, stands 11 feet 5 inches tall- Berlioz was a fan

The octobass is an extremely large bowed string instrument that was first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass (the specimen in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris measures 3.48 meters in length, whereas a full size double bass is generally approximately 2 meters in length). Because of the extreme fingerboard length and string thickness, the musician plays it using a system of levers and pedals. It has never been produced on a large scale or used much by composers (though Hector Berlioz wrote favorably about the instrument and proposed its widespread adoption). In addition to the Paris instrument, octobasses exist in the collections of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In October 2016, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra was donated an octobass by the Quebec company Canimex and is now the only orchestra in the world to own one. This instrument was made by the luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès of Mirecourt, France in 2010. Range and tuning[edit] According to Berlioz, the three open strings were tuned C1, G1, and C2. This tuning gave it a low range one octave below the cello and equal to the modern double bass with low C extension. However, at the time when the octobass was invented, the double bass lacked this extension and could descend only to E1 or G1. The mechanism enabled each string to chromatically cover the range of a perfect fifth and gave the instrument a high range to G2. The instrument at the Musée de la Musique in Paris, which uses period-accurate gut strings, is tuned thus (though on at least some recordings the overall tuning is a half-step flat). The playing range of the octobass, according to Berlioz. The instrument at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, which uses modern wound metal strings, is tuned C0, G0, D1. This tuning gives it a low range two octaves below the cello and one octave below the modern double bass with low C extension. Berlioz specifically noted this tuning in his orchestration treatise, but considered it erroneous. As on the Paris instrument, the mechanism allows each string to cover a perfect fifth, giving it a high range to A1. The lowest notes in this tuning exceed the commonly-stated human hearing range of 20 Hz, but are nevertheless audible due to overtones. (An organ's 32′ stop also exceeds the supposed 20 Hz limit.) The playing range of the octobass owned by the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra octobass uses gut strings, is tuned A0, E1, B1 and has a high range to F♯2. The playing range of the octobass owned by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

 ‘Hypnotist thief’ robs shopkeeper after appearing to put him in a trance

‘Hypnotist thief’ robs shopkeeper after appearing to put him in a trance

In September 2014, a liquor store in London, England was robbed after the thief briefly hypnotized the owner. Police are hunting a man captured on CCTV seemingly using an elaborate form of distraction to steal a large sum of cash – sending a shopkeeper into an apparent trance as he openly rifled through his pockets. The officer leading the hunt for the alleged robber said he did not think the victim, the owner of an off-licence in Highgate, north London, had been properly hypnotised, describing it as a “very well practised stage act or parlour trick”. DCI Marco Bardetti said, nonetheless, he had not seen anything like it in 20 years of policing. “The suspect looks as though he’s incredibly slick at doing this and he’s very confident in doing it,” Bardetti said. “We believe he’s gone in and practised this before.” CCTV footage shows the robber, described by police as in his 30s and possibly eastern European, enter the shop and engage the owner, Aftab Haider, 56, in rapid conversation, standing very close to him and touching him. The footage shows the robber gently touching Haider several times, on the stomach and shoulder, with the victim seeming unable to move. The man is seen going through the shopowner’s trouser pockets twice as he speaks to him, removing a wallet and then a large bundle of cash, believed to be shop takings. As the man leaves, the shopowner apparently emerges from a trance-like state. While Haider shouted, “Oi, oi, excuse me,” after the man, the robber had quickly left the shop. Bardetti said the alleged robber had entered the shop on the evening of 11 September and begun by talking about a pregnant woman, making gestures around his belly to indicate pregnancy. He said: “The suspect touches the victim in parts of his body while talking to him face to face and then we see the victim motionless, standing still, and the suspect puts his hand into the victim’s pockets and removes the wallet and takes what looks like notes or cash out of the wallet. He put those notes and cash into his pocket and then puts the wallet back into the victim’s pocket.” Haider was unable to explain what had happened, the officer said: “What he can’t account for, is the period of seconds from where the suspect has taken [items] from the pocket of the victim but he’s fully conscious of what is happening around him.” Bardetti said: “We don’t believe its hypnosis, we’ve consulted on this and we believe it to be a very elaborate and very well practised stage act or parlour trick.” He said that in 20 years of police work, 17 as a detective, he had not seen a similar crime. Haider had shown no after effects, he added: “The victim is OK, he’s a smashing guy, it’s obviously very brave in coming forward.” A friend of the shopkeeper said he was aghast at what had happened. He told the Evening Standard: “When he told me what happened I just thought, how could he have just let someone hug him and start going through his pockets? He said he just suddenly realised the man had stolen from him and ran out of the shop to find him but he got away. “He had hundreds of pounds stolen from him. It’s worrying if people can do that, other people might do the same.” Police have described the suspect as possibly eastern European, 30-35, slim and about 5ft 8ins tall. He was wearing dark jeans, a grey polo shirt and a black bomber jacket.

 Which two U.S. presidents were born on the same street in Quincy, Massachusetts? – John Adams (1735-1826) and his son John Quincy Adams (1767-1848).

John Quincy Adams (Listeni/ˈkwɪnzi/;[a] July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman who served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He also served as a diplomat, a Senator and member of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. In his biography, Samuel Flagg Bemis argues that Adams was able to "gather together, formulate, and practice the fundamentals of American foreign-policy – self-determination, independence, noncolonization, nonintervention, nonentanglement in European politics, Freedom of the Seas, [and] freedom of commerce." John Quincy Adams was the son of President John Adams and Abigail Adams. As a diplomat, Adams played an important role in negotiating key treaties, most notably the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he negotiated with Britain over the United States' northern border with Canada, negotiated with Spain the annexation of Florida, and drafted the Monroe Doctrine. Historians agree he was one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history. Adams was elected president in a close and controversial four-way contest in 1824. As president he sought to modernize the American economy and promote education. Adams enacted a part of his agenda and paid off much of the national debt. However he was stymied time and again by a Congress controlled by his enemies, and his lack of patronage networks helped politicians eager to undercut him. He lost his 1828 bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson. Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped U.S. foreign policy in line with his ardently nationalist commitment to U.S. republican values. More recently, he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization. During Adams' lifetime, technological innovations and new means of communication spread messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics. Goods, money, and people traveled more rapidly and efficiently than ever before. Adams was elected as U.S. Representative from Massachusetts after leaving office, serving for the last 17 years of his life with far greater acclaim than he had achieved as president. Animated by his growing revulsion against slavery, Adams became a leading opponent of the Slave Power. He predicted that if a civil war were to break out, the president could abolish slavery by using his war powers. Adams also predicted the Union's dissolution over the slavery issue, but said that if the South became independent there would be a series of bloody slave revolts.

Queen drowned in front of onlookers

On pain of death, do not touch Queen Sunandha! Sunanda Kumariratana (Thai: สุนันทากุมารีรัตน์; rtgs: Sunantha Kumarirat, 10 November 1860 – 31 May 1880) was a queen consort of Siam. She was a daughter of Siamese King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam. She was the half-sister and first wife of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam (now Thailand). The kings's other two wives were her full-sibling younger sisters, Queen Savang Vadhana and Queen Saovabha Bhongsi. The queen and her daughter drowned when her royal boat capsized on the way to the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace (Summer Palace). The many witnesses to the accident did not dare to touch the queen, a capital offense—not even to save her life.[1]:5 The grief-stricken Chulalongkorn later erected a memorial to her and their unborn child at Bang Pa-In Palace. Sunandha Kumariratana was born on 10 November 1860 as the daughter of King Mongkut of Siam (Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam. She was first Queen consort of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam and also his half-sister. All of his four wives were also his half-sisters. King Mongkut had at least 82 children with various consorts and concubines. Sunandha Kumariratana had a daughter on 12 august 1878, named Kannabhorn Bejaratana and she was pregnant again when tragedy struck on 31 May 1880. While on the way to the Summer Palace Bang Pa-In the royal boat she and her daughter were travelling on capsized. They were many onlookers who witnessed the capsizing but they were unable to help. They were forbidden from touching the Queen on pain of death, even if it meant that they couldn’t save her life. They were even instructed to do nothing by a guard on another boat, though he was later punished for his strict view of the law in such circumstances. So sad that this tragedy could have been avoided.

Domestic cat "THE LYKOI" which appears as werewolf

The Lykoi is a natural mutation from a domestic shorthair that has the appearance of a werewolf. The mutation has occurred in domestic cats over the last 20 years. DNA testing has been done by UC Davis to confirm that the cats do not carry the Sphynx/Devon gene. The Lykoi breed was developed in Vonore, Tennessee and is said to resemble a werewolf. The word "lykoi" means 'wolves' in Greek. The Lykoi is a partially or almost entirely hairless cat that is genetically distinct from the Canadian Sphynx. The hair coat is unique in appearance in that it resembles the coat of an opossum when mostly coated. Standards call for a solid black roan coat, a wedge-shaped head, and a lithe body of solid weight without excessive bulk. Lykoi are said to be friendly and unchallenging in their behavior. They display a high level of affection for their owners. A unique characteristic of the cat breed is that the Lykoi sheds a lot when older but regrows its hair later in life depending on the season. The missing coat of the Lykoi's face gives the breed a werewolfish appearance.