The telegraph was invented in 1836, and within 8 years, the first Morse code message was sent which occurred on May 24, 1844 when Samuel Morse sent the first ever message which stated “what hath God wrought!”
Month: February 2024
The First Reported Attempted Extraterrestrial Abduction of a Human Being
The first reported attempted extraterrestrial abduction of a human being occurred in Stockton, United States of America in 1896. On November 27, 1896, it was reported within the Stockton version of the Daily Mail news publication that while driving within the Californian countryside through Lodi, United States of America, Colonel Henry Gould Shaw stumbled upon a landed extraterrestrial spacecraft with intelligent life. Shaw claims he was approached by 3 slender humanoid creatures, each nearly 7′ tall, with “large lustrious” eyes, small and slender hands with no nails, narrow ape like feet which could grasp objects, who emitted a strange “warbling noise” like a “guttural, monotonous chant”, and who wore no discernible clothing, instead covered in a fine, downy like fuzz which was neither hair nor feather and had a soft feel. Shaw attempted to pick one of the individuals up by the elbow when directly interacting and accounts that the being weighed less than 1 gram. Peculiarly, these individuals possessed small mouths with no teeth as it appeared the mouths of these beings were not used for eating and/or drinking due to the fact that Shaw states they sustained themselves with gas ported within a satchel with a hose to extract the gas from. Shaw describes these creatures as having a “strange and indescribable beauty” and accounts that they emitted a bright light, not so bright that it could not be directly viewed, but rather a comfortable, warm light. The beings migrated back to their craft in a strange, swaying motion, not at all alike to walking, with their feet only touching the ground in intervals of 15′. Prior to departure, Shaw attempted to throw a rock at the craft but reports it made no sound upon impact. Shaw accounts that these beings initially attempted to force him aboard the craft but gave up once they had realized the strength and resistance of Shaw due to the fear he experienced. Shaw describes the craft as completely without features aside from a rudder and pointed edges and estimates this craft to be 20′ in diameter and 150′ in total length
The Origin of Valentine’s Day and Valentine’s Day Cards
Although the exact origin of Valentine’s Day is unknown during the modern day, the Catholic Church recognizes 3 different individuals named “Valentine” or “Valentinus”, all of whom were martyred, however it is possible these individuals were the same person. The Ancient Roman priest Valentinus, who lived during the 3rd century A.D., was imprisoned, perhaps falsely, by Ancient Roman emperor Claudius II (Claudius Gothicus). Claudius II legally prohibited marriage for young men, as he believed unmarried men without families made better soldiers. Valentinus may have performed wedding ceremonies for these soldiers covertly, until caught and executed on February 14, 269 A.D.. During his detention, Valentinus fell in love with the prison keepers daughter, a woman possibly named “Julia”, allegedly curing her of blindness. Valentinus signed the final letter he wrote to this woman prior to execution “Your Valentine”. It should be noted, this origin point is not supported by strong historical and/or physical evidence and may have been propagandized by medieval writers to romanticize Valentinus as a Catholic saint
The Origin of the Birthday Celebration
The origin of the birthday celebration tradition within China dates back thousands of years. The Chinese marked birthdays, starting from the first year of survival, as a mark of how long one has survived with the hope of longevity ahead. Besides matching the year with one’s own astrological calendar (based upon 12 years rather than 12 months), the Chinese traditionally celebrated during antiquity and continue to celebrate birthdays during the modern day with noodles, specifically chang shou mian which means “long life noodles” in Mandarin. This is because it is believed within Chinese culture that long noodle strands consumed within a single attempt symbolically represent a long life to come. It should be noted, it is believed the foundation origin of the concept of the “birthday” originated within Ancient Egypt around 3000 B.C. with Ancient Egyptian pharaohs celebrating their own coronation day as a birth of a god, with the Chinese, and later the Germans, developing the concept of a birthday more reminiscent to the modern day