THE ULTIMATE
June 20th this year marks the Summer Solstice the longest day of the year for those in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Midsummer.
This is when the Earth is tilted on its axis on its orbit around the sun, so that the North Pole is at its closest to the Sun, For Arctic regions this means they have continuous sunlight for 24 hours! Whilst the Northern Hemisphere, marks Midsummer, in the Southern Hemisphere - for example, for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, it's Midwinter and they are having the their Midwinter, their Winter Solstice. The Summer Solstice in Northern Hemisphere has long been a time of festival and ritual, most famously, at England's Stonehenge, in Wiltshire of Salisbury Plain. There are plenty of other stone mounment aligned with the Solstices across the British Isles, including in Ireland, as well as in Europe, such as in France. Stonehenge, sees hundreds of people attend each year to see the sun rise between one of the stone 'arches' that make the ring of Stonehenge, and over the more distant 'heel' stone outside of the henge. Those that attend may be modern pagan and New Age belief followers, who believe in spirituality associated with nature, many of whom will see themselves as a continuation of an ancient Celtic to Stone Age set of beliefs in Britain that were present before Christianity - they may call themselves Druids. Stonehenge has many numerous theories for why it was built, and how it was built - was it a temple to the sun? was it a place of healing? or was it a place for remembering the dead? Or was it all of these and more? Was it built by magic as suggested by Merlin in Arthurian legend? Or how did the inner smaller 'Bluestones' get from coastal West Wales, in the Preseli Mountains, to Salisbury plain? across the land around 250 miles, or floated on boats around South Wales and South West England, then Northwards across the land to Salisbury Plain? And why at Salisbury Plain - what was special about this area to early Britons? Due to Coronavirus, this year people are not able to visit Stonehenge, but you van witness the sunrise on 21st June (the Summer Solstice sunrise depends on how the days are counted, and there is little difference to the spectacle a day either side) as English Heritage are airing the sunrise live on their Social Media accounts. you can find out more about Stonehenge, and the Solstices at the English Heritage website below - oh, and fingers crossed for a clear sky tomorrow morning! https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/solstice/
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On this day, May 25th 240 BCE, Halley's Comet was first recorded in China, in the Records of the Grand Historian, or Shiji.
It may have been commented upon in Greece and China prior to this. A later recording in 87 BCE appears on Babylonian tablets that can be seen at the British Museum. Halley's comet is famously depicted in the Bayeux Tapeestry, having been seen by the Anglo-Saxons in 1066, and they saw it as a bringer of doom. It is called Halley's Comet, after Edmund Halley who in 1705, used Isaac Newton's laws of gravity and motion to calculate that three comet appearances, were actually the same comet returning around every 76 years. He went on to predict it would return in 1758. Unfortunatley, Halley died in 1742. Late in 1758 the comet returned first being seen by a German farmer and amateur astronomer. A French astronomer named it Halley's Comet after Edmund Halley. The return of Halley's Comet proved Isaac Newton's principles, and was the first object kown to orbit the Sun other than the planets. Though, the Babylonian and Jewish authorities in ancient times may have recognised that it returned, was 'periodic', as a passage notes a star returning once every 70 years. The last sighting of Halley's Comet was in 1986, where a European space probe named Giotto closed in on it flying through the comet's tail. It was called Giotto, after the artist who painted a Christian Nativity scene, using Halley's Comet, as the Star of Bethlehem. Next sighting 2061! On this day, May 15th 1859, Pierre Curie was born in Paris, France.
Pierre Curie is a scientist known for his studies into magnetism, and with his wife Marie Curie into radioactivity, being the first the use the term. They discovered the elements radium and polonium. With his student Pierre also discovered nuclear energy. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics along with his wife Marie, and Henri Becquerel. On the 2nd May 1519 Leonardo Da Vinci passed away. Da Vinci is seen as the foremost Renaissance painter with his works including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, being amongst, if not, the most well known paintings of all time. He is also known for his anatomical drawings and designs for inventions such as flying machines.
On this day, January 19th 1839, French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne was born in Aix-en-Provence, France.
His works such as paintings of Mont-Sainte-Victorie and A Basket of Apples, influenced the work of Picasso and the Cubist Movement, as well as Matisse. |
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