A Ton of Crap (43 page)

The Battle of Bunker Hill
Following the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the colonists besieged Boston from the surrounding hills. When they heard news of the British planning to attack Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, the colonists sent 1,600 militiamen to set up fortifications. On June 17, 1775, 2,600 British soldiers attacked. Most of the fighting took place on Breed’s Hill. By the third charge from the British, the colonists had to retreat, and though the British gained control of Breed’s Hill, they suffered a great amount of losses and casualties.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Simile
A simile is one of the most common figures of speech. In similes, one thing is described to be like another thing. The important part about similes is their use of the words
like
or
as
. For example, “He eats like a pig” and “It’s as light as a feather” are both examples of similes. Other forms of similes can be found in sentences with
as if
and
than
. For example, “I completely forgot how to work the machine, as if it were my very first time” and “larger than life.”

FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

The Golden Ratio
The Golden Ratio, expressed as φ, is a mathematical constant with a value of 1.6180339887. If the ratio between the sum of two quantities and the larger quantity equals the ratio of the larger quantity and the smaller quantity, it is called the Golden Ratio. In other words:

Any two successive numbers from the Fibonacci sequence will have a ratio close to the Golden Ratio.

GALILEO GALILEI

The Telescope
In 1609, Galileo heard news of an invention in the Netherlands that would make faraway objects appear close — the spyglass. Determined to figure out how the invention worked, Galileo tried making his own, and in only 24 hours, without ever having seen the object and going by only the rumors he had heard, he created a 3-power telescope. After making some changes, he brought the now 10-power telescope to the Senate of Venice and demonstrated how it worked.

FINNISH

Finnish During the Middle Ages
Before the Middle Ages, Finnish was only an oral language. During the Middle Ages, Finland was annexed to Catholic Sweden. The administrative language was Swedish, the language used in religion was Latin, and business was transacted Middle Low German, leaving little room for Finnish to be spoken. However, the first evidence of Finnish writing is found from this time period, dating to around 1450.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The Evacuation of Boston
The evacuation of the British from Boston was a very important victory for the colonists, and also the first victory for General George Washington. As a result of the battle of Bunker Hill, though the British won, they desperately needed reinforcements. To support Washington, Henry Knox, the chief artillery officer, brought fifty cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and positioned them to aim at the British fleet in Boston Harbor. On March 5, 1776, the British general saw the cannons aimed at them and took his men to Halifax, Canada.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Metaphor
Metaphors are very similar to similes, only they do not include the words
like
,
as
,
as if
, or
than
. Instead, they simply state that one thing is another thing. In the sentence “Her home is a pigsty,” we understand that this does not mean her home is a literal pigsty, but rather a very messy place. The differences between metaphors and similes is that even though they mean the same thing, they are worded differently. For example, “He is a snake” is a metaphor, but the same idea put as “He is like a snake” is a simile.

FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

The Fibonacci Sequence in Nature
Fibonacci sequences appear in the natural world with astounding frequency. The number of petals on a flower, branching in trees, how leaves are arranged on a stem, the spirals of a pinecone, and even the scales of a pineapple all show Fibonacci sequences. One particular example of the Fibonacci sequence in nature is with the reproduction of the honeybee. The sequence of honeybee parents and ancestors correlates exactly with the Fibonacci sequence.

GALILEO GALILEI

The Moon
During Galileo’s time, the widespread belief was that the Moon was actually completely smooth and polished. As Galileo focused his new invention on the Moon, he began noticing a surface that was anything but smooth. The landscape of the Moon was rough, full of cavities and craters, and uneven. People dismissed Galileo’s findings, and some even argued that the surface of the Moon was covered with an invisible layer of smooth crystal.

FINNISH