A Ton of Crap (93 page)

Concentration Camps
From 1933 to 1939, the Jewish people were placed in concentration camps, where they were detained under horrible conditions. The first concentration camps began appearing as early as 1933 with Hitler’s appointment as chancellor. The very first concentration camp was at Dachau. Initially, these camps held political prisoners, but they would later go on to hold Jews, gays, gypsies, and those who were mentally ill, as well as anyone who opposed the regime. There were different types of concentration camps, and in 1939, forced labor camps began to appear. These required inmates to do physical labor under horrible conditions. Death was extremely common in these camps, but nothing would compare to the camps created to act out Hitler’s “Final Solution.”

FAIRYTALES

Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was born in Paris on July 12, 1628. At the age of sixty-seven, Perrault lost his job as secretary to the king’s finance minister. It was then that he decided to pursue writing. He is the author of some of the most well-known fairytales that still exist today, such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Sleeping Beauty
.
” These stories and four others were published in his book
Stories or Tales from Times Past; or
Tales of Mother Goose
. Though these stories and plots had existed before Perrault wrote them, Perrault was the first to turn them into a work of literary art through a combination of wit and style.

CHAOS THEORY

The Butterfly Effect
Perhaps the most well-known principle to come out of chaos theory is the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect shows how even one slight change in space/time can change giant systems. For example, there is a link between a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world at a precise moment in time and space, and a hurricane that happens on the other side of the world. The flapping of the butterfly’s wings could alter the movement and strength of the wind, which in turn leads to something else. The butterfly effect proves that large systems are unpredictable.

GEOLOGIC PERIODS

Triassic
The Triassic period occurred 248 to 206 million years ago, and it was the first period of the Mesozoic era, the time period when dinosaurs first started developing. There were two major extinction events in the Triassic Period, one toward the beginning (the Permian-Triassic extinction event, which is considered the most severe extinction event of life on Earth) and one toward the end (the Late-Triassic extinction event). This period is defined by the first appearance of dinosaurs (which were no more than 15 feet tall and walked on all four legs), the first mammals (which were small and lizard-like), and flying reptiles (known as pterosaurs).

HINDI

Sanskritization
By 1950, the Constitution of India declared Hindi, more specifically the Khari Boli dialect, and the use of Devanagari as the official language and writing system (and that Hindi and English would be the two official languages used by the Central Government). The government encouraged a Sanskritization of the language (in which Sanskrit vocabulary is introduced and used). This was done in an attempt to unite the different regions and appeal to the pride Indians had in their ancient culture.

THE HOLOCAUST

Ghettos
Following the invasion of Poland in 1939, all Polish Jews were to be put in ghettos, areas of cities that were surrounded by guards, brick walls, and barbed wire. Jewish people were forced to leave their homes and belongings and were put into these ghettos. By October, Jewish people from Czechoslovakia and Austria were being deported to Poland to be put in these ghettos as well. The largest ghettos were those of Warsaw and Lodz. The conditions in Warsaw were so horrible that from 1940 to 1942, around 100,000 Jews died from disease and starvation.

FAIRYTALES

Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author who lived from 1805 to 1875 and is considered the father of modern fairytales. Andersen wrote over 150 fairytales, of which his most famous include “The Little Mermaid,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and “Thumbelina.” Not only did Andersen’s work break through previous traditions of Danish literature by using idioms and spoken language, but only 12 of his 156 fairytales were based on folklore. The rest were completely original. His work came to influence authors such as Charles Dickens (whom he had a friendship with) and Oscar Wilde.

CHAOS THEORY

Fractals
A major part of chaos theory involves understanding fractals. Fractals are the shapes we see in everyday life, and they are complex patterns that never end and are self-similar on other scales. A fractal can be created by repeating a process in a continual loop. Fractal patterns can be seen throughout the natural world, in mountains, trees, rivers, seashells, clouds, and hurricanes. In nature, we do not see a right triangle. We see shapes the mountains and rocks create. Using chaos theory and fractals, scientists try to uncover what makes these shapes.

GEOLOGIC PERIODS

Jurassic
The Jurassic period occurred 206 to 144 million years ago, and it is considered the middle of the Mesozoic era. In the early part of the Jurassic Period, Pangaea broke up into northern and southern supercontinents. It is during this time that the most commonly known dinosaurs, such as stegosaurus, brachiosaurus, and allosaurus, lived. The dinosaurs that were herbivores were quite large in size, while the carnivores were smaller. Mammals were still relatively small (around the size of dogs), and the first bird, which resembled a dinosaur but had feathers, appeared.

HINDI