In the Know #11

January 15, 2008


Word of the Day from Dictionary.com:

inculcate \in-KUHL-kayt; IN-kuhl-kayt\, transitive verb:
To teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction.

Today in history, according to Wikipedia:

588 B.C. - Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, lays siege to Jerusalem. The siege lasted until July 18, 586 B.C.

1559 - Elizabeth I is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1777 - New Connecticut (Vermont) declares its independence.

1844 - The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.

1892 - James Naismith (pictured) publishes the rules of basketball.

1943 - The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.

1967 - Super Bowl I, Green Bay Packers - 35:10 - Kansas City Chiefs.

2001 - Wikipedia goes online


Today's Famous Births:

1622 - Moliere (pictured), French playwright, Tartuffe

1902 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia

1929 - Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner

1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, American singer, Lynyrd Skynyrd


Trivia:
Today's category - The World Cup

~ The first World Cup took place in 1930 in Uruguay.

~ Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to win the first World Cup.

~ Brazil has the most World Cup Championships with five, Italy has four titles and Germany has three.

~ The next World Cup tournament is set for June through 11 July 11, 2010.

~ The World Cup trophy (pictured) is 36.6 cm tall and is made of 5 kg of 18 carat gold.


I always wondered...
...how GPS works...

The Global Positioning System is a network of 24 satellites that connect with the GPS receivers that are so commonplace today. The orbits of the satellites are arranged so that at any time at least four of them are "visible" from any place on earth. The GPS receiver (pictured) calculates the exact location of the device by using 3-D trilateration, a process of geometry using four satellites at a time to pinpoint the location of the device. The receiver must know the location of at least three satellites and the respective distances to each of those satellites. The GPS receiver has an almanac which tells it where each satellite will be at any time.

Current GPS receiver models can tell you how far you've traveled on a trip, time traveling, current speed, average speed and ETA at current speed. The receivers can also leave a "bread crumb" trail showing the exact path that you have traveled.

["how GPS works" reference: HowStuffWorks.com]
[All references from Wikipedia.org unless otherwise noted]