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👁 :19
J. K. Rowling
Catagory:Biography
Author:LARRY ANDERSON
Posted Date:10/10/2025
Posted By:utopia online

J. K. Rowling planned out her entire book series before she started writing the first one - by hand. Twelve publishers are probably still cursing because they rejected her first Harry Potter book, convinced it was far too long for children and would never sell.She is worth more than a billion dollars, has been named one of the most influentialpeople in the world, and holds the record for the fastest-selling books in history. Butwhen J. K. Rowling first set out to write her books about a boy wizard named HarryPotter, no one could possibly have guessed how successful she would be. In fact, JoanneRowling (her real name) was having a hard time, and had to fight against tremendousodds to achieve her vision.Rowling says she came up with the Harry Potter idea while riding on a train that wasdelayed. By the time it got to the station, she had the whole series of books plotted out inher mind!She started writing right away, but then life threw her a series of curves. Following thedeath of her mother after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, Rowling took a jobteaching in Portugal. She got married and had a baby there, but after a divorce she movedback to Britain.Three years later, she still had not finished her first Harry Potter book. She was a single,unemployed mother, living on welfare. But J. K. Rowling still believed in her idea. Shewould take her baby for long walks to put her to sleep, and then sit writing her book incafes. She finally finished the manuscript and typed it up on an old manual typewriter. The first twelve publishers turned her down. Number thirteen said, “Yes” - mainlybecause the little girl of the company’s chairperson loved the book - but warned Rowlingto get a job because she would not make much money from a children’s book.Once Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published, however, the book won araft of awards and began selling at an incredible pace. Every book in the series sold morethan the last, with the last four books all setting world records for the fastest sale of amillion copies.All told, the Harry Potter series has sold 400 million copies in sixty-five languages,sparked a series of highly successful movies, and made J. K. Rowling one of thewealthiest authors in the world.Rowling remembers her own struggles and gives millions of dollars a year to charities,including those that focus on poverty and on multiple sclerosis. She is also president of acharity that supports single parents.


Type:other
👁 :5
A Clean Shave
Catagory:Facts
Author:BILL O’NEILL
Posted Date:10/10/2025
Posted By:utopia online

When you look back in history at the best military leaders to have ever existed, Alexander the Great would have to be right up there pretty much at the top. His skills on the battlefield cannot be disputed, but could it be the case that he was able to achieve so much because of his amazing army, or did he pay particular attention to even the smallest of details? To be honest, it was probably a bit of both, and if you are looking for evidence of that, then look no further than this little gem. According to sources from the time, Alexander the Great was concerned about the potential role that having beards could play on the battlefield. Remember, this was a time where they would not really wear helmets like they did in later centuries, so their beards would be there on full display. Also, battles were fought in close quarters, and it was very much up close and personal, and this concerned Alexander. As a result, he ordered that every single soldier should shave off his beard, as this would stop the enemy from being able to grab onto them during battle giving them a rather unfair advantage.On the other hand, it also perhaps gives you an indication of the kind of tactics that he would use, as he must have surely thought about it because his soldiers were guilty of doing the exact same thing. Well, all is not fair in either love or war.


Type:other
👁 :33
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
Catagory:Facts
Author:-
Posted Date:09/25/2025
Posted By:utopia online

The idea of a dam on the Blue Nile dates back to studies conducted by American engineers before 1964. The United States Bureau of Reclamation surveyed the Blue Nile between 1956 and 1964, during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, and identified a site for the dam. Due to the 1975 coup d’état, which overthrew Selassie, Somalia’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1977 to 78, and the fifteen-year Ethiopian Civil War between the military junta and Ethiopian-Eritrean rebels, no progress was made on the project until the early 2000s. The government surveyed the site from 2009 to 2010 and submitted a design for the dam in November 2010. The project was made public on March 30, 2011, and a day later, the government awarded a US$4.8 billion contract to an Italian company, Salini Impregilo. In April 2011, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi laid the dam’s foundation stone, and the project, known as the Millennium Dam, was renamed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. For Ethiopians, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) represents far more than a hydropower project. It embodies a nation’s resolve to harness its natural resources for self-determined development and prosperity. At its core, the dam is a beacon of hope, offering two critical solutions: a reliable supply of electricity and an end to decades of dependency on external forces to utilize their own assets. With a capacity to generate over 5,200 megawatts of electricity, the GERD nearly doubles Ethiopia’s current power output. More importantly, it stands as a testament to what can be achieved when a people unite with unwavering determination to transform their socio-economic landscape. A view of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a massive hydropower plant on the River Nile that neighbors Sudan and Egypt. PHOTO/Getty Images For Ethiopians, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) represents far more than a hydropower project. It embodies a nation’s resolve to harness its natural resources for self-determined development and prosperity. At its core, the dam is a beacon of hope, offering two critical solutions: a reliable supply of electricity and an end to decades of dependency on external forces to utilize their own assets. With a capacity to generate over 5,200 megawatts of electricity, the GERD nearly doubles Ethiopia’s current power output. More importantly, it stands as a testament to what can be achieved when a people unite with unwavering determination to transform their socio-economic landscape. The dam is not just about energy; it symbolizes Ethiopia’s ability – and Africa’s potential – to take control of its destiny by leveraging local knowledge, resources, and collective effort. MILAN, September 9, 2025 – Ethiopia made history today with the inauguration of the , the largest hydropower project ever built in Africa. A monumental infrastructure designed and constructed by Webuild, the GERD marks the beginning of a new era for the country, placing it at the heart of the continent’s green transition. The official ceremony was attended by Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Webuild, alongside Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the Heads of State of African countries that share with Ethiopia a common goal of growth and unity. Given its extraordinary scale and unprecedented engineering complexity, the GERD — commissioned by Ethiopian Electric Power — stands as one of the world’s most ambitious and advanced infrastructure projects in recent years. With an installed production capacity of more than 5,000 MW and an expected annual output of 15,700 GWh, the GERD can generate energy equivalent to three medium-sized nuclear power plants. Its reservoir stretches 172 kilometers, able to hold up to 74 billion cubic meters of water, making the GERD the largest hydropower project in Africa. Refference https://www.webuildgroup.com/en/media/press-releases/grand-ethopian-renaissance-dam-gerd-inaugurated/ https://www.webuildgroup.com/en/media/press-releases/grand-ethopian-renaissance-dam-gerd-inaugurated/ https://www.fpri.org/article/2025/09/the-grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam-a-regional-destabilizer-or-a-new-model-for-african-development/


Type:other
👁 :26
Sam Walton
Catagory:Biography
Author:LARRY ANDERSON
Posted Date:09/25/2025
Posted By:utopia online

Sandford Fleming was a whirlwind inventor whose ideas came to benefit not only his home country but the world. Canadians can thank him for his “crazy” vision of building a railway clear across the vast wilds of Canada. How many different dreams can one person follow? For Sandford Fleming, it seems there was no limit. When he was eighteen years old, having just arrived in Canada from Scotland, Fleming was a budding inventor who wanted other active minds around him. So he established the Royal Canadian Institute - a group dedicated to science, invention, and understanding. It still exists today. Apparently, working as a surveyor and running his new Institute wasn’t enough to fully occupy his mind. On the side, Fleming took the time to design Canada’s first postage stamp in 1851. Meanwhile, his tireless energy and sharp mind got him a job as chief engineer of a railway. That’s where Fleming developed his next vision - a railway clear across Canada. It took a dozen years for Fleming and others to convince the new Canadian government. Once the government had finally approved the idea, it gave Fleming the job of doing the surveying for the mammoth railway. Fleming had to find the best route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, over hundreds of kilometers of empty prairie and through mountain passes where no one had ever climbed. He finished the survey job by 1876, and the railway was finished in 1885. Fleming was on hand when they drove the last spike to join the rail lines - and Canada - together. You might think that institutes, railways, postage stamps, and submarine telegraph cables (he proposed the idea to connect the British Empire through communications) would be enough for one mind. But Sandford Fleming had yet another world-changing idea. After missing a train in Ireland, Fleming became fed up with the way people kept time. At that time, time was strictly a local affair; every town had its own clock. Twelve noon in one place might be 12:15 in another just up the road. Fleming came up with the idea of creating standard time zones - twenty-four of them around the world. In each zone, the time would be exactly the same. It seems like common sense today, but Fleming had to fight for years to get this idea accepted, and the twenty-four time-zone idea wasn’t agreed upon until years after his death. But Fleming’s many achievements were recognized while he was still alive; he was knighted by Queen Victoria. Today, Sir Stanford Fleming is recognized as the father of standard time and of our national railway - a man who changed our nation and the world.


Type:other
👁 :22
William Harvey
Catagory:Biography
Author:LARRY ANDERSON
Posted Date:09/22/2025
Posted By:utopia online

Although brilliant William Harvey became the doctor of choice for the wealthy, the nobility, and even the King of England, he never stopped giving free treatments to the poor. It may seem hard to believe, but until William Harvey came along, even the best doctors in Europe didn’t know that your heart pumps blood around your body. The common wisdom was that blood was created by your liver, and the heart pumped air and heat through your body, along with just some of your blood! So, you can imagine the uproar in 1628 when William Harvey published a book that explained exactly how the entire circulatory system worked, from your heart to arteries and veins. He was completely right, but his work contradicted the belief that had been around for hundreds of years. Many other doctors refused to believe Dr. Harvey, and said his theories were crazy. William Harvey was a brilliant physician who had astonished his professors at medical school. Almost straight out of university, he was hired as chief physician at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where he provided medical treatment to the poor for free. Harvey’s reputation grew rapidly, and he was chosen to deliver an ongoing series of public lectures to explain anatomy and medicine to the general public. Soon, wealthy people, including members of the nobility, were asking him to be their doctor. He even wound up becoming the personal physician to the King of England! But when he published his now-famous book on the heart and blood circulation, it looked as if William Harvey might lose everything. However, Dr. Harvey’s critics hadn’t counted on his brilliance and tenacity. He proved his theories time and again with experiments that showed how the circulation system worked, and with calculations that proved the impossibility of the theory about blood originating in the liver. In the end, no one could argue with the powerful evidence; William Harvey had clearly made a huge advance in medical science. Not only did people finally understand how the heart really worked, they also were inspired to copy his style of provable, repeatable experiments. While Dr. Harvey went on to great fame and fortune as the physician of kings and other rich clients, and as the man who opened the eyes of the world to the wonders of the heart, he never stopped working for the poor. Until he was an old man, he served at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital every week, giving free health care to people who could not afford to pay a doctor.


Type:other
👁 :91
Laura Secord
Catagory:Biography
Author:LARRY ANDERSON
Posted Date:09/05/2025
Posted By:utopia online

In the early 1800s, when Laura Secord overheard American soldiers planning a sneak attack on a British/Canadian outpost, she traveled by foot through woods, fields, and rivers in enemy territory to warn the unsuspecting British and Canadian soldiers. The United States was still a British colony when Laura Secord was born there in 1775. A year later, the United States rebelled against Britain in the War of Independence. But some Americans, like Laura’s father, stayed loyal to Britain and fought against the rebels. Like many other “Loyalists,” he later moved his family to Canada, where the British still ruled. They settled in the Niagara Peninsula, near Niagara Falls and the American border. At that time, there was still a lot of tension between Canadians and Americans. Then in 1812, Britain and the United States went to war again, and this time the Americans tried to invade Canada. Laura Secord’s husband was seriously wounded in one of the early battles of that war, at nearby Queenston Heights. She rushed to the battlefield, rescued him, and brought him home. That was just the first example on record of her remarkable courage. A year later, the war was turning into a seesaw struggle, with both sides trying to control the Niagara area. The Americans had taken over Secord’s neighborhood, and American officers would show up at her home demanding to be fed. Apparently it was during one of these meals that Secord overheard them talking about their next military strategy - a surprise attack on a British/Canadian outpost twelve miles away. With her disabled husband unable to help, it was up to Secord. Did this petite, delicate-looking woman have the courage to sneak through enemy-held territory with her secret information? It turned out that she had not only the courage, but also the smarts and determination to achieve her goal. Secord avoided American sentries on the roads by cutting through the woods, crossing rivers and fields on foot, without a map: ultimately covering more than twenty miles to reach her destination. It took her all day and she arrived exhausted, but Laura Secord arrived in time. When the Americans attacked the next day, they didn’t have a chance - the British and Canadian soldiers were waiting for them. Laura Secord received no official thanks or recognition for her brave act until she was eighty-five years old, but today there are monuments in her honor, and history books credit her with helping Canada win the War of 1812.


Type:other
👁 :79
Gingerbread men
Catagory:Facts
Author:BILL O’NEILL
Posted Date:09/05/2025
Posted By:utopia online

Gingerbread men can bring about much more than just holiday cheer. Dunkin’ Donuts decided to take it to the next level and survey customers about their gingerbread cookie-eating habits. They asked over 5000 people and found that 64% of them eat the head of the gingerbread man first. A neurological researcher says that this means that those people are more headstrong. 20% start with the legs, which indicate that those people are more sensitive. Finally, 16% go for the arm first. What does that say about them? Well, it depends which arm. Biting the right hand means that the person is generally pessimistic, while the left arm indicates creativity.


Type:other
👁 :188
Michael J. Fox
Catagory:Biography
Author:LARRY ANDERSON
Posted Date:09/05/2025
Posted By:utopia online

As a teenager, Canadian Michael J. Fox became a Hollywood star and his acting career took off like a rocket. But at the height of his career, though still young, he was struck down by Parkinson’s disease. When Michael J. Fox wrote his memoir, he called the book Lucky Man. Some people might have been surprised at that title. After all, Fox was hit at an early age by Parkinson’s disease - a brain disorder that usually affects older people. As a result, he suffers from severe tremors and twitches, painful rigidity, and muscle spasms that get worse every year. The disease pretty much destroyed his highly successful acting career. But the full title of Fox’s book says it all: it is Lucky Man: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. Fox looks at the bright side of everything, including his disease. It’s easy to see how Michael J. Fox could have been an optimist when he was younger. The Edmonton, Alberta native was only eighteen when his acting career took off and swept him to Hollywood. After only a few small movie parts, Michael got the opportunity of a lifetime - a key role in a major new TV series, Family Ties. As the character Alex Keaton, he became a major star. That led to another huge break: the starring role in the Back to the Future films. Soon, he was starring in everything from comedies to romances to action movies, not to mention more leading TV roles in series like Spin City. He even provided the voice for the animated title character in the Stuart little films. In the middle of all of that success . . . with money, fame, Emmy Awards and Golden Globes pouring in . . . Michael J. Fox learned that he had Parkinson’s. Within a few years, the disease was too severe for him to be able to hide the symptoms, and his highflying career crashed down to earth. While many people would have given in to anger or despair, Fox focused on the positive impact on his life, describing his condition as a “gift” - an opportunity, not a life sentence. He quit drinking, got more involved with his family, and became a powerful advocate and fundraiser for Parkinson’s research. He formed a foundation to support research and fought against politicians who want to restrict it. Now the whole focus of his life is finding a cure for Parkinson’s. Fox has told interviewers that his life has much more meaning and purpose now, and that he treasures every day. For now, Parkinson’s remains incurable, but so does the endless optimism of Michael J. Fox.


Type:other
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