by david allan van nostrand | Mar 28, 2022 | Fads, Human Behavior, Items in the News
Shouyang, a Chinese princess, fell asleep under a plum tree. A flower petal landed on her forehead and left a purple imprint that was thought to enhance her pale-skinned beauty. Ladies of the court were so impressed that they started decorating their own foreheads to...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 21, 2022 | Fads, Human Behavior, Items in the News
In ancient Greece, early influencers were professionals hired to manipulate audiences’ emotions by applauding performers and performances. In French theaters and opera houses, the pros were called claquers. By the 1830s, theater impresarios would order groups of...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 14, 2022 | Items in the News, The world around us
“Every little swallow, every chickadee, every little bird in the tall oak tree. The wise old owl, the big black crow, flapping their wings singing go, bird, go. All the little birds on Jaybird Street love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.” Rockin’...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 7, 2022 | Items in the News, Research
The French coined the phrase ‘burning the candle at both ends’ in the 1600s, using it to mean dissipating one’s material wealth. Candles were expensive and anyone who burned them at both ends was guilty of wasting valuable resources. Over time, the phrase evolved to...
