Did You Know?
In this series, we explore interesting or fun facts that might not be front page news.
Did You Know?
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Dr. Gladys West and the Development of the GPS
“Hey Siri—Directions to the Earth and Spirit Center.”
Or maybe the doctor’s office. Or Rocky Mountain National Park! You name it, and your trusty GPS will guide you to that exact spot. Just about anywhere in the world. It’s wondrous!
What few people realize is that a brilliant Black female mathematician was behind development of the technology that came to be Siri’s confident voice.
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The Campaign Against Midwives
Did you know that midwives deliver half of all babies in Great Britain and about three-quarters of all Scandinavian and French babies – but less than 10 % in the US?
We sure didn’t. We knew that midwifery is not given full respect by the medical community. We knew that, despite a shortage of hospitals and ob-gyns, especially n rural areas, midwives are still considered quite risky.
Did you know why? Neither did we. Turns out, like many of our customs, it can be traced back to white supremacy and racial scapegoating in America.
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Granville T. Woods Invented the Electric Roller Coaster!
Sum-sum-summertime! Time for picnics and swimming and if we’re lucky…amusement parks and roller coasters! How many of us have spent joyous and terrifying moments on those amazing rides?
Did you know that a Black man was responsible for the fun? Granville T. Woods introduced the “Figure Eight,” the world’s first electric roller coaster, in 1892 at Coney Island Amusement Park in New York.
To learn more about the “Black Edison”,
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The Power of Protests Work!
Recent research into the Black Lives Matter protests reveal two very important points:
They’ve been mostly peaceful
They work.
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The Gap Band
Remember the Gap Band’s hit, “You Dropped A Bomb On Me?” Did you know their name came from Greenwood, Archer, and Pine, three streets in the former “Black Wall Street” district of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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Joe's Palm Room
If you lived in Louisville in the late 1960’s – 70’s, you may remember Joe’s Palm Room. It was the hottest club in town, the premiere place in this region to hear live blues, soul, R&B, and jazz.
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Mammoth Cave
Enslaved Black people played a role in practically every aspect of the cave system’s original rediscovery by modern man, from the mining of saltpeter within the depths of Mammoth during the War of 1812, to the establishment of the popular tourist destination before the Civil War.
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Have You Heard of Uncle Nearest?
America’s most famous whiskey was born in Lynchburg, Tennessee around the time of the Civil War, in a still owned by the preacher Dan Call. His distiller, Nathan “Nearest” Green had his own “recipe” and distilling technique. Green was an enslaved man, owned by the firm Landis & Green, who likely hired him out to Call for a fee. The reverend also hired a white boy named Jack Daniel and instructed Green to teach him how to make whiskey.
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Key West, Florida
During the Civil War, Key West remained in the United States despite Florida having joined the secession. A large population of Key West settlers from New England and the nearby Bahamas had little interest in leaving the Union, let alone taking up arms for the Rebel cause. Residents of Key West even celebrated the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.
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Cicadas
Although there are many interesting and fun facts about this ancient insect, one thing you might not know is that in 1749, a 17 year old Black man named Benjamin Banneker was among the first to observer and calculate the 17-year life cycle of the remarkable periodical cicada, the longest-living insect on the planet.
Did You Know?
Cicada Swarms Were Documented by a Black Naturalist in the 18th Century!
The Cicada X swarms have arrived after a long 17 years in the ground. Believe me - the maple tree in my backyard seems to be Ground Zero for this fascinating evolutionary cycle. Scientists have been studying these creatures for centuries.
Although there are many interesting and fun facts about this ancient insect, one thing you might not know is that in 1749, a 17 year old Black man named Benjamin Banneker was among the first to observer and calculate the 17-year life cycle of the remarkable periodical cicada, the longest-living insect on the planet.
Banneker was born a free man in 1731. In the spring of 1749, the billions-strong swarm of cicadas (known today as Brood X) emerged from the ground in rural Maryland, and much to the fascination (and horror) of this young tobacco farmer, Benjamin began to study and document his observations. He originally believed they were a plague of locusts who would devour his farm, but soon realized that they weren’t interested in his crops. Only in each other.
After witnessing that first memorable cicada swarm in 1749, Banneker closely observed three more emergences during his lifetime (1766, 1783 and 1800) and summarized his findings in his handwritten astronomical journal that now resides at the Maryland Center for History and Culture.
In his journal, Banneker concluded his entry on the cicadas by describing the musical cacophony produced by a horde of mating insects:
“I like to forgot to inform, that if their lives are Short they are merry, they begin to Sing or make a noise from the first they come out of Earth till they die, the hindermost part rots off, and it does not appear to be any pain to them for they still continue on Singing till they die.”
Did You Know?
The Power of Protests Works
Recent research into the Black Lives Matter protests reveal two very important points:
They’ve been mostly peaceful.
They work.
#1 Despite media hysteria, research shows that the protests were mostly peaceful.
From a Harvard Radcliffe Institute study on BLM Protests last year:
“...The Black Lives Matter uprisings were remarkably nonviolent. When there was violence, very often police or counterprotesters were reportedly directing it at the protesters...our data suggest that 96.3% of events involved no property damage or police injuries, and in 97.7% of events, no injuries were reported among participants, bystanders or police.These figures should correct the narrative that the protests were overtaken by rioting and vandalism or violence.
Such claims are false. Incidents in which there was protester violence or property destruction should be regarded as exceptional – and not representative of the uprising as a whole.”
#2 Even more important, the protests have been incredibly effective.
From June, 2021 Harper’s Index:
Average percentage by which the rate of police killings in a U.S. city decreases one year after its first Black Lives Matter protest : 14
Five years after its first Black Lives Matter protest : 30
June 2021 • Source: Echelon Insights (Alexandria, Va.)