Coca Cola

Coca-Cola’s original formula included extracts of the African kola nut and coca leaves, both strong stimulants. It was one of those patent medicines sold in the 1800′s that actually contained traces of use “spent coca leaves“.

It also stopped advertising Coca-Cola as a cure for headaches and other ills. Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games began their association in the Summer of 1928.

In Africa, during WWII, when German forces over ran allied bases stocked with Coke, they would strap Coke bottles wrapped in towels to their aircraft wings, fly around for a short time, then land  and enjoy ice cold Coca Cola’s.

When WWII began, the company’s use of sugar in the manufacturing of syrup for civilian consumption was restricted to 50% of its pre-war average due to rationing.

The rationing ended in August, 1947. If all the Coca-Cola ever produced to this point were to gush from “Old Faithful” at its normal rate of 15,000 gallons every hour, the geyser would flow continually for over 1,685 years.

Another way of putting that fact—if the geyser had been continually erupting since 313 A.D., it would just be running out about now.

In Brazil, a local bottler makes 3-day trips up the Amazon River to deliver Coca-Cola to remote locations. The slogan “Good to the Last Drop” was first used by the Coca-Cola Company in 1908. It later became the slogan for Maxwell House coffee.

Cuba and Panama were the first two countries to bottle Coca-Cola outside of the U.S. Coca-Cola trucks travel over 1,000,000 miles a day to supply consumers with soft drinks.

The greater Mexico City bottler produces the greatest volume of any Coca-Cola bottler on the globe. Coca-Cola was first shipped in used whiskey kegs and barrels, but they were painted red to give them a distinctive mark. The color red has been associated with the product ever since.

It took 58 years–until 1944–to sell the first billion gallons of Coca-Cola syrup. Today, that billion gallon mark falls approximately every 7-1/2 months.

Coca-Cola products are now sold in approximately 200 countries and their logo is written in over 80 languages.

Coca-Cola is the world’s most recognizable trademark—recognized by 94% of the world’s population! If all the vending machines in the United States were stacked one ontop another, the pile would be over 450 miles high.

The consumption of Coca-Cola Classic in the U.S. exceeds each of the following: bottled water, juices, powdered drinks, wine and distilled spirits.

There are 7,000 Coca-Cola products consumed worldwide every single second.

More than 5 billion bottles of Coca-Cola were consumed by military personnel during WWII In 1943, an American soldier stationed in Italy received 2 bottles of Coca-Cola sent from home. He raffled them off at 25 cents a shot and made over $4,000 for charity.

In 1886, sales of Coca-Cola averaged 9 drinks a day. That first year, John Pemberton sold only 25 gallons of syrup. For his efforts, he grossed $50.00 and spent $73.96 in advertising.

Diet Coke is known as Coca-Cola Light in most countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. It is the most popular diet cola worldwide.

The first outdoor sign advertising Coca-Cola still exists. It was originally painted in 1894 and is located in Cartersville, Georgia.

By the 1950′s, automobile service stations sold more Coca-Cola than they did motor oil.

In July, 1985, Coca-Cola became the first soft drink to be enjoyed in outer space…on the Space Shuttle Challenger. A special company-developed space-can was used.

Asa Candler, owner of Coca-Cola from 1891-1919, later became mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.

Chicken Pox

What is chickenpox?

Chickenpox (varicella) is a very common childhood infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It is most common in children and is usually mild. When adults get it, however, they can get very sick.

Chickenpox is dangerous for people with immune system problems, such as leukemia, or for people who are taking drugs that weaken the immune system, such as steroids.

What are the symptoms of chickenpox?

Chickenpox begins with a fever, followed in a day or two by a rash that can be very itchy. The rash starts with red spots that soon turn into fluid-filled blisters. Some people have only a few blisters; others can have as many as 500. These blisters dry up and form scabs in 4 or 5 days.

How is it spread?

Chickenpox spreads easily. It is most contagious on the day before the rash appears.

•It spreads from person to person through direct contact with the virus. You can get chickenpox if you touch a blister or the liquid from a blister. You can also get chickenpox if you touch the saliva of a person who has chickenpox. The virus enters the body by the nose or mouth and can make you sick, too.

•It can also be spread to you through the air if you are near someone with chickenpox who is coughing or sneezing.

•A pregnant woman with chickenpox can pass it on to her baby before birth.

•Mothers with chickenpox can also give it to their newborn babies after birth.

The only way to stop the spread of the virus from person to person is to prevent infected people from sharing the same room or house with healthy people, which isn’t a practical solution. Chickenpox cannot be spread through indirect contact.

Is there a vaccine against chickenpox?

Yes. The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommend that all healthy children 12 months of age and older get the chickenpox vaccine.

How can chickenpox be treated?

If your child gets chickenpox, do not give him aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) or any products that contain aspirin. Taking aspirin increases the risk of getting Reye’s syndrome. This severe illness can damage the liver and brain. If you want to control your child’s fever, use acetaminophen (eg, Tylenol, Tempra and Panadol).

Taking good care of the skin and not scratching it may prevent infections that can be caused by bacteria that get into the skin. Your doctor may recommend a medication to help reduce the itch.

Tender Coconut

Coconut water is the juice in the interior or endosperm of young coconut. The water is one of the nature’s most refreshing drinks consumed worldwide for its nutritious and health benefiting properties.

Its juicy water is usually obtained by opening a tender, green, healthy, and undamaged coconut. The liquid is clear, sweet, and sterile and composed of unique chemicals such as sugars, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, enzymes, amino acids, cytokine, and phyto-hormones.

Botanically, coconut plant belongs to the Arecaceae family of palm trees and has scientific name: Cocos nucifera.   Each nut may contain about 200 to 1000 ml of water depending on cultivar type and size.

Any nuts younger than 5 months age tend to be bitter in taste and devoid of nutrients. Whereas, older nuts have less water and their endosperm becomes thicker as white edible meat (kernel).

Coconut water is a very refreshing drink to beat tropical summer thirst. The juice is packed with simple sugar, electrolytes, and minerals to replenish hydration levels in the body.

Research studies suggest that cytokinins (e.g., kinetin and trans-zeatin) in coconut water showed significant anti-ageing, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-thrombotic effects.

Coconut water has been generally offered to patients with diarrhea in many tropic regions to replace fluid loss from the gastrointestinal tract and reduce the need for intravenous therapy.

The osmolarity of tender coconut water is slightly greater than that of WHO recommended ORS (Oral Rehydration Therapy) osmolarity.

Coconut water is composed of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA polymerases etc. Altogether, these enzymes aid in digestion and metabolism.

Despite very light consistency, its water has much better composition of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc than some of fruits like oranges.

Its water is also a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish.

Coconut water contains a very good amount of electrolyte potassium. 100 ml of water has 250 mg of potassium and 105 mg of sodium.

Together, these electrolytes help replenish electrolytes deficiency in the body due to diarrhea (loose stools).   In addition, fresh coconut water has small amount of vitamin-C (ascorbic acid); provides about 2.4 mcg or 4% of RDA. Vitamin C is a water-soluble ant-oxidant.

COW

A cow is a mature female and a bull an adult male of a bovine family. A heifer is a female cow that hasn’t had a calf yet. Cattle is the name for the whole “cow” family.

There are about 920 different breeds of cows in the world. They were domesticated about 5,000 years ago. Cows came to America with the Pilgrims.

Modern domestic cattle are believed to belong to either the species Bos taurus (like Holstein, Brown Swiss, Jersey and Guemsey), or the species Bos indicus which are humped cattle like the Brahman. Some cattle are a cross between those two species.

The smallest type of cow is a breed called Dexter, which was bred a small size for household living. Cows can live 25 years. You can guess the age of a cow that has horns by counting the number of rings on the horns.

Cows have almost total 360 degree panoramic vision and are able to see colors, except red. They can detect odors up to 5 miles away. Cows can hear lower and higher frequencies better than humans.

Per day, a cows spends 6 hours eating and 8 hours chewing cud. A cow doesn’t bite the grass, but she curls her tongue around it. A cow has no upper front teeth.

The average cow drinks about 30 gallons of water and eats about 95 pounds of feed per day.

A cow stands up and sits down about 14 times a day.

The mean gestation period of a cow is between 279 and 290 days. The bond between a cow and her calf is very strong and continues after the calf is fully grown. In non-commercial herds, some cows will nurse their calves for up to 3 years.

A cow weighs about 1400 pounds. A 1000 pound cow produces an average of 10 tons of manure a year.

Cows are very social animals. They form large herds and will bond to some herd members while avoiding others. They “moo” and use different body positions and facial expressions to communicate with each other.

A Holstein’s spots are like a fingerprint. No two cows have exactly the same pattern of spots.

A cow has one stomach containing four digestive compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. The rumen is the largest compartment and acts as a fermentation chamber. The abomasum is last of the four and is comparable in both structure and function to the human stomach.

Cows have cloven hooves. In galloping through boggy places or in deep mud, cattle can run faster than a horse. Their toes spread, and therefore their wide feet do not sink so deep as do those of the solid-hoofed horse.

Turmeric

Turmeric is known as golden spice of India.

The turmeric plants were cultivated by Harappan civilization earlier in the 3000 B.C.

It is basically a tropical plant of ginger family is the rhizome or underground stem, with a rough, segmented skin.

It looks much like ginger and turns things into a lovely orange-yellow shade.

Turmeric is of Zingiberaceae family, Zingiberaceae – A family of tropical monocotyledonous plants of order Musales.

Turmeric is also known as Curcuma longa or curcumin.

The maximum production of Turmeric (90%) is in India.

Sangli is the largest and most important trading centre for turmeric in Asia also in the world. Sangli is the town of Indian State Maharashtra.

There are approximately 30 varieties have been recognized in the type of Curcuma in which turmeric belongs.

‘Alleppey Finger’, ‘Erode and Salem turmeric’, ‘Rajapore’ and ‘Sangli turmeric’, ‘Nizamabad Bulb’ are some popular varieties of India.

Turmeric is a known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic agent.

Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric and have wide range of therapeutic effects. It has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in many ailments as part of Indian traditional medicine – Ayurvedic medicine is a more than 3,000 year old comprehensive medicine system. Curcumin is also an antioxidant that helps to stabilize membranes damaged by inflammation.

It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which helps in stomach problems and other ailments.

Turmeric stimulates digestion, supports the liver, and reduces intestinal permeability.

According to recent research results the component curcumin causes degradation of the human protein p35 which is responsible for removing damaged cells that are likely to become tumors. This effect would – in contrary to the research activities to use it as a treatment for cancer –increase the risk of developing tumors.

Several studies indicate that curcumin slows the development and growth of a number of types of cancer including prostate cancer. Turmeric may also slow the rate at which hormone-responsive prostate cancer becomes resistant to hormonal therapy.

A project is funding to extract and isolate tetrahydrocurcuminoids (THC) from turmeric by the Government of Thailand. THC is colorless compounds that might have antioxidant and skin lightening properties and used to treat skin inflammations, making these compounds useful in cosmetics formulations.

Turmeric has wide range of use in canned beverages, ice-cream, yoghurts, yellow cakes, biscuits, sweets, cake icings, baked products, dairy products, popcorn-colour, cereals, sauces, gelatins, cosmetics, medicinal, ayurvedic medicines etc.

It is commonly used in curries, best-known in Indian and Thai cuisine, also used in many other countries. It is an essential ingredient in curry powder and also used in mustard blends and relishes.

It is used in holy ritual and also used to make kunkuma, a red cosmetic powder.

In India, at the time of wedding, turmeric paste is applied over the bride and grooms body mainly face and arms. The turmeric-based paste is used to beautifying and enrich skin complexion.

The curcumin powder dissolved in alcohol is used for water containing products.

It is popular served as a tea in Okinawa, Japan.

Turmeric is popularly used in cosmetic industry for preparing herbal products. It is also used as a fabric dye, a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring in fabrics as well as for preparing natural hair dye.

Turmeric is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin C and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Iron, Potassium and Manganese.

Ripon Building

Ripon Building is the seat of the Chennai Corporation (Madras Corporation) in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu. This is a fine example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, a combination of three types of architectural styles – Gothic, Ionic and Corinthian.

The Ripon Building is white in colour and is located near the Central station in Chennai. Commissioned in 1913, it was built by Loganatha Mudaliar.

It took 4 years to build at a cost of 750,000. Ripon building was named after Lord Ripon, Governor-General of British India and the Father of local self-government.

Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India laid the foundation on 12 December 1909.   The Municipal Corporation of Madras, after functioning from several other places, settled at Ripon building in 1913, with P.L. Moore as the President of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the inauguration.

Building Information

The building is rectangular and is 85 meters long and 32 metres wide.

The first of its three floors offers about 2,800 square metres of space.

Its central tower is 43 metres tall and has a clock 2.5 metres in diameter.

The walls were constructed with stock bricks, set and plastered with lime mortar.

The roofs are supported with teak wood joists. The original flooring of the ground floor was Cuddapah Slate. This has now been replaced with marble.

One of the main attractions Yof the building is the Westminster Quarter chiming clock. This was installed by Oakes and Co. in 1913. The clock has a mechanical key system, which is wound every day. There are a total of 4 bells, which were cast by Gillet and Johnston in 1913.

Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains.

Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world.

In the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance.

The word also evokes the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. In the ancient Tibetan scriptures, existence of seven such places is mentioned as Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung.

Khembalung is one of several beyuls (“hidden lands” similar to Shangri-La) believed to have been created by Padmasambhava in the 8th century as idylic, sacred places of refuge for Buddhists during times of strife (Reinhard 1978).

The use of the term Shangri-La is frequently cited as a modern reference to Shambhala, a mythical kingdom in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which was sought by Eastern and Western explorers.