Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes
Mayflower Facts and Trivia
- Two ships were originally scheduled to bring the group to America: the Speedwell and the Mayflower. But the Speedwell developed leaks, and the group had to turn back twice, so it was decided to put all the passengers on the Mayflower. The ship finally left England on Sept. 6, 1620.
- There were 102 passengers aboard (three of whom were pregnant women) and a crew of 30. A son, named Oceanus, was born to Elizabeth Hopkins during the voyage.
- The first half of the journey had good winds and weather, but fierce storms developed about mid-voyage. One swept a passenger named John Howland overboard, but he was able to grab on to some ropes and hang on until the crew could rescue him. Howland went on to live a long life and was ancestor to many people, including Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and George Bush, actor Humphrey Bogart and Mormon prophet Joseph Smith.
- Only one person died during the voyage: William Button, a young boy who had come on the ship in the custody of doctor Samuel Fuller.
- After traveling 2,750 miles, at an average speed of 2 mph, and after more than two months at sea, the Mayflower anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor on Nov. 11, 1620.
- The original intent of the group was to settle further south, but the first land they spotted turned out to be Cape Cod. When attempts to go further south proved too dangerous, they opted to stay in the Cape Cod area.
- They technically did not have permission from the King of England to settle in what would be the Massachusetts Colony, so they drew up the “Mayflower Compact” to give themselves authority to establish a government until an official patent could be obtained. The compact is considered the first written declaration of self-government in the New World and a precursor to the U.S. Constitution.
- Of the 102 passengers, only 29 are currently known to have descendants.
Source: Carma Wadley – Deseret News, Nov. 14, 2010
The Spirit of the Y
Spirit of the Y from BYU HD Video on Vimeo.
Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget
Interesting exercise/calculator by the NY Times for figuring out how you would balance the budget: Link
Thanksgiving Daily
Very cool highlights
Sesame Street and Old Spice
Very cool. Worldwide musical collaboration
From the Playing for Change – http://playingforchange.com/ – effort
Does God Exist?
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: ‘I don’t believe that God exists.’
‘Why do you say that?’ asked the customer.
‘Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist.
Tell me, if God exists,would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.’
The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: ‘You know what? Barbers do not exist.’
‘How can you say that?’ asked the surprised barber. ‘I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!’
‘No!’ the customer exclaimed. ‘Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.’
‘ Ah, but barbers DO exist! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.’
‘Exactly!’ affirmed the customer. ‘That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! That’s what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.’
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