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Billy Graham

2011-12-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Billy Graham

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Billy Graham
Billy Graham in 1966.
Born	November 7, 1918 (1918-11-07) (age 93) Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Education	Diploma in Biblical Studies, Florida Bible Institute (Trinity Bible College), 1940 B.A. in Anthropology, Wheaton College, 1943
Occupation	Evangelist
Religion	Evangelical Christian
Spouse	Ruth Graham (m. 1943–2007) (her death)
Children	Franklin, Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth

Ordained	Southern Baptist^[1]
Offices held	President, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Title	Doctor
Signature
Website
BillyGraham.org

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents^[2] dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for the 20th century.^[3] He is a Southern Baptist.^[4]^[5] He rose to celebrity status as his sermons were broadcast on radio and television.
Graham has preached the Gospel in person to more people than any other person in history.^[6] According to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, many to the altar call song "Just As I Am".^[7] As of 2008, Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.^[6]

[hide]

[edit] Early life

He was born November 7, 1918 to William Franklin Graham I (1888–1962) and Morrow Coffey (1892–1981), on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents. In 1933, when Prohibition in the United States ended, Graham's father forced Graham and his sister Katherine to drink beer until they vomited, which created an aversion, in both of them, to alcohol and drugs.^[8] According to the Billy Graham Center, Graham was converted in 1934 at age 16 during a series of revival meetings in Charlotte which were led by evangelist Mordecai Ham.^[9] However, he was turned down for membership in a local youth group because he was "too worldly".^[8] He was persuaded to go see Ham at the urging of one of the employees, Albert McMakin, on the Graham farm.^[10]

Southern Baptist Convention
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Background[show] Christianity Protestantism · Anabaptists General / Strict / Reformed Baptists "Conservative Resurgence"
Baptist theology[show] London Confession, 1689 New Hampshire Confession, 1833 Baptist Faith and Message
Doctrinal distinctives[show] Biblical inerrancy Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of believers Two ordinances Individual soul liberty Separation of church and state Two offices
People[show] List of SBC affiliated people
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After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College (now Bob Jones University), then located in Cleveland, Tennessee, for one semester but found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules.^[8] At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: "At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks.... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily."^[8] In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida) on the site of today's Florida College in Temple Terrace, Florida. In his autobiography he writes that he "received [his] calling on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club," which is immediately in front of today's Sutton Hall at Florida College in Temple Terrace. Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park is today located on the Hillsborough River directly east of the 18th green and across from where Graham often paddled a canoe to a small island in the river, where he would preach to the birds, alligators, and cypress stumps. Graham eventually graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois with a degree in anthropology, in 1943.^[11] It was during his time at Wheaton that Graham decided to accept the Bible as the infallible word of God. Henrietta Mears of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood (Hollywood, California) was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with the issue, which was settled at Forest Home Christian camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of the Big Bear area in Southern California. A memorial there marks the site of Graham's decision.

[edit] Family

On August 13, 1943, Graham married Wheaton classmate Ruth Bell (1920–2007), whose parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China, where her father, L. Nelson Bell, was a general surgeon. He met Ruth at Wheaton: "I saw her walking down the road towards me and I couldn't help but stare at her as she walked. She looked at me and our eyes met and I felt that she was definitely the woman I wanted to marry." Ruth thought that he "wanted to please God more than any man I'd ever met."^[12] They married two months after graduation and later lived in a log cabin designed by Ruth in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Montreat, North Carolina.^[8] Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at the age of 87.
They had five children together: Virginia Leftwich (Gigi) Graham Tchividjian (b. 1945); Anne Graham Lotz (b. 1948; runs AnGeL ministries); Ruth Graham (b. 1950; founder and president of Ruth Graham & Friends); Franklin Graham (b. 1952; administers an international relief organization called Samaritan's Purse and will be his father's successor at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association);^[13] and Nelson "Ned" Graham (b.1958; a pastor who runs East Gates International,^[14] which distributes Christian literature in China). Graham has 19 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. Grandson Tullian Tchividjian is senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
As a guard against even the appearance of wrongdoing Graham had a policy that he would never be alone with a woman, other than his wife Ruth. This has come to be known as the Billy Graham Rule.^[15]

[edit] Ministry

[edit] Beginning

Graham transferred in January 1937 from Bob Jones College to Florida Bible Institute, and then finally to Wheaton College in 1939. Graham attended Wheaton College from 1939 to 1943, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology.^[16] While attending college, he became pastor of the United Gospel Tabernacle and also had other preaching engagements.
Graham served briefly as pastor of the Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois, not far from Wheaton, in 1943-44. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson, pastor of the Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, told Graham that his radio program "Songs in the Night" was about to be canceled for lack of funding. Consulting with the members of his church in Western Springs, Graham decided to take over Johnson's program with financial support from his parishioners. Launching the new radio program on January 2, 1944, still called Songs in the Night, Graham recruited the baritone George Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry. While the radio ministry continued for many years, Graham decided to move on in early 1945, and in 1947, at age 30, he became the youngest person to serve as a sitting college president during his tenure at Northwestern Bible College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Graham served as the president of Northwestern Bible College from 1948 to 1952.^[17]
Initially, Graham intended to become a chaplain in the armed forces, but shortly after applying for a commission contracted mumps. After a period of recuperation in Florida, Graham was hired as the first full time evangelist of the new Youth for Christ International (YFCI) which was co-founded by Torrey Johnson and Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton and Graham traveled throughout both the United States and Europe as an YFCI evangelist. Unlike many evangelists then and now, Graham had little formal theological training; when his friend Chuck Templeton urged him to join him in applying to Princeton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree, Graham declined to apply with Princeton or any other university within the United States as he was already serving as the president of Northwestern Bible College.^[8]^[18]

[edit] Hearst intervention

Graham scheduled a series of revival meetings in Los Angeles in 1949, for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot.^[6] The Los Angeles revival is considered to be the time when Graham became a national religious figure.^[19] Graham's rise to national prominence is partly because of the assistance he received from news mogul William Randolph Hearst, whose interest in Graham was that he respected Graham for being his own person and following what he believed, though the two never met.^[20] Most observers believe that Hearst appreciated Graham's patriotism and appeals to youth and thought that Graham would be helpful in promoting Hearst's conservative anti-communist views.^[20]^[21] Hearst sent a telegram to his newspaper editors reading "Puff Graham" during Billy Graham's late 1949 Los Angeles crusade.^[8]^[22]
The increased media exposure from Hearst's newspaper chain and national magazines^[20] caused the crusade event to run for eight weeks—five weeks longer than planned. Henry Luce put him on the cover of TIME in 1954. At the Los Angeles revival, a fellow evangelist accused Graham of setting religion back 100 years. Graham replied, "I did indeed want to set religion back, not just 100 years but 1,900 years, to the Book of Acts, when first century followers of Christ were accused of turning the Roman Empire upside down."^[10]

[edit] Crusades

Billy Graham has conducted many evangelistic crusades since 1948. He began this form of ministry in 1947 and continued until recently. He would rent a large venue, such as a stadium, park, or street. He arranged a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir and then preached the gospel and invited people to come forward (a practice begun by Dwight L. Moody). These people, called inquirers, were then given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with a counselor who clarified any questions the inquirer may have had and would pray with that person. The inquirers were often given resources, such as a copy of the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. In Moscow in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in his audience came forward upon his request.^[8]
Graham was offered a five-year, $5 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he turned it down in favor of continuing his touring revivals because of his pre-arranged commitments.^[12] Graham had missions in London, which lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City mission in Madison Square Garden, in 1957, which ran nightly for 16 weeks. In 1959, he led his first crusade, which was in London.

[edit] Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

In 1950, Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with its headquarters in Minneapolis. The association later relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. BGEA Ministries have included:

Hour of Decision, a weekly radio program broadcast around the world for more than 50 years
Mission television specials that have been regularly broadcast in prime time in almost every market in the U.S. and Canada
A syndicated newspaper column, My Answer, carried by newspapers across the United States and distributed by Tribune Media Services
Decision magazine, the official publication of the Association
Christianity Today was started in 1956 with Carl F. H. Henry as its first editor
Passageway.org, the website for a children's program created by BGEA
World Wide Pictures, which has produced and distributed more than 130 films

[edit] Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Segregation

Graham's stance on civil rights and segregation was inconsistent in his early years. Like many white public figures, he had shown no concern for segregation until the civil rights movement began to take off in the early 1950s, and many of his early crusades were segregated. In response to the civil rights movement, he "zig-zagged" for some years - refusing to speak to some segregated auditoriums, while speaking to others. His memoirs say that in 1953 he dramatically tore down the ropes that organizers had erected to separate the audience. But he later retreated on the issue in Dallas, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina. Prior to Brown v. Board of Education, Graham assured audiences that the Bible had nothing to say about segregation. Subsequently, he emerged as an opponent of segregation and racism, reminding audiences of Christianity's pact with the marginalised and oppressed. (Michael G Long, ed., The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America's Greatest Evangelist, Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008, pp. 150–1) He also got in a fight with a southern KKK member about why integration of blacks into the Southern society was important.^[10]^[23] Graham said, "There is no scriptural basis for segregation… The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross."^[10] Graham paid bail money to secure the release of Martin Luther King, Jr. from jail during the 1960s civil rights movement; he invited King to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City in 1957.^[23] During that 16-week stint, Graham was heard by 2.3 million listeners, who gathered to hear him at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and Times Square.^[6] However, due to his anxieties about addressing the politics of racism and being seen to publicly cooperate with the civil rights leader, he never invited King to appear with him again. (Michael G Long, ed., The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America's Greatest Evangelist, Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008, p. 150)

[edit] Later years

Graham with his son, Franklin, at Cleveland Stadium, June 1994

Graham's visibility and popularity extended into the secular world. He created his own pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair.^[24] He appeared as a guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special, where he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters.^[25] During the Cold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace.^[26] During the Apartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed attending audiences to sit desegregated. His first crusade there was in 1973, during which he openly denounced apartheid.

Billy Graham at the Feyenoord-stadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (30 June 1955)

In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings in the United Kingdom, called Mission England, using outdoor football grounds as venues.
Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists from around the world; with the largest representations of nations ever held until that time. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
At one revival in Seoul, South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service.^[12] He appeared in China in 1988—for Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992.^[10]
On September 22, 1991 Graham held the largest event he ever led in North America on The Great Lawn of New York City's Central Park. City officials estimated over 250,000 in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke at TED (conference) to a crowd of scientists and philosophers.
On September 14, 2001, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Graham led a prayer and remembrance service at Washington National Cathedral, which was attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.^[10] On June 24–26, 2005, Billy Graham began what he has said would be his last North American crusade, three days at the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City. But on the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Billy Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son, Franklin Graham. The festival was held in New Orleans, which was recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Graham said that his planned retirement was because of his failing health. He has suffered from Parkinson's disease for about 15 years, has had hydrocephalus, pneumonia, broken hips, and prostate cancer. In August 2005, a frail Graham appeared at the groundbreaking for his library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then 86, Reverend Graham used a walker to assist with mobility during the ceremony. On July 9, 2006, Graham spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival, held in Baltimore, Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
There had been controversy over where the burial place would be until a press release on June 13, 2007, saying that he and his wife would be buried alongside each other at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham's younger son Ned had argued with older son Franklin about whether burial at a library would be appropriate. Ruth Graham had said that she wanted to be buried not in Charlotte but in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice.^[27] Novelist Patricia Cornwell, a family friend, also opposed burial at the library, calling it a tourist attraction. Franklin wanted his parents to be buried at the library site.^[27] At the time of Ruth Graham's death, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site.
On August 18, 2007, Graham, 88, was in fair condition in Mission Health & Hospitals of Asheville after undergoing treatment for intestinal bleeding, but his condition was not life-threatening.^[28]
In April, 2010, Graham, at 91 and with substantial vision and hearing loss,^[29] made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovated Billy Graham Library. Graham's grandson, Will Graham told reporters that his grandfather has "got a lot more energy and he's talking about preaching one more time,"^[30] stating that it would probably be a televised event rather than a stadium crusade.^[30]
Billy Graham has preached Christianity to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission. Graham has also reached hundreds of millions more through television, video, film, and webcasts.^[31]
On May 11, 2011, Billy Graham was admitted to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, for treatment of pneumonia.^[32]^[33] He was released May 15, 2011, and returned home. Doctors said his response to treatment was excellent. ^[34] According to his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, in an interview aired on NPR on October 10, 2011, Billy Graham was recently placed on oxygen therapy.^[35]

[edit] Politics

Politically, Graham is a registered member of the Democratic Party.^[36] He leaned Republican during the presidency of Richard Nixon.^[20] He did not completely ally himself with the religious right, saying that Jesus did not have a political party.^[8] He did not openly endorse political candidates, but he gave his support to some over the years.^[20]
He refused to join Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in 1979, saying: "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future."^[10]
According to a 2006 Newsweek interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel.... When Newsweek asked Graham whether ministers—whether they think of themselves as evangelists, pastors or a bit of both—should spend time engaged with politics, he replied: 'You know, I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I'm sure, but I think you have some—like communism, or segregation, on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out.'".^[37]

[edit] Pastor to presidents

President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan greet Graham at the National Prayer Breakfast of 1981

Graham has had a personal audience with many sitting US Presidents from Harry S Truman to Barack Obama. He visited in the Oval Office with Truman in 1950, urging him to counter communism in North Korea. However, Graham and his accompanying friends were not aware of Washington protocol; they appeased the press corps waiting outside with details of the visit, with the three pastors even acquiescing to the calls of the press to kneel on the White House lawn, as if praying.^[20] Truman allegedly commented about Graham in Merle Miller's oral biography Plain Speaking:

But now we've got just this one evangelist, this Billy Graham, and he's gone off the beam. He's...well, I hadn’t ought to say this, but he’s one of those counterfeits I was telling you about. He claims he's a friend of all the Presidents, but he was never a friend of mine when I was President. I just don’t go for people like that. All he's interested in is getting his name in the paper.^[38]

Truman did not speak to Graham for years after their meeting.^[8]^[20] Graham has often told the story, usually as a warning that he would not reveal his conversations with world leaders.^[20]
Graham became a regular in the Oval Office during the tenure of Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom he urged to intervene with federal troops in the case of the Little Rock Nine,^[8] and it was at that time, on a Washington golf course, that he met and became close friends with Vice President Richard Nixon.^[20] Graham was invited by Eisenhower to visit with him when the former president was on his deathbed.^[39] Graham also counseled Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and the Bush family.^[19]
The single notable exception among modern presidents is John F. Kennedy, with whom Graham played golf, but Kennedy was Roman Catholic;^[40] Graham enjoyed a friendship with Nixon and prominently supported him over Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.^[8] Nixon wrote to Graham after that election: "I have often told friends that when you went into the ministry, politics lost one of its potentially greatest practitioners."^[8] Graham spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the White House, and he stayed for the first night of Nixon's.^[39]

Billy Graham meeting with President Barack Obama in Montreat, 2010

After Nixon's victorious 1968 presidential campaign, Graham was an adviser, visiting the White House and leading some of the private church services that the President organized there.^[20] Nixon offered Graham the ambassadorship to Israel in a meeting they had with Golda Meir, but Graham turned down Nixon's offer.^[8] Nixon appeared at one of Graham's revivals in East Tennessee in 1970; the event drew one of the largest crowds to ever gather in Tennessee.^[20] Nixon became the first President to give a speech from an evangelist's platform.^[20] However, their friendship became strained when Graham rebuked Nixon for his post-Watergate behavior and the profanity heard on the Watergate tapes; they eventually reconciled after Nixon's resignation.^[20] Graham announced at that time, "I'm out of politics."^[10]
After a special law was passed on his behalf, Graham was allowed to conduct the first religious service on the steps of the Capitol building in 1952.^[8] When Graham was hospitalized briefly in 1976, three Presidents called in one day to wish him well: former President Nixon, current President Ford and President-elect Carter.^[39]
He was one of Reagan's personal guests at his inauguration and gave the benediction at George H. W. Bush's inauguration.^[39] He stayed at the White House the night before George H. W. Bush (who called Graham "America's pastor") launched the Persian Gulf War.^[19] Two days before the 2000 presidential election, Graham spoke at a prayer breakfast in Florida with George W. Bush in attendance. At a New York revival in 2005, Bill Clinton recalled how he had attended Graham's revival as a boy in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1959.^[10]^[41]

1966

Graham has officiated at one presidential burial and one presidential funeral. He presided over the graveside services of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973 and took part in eulogizing the former president. Graham officiated at the funeral service of former First Lady Pat Nixon in 1993^[8] and the funeral of Richard Nixon in 1994. He was unable to officiate at the state funeral of Ronald Reagan on June 11, 2004, because of recent double hip replacement surgery, which former President George H. W. Bush acknowledged during his eulogy. Graham had been Reagan's first choice. Because of Graham's hospitalization, the Reverend John Danforth, a Missouri Republican Senator during Reagan's tenure, and an ordained Episcopal priest, officiated at the funeral. Failing health prevented Graham from officiating at the state funeral of Gerald R. Ford on January 2, 2007, as well as the funeral of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in July 2007.
On April 25, 2010, President Barack Obama visited Rev. Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina where they “had a private prayer.”^[42]
As with other presidents in the past, Graham met with former President George W. Bush during December 2010, for a tour of his library.^[43]^[44]

[edit] Foreign policy views

Graham has been outspoken against communism and supportive of U.S. Cold War policy, including the Vietnam War. However, in a 1999 speech, Graham discussed his relationship with the late North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung, praising him as a "different kind of communist" and "one of the great fighters for freedom in his country against the Japanese." Graham went on to note that although he had never met Kim's son and current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, he had "exchanged gifts with him."^[45] Graham has given a globe surmounted with doves to the North Korean Friendship Museum.
During a March 12, 1991, CBS broadcast of Billy Graham's Long Island, New York crusade, Graham said in reference to the Persian Gulf War, "As our President, President Bush, has said, it is not the people of Iraq we are at war with. It is some of the people in that regime. Pray for peace in the Middle East, a just peace."^[46] Graham had earlier said that "there come times when we have to fight for peace." He went on to say that out of the war in the Gulf may "come a new peace and, as suggested by the President, a new world order."^[47]

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Discussion of Jews with Nixon

In 2002, declassified "Richard Nixon tapes" confirmed remarks made by Graham to President Nixon three decades earlier. Captured on the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with Nixon.^[48] His remarks were characterized as anti-Semitic by Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League^[23] and evangelical author Richard Land.^[49] When the tapes became public, Graham apologized.^[50]^[51] According to Newsweek magazine, "[T]he shock of the revelation was magnified because of Graham's longtime support of Israel and his refusal to join in calls for conversion of the Jews."^[51]
In 2009, more tapes were released, in which Graham is heard in conversation with Nixon referring to Jews and "the synagogue of Satan." A spokesman for Graham said that Graham has never been an anti-Semite and that the comparison (in accord with the context of the quotation in the Book of Revelation) was directed specifically at those claiming to be Jews, but not observing Jewish law.^[52]

[edit] Awards and honors

Graham has frequently been honored by surveys, including "Greatest Living American" and has consistently ranked among the most admired persons in the United States and the world.^[12] Between 1950 and 1990, he appeared most frequently on Gallup's list of most admired people. The United States Postal Service has said that Graham is one of the few Americans, along with the current President, who can be delivered mail that simply reads his name and the country: "Billy Graham, America."^[53]
In 1967, he was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school.^[54]
In 1971, Graham received an award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. After the Nixon tapes were released, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League called for Graham to return the award. He was honored by the American Jewish Committee with its National Interreligious Award for his efforts on behalf of Jewish-Christian relations; the committee called him one of the century's greatest Christian friends of Jews.^[23] In the same year, Graham's hometown of Charlotte held "Billy Graham Day" at which President Nixon made an appearance.^[20]
He has received the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Reagan, America's highest civilian honors.^[53]
In 1986, Graham was given North Carolina's highest honor, the North Carolina Award, for public service.^[55]
President Bill Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole awarded Graham the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in 1996.^[56]
On May 30, 1999, Graham was invited to give the pre-race invocation at the Indianapolis 500.^[57]
In December 2001, he was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contributions to civic and religious life over 60 years.
On May 31, 2007, the $27 million Billy Graham Library was officially dedicated in Charlotte. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton appeared to celebrate with Graham.^[58]^[59] A highway in Charlotte bears Graham's name,^[27] as does I-240 near Graham's home in Asheville.
For providing a platform during his events for many Christian musical artists, Graham was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Gospel Music Association. Several songs by various artists have dedicated songs to or about Graham during his lifetime.^[60] Singer Michael W. Smith is active in Billy Graham Crusades as well as Samaritan's Purse.^[61]
In 2000, former First Lady Nancy Reagan presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to Graham. Graham has been a friend of the Reagans for years.^[62]
Graham received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children. He has been cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He has received the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion and the Sylvanus Thayer Award for his commitment to "Duty, Honor, Country". The "Billy Graham Children's Health Center" in Asheville is named after and funded by Graham.^[56]
A professorial chair is named after him at the Alabama Baptist-affiliated Samford University, the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth.^[23] His alma mater Wheaton College has an archive of his papers at the Billy Graham Center.^[6] The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. Graham has received 20 honorary degrees and refused at least that many more.^[12] In San Francisco, CA, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, has often erroneously been called the Billy Graham Civic Auditorium and falsely considered to be named in his honor, but is actually named after the rock & roll promoter Bill Graham.
The movie Billy: The Early Years premiered in theaters officially on October 10, 2008, less than one month before Graham's 90th birthday.^[63] Graham has yet to comment on the film, but his son, Franklin released a critical statement on August 18, 2008, noting that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association "has not collaborated with nor does it endorse the movie."^[64] Graham's eldest daughter Gigi, however, has praised the movie and has also been hired as a consultant to help promote the film.^[65]
In 2011, Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.^[66]

[edit] Books authored

Graham has authored the following books:^[67]

Calling Youth to Christ (1947)
America's Hour of Decision (1951)
I Saw Your Sons at War (1953)
Peace with God (1953, 1984)
Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins (1955)
The Secret of Happiness (1955, 1985)
Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers (1958)
My Answer (1960)
Billy Graham Answers Your Questions (1960)
World Aflame (1965)
The Challenge (1969)
The Jesus Generation (1971)
Angels: God's Secret Agents (1975, 1985)
How to Be Born Again (1977)

The Holy Spirit (1978)
Till Armageddon (1981)
Approaching Hoofbeats (1983)
A Biblical Standard for Evangelists (1984)
Unto the Hills (1986)
Facing Death and the Life After (1987)
Answers to Life's Problems (1988)
Hope for the Troubled Heart (1991)
Storm Warning (1992)
Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (1997, 2007)
Hope for Each Day (2002)
The Key to Personal Peace (2003)
Living in God's Love: The New York Crusade (2005)
The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World (2006)
Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well (2011)

[edit] Notes

^ "Indepth: Billy Graham". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/graham_billy/. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
^ "The Transition; Billy Graham to lead Prayers". The New York Times. December 9, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D61E3AF93AA35751C1A964958260. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
^ [1] Gallup.com list of admired people for the 20th century
^ Individuals cannot be members of the SBC. The SBC is a convention of churches. Individuals can be members of Southern Baptist churches and can consider themselves to be Southern Baptists but cannot be members of the Convention.
^ "Billy Graham joins FBC Spartanburg". Baptist Press. 2008-12-29. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=29579&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed1229. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "BILLY GRAHAM: A MAN WITH A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.(SPECIAL SECTION)". Cincinnati Post. June 27, 2002. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-87912863.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ [2] The Independent UK
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Nancy Gibbs & Richard N. Ostling, God's Billy Pulpit, Time, November 15, 1993. [accessdate 2011-11-07]
^ "Who led Billy Graham to Christ and the elder gods". Wheaton.edu. http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/faq/13.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Billy Graham: an appreciation: wherever one travels around the world, the names of three Baptists are immediately known and appreciated--Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, Jr. One is a politician, one an evangelist, and the other was a civil rights leader. All of them have given Baptists and the Christian faith a good reputation. (Biography)". Baptist History and Heritage. June 22, 2006. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-87912863.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Sociology and Anthropology Department – wheaton.edu
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Billy Graham: the world is his pulpit". Highbeam.com. 1986-03-01. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-4151300.html. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ "Samaritan's Purse". Samaritanspurse.org. http://www.samaritanspurse.org/. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ "East Gates International". Eastgates.org. http://www.eastgates.org/awordfrombg.html. Retrieved 2011-05-12. ^{[dead link]}
^ Olasky, Marvin (2006). Salt, not sugar: twenty years of WORLD-class reporting. WORLD. p. 78.
^ "Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association - Historical Background". Wheaton.edu. http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/bio.html. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=NvTR05fodqYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false "Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith".
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=NvTR05fodqYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false "Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith".
^ ^a ^b ^c The 2010 TIME 100 Time, Billy Graham, June 14, 1999.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "When worlds collide: politics, religion, and media at the 1970 East Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade. (appearance by President Richard M. Nixon)". Journal of Church and State. March 22, 1997. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19592304.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ "In 1949, for example, William Randolph Hearst, head of one large publishing empire, and Henry Luce, chief of another, Time, Inc., were both worried about communism and the growth of liberalism in the United States." "Billy Graham, an obscure evangelist holding poorly attended tent meetings in Los Angeles. (…) Hearst and Luce interviewed the obscure preacher and decided he was worthy of their support. Billy Graham became an almost instantaneous national and, later, international figure preaching anticommunism. In late 1949, Hearst sent a telegram to all Hearst editors: "Puff Graham." The editors did – in Hearst newspapers, magazines, movies, and newsreels. Within two months Graham was preaching to crowds of 350,000." (from Ben Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Boston, Mass USA: Beacon Press, 2000 6th ed., p. 39 ff)
^ [3]^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Billy Graham Responds to Lingering Anger Over 1972 Remarks on Jews, New York Times, 17 March 2002
^ ""Man in the 5th Dimension," In 70mm News / The 70mm Newsletter". In70mm.com. 2005-03-06. http://www.in70mm.com/news/2005/5th_dimension/chapters/credits.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ Foster Hirsch (200). Love, Sex, Death & The Meaning of Life: The Films of Woody Allen. Da Capo Press. p. 52. ISBN 0306810174. http://books.google.com/?id=xS9f-DI5ag4C&pg=PA52&dq=billy+graham+woody+allen&cd=9#v=onepage&q=billy%20graham%20woody%20allen.
^ Duffy, Michael and Gibbs, Nancy. TIME. Billy Graham: A Spiritual Gift to All, 2007-31-05. Retrieved on 2007-24-11.
^ ^a ^b ^c "A Family at Cross-Purposes". Washington Post. December 13, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121201338.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ ABC12.com, Evangelist Billy Graham hospitalized, 19 August 2007
^ Tim Funk, "Lion in Winter: Billy Graham, Hearing and Sight Failing, Pays a Visit" Charlotte Observer, April 2010.
^ ^a ^b Billy Graham Gets Glimpse Of Renovated Library WSOCTV, April 20, 2010.
^ Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Billy Graham Bio
^ "Billy Graham hospitalized with pneumonia". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42996142/ns/us_news-life/. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ "Billy Graham hospitalized for pneumonia". CNN.com. 2010-04-21. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/11/billy.graham.hospitalized/index.html?hpt=T2. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ "Billy Graham released from hospital after being treated for pneumonia". thestar.com. 2011-05-15. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/991775--billy-graham-released-from-hospital-after-being-treated-for-pneumonia.
^ "Taking The Reins Of Billy Graham's Legacy". NPR.org. 2011-10-10. http://www.npr.org/2011/10/10/141215977/billy-grahams-daughter-takes-the-reins-of-his-legacy.
^ "Rev. Billy Graham on his lasting legacy". Today Show. June 23, 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8326362/. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
^ "Pilgrim's Progress, page 4". Newsweek. August 14, 2006. http://www.newsweek.com/id/46365/page/4. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
^ Miller, Merle (1974) Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman. New York: Putnam. p. 363.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The President Preacher; In Crisis, White House Turns to Billy Graham". The Washington Post. January 18, 1991. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1044879.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ "The Essence of Billy Graham; A Warm but Honest Biography of the Evangelist". The Washington Post. October 25, 1991. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1091805.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Ross Douthat, God and Politics, New York Times, April 16, 2009
^ Baker, Peter (April 25, 2010). "Obama Visits the Rev. Billy Graham". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/obama-visits-the-rev-billy-graham/. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
^ [4]^{[dead link]}
^ [5]^{[dead link]}
^ Preacher power: America's God squad Independent Article, Preacher power: America's God squad, 25 July 2007
^ "Quotation of section". Procinwarn.com. http://procinwarn.com/billy.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ [given source: March 1991 CIB Bulletin]
^ Graham regrets Jewish slur BBC, Graham Regrets Jewish Slur, 2 March 2002
^ "Christian Post". Christian Post. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090625/confronting-graham-s-demons/index.html. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
^ Graham Apology Not Enough Eric J Greenberg, United Jewish Communities
^ ^a ^b "Pilgrim's Progress, page 5". Newsweek. August 14, 2006. http://www.newsweek.com/id/46365/page/5. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
^ Cathy Lynn Grossman (June 24, 2009). "In Nixon tapes, Billy Graham refers to 'synagogue of Satan'". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-06-24-graham-tapes_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "The Billy pulpit: Graham's career in the mainline". Christian Century. November 15, 2003. p. 2. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/07/The-Billy-Pulpit.aspx. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Friedman, Corey (October 10, 2009). Former Belmont Abbey College president dies at 85. Gaston Gazette. http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/belmont-38887-president-abbey.html
^ "A Man in Full; even those familiar with Billy Graham’s life, exhibit may offer revelations". News and Record, Piedmont Triad, North Carolina. June 3, 2001. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80571622.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ ^a ^b "Billy and Ruth Graham awarded Congressional Gold Medal for service.". Knight-Ridder News Service. May 2, 1996. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18252882.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ "IRL: Indy 500 - Billy Graham to give Race Day Invocation". motorsport.com. http://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/irl-indy-500-billy-graham-to-give-race-day-invocation/. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
^ [6]^{[dead link]}
^ 3 Ex-Presidents Open Graham Library. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3231108
^ Song about Billy Graham. VE Clip. http://veclip.com/tag/song-about-billy-graham.html
^ "Biography". Michael W Smith. http://www.michaelwsmith.com/bio.html
^ "The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. http://web.archive.org/web/20061016075344/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs/cpa/awards.asp. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
^ The Christian Post, Billy Graham Movie Prepares for Oct. 10 Release, June 29 , 2008.
^ BGEA Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, A response from Franklin Graham, August 18, 2008
^ The Christian Post, Franklin Graham Among 'Billy' Movie Critics, August 26, 2008
^ "Northwestern celebrates Billy Graham Community Life Commons Grand Opening - Northwestern College". Nwc.edu. http://www.nwc.edu/web/10141/1611. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
^ Graham, Billy. Just As I Am. New York: Harper Collins Worldwide, 1997. Copyright 1997 by the Billy Graham Evangelist Association.

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Let's Learn About Oprah Winfrey's Early Life

2011-05-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

Winfrey was originally named "Orpah" after the Biblical character in the Book of Ruth, but her family and friends "didn't know how to pronounce it", and called her "Oprah" instead.[17]

Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi to an unmarried teenage mother. She later said that her conception was due to a single sexual encounter and the couple broke up not long after.[18] Her mother, Vernita Lee (born c. 1935) was a housemaid. Winfrey had believed that her biological father was Vernon Winfrey (born 1933), a coal miner turned barber turned city councilman who had been in the Armed Forces when she was born. Decades later, Mississippi farmer and World War II veteran Noah Robinson Sr. (born c. 1925) claimed to be her biological father.[19]

A genetic test in 2006 determined that her maternal line originated among the Kpelle ethnic group, in the area that today is Liberia. Her genetic make up was determined to be 89 percent Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American, and 3% East Asian; however, the East Asian markers may, due to the imprecisions of genetic testing, actually be Native American ones.[20]

After her birth, Winfrey's mother traveled north and Winfrey spent her first six years living in rural poverty with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee (April 15, 1900 - February 27, 1963), who was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which the local children made fun of her.[21] Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. When Winfrey was a child, her grandmother would hit her with a switch when she didn't do chores or if she misbehaved in any way.[citation needed]

At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been, due in large part to the long hours Vernita Lee worked as a maid.[22] Around the time Winfrey moved in, Lee had given birth to another daughter, Winfrey's younger half-sister, Patricia[23] who later (on February 2003, at age 43) died of causes related to cocaine addiction.[24] By 1962, Lee was having difficulty raising both daughters so Winfrey was temporarily sent to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee.[25] While Winfrey was in Nashville, Lee gave birth to a third daughter.[26] Lee gave this daughter, later also named Patricia, up for adoption in the hope of easing the financial straits that had led to Lee's being on Welfare.[27] Winfrey did not learn she had a second half-sister until 2010.[27] By the time Winfrey moved back in with Lee, Lee had also given birth to a boy named Jeffrey, Winfrey's half-brother, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1989.[24]

Winfrey has stated she was molested by her cousin, her uncle, and a family friend, starting when she was nine years old, something she first claimed to her viewers on a 1986 episode of her TV show, when sexual abuse was being discussed.[28][29] When Winfrey discussed the alleged abuse with family members at age 24, they refused to accept what she said[30] Winfrey once commented that she had chosen not to be a mother because she had not been mothered well.[31]

At 13, after suffering years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home.[32] When she was 14, she became pregnant, her son dying shortly after birth.[33] She later said she felt betrayed by the family member who had sold the story to the National Enquirer in 1990.[34] She began high school at Lincoln High School; but after early success in the Upward Bound program was transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School, where she says her poverty was constantly rubbed in her face as she rode the bus to school with fellow African-Americans, some of whom were servants of her classmates' families. She began to steal money from her mother in an effort to keep up with her free-spending peers, to lie to and argue with her mother, and to go out with older boys.[35]

Her frustrated mother once again sent her to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee though this time she did not take her back. Vernon was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.[citation needed] She won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. Her first job as a teenager was working at a local grocery store.[36] At age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.[37] She also attracted the attention of the local black radio station, WVOL, which hired her to do the news part-time.[28] She worked there during her senior year of high school, and again while in her first two years of college.

Winfrey's career choice in media would not have surprised her grandmother, who once said that ever since Winfrey could talk, she was on stage. As a child she played games interviewing her corncob doll and the crows on the fence of her family's property. Winfrey later acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".[38] Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news. She was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars there as well.[39]

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

Amazon.com -- Oprah

Let's Learn How Osama bin Laden Body Was Identified

2011-05-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

Immediately following the raid, the body believed to be bin Laden's was taken to Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

ABC News, the Associated Press and The New York Times have reported that bin Laden's body was identified by DNA testing, using tissue and blood samples taken from his sister who died of brain cancer. Reuters reported, however, that DNA test results will be available in the next few days and that bin Laden's body was identified using facial recognition techniques. One of bin Laden's wives identified the body. ABC News stated, "Two samples were taken from bin Laden: one of these DNA samples was analyzed, and information was sent electronically back to Washington, D.C., from Bagram. Someone else from Afghanistan is physically bringing back a sample."

A wife of bin Laden also apparently called him by name during the raid, inadvertently assisting in his identification by U.S. armed forces on the ground.

According to ABC News, additional identification methods included measurement of the body, both the corpse and bin Laden were 6'4" (1.93 meters) tall; facial recognition software (a photograph transmitted by the SEALs to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. yielded a 90 to 95 percent likely match), and two women from the compound identifying bin Laden's body after death.

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Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden

Let's Learn About the History of the Bunsen Burner

2011-03-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

When the University of Heidelberg hired Robert Bunsen in 1852, the authorities promised to build him a new laboratory building. Heidelberg had just begun to install coal-gas street lighting, so the new laboratory building was also supplied with gas. The laboratory required heating from the gas as well as illumination. For heating, it was desirable to maximize the temperature and minimize the luminosity. Previous laboratory lamps left much to be desired regarding economy and simplicity, as well as the quality of the flame for a burner lamp.

While his building was still under construction late in 1854, Bunsen suggested certain design principles to the university’s mechanic, Peter Desaga, and asked him to construct a prototype. (Similar principles had been used in an earlier burner design by Michael Faraday as well as in a device patented in 1856 by the gas engineer R W Elsner.) The Bunsen/Desaga design succeeded in generating a hot, sootless, non-luminous flame by mixing the gas with air in a controlled fashion before combustion. Desaga created slits for air at the bottom of the first cylindrical burner, the flame igniting at the top. By the time the building opened early in 1855, Desaga had made fifty of the burners for Bunsen's students. Bunsen published a description two years later, and many of his colleagues soon adopted the design. Bunsen burners are now used in laboratories all around the world.

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Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunsen_burner

Let's Learn About Alain Robert's Building Climbing Adventures

2011-03-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Robert's urban climbing career has been characterized by an ever-expanding list of famous landmarks which includes the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, as well as the world's tallest skyscrapers. In the 1990s, as his exploits brought him worldwide media exposure, speculation began as to whether or not he would attempt the tallest building in the world at the time: the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although Malaysian authorities were expecting his attempt, they were still astonished when one day in 1997 he suddenly appeared several floors up on the side of the tower. He was eventually arrested at the 60th floor, 28 floors below the top. While scaling the Sears Tower, now called Willis Tower, in Chicago in 1999, he encountered the most challenging climbing conditions in his career. Near the top of the 108-story building, a thick fog set in that covered the glass and metal wall of the last 20 floors with moisture, making it dangerously slippery. He overcame the difficulties and reached the top. Alain Robert was the second man to scale the Sears Tower. In 1981, Dan Goodwin, using suction cups, battled building security guards and the Chicago Fire Department for seven hours before successfully completing the climb.

In June 1999 Robert also climbed the 170-metre (558 ft) Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, Poland.

In 2000, Robert climbed the 23-metre (75 ft) high Luxor Obelisk in Place de la Concorde, France.

In February 2003, he legally climbed the 200-metre (656 ft) National Bank of Abu Dhabi, UAE, watched by about 100,000 spectators. It became more frequent for Robert to be paid to scale buildings as part of publicity efforts. In May 2003, he was paid approximately $18,000 to climb the 95-metre (312 ft) Lloyd's of London to promote the premiere of the movie Spider-Man on the British television channel Sky Movies. On 19 October 2004, he scaled the 187-metre (614 ft) headquarters of the French oil company Total while wearing a Spider-Man costume.

Robert scaled Taipei 101 on 25 December 2004, a few days before its grand opening as the tallest building in the world. The 508-metre (1,667 ft) climb was legal, part of the week's festivities. The skyscraper's outwardly slanting sides posed no apparent difficulty for him, but heavy rain resulted in a climb lasting four hours—double his estimate.

On 11 June 2005 he climbed the Cheung Kong Centre in Hong Kong, scaling 283 metres (928 ft) to reach the top of the 62-story tower.

On 1 September 2006, he climbed the tallest building in Lithuania and the Baltic States – Europa Tower, 148 metres (486 ft), in Vilnius. Wearing a black suit and using a safety rope, which he detached several times, he reached the observation deck of the building, 114 metres (374 ft), in 40 minutes. In 2006 he also climbed Torre Vasco da Gama in Portugal as part of an advertisement for Optimus, a national mobile operator. He finished the year climbing the Santa Fe World Plaza in Mexico City on 7 December 2006. On 23 February 2007, he legally climbed the headquarters building of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) on the coast of Abu Dhabi.

On 20 March 2007, he again climbed the Petronas Twin Towers, marking the tenth anniversary of his previous ascent of this building. Upon reaching the 60th floor, he allowed himself to be apprehended. He flew the Malaysian flag and drew applause from waiting police, fire crew, and media representatives before handing himself in. He was handcuffed and escorted off the premises before being driven to a police station.

On 31 May 2007, he scaled the 88-story Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, China's then tallest skyscraper, once again wearing a Spider-Man costume. He was later arrested and jailed for five days before being expelled from China. In November 2007, Robert was invited by the local government of Zhangjiajie, a scenic region in the southern province of Hunan, to climb the 1,518-metre (4,980 ft) Tianmen mountain to boost the profile of the region and bring in tourists.

On 4 September 2007, he climbed the 244-metre (801 ft) Federation Tower office building in Moscow, (Russia's tallest skyscraper). Detained by police, he could face a fine for violating safety norms at a construction site.

On 18 December 2007, he climbed the 29-story Portland House office building in London (Westminster's tallest building). It took him just over 40 minutes. Police taped off the area and later arrested him for criminal damage and wasting police time.

On 15 April 2008, he climbed the 60-story Four Seasons Place in Hong Kong. The police and four fire engines were standing by and it took him almost 1 hour to reach the top. Robert encountered difficulty at the top when he found that the last 5-metre (16 ft) were impossible to climb. He had to climb sideways until he reached a corner and managed with difficulty to reach the top. He almost fell when a woman on the other side of the glass screamed and almost fainted. Witnesses said that he was detained upon completing the climb. He stated that his climb was intended to increase awareness of global warming.

On 5 June 2008, he climbed the New York Times Building in New York. He unfurled a banner with a slogan about global warming and was then arrested by police on the roof. The banner read "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week."

On 17 February 2009, he once again climbed the Cheung Kong Centre in Hong Kong, taking 40 minutes to reach the top of the 62-story tower. "He unfurled a banner reading "onehundredmonths.org" near the base of the tower before climbing."

On 2 April 2009, during the 2009 G-20 London summit he climbed to the 9th floor of the Lloyd's building and unfurled a 100-foot banner declaring that there were 100 months left to save the planet.

On 2 June 2009, he climbed to the 41st floor of the RBS Tower in Sydney Australia before returning to the ground; he was arrested as he finished his descent.

On 1 September 2009, one day after Malaysia celebrated its 52nd Independence Day and after two arrests in 1997 and 2007, Alain Robert finally made it successfully to the top of the Petronas Twin Towers. He started at 6:00 am local time and reached the top at 7:40 am local time without attracting the attention of the public. He celebrated his climb by standing with his arms outspread on the pinnacle of one of the Twin Towers.

On 8 October 2009, Robert climbed the 33-story building of the Ariane TV station in Paris. He was arrested at the top of the building but was soon released.

On 30 August 2010, he climbed the Lumiere Residential building in Sydney, Australia, which was a 57 story building. The climb took about 20 minutes as officials were waiting at the top for his arrest.

On 5 November 2010, starting at 6pm, he took 35 minutes to scale the Singapore Flyer. It was the first time he climbed a circular, moving structure and became the first person to climb around the world's tallest observatory wheel.

On January 26, 2011 he completed a morning climb of the Hang Seng Head Office building in Hong Kong finishing at midday.

On March 29, 2011 Robert climbed the tallest building in the world, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, taking just over six hours to complete the climb.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Robert
With Bare Hands: The True Story of Alain Robert, the Real-life Spiderman

Let's Learn About Elizabeth Taylor's Early Years

2011-03-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in Hampstead, a wealthy district of North West London, the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor (1897–1968) and Sara Viola Warmbrodt (1895–1994), who were Americans residing in England. Taylor's older brother, Howard Taylor, was born in 1929.

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Her parents were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas. Her father was an art dealer and her mother a former actress whose stage name was "Sara Sothern". Sothern retired from the stage when she and Francis Taylor married in 1926 in New York City. Taylor's two first names are in honor of her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Mary (Rosemond) Taylor. A dual citizen of the UK and the U.S., she was born a British subject through her birth on British soil and an American citizen through her parents.[citation needed] She reportedly sought, in 1965, to renounce her United States citizenship, to wit "Though never accepted by the State Department, Liz renounced in 1965. Attempting to shield much of her European income from U.S. taxes, Liz wished to become solely a British citizen. According to news reports at the time, officials denied her request when she failed to complete the renunciation oath, refusing to say that she renounced 'all allegiance to the United States of America'."

At the age of three, Taylor began taking ballet lessons with Vaccani. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. Her mother took the children first, arriving in New York in April 1939, while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in the art business, arriving in November. They settled in Los Angeles, California, where Sara's family, the Warmbrodts, were then living.

Through Hedda Hopper, the Taylors were introduced to Andrea Berens, a wealthy English socialite and also fiancée of Cheever Cowden, chairman and major stockholder of Universal Pictures in Hollywood. Berens insisted that Sara bring Elizabeth to see Cowden who, she was adamant, would be dazzled by Elizabeth's breathtaking dark beauty; she was born with a mutation that caused double rows of eyelashes, which enhanced her appearance on camera. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer soon took interest in the British youngster as well but she failed to secure a contract with them after an informal audition with producer John Considine had shown that she couldn't sing. However, on 18 September 1941, Universal Pictures signed Elizabeth to a six-month renewable contract at $100 a week.

Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in There's One Born Every Minute, her only film for Universal Pictures. Less than six months after she signed with Universal, her contract was reviewed by Edward Muhl, the studio's production chief. Muhl met with Taylor's agent, Myron Selznick (brother of David), and Cheever Cowden. Muhl challenged Selznick's and Cowden's constant support of Taylor: "She can't sing, she can't dance, she can't perform. What's more, her mother has to be one of the most unbearable women it has been my displeasure to meet."

Universal cancelled Taylor's contract just short of her tenth birthday in February 1942. Nevertheless on 15 October 1942, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Taylor to $100 a week for up to three months to appear as "Priscilla" in the film Lassie Come Home.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79 - RIP
Elizabeth Taylor Dies Aged 79 (news video)

Let's Learn About Rebecca Black

2011-03-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Black (born 1998) is an American pop singer from Anaheim Hills, California.

Black acquired rapid notice in March 2011 after a single she recorded and produced with the ARK Music Factory, "Friday", was released on YouTube and iTunes. The song's video went viral, acquiring millions of views on YouTube in a matter of days, becoming the most-talked-about topic on social networking site Twitter, and garnering media coverage both positive and negative. As of March 22, 2011, first-week sales of her digital single were estimated to be around 40,000 by Billboard.com.

Rebecca Black YouTube video "Friday"

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Black

Let's Learn About the Largest Cities of Japan (Populations)

2011-03-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Rank	City Name	Prefecture	Pop.
1	Tokyo	Tokyo	8,483,050
2	Yokohama	Kanagawa	3,579,133
3	Osaka	Osaka	2,628,776
4	Nagoya	Aichi	2,215,031
5	Sapporo	Hokkaidō	1,880,875
6	Kōbe	Hyōgo	1,525,389
7	Kyōto	Kyōto	1,474,764
8	Fukuoka	Fukuoka	1,400,621
9	Kawasaki	Kanagawa	1,327,009
10	Saitama	Saitama	1,176,269
11	Hiroshima	Hiroshima	1,154,595
12	Sendai	Miyagi	1,024,947
13	Kitakyūshū	Fukuoka	993,483
14	Chiba	Chiba	924,353
15	Setagaya	Tokyo	841,399
16	Sakai	Osaka	831,111
17	Niigata	Niigata	813,847
18	Hamamatsu	Shizuoka	804,067
19	Shizuoka	Shizuoka	713,716
20	Sagamihara	Kanagawa	701,568

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan

Two videos:
Japan earthquake: CCTV video of tsunami wave hitting Sendai airport

Dashboard camera catches tsunami as it hits the car

Let's Learn About Sick Bay

2011-03-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

A sick bay is a compartment in a ship used for medical purposes — the ship's hospital.

The sick bay will contain the ship's medicine chest which may be divided into separate cabinets such as a refrigerator for medicines which require cold storage and a locked cabinet for controlled substances such as morphine. The sick bay and the medicine chest should be kept locked, with the keys only being available to the medical officer and the ship's master.

The term is also applied ashore by the United States Navy and Marine Corps to treatment clinics on naval stations and Marine bases.

Sick bays appear in popular science fiction franchises, such as Battlestar Galactica or the Star Trek series, as the medical facility on board a starship.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sick_bay

Bear Feels Sick

Let's Learn About the Real St. Patrick

2011-03-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Primitive Irish: *Qatrikias; Old Irish: Cothraige or Coithrige; Middle Irish: Pátraic; Irish: Pádraig; British: *Patrikios; Old Welsh: Patric; Middle Welsh: Padric; Welsh: Padrig; Old English: Patric; c. 387 – 17 March, 493) was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints.

Two authentic letters from him survived, from which come the only universally accepted details of his life. When he was about 16, he was captured from Britain by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After entering the Church, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century, he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

Most available details of his life are from later hagiographies from the 7th century onwards, and these are now not accepted without detailed criticism. Uncritical acceptance of the Annals of Ulster would imply that he lived from 340 to 440, and ministered in what is modern day Northern Ireland from 428 onwards. The dates of Patrick's life cannot be fixed with certainty, but on a widespread interpretation he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century.

Saint Patrick's Day is observed on March 17, the date of Patrick's death. It is celebrated both in and outside of Ireland,(America) as both a liturgical and non-liturgical holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation and outside of Ireland, it can be a celebration of Ireland itself.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick

The Confession of Saint Patrick and Letter to Coroticus

Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland

Let's Learn About Tsunami Etymology

2011-03-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

The term tsunami comes from the Japanese, meaning "harbor" (tsu, 津) and "wave" (nami, 波). (For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable plural as in the Japanese.)

Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves. In recent years, this term has fallen out of favor, especially in the scientific community, because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides. The once-popular term derives from their most common appearance, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunami and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling" or "having the form or character of" the tides, and the term tsunami is no more accurate because tsunami are not limited to harbours, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.

There are only a few other languages that have a native word for this disastrous wave. In the Tamil language, the word is aazhi peralai. In the Acehnese language, it is ië beuna or alôn buluëk (Depending on the dialect. Note that in the fellow Austronesian language of Tagalog, a major language in the Philippines, alon means "wave".) On Simeulue island, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, in the Defayan language the word is smong, while in the Sigulai language it is emong.

As early as 426 B.C. the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.

The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15-19) described the typical sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave, after the 365 A.D. tsunami devastated Alexandria.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami
Tsunamis and Other Natural Disasters: A Nonfiction Companion to High Tide in Hawaii (Magic Tree House Research Guide #15)

Give to World Relief
http://wr.org/

Let's Learn About Charlie Sheen's Early Life

2011-03-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estevez in New York City in 1965, the youngest son and third of four children of actor Martin Sheen and artist Janet Templeton. Sheen has two older brothers, Emilio Estevez and Ramon Estevez, and a younger sister, Renée Estevez, all actors. His parents moved to Malibu, California, after Martin Sheen's Broadway turn in The Subject Was Roses. His first movie appearance was at age nine in his father’s 1974 film The Execution of Private Slovik. Sheen attended Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where he was a star pitcher and shortstop for the baseball team.

During his days at Santa Monica High School he showed an early interest in acting, making amateur Super-8 films with his brother Emilio and school friends Rob Lowe and Sean Penn, at the time still using his birth name. A few weeks before graduation, Sheen was expelled from the school for poor grades and bad attendance. Deciding to become an actor, Charlie took the same stage name as his father, who had adopted it in honor of the Catholic archbishop and theologian Fulton J. Sheen.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Sheen

Let's Learn About a Rorschach Test Controversy

2011-03-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

Some skeptics consider the Rorschach inkblot test pseudoscience, as several studies suggested that conclusions reached by test administrators since the 1950s were akin to cold reading. In the 1959 edition of Mental Measurement Yearbook, Lee Cronbach (former President of the Psychometric Society and American Psychological Association) is quoted in a review: "The test has repeatedly failed as a prediction of practical criteria. There is nothing in the literature to encourage reliance on Rorschach interpretations." In addition, major reviewer Raymond J. McCall writes (p. 154): "Though tens of thousands of Rorschach tests have been administered by hundreds of trained professionals since that time (of a previous review), and while many relationships to personality dynamics and behavior have been hypothesized, the vast majority of these relationships have never been validated empirically [sic], despite the appearance of more than 2,000 publications about the test." A moratorium on its use was called for in 1999.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test#Controversy

Let's Learn About Touché

2011-02-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

In fencing, touché (French pronunciation: [tuʃe]), the French word for "touched", is used to acknowledge a hit, called out by the fencer who is hit. Conversely, if a fencer concedes a hit when no hit was actually made, the fencer's adversary would say, "'pas de touché'" (French pronunciation: [pɑ də tuʃe]; English: no touch) to indicate that the hit should not be counted.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch%C3%A9

Let's Learn About The Use of Kumquats

2011-01-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour and salty, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole—to savour the contrast—or only the rind is eaten. The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage and has just shed the last tint of green.

Culinary uses include candying and kumquat preserves, marmalade, and jelly. Kumquats can also be sliced and added to salads. In recent years kumquats have gained popularity as a garnish for cocktail beverages, including the martini as a replacement for the more familiar olive. A kumquat liqueur mixes the fruit with vodka or other clear spirit.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat

Let's Learn About the History of Rock-paper-scissors

2011-01-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

According to Xie Zhaozhe (谢肇淛)'s book ‘’Wuzazu(五杂组)‘’, in the Chinese Ming dynasty period, the game could date back to the time of Chinese Han dynasty, it is called (手势令). Li rihua(李日华)'s book Note of Liuyanzhai(六砚斋笔记)also reveals this game, calling it shoushiling(手势令), or huozhitou（豁指头, or huoquan（豁拳. In the 18th century these games were popular in Japan. The Japanese people invented Janken(Rock-paper-scissors) in the latter half of 19th century. As for Rock-paper-scissors, it came to be played all over the world in the 20th century. Jan-ken-pon (じゃんけんぽん?), or more commonly janken (じゃんけん?), often transliterated in other ways such as jack-en-poy (tagalog), janken-po, etc., sometimes called rock ken (石拳, ishiken?), and known as rock-paper-scissors or paper-scissors-stone in the English-speaking world. The origin or the derivation of the name is unknown. ken (拳, ken?) is a fist in Japanese and Jan-ken-po is categorized as a "ken (fist) games" (拳遊び, ken asobi?). Janken is believed to have been based on two older ken games, sū ken (数拳, number competing game with fingers, likely similar to or identical with Morra) and san sukumi ken (三すくみ拳, san sukumi means the freezing aspects of a snake, frog, and slug with fear). San sukumi ken has existed in Japan since ancient times, and sū ken was imported from China in the late 17th century; the name in China of sū ken is shǒushìlìng (手勢令). Ken games began to increase in popularity in the middle of the 19th century.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors

Let's Learn About Rabbits vs Hares

2011-01-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

Rabbits are clearly distinguished from hares in that rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are generally born with hair and are able to see (precocial). All rabbits except cottontail rabbits live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares live in simple nests above the ground (as do cottontail rabbits), and usually do not live in groups. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares have not been domesticated, while European rabbits are often kept as house pets. In gardens, they are typically kept in hutches — small, wooden, house-like boxes — that protect the rabbits from the environment and predators.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit

Let's Learn About the Classical Languages

2011-01-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

The Classical languages of the Ancient Mediterranean world influenced every European language, imparting to each a learned vocabulary of international application. Thus, Latin grew from a highly developed cultural product of the Golden and Silver eras of Latin literature to become the international lingua franca in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic and religious, until the seventeenth century. In turn, the Classical languages continued, Latin evolved into the Romance languages and Ancient Greek into Modern Greek and its dialects. Moreover, it is in the specialised science and technology vocabularies that the Latin influence in English and the Greek influence in English are notable, however, it is Ecclesiastical Latin, the Roman Catholic Church’s official tongue, that remains a living legacy of the classical world to the contemporary world.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classics

Let's Learn About Concrete

2011-01-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

When one thinks of concrete, the image of a dull, gray concrete wall often comes to mind. With the use of form liner, concrete can be cast and molded into different textures and used for decorative concrete applications. Sound/retaining walls, bridges, office buildings and more serve as the optimal canvases for concrete art. For example, the Pima Freeway/Loop 101 retaining and sound walls in Scottsdale, Arizona, feature desert flora and fauna, a 67-foot (20 m) lizard and 40-foot (12 m) cacti along the 8-mile (13 km) stretch. The project, titled "The Path Most Traveled," is one example of how concrete can be shaped using elastomeric form liner.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete

Let's Learn About the Tasmanian Devil

2011-01-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae now found in the wild only in the Australian island state of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, it became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal, and it hunts prey and scavenges carrion as well as eating household products if humans are living nearby. Although it is usually solitary, it sometimes eats with other devils and defecates in a communal location. Unlike most other dasyurids, the devil is able to thermoregulate effectively and is active during the middle of the day without overheating. Despite its rotund appearance, the devil is capable of surprising speed and endurance, and can climb trees and swim across rivers.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_devil

Let's Learn About Macadamia Nuts

2011-01-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

The macadamia nut has an extremely hard shell, but can be cracked using a blunt instrument, such as a hammer or rock applied with some force to the nut sitting in a concave surface, or a custom made macadamia nutcracker can be used. Macadamia nuts are often fed to Hyacinth Macaws in captivity. These large parrots are one of the few animals, aside from humans, capable of cracking and shelling the nut. Nuts of the "Arkin Papershell" variety crack open more readily.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadamia

Let's Learn About Iron Use Before the Iron Age

2011-01-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

Meteoric iron, or iron-nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. This iron, being in its native metallic state, required no smelting of ores. By the Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appeared throughout Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Indian subcontinent, the Levant, the Mediterranean, and Egypt. The earliest systematic production and use of iron implements originates in Anatolia, beginning around 2000 BCE. Recent archaeological research in the Ganges Valley, India showed early iron working by 1800 BC. However, this metal was expensive, perhaps because of the technical processes required to make steel, the most useful iron product. It is attested in both documents and in archaeological contexts as a substance used in high value items such as jewelry.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age

Let's Learn About the Pangolin

2011-01-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Pangolins lack teeth and the ability to chew. Instead, they tear open anthills or termite mounds with their powerful front claws and probe deep into them with their very long tongues. Pangolins have glands in their chests to lubricate the tongue with sticky, ant-catching saliva.

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin

Let's Learn About Turnip Nutrition

2010-01-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

The turnip's root is high only in vitamin C. The green leaves of the turnip top ("turnip greens") are a good source of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and calcium. Turnip greens are high in lutein (8.5 mg / 100g).

Now you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnips

Wikipedia Oddities

Billy Graham

Billy Graham

Contents

[edit] Early life

[edit] Family

[edit] Ministry

[edit] Beginning

[edit] Hearst intervention

[edit] Crusades

[edit] Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

[edit] Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Segregation

[edit] Later years

[edit] Politics

[edit] Pastor to presidents

[edit] Foreign policy views

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Discussion of Jews with Nixon

[edit] Awards and honors

[edit] Books authored

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Let's Learn About Oprah Winfrey's Early Life

Let's Learn How Osama bin Laden Body Was Identified

Let's Learn About the History of the Bunsen Burner

Let's Learn About Alain Robert's Building Climbing Adventures

Let's Learn About Elizabeth Taylor's Early Years

Let's Learn About Rebecca Black

Let's Learn About the Largest Cities of Japan (Populations)

Let's Learn About Sick Bay

Let's Learn About the Real St. Patrick

Let's Learn About Tsunami Etymology

Let's Learn About Charlie Sheen's Early Life

Let's Learn About a Rorschach Test Controversy

Let's Learn About Touché

Let's Learn About The Use of Kumquats

Let's Learn About the History of Rock-paper-scissors

Let's Learn About Rabbits vs Hares

Let's Learn About the Classical Languages

Let's Learn About Concrete

Let's Learn About the Tasmanian Devil

Let's Learn About Macadamia Nuts

Let's Learn About Iron Use Before the Iron Age

Let's Learn About the Pangolin

Let's Learn About Turnip Nutrition