The green and red colors appear in this shield because they have been venerated historically by the Turkmen. The central elements are surrounded by sheaves of wheat that allude to the custom to welcome to guests with salt and bread. Atop the wheat and the red circle appear a waxing crescent moon of white, typical of Turkic symbology, and five five-pointed stars also of white. The waxing crescent moon symbolizes the hope of the country for a shining future and the stars represent the five provinces (Welayatlar) of Turkmenistan-Ahal, Balkan, Dashhowuz, Lebap, and Mary. Most of the elements of the coat of arms are present in the national flag.
Before independence from the USSR, Turkmenistan had a coat of arms similar to all other Soviet Republics. A single carpet "gul", not matching any of the tribal patterns, was represented on the Coat of arms of the Turkmen SSR.
Pre-Socratic philosophy
The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were active before Socrates. The popular usage of the term come from Hermann Diels' work "Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker" ("The Fragments of the Pre-Socratics", 1903).
Most of what we know about the pre-Socractic philosophers come from quotations by later philosophers and historians. While most of them produced significant texts, none of the texts have survived in complete form.
The standard reference works in English are:
The fundamental idea which motivated most of the presocratics (as they are called) is naturalism. This is the idea that questions about life and the world can be answered without using myths, and that "the natural world is the whole of reality".
With the Greeks we see rational thought and scientific reasoning emerge from the mists and myths of a pre-scientific age, not suddenly, but slowly and gradually.
Milesian school
The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th Century BC. The ideas associated with it are exemplified by three philosophers from the Ionian town of Miletus: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes.
Pythagoreanism
Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics. They thought the world was made of numbers, and that various integers had distinct sacred meanings.
Later resurgence of ideas similar to those held by the early Pythagoreans are collected under the term Neopythagoreanism.
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras (, fl. 480 BC – 450 BC) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Anaxagoras was an Ionian Greek. He was born in Asia Minor, in Clazomenae. This was a town in what is now Turkey.
Anaxagoras was the first known atheist. He also introduced the concept of "νούσ" ("nous", or mind), the ordering force behind the Universe. But he did not take this idea any further.
He held that the Sun was not a god, but just material. It was a "red-hot mass many times larger than the Peloponnese". The Moon was a solid body with geographical features, and made of the same substance as the Earth.
Anaxagoras was eventually arrested and prosecuted for freethought. He was banished from Athens for impiety in 450 BC. However, his works were available in Socrates' day for a drachma.
Miletus
Miletus (mī lē' təs) (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, literally transliterated "Milētos", Latin "Miletus") was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia (in what is now Aydin Province, Turkey), near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria.
Tooth fairy
The tooth fairy is a mythical figure found in modern folklore. Around the world, families have many different traditions to celebrate the loss of a child's tooth, especially a first tooth. Many of the traditions involve throwing a tooth on a roof, under a house, burying it under a tree, or leaving it for a rodent.
One of the most famous traditions is leaving a tooth under a pillow for the tooth fairy. This tradition is very popular in the United States as well as other countries. The tooth fairy is said to take the tooth away while the child is sleeping and leave some money in its place. Sometimes the tooth fairy may also leave a note. If the child does not go to sleep the tooth fairy will not come.
Some people tell the story that the tooth fairy is named Fatina and lives in Neverland. The belief is that Fatina creates a magic powder from children's teeth that protects the fairies from hawks who might otherwise eat them.
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Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa was born in 1122 in the monastery Weingarten. He was the son of Guelph Judith. Frederick had a cousin, called "Henry the Lion", who was his greatest enemy. In the year 1152, Frederick Barbarossa was crowned King of Germany.
Today people know Frederick Barbarossa as a powerful soldier, who tried to conquer Jerusalem and return it to the Christians.
He was born in 1122 in a monastery in Altdorf, which is now called Weingarten. During the Middle Ages, most women returned to their birth country, so it is very likely that Frederick’s mother had been born in Altdorf, too.
Frederick's nickname was "Barbarossa" (“Redbeard”). This was because of his remarkable beard, which was red. “Barba” is the Latin word for beard. “Rossa” is also Latin and means “red”.
Frederick was raised formally and strictly. On 4 March 1142, at the age of 20, Frederick was crowned King of Germany. His cousin, Henry the Lion, was Frederick’s enemy for many years. Henry wanted to become King of Germany, too and therefore was angry when he found out that Barbarossa was to be king and also Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1156, he married Lady Beatrix. They had many children. Frederick participated in the third crusade. He never actually reached Jerusalem. It is said that he drowned in the River Saleph in 1190. His soldiers carried his dead body to Jerusalem and buried him there.
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BBC Weather
BBC Weather is the BBC's department in charge of preparing and broadcasting weather forecasts and is now part of BBC News. The broadcast meteorologists are employed by the Met Office. The longest serving presenter of BBC weather was Michael Fish, now retired, who appeared for 30 years between 1974 and 2004.
The first BBC weather forecast was a shipping forecast read on the radio for the Met Office on 14 November 1922. The first daily weather forecast was broadcast 26 March 1923.
In 1936, the BBC experimented with the world's first weather maps on television. Weather maps were first published in "The Times" on 1 April 1875. The BBC started broadcasting the maps in 1949 after World War II. The map filled the whole TV screen, and an off-screen narrator would comment on the next day's weather.
On 11 January 1954, George Cowling was the first weather forecaster to stand in front of a weather map. To do this, the maps were drawn by hand in the London Weather Centre and were taken across London. The forecasts were presented by the same person who had made them, and were not always right.
In 1962, a fax machine and an electronic computer were bought by the Met Office. This gave better and quicker forecasting.
Satellite photography was available from 1964, but was of a poor quality and was given on paper, with the coastline etched in felt-tip pen. This did not change until 1973 when a new computer was bought. This made forecasts twice as accurate as earlier ones.
As computational capability improved, so did graphics technology. Early hand-drawn maps gave way to magnetic symbols, which in turn gave way to bluescreen (CSO) computer-generated imagery technology, each of which allowed the presenter greater control over the information displayed.
Early magnetic symbols tended to adhere poorly to the maps, and occasional spelling errors (such as the presenter writing 'GOF' instead of 'FOG') marred some broadcasts, but allowed the presenter to show how weather would change over time. The symbols were designed to be 'self-explicit', allowing the viewer to understand the map without a key or legend.