No.0017 - Airplane

Why airplanes dim their light and open window shutters during take-off and landing?

The window shutters are opened, so that rescue crews can see through the window in case of an accident, and lights are dimmed, so passengers can be adjusted to seeing in dark, as if the evacuation was to happen, it is likely going to take place in dark.

No.0016 - The animals on Noah's Ark

MYTH: There were two of each animals on Noah's Ark.

True Story: First of all, it may not actually be a true story, but I am just going to quote what is written on the Bible.

King James' Version:
Genesis 7:2 - Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

World English Bible:
Genesis 7:2 - You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female.

Douay-Rheims Version:
Genesis 7:2 - Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and female.

"Clean" animals referred to animals that can be eaten by Jews and "not clean" or "unclean" animals were creatures that were forbidden to be eaten by Jews, such as pig, camel, chameleon, eel, snail, swan, bat and eagles.

As you can see, different versions differ. King James' version seem to suggest there were 1 male and 6 female clean animals and 1 male and 1 female unclean animals. Meanwhile World English Bible explicitly suggests there were 7 male and 7 female clean animals. If different versions were not confusing enough, look at different passages:

King James' Version:
Genesis 6:19 - And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every [sort] shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep [them] alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Genesis 6:20 - Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every [sort] shall come unto thee, to keep [them] alive.

Genesis 7:8 - Of clean beasts, and of beasts that [are] not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
Genesis 7:9 - There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

All passages seem to imply there were 2 animals of each, whether clean or not clean.

There is one more problem (out of many many problems):
Genesis 6:21 - And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather [it] to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
Genesis 7:12 - And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

That means there has to be food available for carnivores, which is probably fine today, as we have the technology to store animal flesh (not alive) on board. That means some of the animals were eaten by the carnivores or there had to be extra animals on board.

No.0015 - Holland or Netherlands?

That depends on what you referring to, if you are talking about the country in which 16 million Dutch people live, then it is the Netherlands, but if you just visited Amsterdam, then "I went to Holland" maybe used.

Holland strictly refers to 2 provinces, North and South Holland, on the West coast of Netherlands. There are 12 Dutch provinces in total.




There are about 6 million people in North and South Holland, and the biggest three cities are situated in these two provinces as well, which are the capital city, Amsterdam; home of Europe's largest port, Rotterdam and the seat of government, The Hague.

Referring to the whole of Netherlands as "Holland" is an example of "pars pro toto", where a part of an object or concept represents the whole object or concept. The reverse is called "totum pro parte", for example the word "America" is commonly used to refer to the USA.

No.0014 - Union Flag

The flag of the United Kingdom is known as Union Flag or Union Jack, although the Royal Navy uses the term "Union Jack" only when the flag is on their ships and all other times they refer the flat as "Union Flag".

The following image shows the creation of the current Union Flag. Original Union flag was created in 1606, 3 years after the King James VI of Scotland become the King James I of England. Although it was the Union of the Crowns, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland would not merge together until the "Act of Union 1707" to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its design is the superimposition of the flag of England on the flag of Scotland (or more correctly the Cross of St. George on the Cross of St. Andrews, who are the patron saints of England and Scotland respectively).

The second and the current Union Flag was adopted on 1 January 1801 as a result of the "Act of Union 1800" which merged the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Its design is superimposition of the flag of Ireland (or the Cross of St. Patrick, who is patron saint of Ireland) on the original Union Flag.

Notes: Wales was officially part of the Kingdom of England since 1542, after the Laws of Wales Acts 1536-1542. Ireland was ruled by the reigning King of England since 1542, after the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, but become a new Kingdom, Kingdom of Ireland (rather like in 1606, when James VI become James I of England, creating a union of crowns, but political institutions remained separate).

So in effect, when the Kingdom of England of Kingdom of Scotland merged officially in 1707, it was the United Kingdom, rather than the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Wales was unrepresented in the Union Flag in 1606, as it was part of England, therefore the flag of England represented Wales.

However, as the Kingdom of Ireland was not part of the Kingdom of England, or later Great Britain, but existed as a personal union with England. But it still had no representation in the Union Flag. So in 1658, the flag of the Protectorate was created by incorporating the arms of Ireland on the original Union Flag (shown below). However, soon in 1660, the arms of Ireland was removed after the Restoration, supposedly because the restored monarch, Charles II disliked it.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922, after the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921, which resulted in the created of Irish Free State. However the Northern Ireland opted out to be a part of Irish Free State and remained within the UK. So, the Union Flag was unchanged.

As there is representation of Wales in Union Flag, there have been suggestions to incorporate either the dragon (from the flag of Wales) or the Cross of St. David, who is the patron saint of Wales into the Union Flag.

No.0013 - Santa Claus

The name "Santa Claus" is a corrupted version of St. Nicholas. Also known as Nicholas of Myra was a Greek bishop, born in the Greek colony of Patara in Lycia (a part of modern day Turkey) in 270 AD. So no Santa Claus in North Pole or Lapland of Finland.

The "Santa Claus" itself is derived from Dutch "Sinterklaas", a traditional holiday figure celebrated on Saint Nicholas' Eve (December 5) or on Saint Nicholas' Day (December 6). So no presents on Christmas Eve*.

It may not be surprising that he is the patron saint of children. But his patronage doesn't end there, bizarrely he is also the patron saint of prostitutes, repentant thieves, the falsely accused and pawnbrokers, as well as of fishermen, sailors, archers, pharmacists and merchants. What a bizarre collection of professions and people, you may think, but wait, he is also the patron saint of 2 capital cities: Amsterdam and Moscow.

* The date was changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve by Protestants during the Reformation of 17th century.

No.0012 - Bluetooth

The wireless technology "bluetooth" is named after the Harald I of Denmark, whose nickname is "Bluetooth" (bluetooth is an English version for Danish "Blåtand", and "blátǫnn" in Old Norse). Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ruled Denmark between 940 and 985 AD, and he united Denmark and Norway, therefore setting the foundation of Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of the early 11th century (his son Sweyn Forkbeard would become the king of Denmark, Norway and England).

The idea was Bluetooth technology will unite the worlds of computers and telecom, as the King Harald I had united the Scandinavia. It was created by the Swedish giant Ericsson in 1994.

The Bluetooth logo is a "bind rune" of (Hagall) and (Bjarkan), which are runic alphabets of the Younger Futhark (shown below). The latin equivalent alphabets are "H" and "B".

No.0011 - Hitler

MYTH: Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian and an atheist.

True Story: Both myths have been used illogically against vegetarianism and atheism.

According to many of his biographers, his favourite dishes include Bavarian sausage and stuffed pigeon. There is no evidence in his speeches or writings that he is against the vegetarianism either. None of his lieutenants was a vegetarian.

He referred to his religious belief both in his speech and writing, including his autobiography, 'Mein Kampf' in which he wrote: "I am convinced that I am acting as the agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews, I am doing the Lord's work". Nor was his state a 'godless' one, Nazi Germany worked with the Catholic Church.