Did You Know - Phoebe Omlie

 The First Female To Receive An Aircraft Mechanic's License

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Aviation Maintenance Technician Day is celebrated on May 24th each year.  This is because it's Charles E. Taylor's birthday, and he invented the first aircraft engine, effectively making him the first aircraft mechanic.  This, of course, brings us to Phoebe Jane Fairgrave Omlie, who happens to be the first female to receive a FAA aircraft mechanic’s license.

This amazing pioneer achieved many firsts in her life.  They included, but are not limited to:

• First woman to acquire FAA mechanic license
• First woman to receive a transport pilot license
• First woman to cross the Rocky Mountains in a light aircraft
• First woman to own a flying circus
• Set world record for women's parachute jump of 15,200 feet in 1922
• First woman to hold a federal aviation position

COOL NOTE:

It is even thought that William Faulkner loosely modeled his protagonists for his novel Pylon after Phoebe and her husband, Vernon.

  

DID YOU KNOW - Little Golden Books

GIVING THE GIFT OF READING

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Little Golden Books were first available in 1942.  They were the first books published both at an affordable rate and a high-quality, making reading available in households of all economic levels.  It opened the doors to literature for children everywhere - a huge step toward world literacy.

Little Golden Books have been a huge influence on me, personally.  I grew up enjoying the stories published under this brand.  Then, when I had children and grandchildren, I shared the tales with them.  The legacy of these simple joys are not just measured in my memories, but in the collective history of planet.  These publications changed the book industry because, as historian Leonard S. Marcus was quoted to say, "Little Golden Books are a real example of the democratization of publishing."

I love the Smithsonian (in addition to literature, I love history).  One of their branches, the National Museum of American History - Behring Center, has an online exhibit about the Little Golden Books.  For those interested, you can check it out here:

I have, also, begun a blog series on both www.nornstriad.com and here - www.jmnorthup.com - using #LittleGoldenBook

Here are some of my favorites from when I was young:

DID YOU KNOW Bob Brown?

 Godfather of the E-Reader

Robert "Bob" Carlton Brown, II (June 14, 1886 – August 7, 1959)

An American writer and publisher 

Bob Brown wrote a manifesto called 'The Readies' in the 1930s that described the modern-day eReader.  His original machine used microfilm ribbon that could be adjusted as it scrolled over magnifying glass.  However, it took a while for technology to catch up to his vision.  The first commercial (hand-held) eReader wasn't realized with the Rocket ebook in late 1998.  This led to further innovations, including the Amazon Kindle in 2007.

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Did You Know - JERRIE MOCK

 First Woman To Fly Solo Around The World - 1964

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Geraldine 'Jerrie' Mock was from Ohio.  She not only became the first woman to fly solo around the world (for which she was presented the FAA's Exceptional Service Decoration by President Lyndon B. Johnson), but she's also one of the first female aeronautical engineering students at Ohio State University.  In addition to these 'firsts' (and many others), this remarkable woman boasts the following, as well:

• During her historic solo flight, she was the first PERSON to fly the Pacific Ocean in a single-engine aircraft
• First PERSON to set a speed record in a fixed-wing, class C1-c (1964)
• Jerrie was the first woman as well as the first U.S. citizen to be awarded the Louis Bleriot Medal in 1965

Jerrie Mock is one of the pioneers of aviation, along with Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman.

  
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Did You Know Bessie Coleman

FIRST LICENSED AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN PILOT

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#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

I am a HUGE aerophile.  My love of aviation was born in me and nurtured as I grew.  It was apart of my education as well as my career.  That being said, my reading and writing would be lacking without it.  Not to mention, the amazing women who inspired us all to soar beyond the social tethers trying to bound us all.  One such lady is Bessie Coleman.

Bessie was known to be an avid reader, which was strongly encouraged by her mother.  Unusual for most Americans during her time, she, also, graduated high school.  She attended one term of college (which she paid for herself) and later moved to Chicago, where she became a manicurist until she could save up enough for flight school.  As there weren't opportunities for women, people of color, or Native Americans in the United States, she eventually traveled to France.  That is where she trained and received her international pilot license from Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Bessie Coleman was best known for her amazing flying skills.  She is credited for perfecting life-saving maneuvers into aero-stunts.  This is how she got her nicknames: 'Brave Bessie;, "Queen Bess', and  'The Only Race Aviatrix in the World.'

She studied with the famous WWI German ace pilot, Captain Keller and test piloted airplanes in the Netherlands for Anthony Fokker, “The Flying Dutchman.” … These men trusted her flying skills. She perfected life-saving maneuvers into finely polished aerobatic stunts—figure eights; loop the loops, trick climbs, and landing the airplane with the engine off. In Germany, she was praised for flying the largest and most awkward aircraft ever flown by a woman. – ibid.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

DID YOU KNOW - World Blood Donor Day

'SHARE LIFE, GIVE BLOOD'

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on Karl Landsteiner's birthday - June 14th.

The slogan for the day's even is 'share life, give blood.'

The need for clean blood is vitally important through the world.  Unfortunately, 50% of the donations come from high-income countries, where approximately 19% of the population actually live. In many countries, there is a lack of safe blood available.  This day is meant to help bring awareness to the need for not only donations, but the advancement of technology and availability of resources.  This global observances is also meant to say 'thank you' to those who have donated to this important cause.

AUTHOR Amelia Earhart

DID YOU KNOW?

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#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Everyone knows of Amelia Earhart because of the mystery surrounding her death.  What they don't always realize is the accomplishments this amazing woman achieved.  According to Newsweek, this pioneering woman fearlessly tackled the following:

• The first woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet
• The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
• The first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, a military decoration awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement during an aerial flight.
• The first woman to fly solo, nonstop across the United States
• The first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the United States mainland

Not only do I have a passion for aviation but I have a background in it.  So, it should come as no surprise that I am an admirer of Amelia Earhart.  Of course, my respect for her goes beyond her obvious career as she pioneered more than just the skies.  As a woman, she lead the way for females to have new pathways (an example is the Ninety-nines), and she showed great compassion for people while serving as a Red Cross nurse.  Still, I learned something new today, which most people don't realize: Amelia Earhart was a bestselling author!




Learn more and find great books in this blog post

DID YOU KNOW: D-DAY?

D-DAY: Storming Normandy

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

During World War II, Fortress Europe was penetrated during the Normandy Invasion.  This joint operation, code-named Operation Overlord, and also known as D-Day, was literally launched June 6, 1944 by the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

Five beaches were targets by the Allies along Normandy, France.  Juno, Gold, and Sword were the beaches stormed by Canada and the United Kingdom.  The United States made their attack against Hitler's forces on Utah and Omaha beaches.

The Battle of Normandy marked the beginning of the end.

Learn more HERE

DID YOU KNOW - Karl Landsteiner

The Man Who Discovered The Major Human Blood Groups

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

Karl Landsteiner was born June 14, 1868, and since he discovered the major groups in human blood in 1901, World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on his birthday.  This is also the achievement for which he won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1930.

Though Karl Landsteiner's paper in 1901 identified the ABC blood types, which was later renamed O.  In 1902, AB was discovered by his students, Adriano Sturli and Alfred von Decastello, though they referred to it as 'no particular type'.  The new terms were assigned in 1910 by Ludwik Hirszfeld and Emil Freiherr von Dungern, who also explained the genetic inheritance of one's blood type.

DID YOU KNOW - eReaders

eReaders Have Been Around Since The 1930s

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

When the motion pictures came out with 'The Talkies', an American writer, Bob Brown, came out with 'The Readies'. 

Robert (Bob) Carlton Brown, II was born in Chicago and lives from June 14, 1886 until August 7, 1959.  He was a writer, publisher, and inventor.  He invented a mobile reading machine that utilized microfilm ribbon that was able to adjust font size by scrolling over a magnifying glass for readers to enjoy books.  Yep, he created the eReader!

It took time for technology to catch up enough to fully realize what Bob had envisioned.  By the time things had advanced for electronic paper and hand-held devices to be developed, it was the late 1990s.  The first commercial eReader was released in late 1998 by NuvoMedia.  It was called Rocket ebook.  The Amazon Kindle came out in 2007 with a library of ebooks, and they're responsible for bring the advancement of the cloud reader.

      

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DID YOU KNOW ABOUT PENS?

HISTORY OF PENS

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

There are so many things in life that we take for granted.  Things that once eluded the average person, yet today, are commonplace.  One such thing is the pen.

Why do I care?
First off, I love history.  I love science.  I am fascinated by invention.
Oh, yeah, and I am a writer, so...  there's there.

Pens were originally invented in Ancient Egypt because scribes were trying to find a better method for  replacing the cumbersome stylus and clay tablets.  That is what brought the amazing reed pen.  These were made from single pieces of straw.  A straw reed would be sharpened at one end and a slit would be applied to allow the pigment (or ink) to flow down for marking the papyrus.

BENEFITS: not heavy or brittle like clay and more transportable.

CONS: they didn't say sharpened long and too rigid.

The rigidity and inability to remain sharp lead to quill pens (whose only lacking was that they didn't have an ink reservoir - first mention of one is 973 in Northwest Africa).  These were made from the feathers of large birds of flight that were sharpened to a point.  They were popular because they could maintain their points and remained so until steel points replaced them.

Really, innovation occurred in the 19th century.

Dip pens and pens with reservoirs were known and used before then, but the fountain pen (created by German inventor Daniel Schwenter) and ballpoint (patented 1888 in America) came in the 19th century along with modifications that made them more user-friendly and practical.  

Japan brought fiber adn felt-tipped pens in the 1960's, which developed into markers and highlighters.

THE REST IS HISTORY!

VERONICA ROTH

DID YOU KNOW?

#DidYouKnow is a Blog Series on www.jmnorthup.com and www.nornstriad.com

VERONICA ROTH - born August 19, 1988

Readers know that Veronica Roth wrote the Divergent Trilogy, but what most do not know is that she acquired her agent through a writing conference in 2010 and published her first novel, Divergent, in 2011.  They don't know that she wrote her debut novel while on winter break during her senior year of college.  She was only 23 years old when her first book was published!

Veronica Roth has won many awards.  She won the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards as well as the 2012 Goodreads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Award.  She was also a nominee for the 2015 Kids' Choice Award in the category of Favorite Book.

"Writing isn't everything- a life is much more than that. But for me it's a little microcosm. It's a safe place to try and make life better, to gather up my strength for times when I step away from the computer. And sometimes, when I do, I'm a little braver than before."

                                                                                                                                                                  - Veronica Roth