Masabumi Hosono (15 October 1870 - 14 March 1939) was a Japanese civil servant. He was the only Japanese passenger on the RMS Titanic's disastrous maiden voyage. He survived the ship's sinking on 15 April 1912 but found himself condemned and ostracized by the Japanese public, press, and government for his decision to save himself rather than go down with the ship. During the night of 14/15 April he was awakened by a steward. However, he was blocked from going to Titanic's boat deck, from which lifeboats were already being launched, as a crewman assumed that he was a third class passenger. He eventually made his way past the obstruction and made his way to the boat deck, where he saw with alarm that emergency flares were being fired: "All the while flares signalling emergency were being shot into the air ceaselessly, and hideous blue flashes and noises were simply terrifying. Somehow I could in no way dispel the feeling of utter dread and desolation." As the number of lifeboats remaining diminished rapidly: "I tried to prepare myself for the last moment with no agitation, making up my mind not to leave anything disgraceful as a Japanese. But still I found myself looking for and waiting for any possible chance for survival." As he watched lifeboat 10 being loaded, an officer shouted, "Room for two more", and a man jumped aboard. Hosono saw this and, as he later put it, "the example of the first man making a jump led me to take this last chance." He made it aboard safely and later commented: "Fortunately the men in charge were taken up with something else and did not pay much attention. Besides, it was dark, and so they would not have seen who was a man and who a woman." From his vantage point in the lifeboat, only 200 feet (61 m) away from the sinking ship, he heard the cries of those still aboard and what he described as "extraordinary sounds", seemingly four distinct explosions, when the ship broke up. He described what he heard and saw as Titanic went under: After the ship sank there came back again frightful shrills and cries of those drowning in the water. Our lifeboat too was filled with sobbing, weeping children and women worried about the safety of their husbands and fathers. And I, too, was as much depressed and miserable as they were, not knowing what would become of myself in the long run. At about 8 am on 15 April, the lifeboat's passengers were rescued by the RMS Carpathia. Once aboard, Hosono slept in the smoking room but avoided it when he could as he was the target of jokes by the seamen, whom he called "a good-for-nothing band of seamen" for whom "anything I say falls on deaf ears." He pushed back, showing them "a bulldog tenacity" and eventually gained what he called "a bit of respect." He still had in his coat pockets a sheaf of stationery with Titanic's letterhead on which he had started a letter to his wife written in English. He now used the paper to write an account of his experiences in Japanese during Carpathia's voyage to New York. It is the only such document known to exist on Titanic stationery. Hosono's story attracted little attention at first. He went to the offices of Mitsui in New York to ask friends for help to get him home. From there he traveled to San Francisco to find a ship back to Japan. A local newspaper heard of his story and dubbed him the "Lucky Japanese Boy". Back in Tokyo, he was interviewed by a number of magazines and newspapers including the daily Yomiuri Shimbun, which ran a photograph of him with his family. According to a 1997 article released around the time of the blockbuster film Titanic, Hosono soon found himself the target of public condemnation. He was publicly condemned in the United States. He was described as a "stowaway" aboard lifeboat 10 by Archibald Gracie, who wrote a best-selling account of the disaster, while the seaman in charge of the boat, Able Seaman Edward Buley, told a US Senate inquiry that Hosono and the other man must have disguised themselves as women in order to sneak aboard. This false accusation was not reported in Japan. He lost his job and was condemned as a coward by the Japanese press. The 1997 article claimed that school textbooks described him as an example of how to be dishonorable and he was denounced as immoral by a professor of ethics. A 2007 re-investigation by Ando Kenji, published in Shincho 45, was unable to find any such textbooks. In any case he was soon reemployed by the ministry, as he was too valuable to lose, and continued to work for it until his death. Western academics who read the 1997 article put forth various explanations why Hosono encountered such a hostile reaction. It has been said that he was seen to have "betray[ed] the Samurai spirit of self-sacrifice". Another suggestion, from Jon P. Alston and Isao Takei, is that he was seen as having failed to show the expected conformity and was believed to have selfishly pushed aside other passengers to board the lifeboat. As a result he was subjected to mura hachibu or ostracism. Margaret D. Mehl attributes his ostracism to the perception that he had embarrassed Japan; notably, an ethics textbook criticized him for having disgraced the Japanese through his conduct. The "women and children first" protocol was not part of the Samurai code, but had instead come to Japan via the 1859 book Self Help by Samuel Smiles, which was a huge success in translation and proved enormously influential in introducing Western values to Japan. Mehl comments: "Hosono's failure to act as the Anglo-Saxon nations evidently expected their men to act caused embarrassment in Japan, but more because of the Japanese’s acceptance of Western values than because of their own traditions." Kenji Ando's article concluded that there was nothing unusual about Hosono's treatment, which was sensationalized to fit a 1997 article accompanying the release of a Hollywood film, and it was actually no different than that of Western male survivors such as J. Bruce Ismay. Hosono's story remained a source of shame for his family for decades. He never spoke of it himself.
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Ketchup originated in China as a boiled-down brine of pickled fish and spices called ‘ke-chiap’. Ketchup is one of the most popular condiments that can be found in almost every household on the planet. Ketchup, as we know it today, is basically a tomato sauce, but in the past, the sauce was made out of oysters, mushrooms, walnuts, mussels, eggs and many other food products. The fast food industry today is unimaginable without ketchup, with the sauce being the best companion to French fries, burgers and hot dogs. Various versions of ketchup can be found on the market, containing different ingredients. You might think that this famous red sauce is a product of our modern times, but its production, in fact, began more than 500 years ago in China. The Chinese invented ketchup in the 17th century. The original sauce was made out of fermented anchovies and spices, with an alluring caramel color. This fish sauce was called ke-chiap in the Amoy dialect. The Chinese sailors brought the sauce with them everywhere they went, so the ke-chiap soon became known in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries in Asia. The western world had its first contact with the fish sauce when the Dutch and British merchants arrived in Asia, where they purchased silk, spices, tea, and of course, ketchup sauce. The British brought the sauce home, but also spread it to their colonies around the globe. They soon began the production of their own ketchup, with mushrooms and walnuts as the main ingredients. The first usage of tomatoes in the sauce happened in the 19th century, and the anchovies were dropped out of the recipe somewhere in the 1850’s. Ketchup became very popular in the United States, so the Americans started to think about how to commercialize the sauce. In the 1890’s, manufacturers like Heinz began with ketchup production as it was then but modified the recipe so as to preserve the sauce for longer. Adding sugar to the sauce brought the sweet taste we are so familiar with today. The United States are still the biggest consumer of ketchup, with Heinz being the worldwide leader in sales. The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós: One of the most remarkable finds of the early European Middle Ages. On 3rd July 1799, a significant hoard of twenty-three early medieval gold vessels was found in an iron chest by Neru Vuin, a Serb farmer, near the small Hungarian town of Nagy Szent-Miklós in northern Banat, in total weighing 9.945 kg. The treasure is known as the Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós and most probably was hidden between 795 and 803, and unearthed roughly thousand years later. In the last 200 years, hundreds of scientists studied the treasure of Nagyszentmiklós but the mystery remains: when were the dishes made, who made them, who owned them, why were they made in an odd number, who and why were they hid? The language of the inscriptions on the vessels of the Treasure is not clearly known, and the inscriptions on some pieces have increased the complexity of the arguments rather than reduced them.There is an inscription in Greek and 14 short inscriptions in a Runiform script (an old Turkic alphabet). The historians have different views towards the dating and the origins of the pieces, and the background in which they were made. The pieces of the Treasure were manufactured at different times and by different masters. According to one theory, the treasure was made in the 8th century by the Avars, a nomadic people of uncertain origins and ethnolinguistic affiliation. Another theory claimed that Bulgarians made the utensil in the 9th century, and according to another study the Magyars of the Original Settlement made the treasure in the 10th century. The golden treasure was transferred to Vienna immediately after its discovery, and now it is on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Robert Cornelius was an American photography pioneer, born 1809 in Philadelphia. Robert showed interests in chemistry since his young years and joined his father in the business of silver plate production and metal polishing. After becoming successful and well known for his works, Cornelius was approached by the American inventor Joseph Saxton. The inventor asked Robert to produce a silver plating for his daguerreotype, and this was the spark that started Robert’s interest in photography. The daguerreotype was the first photographic process available for the public, and the most commonly used for nearly 20 years after its invention. Named after its inventor Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, the daguerreotype was introduced to the world in 1839. The process was quite complicated. The photographer, or daguerreotypist, in this case, polished a sheet of silver-plated copper until it looked like a mirror. After this, the plate would be treated with fumes, becoming light sensitive so it can be exposed in a camera for as long as needed. The lightning was the deciding factor in the time duration before making a photography. The well-lit surroundings meant that few seconds were needed to take the daguerreotype. Less lightning made the process quite longer. After getting introduced to the process, Robert Cornelius decided to develop further and perfect the daguerreotype. His works resulted in what’s today known as the first selfie. Since daguerreotype needed a lot of light, Robert had to work outdoors. The famous first selfie was taken in October 1839, outside the lamp and chandelier store which was owned by his family. For the photo, Robert used a box fitted with a lens from an opera glass. Since the daguerreotype needed 3-15 minutes to be taken, the young photographer had enough time to uncover the lens, run into the shot, stay there as long as necessary or more, and then replace the lens cap. In the self-portrait, Robert’s image appears off center, showing a man with tousled hair and his arms crossed, looking at the camera with uncertainty. This is the oldest known photograph of a human in America. Daguerre’s photograph of the Boulevard du Templ was taken one year earlier and depicts two human figures on the sidewalk, which had accidentally appeared on the image. After this success, in the period from 1841 to 1843, Robert started and operated tow of the first photographic studios in the United States. As the popularity of photography grew, and more photography studios were opened, Cornelius closed his studios. It is uncertain whether he lost interest in photography, or became money driven, realizing he could earn more by working in his family gas and lighting company. The iconic reggae anthem was released in 1973 by Bob Marley and the Wailers. In the song, Bob Marley sings about his conflict with his girlfriend over birth control pills. Bob refers to the doctor that prescribed the pills as the sheriff. The song became famous when Eric Clapton made his own version in 1974, which became a number one hit in the United States, boosting Marley’s popularity in the process. The sheriff’s name in the song is John Brown, a name later used by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen in their own songs. There have been many theories on the true origins of the meaning behind this song but none more believable than that by Marley's former girlfriend; Jamaican filmmaker, photographer and actress; Esther Anderson who stated in a 2012 interview; "Sheriff John Brown always hated me, For what, I don't know: Every time I plant a seed, He said kill it before it grow" are actually about Marley being very opposed to her use of birth control pills; Marley supposedly substituted the word "doctor" with sheriff. Arthur Guinness was born on September 28, 1725, to a family of brewers on the estate of Arthur Price, the Protestant Church of Ireland archbishop of Cashel. His father Richard, who was land steward to the archbishop of Cashel, Dr. Arthur Price, brewed beer for workers on the estate taught Arthur the craft of brewing. As time passed young Arthur became a very good friend with Price and when the archbishop died in 1752 he left 100 pounds each to “his servant” Arthur and his father. This event marked the beginning of Guinness brewing company’s story. At that time 100 pounds was a large sum of money and it was the equivalent of four years wages. He managed to perfect his skills as the brewer for an inn owned by his stepmother in the next few years and three years after archbishop’s death he managed to rent a small brewery in Leixlip, a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Business was going well for Arthur and when he was 34-years-old he moved from Leixlip to the capital city of Ireland in order to open a brewery there hoping to expand his business. He found an old dilapidated brewery, named St. James’s Gate Brewery, in the southwest of Dublin. The brewery covered four acres and consisted of a copper, a kieve, a mill, two malthouses, stabling for 12 horses and a loft to hold 200 tons of hay. The owner of St. James’s Gate Brewery required 100 pounds as a down payment and 45 pounds per month for rent. On the last day of December 1759, Arthur somehow managed to get the owner to agree to a lease for up to 9,000 years on these terms. Guinness is still brewed at St. James Gate, and the company still pays 45 pounds in rent each month. At that time whiskey, gin, and poteen were the alcoholic drinks most readily available in Ireland but Arthur Guinness was a visionary and brewed a beer relatively new to Ireland that contained roasted barley which gave it a characteristically dark color. Arthur Guinness believed that liquor, especially gin, was destroying the lower classes in Ireland in the 1750s and he also believed that everyone should have access to a high-quality quality beer and a healthier form of alcohol. This is why he brewed the high-quality black porter, his legendary Guinness Stout. Soon Arthur Guinness revolutionized the brewing industry and ousted all imports from the Irish market and Guinness’s porter was in demand not only in Dublin but increasingly in England as well. It was 1761 when Arthur Guinness married Olivia Whitmore in St. Mary’s Church, Dublin. The couple had 21 children and 10 of them lived to adulthood. He handed over control to his three sons and spent his last years at Beaumont, his country home in Drumcondra. Arthur Guinness died on 23 January 1803 at the age of 78. But his story does not end there. As years passed by Guinness grew to be one of the largest and most respected breweries in the world. By 1838, Guinness’ St. James’s Gate Brewery was the largest in Ireland and by 1914, St. James’s Gate was the world’s largest brewery |
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