10 Cool Things on Wikipedia

I had no idea how to categorize this. I feel like this covers most things...

1. Sbitten

A traditional east Slavic hot winter beverage.

Both Russians and Ukranians drink it and I just picture them sitting down for some nice Sbitten when the war is all over.

It looks purple and can be very spicy or very sweet. It depends on who is making it. It used to have the reputation of Gluhwein but it contains no alcohol.(I think that's where it lost it's cool status).

First mention in 1128. It was still competitive with tea and coffee in the 18th century as a cheaper option.

Putin gave it to his Chinese counterpart in 2018.

2. Duncan Segregation Index

It measures if a particular occupation is gender biased. This started in 1955. I find this really interesting. It talks mostly about a particular occupation having more men than women but I see it in teaching. Way more women than men. A perfect score of integration is 0.

3. Hawaiian Punch!!!

Exclamations added because this was maybe my favorite search 0-100.
Did you know??
Hawaiian Punch is currently manufactured by Keurig Dr.Pepper.
Did you know??
Keurig and Dr.Pepper were the same company. MIND BLOWN.

It was originally invented in 1934 as a topping for ice cream. It is made with 3% fruit juice. It became a famous brand by 1955.

Companies who have owned it...
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Del Monte
Proctor and Gamble???
Schweppes???
Snapple
Keurig Dr.Pepper.

I kept going down the wiki rabbit hole on this one.

4. Jabba the Hut

the description "a large slug like creature based off annelid worms".
He appeared in Marvel Comics as a slim humanoid with a walrus like face.
The costume designers vision was Orson Welles when he was older. (ouch)
Phil Tippet who i think is the puppeteer imagined him as a slug in alice in wonderland.

He was a $500,000 puppet.

His theme was played by a Tuba.

Roger Ebert described him as "a cross between a toad and a chesire cat"
Russian/Ukranian Word for toad is "Jabba".

I don't get star wars and can't get into it but I totally digged this article.

5. Late Industrialization

Countries who didn't start industrializing until the 20th century. I found this so interesting because I lived in Korea.

They didn't generate new products of processes. They raised income and transformed their productive structures with borrowed technology. It was based on learning.

When you are thinking late industrialization think: South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, India, Mexico, Turkey and Japan.

This is all based on research by Alice Amsden.

6. Student Politicism

Hong Kong student group that wanted to test the red line of the regime. They were arrested for telling people not to use the "leave home safe covid tracking app".

I probably would have been part of this group. I joined a tracking app in the USA but I wouldn't in China. Does this mean I trust the USA? I really don't so I am confused by this.

7. Thomas V. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division

There were a lot of court related things that I skimmed over. This was the most interesting.

Thomas a Jehovah's witness worked at a factory.
His section of the factory closed.
The only section opened to work in was creating weapons.
He asked to be laid off because of his religious beliefs he couldn't make weapons.
He was forced to quit and was denied unemployment benefits.
The Supreme court said that his denial of unemployment violated Thomas' right to free exercise of religion.

I put down in the comments. Ugh. Religion.

8. Jester of Columbia

A humor magazine at Columbia University. It was founded on April Fools Day in 1901. One of the oldest publications in the USA. I would love to go see archives.

9. Kalevala Day

It is a Finnish Culture Day. Celebrated on February 28th. It is in honor of the Finnish National Epic: Kalevala. First Published in 1835. What novel would we as Americans have a day for?

10. Hangzhou Foreign Languages School

Grades 7-12. Public High School in Zhejiang, China. 20% of the students from each graduating class are exempt from the national higher education entrance exam and are automatically admitted into top Chinese Universities.

Do we have a Public High School like that in America?

Katie