If you had to personify any of your core personality traits, who would they be? (Inside Out for example)
(comment your answer)
Question #4
History: Otto Frank
Otto Frank was a business man and the only survivor of the Secret Annex. He was born May 12, 1889 in the German Empire to Alice Betty and Michael Frank . Him being born in 1889 and being a survivor of the Holocaust means he lived through both WW1 and WW2. In his early life, during WW1, he served in the Imperial German Army. In August 1915, he was promoted lieutenant and served at the Battle of Cambrai. On the 12th of May, 1925, He married Edith Holländer and had two children. Their eldest daughter was Margot Frank and youngest was Anne Frank. When the Nazi’s and anti-Jewish decrees took hold of Germany, Otto moved his family to live with is mother-in-law in Aachen; then moved to Amsterdam. He attempted to get a visa for his family to the US or Cuba, but when war was declared it became impossible. Otto then decided to go into hiding with his family in July 6, 1942 after Margot received a notice to report to a labor camp. He lived in the Annex with 7 others for two years. They then were found in 1944 of August by the Nazi’s and in September Otto was separated from his family and sent to Auschwitz. During his time in Auschwitz wrote to his mother who was able to escape to Switzerland. January 27, 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet troops. By that time Otto was to near death and found himself in the sick barracks. He later learned of the death of his family, and that he was the only survivor. In 1945 Anne’s death was confirmed and her diary was given to Otto. He at first didn’t read it, but later was convinced to publish it. Although some thing in the diary was edited out; on June 25, 1947, the first edition of the book was issued in Dutch under the title “Het Achterhuis“. In 1905, he remarried and moved to Switzerland. Later he and Johannes Kleiman (one of the helpers) established the Anne Frank Foundation to save the building that once hid them, and turned it into a museum (opened 1960). Otto later died August 19, 1980 in Basel, Switzerland of lung cancer. He lived to be 91 years.
Did You Know #4
Did you know that the Russian alphabet has 33 letters and is made up of letters from the Cyrillic script. The Cyrillic script is a writing system used across Eurasia, but more in Eastern Europe. It’s based on the 9th century AD, Early Cryllic alphabet by Preslav Literary School in the First Bulgarian Empire. It also has influence in other alphabets of various languages. An example would be those of Orthodox Slavic origin, or languages influenced by the Russian. The Cryillic alphabet use to be based on the Greek uncial script, but went through heavy alterations in the early 1800s, by Peter the Great. As of 2007, Cyrillic became the third official script of the European Union; Greek and Latin being before it. Over 280 million people use this as their alphabet; half of them being Russian or of Russian descent.
Russian alphabet used today:
- А – а
- Б – b
- В – v
- Г- g
- Д – d
- Е – e / he
- Ё – ë / yë
- Ж – zu
- З – z
- И- i
- Й – y
- К – k
- Л – l
- И – m
- Н -n
- О – o
- П – p
- Р – r (rolled r)
- С – s
- Т – t
- У – u
- Ф – f
- Х – h / kh
- Ц – ts
- Ч -ch
- Ш – sh
- Щ – shch
- Ъ – “
- Ы – y
- Ь – ‘
- Э – e
- Ю – yu
- Я – ya
Random Facts #5
- Honey is basically bee vomit.
- The most popular color in the world is blue.
- Black, white, and pink aren’t considered real colors because they aren’t present in the spectrum. They are only our minds mixing light wavelengths.
- The capital of Canada is Ottawa and is the second largest country.
- Canada has six different time zones.
- Feral cats are practically silent, while domestic cat meow, hiss, and purr as a form of communication.
- Cats have better teeth then humans.
- The oldest cat in the world lived to be 38, while cats in the early 1980s only expected to live about 7.
- There are over 6,000 different languages.
- In Russia if you step on someones foot it’s said you will receive a light stamp back in order to avoid further conflict.
- In some Countries it’s a sign of appreciation to slurp soup loudly to show you enjoyed it.
- In Japan it’s sometime considered rude to blow your nose to loud.
- Russia has produced some of the most talented ballet dancers in the world.
Question #3
If you could live in any video game universe, which would it be and why would you want to live there?
(Comment your answer)
History: Margot Frank
Margot Frank was the oldest daughter of Otto Frank and Edith Holländer and had one sibling, Anne. She was born February 16, 1926, in Frankfurt, Germany. Margot, like her sister also had a diary she wrote in, but as since been missing. Before Adolf Hitler became chancellor, she originally went Ludwig-Richter School in the Frankfurt suburbs. After the rise of antisemitism in Germany, she and her family moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands to escape. Before she had to go to a Jewish school, she went to an elementary in Amsterdam, where she got excellent academic results. In all, Margot Frank was said to be very clever and was respected, but she was also reserved, timid and obedient. She didn’t argue as much as Anne did, and had a better relationship with their mother. She was admired a bit by Anne for being clever and good looking, and was said to have wanted to be a midwife. On February 1945, Margot died of typhus and shock when she was 19. Her sister died soon after of the same causes. She was buried in a mass grave with her sister in an unknown location; however, a tombstone dedicated to both of them is in the former Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp in Germany. More on Margot Frank.
History: Anne Frank
Anne Frank was one of 8 people that hide in The Secret Annex while Germany was under Nazi control. She was born in the 12th of June 1929, to Edith and Otto Frank. She was the original writer of “The Diary of a Young Girl”, also known as “The Diary of Anne Frank”. In this diary she wrote about what it was like being Jewish while living in Nazi occupied Amsterdam. She originally wrote in Dutch, but the Diary has since been translated into over 60 languages. In her early life, she showed talent in both reading and writing and was said to have written frequently; although she refused to disclose any information on what she was writing. Her sister, Margot Frank, show talent in arithmetic. Anne originally went to a Montessori school, while Margot went to public school. After the Nazi’s invaded the Netherlands, they both were forced to transfer to a Jewish Lyceum. In the end they both died in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp, due to an out break of Typhus and shock. Anne was 15 when she died. The camp later was burned to prevent spread of the illness, Anne and Margot were buried in a mass grave in an unknown location and there is a tombstone dedicated to them in the remains of the former camp. Interview with one of the helpers.
Question #2
If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
(Comment your answer)
Random Facts #4: Micro-nations
- Micro-nations are self-declared independent states that want to become countries through legal loopholes.
- There are 7 micro-nation in the U.S. with their own flags, passports, stamps, and government system.
- Once a micro-nation is recognized by a few sovereign states they are no longer considered micro-nations.
- Sealand is sometime described as the smallest country, but hasn’t actually been recognized by any sovereign state.
- The micro-nation, Sealand, is actually a WW2 anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea.
- The difference between micro-nation and micro-states is that micro-states are very small pieces of land that are recognized as countries.
- There are about 82-84 micro-nation.
- Ladonia is a micro-nation in Sweden, created in 1980 by artist Lars Vilks.
- The Queen of Ladonia has a twitter account.
Did You Know #3
Did you know driving while sleep deprived is just as dangerous as driving drunk or while texting? Sleep deprivation is what happen when you neglect sleep. Without sleep, both mind and body will slow and start to shut down. It can cause physical problems such as: fatigue, daytime sleepiness, weight gain/obesity, higher blood pressure, clumsiness, and aged skin. However, sleep deprivation mostly affects your brain/cognitive functions such as: slower reaction time, affects the mood in negative ways, increase in anxiety, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, and stress. A person that is sleep deprived will also experience “microsleeps”, which is very short periods of sleep while still awake. Many people around the world are affected by sleep deprivation. In the 1900’s the average amount of sleep was 8-9 hours; today the average is 6-7 hours. A test preformed by Sleep Cycle shows the average amount of sleep people in Japan, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, India and The Philippines is less then 7 hours. (Read more about Sleep Deprivation?)
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