FYI April 01, 2020

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On This Day

1545 – Potosí, Bolivia, is founded after the discovery of huge silver deposits in the area.
Cerro Rico (Spanish for “rich mountain”), Cerro Potosí[1] (“Potosí mountain”) or Sumaq Urqu[2] (Quechua sumaq “beautiful, good, pleasant”, urqu “mountain”,[3] “beautiful (good or pleasant) mountain”) is a mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potosí. Cerro Rico, which is popularly conceived of as being “made of” silver ore, was famous for providing vast quantities of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire. It is estimated that eighty-five percent of the silver produced in the central Andes during this time came from Cerro Rico.[4] As a result of mining operations in the mountain, the city of Potosí became one of the largest cities in the New World.[5]

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Born On This Day

1898 – William James Sidis, Ukrainian-Russian Jewish American mathematician, anthropologist, and historian (d. 1944)
William James Sidis (/ˈsaɪdɪs/; April 1, 1898 – July 17, 1944) was an American child prodigy with exceptional mathematical and linguistic skills. He is notable for his 1920 book The Animate and the Inanimate, in which he postulates the existence of dark matter, entropy, and the origin of life in the context of thermodynamics. Sidis was raised in a particular manner by his father, psychologist Boris Sidis, who wished his son to be gifted. Sidis first became famous for his precocity and later for his eccentricity and withdrawal from public life. Eventually, he avoided mathematics altogether, writing on other subjects under a number of pseudonyms. He entered Harvard at age 11 and, as an adult, was claimed to have an extremely high IQ, and to be conversant in about 25 languages and dialects. Some of these claims have not been verified, but many of his contemporaries, including Norbert Wiener, Daniel Frost Comstock and William James, supported the assertion that he was extremely intelligent.

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FYI

By John Valenti, Newsday: Herbie Wheeler, a pioneering journalist and Newsday icon, dies at 96
 
 
 
 
CBS News: “Star Wars” actor Andrew Jack dies of coronavirus at age 76
 
 
 
 
Fast Company Compass: I’ve been doing Zoom meetings for years. These 7 tricks make them great
 
 
 
 
The Rural Blog: How has the pandemic has affected agriculture so far? More ->
 
 
 
 
By Erienne Muldoon, Beyond Bylines: April Fools’ Day and Beyond: Tips for Identifying Phony Content
 
 
 
 
By Hanaa’ Tameez, Nieman lab: How a Boston Globe website started connecting those in need because of coronavirus with those who can help
 
 
 
 
Kathryn’s Report: Sportsman 2+2, N5045X: Accident occurred March 27, 2020 in Wasilla, Alaska and more ->
 
 
 
 
Open Culture: Pachelbel’s Canon Played by Train Horns
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Recipes

Courtney, The Kitchen Garten: How to Make Fire Cider
 
 
Little House Big Alaska: Easy Recipes for Kids to Make
 
 
Food Network Kitchen: Adorable Bread Animals
 
 
Sue Stetzel, Taste of Home: 30 Delicious Casseroles for A
 
 
By Emily Racette Parulski, A Taste of Home: The Most Irresistible Lemon Desserts of All Time
 
 
By Naomi Tomky, The Kitchn: The First Episode of Samin Nosrat’s New Quarantine Cooking Podcast Promises “Beans and Laughter”