Meet the Thermometer Man

Richard T. Porter has earned the nickname “The Thermometer Man” by putting together a collection of around 5,000 thermometer of various shapes and sizes. More images after the break...

The small village of Onset, in Wareham, Massachusetts, may not be among the world’s top travel destination, but Richard T. Porter has been working long and hard to put this settlement on the tourist map. He spent decades putting together his thermometer collection and opened the Porter Thermometer Museum. The founder, curator and educator of this unusual museum has been featured by Ripley’s Believe Ir or Not, and is in the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s largest collection of thermometers.

After serving in the Korean War, Richard T. Porter returned to the US and began teaching junior high school science. He used thermometers to educate his students, and that’s when he fell in love with them. He began collecting them and also took up repairing broken thermometers and even got a reputation for his skill. Throughout the years he fixed old thermometers from as far as New Zealand.

His thermometer collection kept growing, and in 1990, when he lost his daughter to a brain tumor, he decided to build a thermometer museum, after his daughter made him promise he would do something with his collection. Along with his wife, Richard T. Porter traveled to all 50 American states and 20 other countries, on all seven continents, collecting thermometers. The museum was officially opened in 1993, and has earned Onset the title of “thermometer capital of the world”.

The 83-year-old Thermometer Man knows he won’t be around forever, and has already made arrangements to donate his extensive thermometer collection to the National Weather Museum, in Penn State. Most of his collection has already been moved there, but he still keeps a few of his beloved collectibles around, and keeps busy by giving presentations on thermometers and the hazards of mercury, to schools and other organizations.

Next time you’re looking for the most accurate temperature reading in the world, head over to the Thermometer Museum of Onset, and ask the Thermometer Man himself.

15 Incredible Libraries Around the World

Moldova National Library - Photograph by Daniel Zollinger

These pillars of higher learning are also home to some of the world’s most incredible architecture. Below is a small collection of stunning libraries around the globe. From the historical to the modern, these centres of knowledge and learning also preserve the history and culture of their respective periods. Personally, I would find it hard to concentrate in some of these places, they are too beautiful for the eye not to wander. More images after the break...

1. University Club Library - New York City, United States

Photograph by Peter Bond

Photograph by Peter Bond

2. Canadian Library of Parliament - Ottawa, Canada

Photograph by James Gillard

Photograph by James Gillard

3. Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - New Haven, Connecticut

Photograph by Lauren Manning

Photograph by KAALpurush

4. Iowa State Capital Law Library - United States

Photograph by Tani Livengood

5. Suzzalo Library at the University of Washington - Seattle, Washington

Photograph by Sam

Photograph by Sam

6. Admont Abbey Library - Austria

Photograph by Ognipensierovo

7. State Library - Victoria, Australia

Photograph by Waltonics

8. Library at El Real Monasterio de El Escorial - Madrid, Spain

Photograph by Jose Maria Cuellar

9. José Vasconcelos Library - Mexico City, Mexico14

 Photograph by Pedro Vasquez Colmenares

Photograph by Aurelio Asiain

10. Real Gabinete Português de Leitura - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 Photograph by Ruy Barbosa Pinto

11. National Library of Finland - Helsinki, Finland

Photograph by Marj-Liisa

12. Mitchell Library - Sydney, Australia

Photograph by Christopher Chan

13. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at University of Toronto - Toronto, Canada

Photograph by Fadi J

14. George Peabody Library - Baltimore, Maryland

 Photograph by Danielle King

15. Strahov Theological Hall - Prague, Czech Republic

Worlds Tallest Teenage Girl

Brazilian Elisa Silva has 14 years of age and measured 206 cm tall! Rówies'niczki exceeds its average of half a meter. But it's sadly funny. Elisa suffering from pituitary gigantism. Her body secretes too much growth hormone. This type of ailment is associated with other symptoms - headache and eye troubles. Unfortunately, parents of girls can not afford the necessary treatment in this case. Increase Elisa causes other complications in life. For example, had to resign from the school, because does not fit on the bus, which traveled to school. According to statistics Elisa can grow up to 15 cm per year. Imagine how it will look like for instance, 10 years? Via Link More images after the break...

 

Inspiration: {Jewels, Jewels, Jewels}

{Good Monday Morning! Have always adored rhinestones, crystals, bold bangles, perfume bottles (have at least 10 on the go), overflowing luxurious designer-baubles in pretty antique trays and Hermès boxes...}

(Source, image 1) We Heart It; image 2) We Heart It; image 3) Kris Atomic  via TIG; images 4 & 5) Behance; image 6) Lonny); image 7, unknown; image 8) Lonny))

Kareena at 3 Idiots Scrap Book Launch

Kareena Kapoor graced the '3 Idiots' Scrap Book Launch At Phoenix Mill.The unveiling ceremony was also attended by the film?s producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director Rajkumar Hirani, music director Shantanu Moitra, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi. More images after the break...

Amazing facts about India

 Photo Link

The official Sanskrit name for India is Bharat.  INDIA has been called Bharat even in Satya yuga ( Golden Age ) More INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT India : - 

• The name `India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
• The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero. More facts after the break...

• Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).
• Chess was invented in India.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.
• The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.
• The first six Mogul Emperor's of India ruled in an unbroken succession from father to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 1707.
• The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
• India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
• The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
• The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
• India has the most post offices in the world !
• The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people !.
• The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
• Although modern images & descriptions of India often show poverty, India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago. The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: ( 5th century ) 365.258756484 days.
• The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).
• Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )
• The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
• Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.
• Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.