Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Lighthouses are almost as old as navigation. They have inspired imagination, romance, and to the poor mariner lost in the dark, hope.

Unfortunately for this iconic structure, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and use of electronic navigational systems.

So let's take a closer look at the legends and history of lighthouses.

Enjoy!

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."

HINT: (1836-1911), this minister and home missionary from Vermont was one of the many real people upon whom Laura Ingalls Wilder based a character in the "Little House on the Prairie" series of books and the NBC television series of the same name.

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RANDOM TIDBITS
No one knows for sure when or where the first lighthouse was built. Early lighthouses were too simple to be recorded; some were little more than candles placed in the windows of tall buildings at night. Others were hilltop structures on which large fires could be built. The earliest known lighthouses were built on the Mediterranean Sea in the 7th century B.C.

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The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Completed around 280 B.C., it stood about 450 feet high on the island of Pharos in the Alexandria harbor. Still in operation as late as 1115, it was destroyed by earthquakes in the 1300s.

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The oldest working lighthouse in the world is Spain's Tower of Hercules, built by the Romans in 20 B.C.

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The oldest American lighthouse is the Boston Light, in Boston's outer harbor. Built in 1716 on Little Brewster Island, it was destroyed by the British during the American Revolution. It was rebuilt in 1783 and still stands today.

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Before electricity, lighthouses provided light via wood or coal fires, or even candles. These were replaced by whale-oil lanterns, which gave way to kerosene lanterns in the 1800s. In the United States, most lighthouses had a full-time keeper, who lived at the lighthouse and made sure it stayed lit.

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First American lighthouse to use electricity: the Statue of Liberty, which served as a lighthouse in New York Harbor until 1902.




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*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.

What am I?

Submit your answer by clicking: TheDailyTease

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck! If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize.

Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."

ANSWER: Robert Alden