James Barton Longacre (1794–1869) was an American portraitist and engraver, and the fourth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1844 until his death.  Longacre is best known for designing the Indian Head cent, which entered commerce in 1859, and for the designs of the Shield nickel, Flying Eagle cent and other coins of the mid-19th century.  Longacre was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 1794.  He ran away to Philadelphia at age 12, where he became an apprentice in a bookstore.  His artistic talent developed and he was released to apprentice in an engraving firm.  He struck out on his own in 1819, making a name providing illustrations for popular biographical books.  He portrayed the leading men of his day; support from some of them, such as South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, led to his appointment as chief engraver after the death of Christian Gobrecht in 1844.  In Longacre's first years as a chief engraver, the Philadelphia Mint was dominated by Mint Director Robert M. Patterson and Chief Coiner Franklin Peale.  Conflict between Longacre and the two men developed after Congress ordered a new gold dollar and double eagle, with both to be designed by Longacre.  Peale and Patterson nearly had Longacre fired, but the chief engraver was able to convince Treasury Secretary William M. Meredith that he should be retained.  Both Patterson and Peale left the Mint in the early 1850s, ending the conflict.  Read more and see many graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_B._Longacre

The 5 Ways Reading for 30 Minutes a Day Can Change Your Health  When researchers at Yale University School of Public Health analyzed data from more than 3,600 adults age 50 and older, they found that those who read books for 3½ hours a week—or 30 minutes a day—lived about two years longer than their non-reading peers.  But you have to dig into an actual book:  reading newspapers and magazines doesn’t have quite the same longevity benefits.  Find five ways reading a book does your body good at https://www.healthination.com/health/benefits-of-reading  The Yale study was done in 2016, and the article was reviewed June 6, 2018.

THERE IS NO J STREET IN WASHINGTON  The reason behind the missing J Street in Washington, DC is because in the English alphabet, the letter J looked too much like the letter I.  The alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, and there is no letter J in Latin.  On occasion, during the Middle Ages, a j would be used as a substitute for the final i in Roman numerals (e.g., iij for 3 instead of iii, or xxviij for 23).  Read myths about why J Street is missing,  see graphics, and sign up for Ghosts of DC via email at https://ghostsofdc.org/2013/01/30/why-is-there-no-j-street/

THERE IS NO 14TH STREET IN PHILADELPHIA  Broad Street is the north-south counterpart to Market (formerly High) Street.  When surveyor Thomas Holme (1624-95) prepared the first plan of the city of Philadelphia for William Penn (1644-1718), only Broad and High Streets were named.  Twelfth Street was designated as Broad Street, and this rough road bisected the town almost exactly at its middle in what was then wilderness.  The plan also designated a public square in the vicinity of this intersection, supposedly the center of the city, because Holme believed it to be the watershed dividing the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers.  The plot was therefore called Center Square. Penn intended that the Public Buildings (City Hall) of Philadelphia would one day go there.  Broad Street was moved to Fourteenth Street by the 1730s, as that was closer to the actual midpoint between the two rivers.  Surveyors also corrected Holme’s error regarding Center Square and placed the commons where it is today—the location of City Hall.  Troops drilled in and around Center Square during the War of Independence, and the French army under Rochambeau camped there on the way to Yorktown.  Later, Center Square became the site for Philadelphia’s first waterworks.  After the Revolution, Broad Street grew, first to the north:  The road was extended from Vine Street to Ridge Road (Avenue) in 1811.  It continued north through the nineteenth century, and its northernmost extensions were created between 1903 and 1923.  The street was also lengthened to the south:  In 1819, the road reached from South (formerly Cedar) Street to Dickinson Street.  With the city-county consolidation of 1854, a rudimentary version of Broad Street extended as far south as the later site of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  Harry Kyriakodis  Read more and see graphics at http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/broad-street/

In 2018, Toledo was ranked eighth in"25 Best Cities for Outdoor Space" with a score of 59.0, only 13.6 points away from first-ranked New Orleans.  The study looked at 100 cities, and ranked public green and outdoor space on seven different factors.  Metroparks Toledo has 18 different parks in Lucas County and is planning a new metropark on the east bank of the Maumee River, opposite downtown Toledo.  The park, which has not yet been named, will be the sixth metropark on the Maumee River.  All of the river parks and other sites along Ohio's 108-mile stretch of the Maumee River are part of the Ohio Water Trail.  Development News  August 2018  See also https://potsplantersandmore.com/2018/07/06/25-best-cities-for-outdoor-space/

How to Cook Quinoa  Makes about 2 1/2 cups quinoa

Ingredients

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saucepan.  Add the quinoa and cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring often, so it’s well coated with the oil.  Add 1 1/4 cups of water and the salt.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender but not mushy.  Remove from the heat, let sit, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.  To make tabbouleh using quinoa instead of bulgur, find recipe at  https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/quinoa-and-black-bean-tabbouleh?utm_campaign=TST_WNK_20180808&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc_Newsletter&utm_content=The%20Weeknight%20Kitchen:%20Quinoa%20and%20Black%20Bean%20Tabbouleh

Professional Wrestling adopted the term kayfabe as a reference to the standard Fourth Wall features of separating the audience from the action.  It is meant to convey the idea that, yes, pro wrestling is a genuine sport, and yes, this is how these people act in real life.  It is essentially Willing Suspension of Disbelief specifically for pro wrestling.  Back in the old days, though, kayfabe was much more; it was pro wrestling's real life Masquerade.  Wrestlers, promoters, and everybody else involved with the business alike resorted to any means necessary to guard the secret that wrestling was rigged, from wrestlers roughing up any reporters who dared ask, "It's all fake, right?" to (alleged) death threats towards anybody who threatened to expose the secret, through contacts with the Mafia and other organized crime.  Wrestlers lived their gimmicks 24/7 and those playing Wild Samoans or Foreign Wrestling Heels could not speak English in public if their characters didn't.  https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Kayfabe  During the early 21st century, this "kayfabe" practice has given way to reality in the WWE, largely due to the creation of the reality television program Total Divas where four "legit" (legally binding) weddings have occurred.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe

Do you like avocados?  How about getting paid to eat them? That’s just what some universities are doing to test if eating avocados help people lose weight.  The study is being conducted at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and three other American universities, who will pay participants.    “The study will examine whether eating one avocado per day reduces visceral adipose fat in the abdomen,” Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH says.  The university says participants will receive free health screenings and will get paid $300 each.  Participants will be split into two groups.  The test group will be required to eat 16 avocados every two weeks and required to eat one avocado per day throughout the six-month study.  In addition to LLU, Penn State University, Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles, will each recruit 250 participants, for a total of 1,000 participants in the study.  https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/08/28/get-paid-avocados/

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library.  Mexican Alebrije Painting  Tuesdays and Thursdays | Sept. 4 – Oct. 16   Latino Quesadillas  Thursdays and Saturdays | Sept. 1 – Nov. 1  Explore Latin Countries  September 15 – October 15 |  Visit any library location to complete a quiz about Latin countries for a chance to win a one year family of four membership to the Toledo Zoo.

The main branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library at 325 N. Michigan will close on Sunday, September 2, 2018 for 10-12 months of major renovations.  On Friday, September 7, 2018 the Sylvania branch at 6749 Monroe will reopen after one year of renovations.

August 29, 2018  HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY  Before there was a movie franchise, and a collection of theme parks, and a Broadway play (two actually); before you could spot wand-wielding children sporting long black robes and know just what they were up to; there was Joanne Rowling’s manuscript, famously rumored to have been partly written on disposable napkins, about an orphaned boy who did not know he was a wizard.  It was rejected by several British publishers, and then accepted by one, Bloomsbury, which published it as “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” with Rowling’s name defeminized into “J.K.”  A year later—on Sept. 1, 1998—it arrived in American bookstores as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” with a new cover designed by Mary GrandPré.  There was another publisher, Scholastic, tasked with introducing the book and the wizarding world to American children, and soon enough, across the country there were young readers, and more than a few older ones, clamoring for more.  Maria Russo  See pictures at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/books/review/harry-potter-20th-anniversary.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1944  August 30, 2018