At the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, the Cuyahoga River had long been a pollution problem.  Cleveland had been a major industrial city since the 1880s, and the mayor then called the river “an open sewer through the center of the city.”  But when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland in 1969, many believe it became the symbol of out-of-control pollution that was needed to get the Clean Water Act passed.  The word “cuyahoga” means crooked.  When you look at a map, the Cuyahoga’s path forms a U-shape—beginning in northeastern Geauga County, running south and west, through Akron, then turning back north to Cleveland on Lake Erie.  And in the late 1960s, those last few miles leading to Lake Erie were lined with steel mills and factories.  At that time, little had been done to stop the pollution.  A few months after the fire, Time magazine picked up the story and ran a photo of an earlier, much worse fire.  Later that year, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy  Act.  It was the precursor to the Environmental Protection Agency, which was established in 1970—the year of the first Earth Day.  Indeed, President Nixon, who generally supported environmental clean-up efforts, vetoed a bill passed by Congress to create national water quality standards because of the high price tag.  Congress overrode his veto.  That law was the Clean Water Act.  Julie Grant  https://www.alleghenyfront.org/how-a-burning-river-helped-create-the-clean-water-act/

Burn On by Randy Newman - Sail Away  1972  There's a red moon rising On the Cuyahoga River Rolling into Cleveland to the lake . . . Burn on, big river, burn on Burn on, big river, burn on  (beginning and ending lyrics)  See all lyrics at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtW8RkI3-c4   2:34

The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, although now only used for state ceremonies.  The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms.  It is the largest functioning Royal Palace and the largest by floor area in Europe.  King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the significantly more modest Palace of Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid.  The palace is owned by the Spanish State and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional, a public agency of the Ministry of the Presidency.  Several rooms in the palace are regularly open to the public except during state functions.  An admission fee of €13 is required, however some days it is free.  The palace is located on the site of a 9th-century Alcázar ("Muslim-era fortress"), near the town of Magerit, constructed as an outpost by Muhammad I of Córdoba and inherited after 1036 by the independent Moorish Taifa of Toledo.  After Madrid fell to King Alfonso VI of Castile in 1083, the edifice was only rarely used by the kings of Castile.  In 1329, King Alfonso XI of Castile convened the cortes of Madrid for the first time.  King Felipe II moved his court to Madrid in 1561.  The old Alcázar was built on the location in the 16th century.  After it burned 24 December 1734, King Felipe V ordered a new palace built on the same site.  King Carlos III first occupied the new palace in 1764.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_Madrid

 “What in tarnation?” is one of a wide variety of euphemistic expressions of surprise, bewilderment or anger that arose in 18th and 19th century America.  Perhaps due to our Puritan legacy, Americans were, during this period, especially creative in devising oaths that allowed us to express strong emotions while still skirting blasphemy.  Such inventions as “heck,” “drat,” “darn,” “gosh,” “jiminy,” “gee-whiz” and “goldarn” were all devised to disguise exclamations that would have been considered shocking in polite society.  “Sam Hill,” for example, is simply an early 19th century euphemism for “hell” (and while there have been many people named Sam Hill throughout history, the expression does not come from the name of any particular Sam Hill).  http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2017/05/what-in-tarnation.html

Before you do any cooking with rhubarb, you ought to at least try it raw.  Remove all leaves as they are poisionous.  Find five ways to use rhubarb at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/five-ways-to-eat-rhubarb-29385943/  Find 70 recipes for rhubarb at https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/rhubarb-recipes-for-spring/

right up one's alley/right down one's alley  In one's specialty, to one's taste.  These idioms use alley in the sense of "one's own province," a usage dating from the early 1600s.  [First half of 1900s]  Also see cup of tea.  https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Right+Up+My+Alley

Here is my full summer reading list by Bill Gates  Upheaval, by Jared Diamond.  Nine Pints, by Rose George.  A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles.  Presidents of War, by Michael Beschloss.  The Future of Capitalism, by Paul Collier.  See descriptions of suggested books for summer 2019 at https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Summer-Books-2019

Omani author Jokha Alharthi has won the 2019s Man Booker International Prize--the first Arabic writer to do so.  Her novel Celestial Bodies centres on the lives of three sisters and their families coming to terms with social changes in Oman.  Judges described it as "a richly imagined, engaging and poetic insight".  Alharthi shares the award of £50,000 ($63,000) with her translator, the American academic Marilyn Booth.  "I am thrilled that a window has been opened to the rich Arabic culture," Alharthi told journalists after the ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.  Alharthi has previously written two collections of short fiction, a children's book and three novels in Arabic.  https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48363022

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2102  May 24, 2019