The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is the spine of Philadelphia's Museum District.  Some of the city's most famous sights are here:  Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul; Swann Memorial Fountain; Parkway Central Library, the Family Court Building, the Franklin Institute, Moore College of Art and Design, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Rodin Museum, Eakins Oval, the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  From its northern end, the Parkway provides access to Fairmount Park through Kelly Drive (formerly East River Drive), Martin Luther King Drive (formerly West River Drive), the Schuylkill River Trail, and the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76).  The Parkway also is an outdoor sculpture garden.  Works include:  The Thinker by Auguste Rodin; Gates of Hell also by Rodin; LOVE by Robert Indiana; The Ideal Scout by Robert Tait McKenzie; Three-Way Piece by Henry Moore; the three River figures in the Swann Memorial Fountain by Alexander Stirling Calder; Shakespeare Memorial also by Calder; The Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs by Nathan Rapoport at the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza; Joseph Leidy by Samuel Murray; Aero Memorial by Paul Manship; General Galusha Pennypacker by Charles Grafly and Albert Laessle; Jesus Breaking Bread by Walter Erlebacher, All Wars Colored Soldiers and Sailors Memorial by J. Otto Schweizer; Thaddeus Kosciuszko by Robert Aitken; Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial by Hermon Atkins MacNeil; Kopernik by Dudley Vaill Talcott; Joan of Arc by Emmanuel Fremiet; Washington Monument by Rudolf Siemering; and the Rocky statue by A. Thomas Schomberg.  See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Center City, Philadelphia  In a city famous for its urban planning, the Parkway represents one of the earliest examples of urban renewal in the United States.  The road was constructed to ease heavy industrial congestion in Center City and to restore Philadelphia's natural and artistic beauty, as part of the City Beautiful movement.  The vision for a grand parkway came from retail pioneer John Wanamaker.  Preliminary proposals for the Parkway had been produced and added to the City Plan by 1906, but the first comprehensive plan for the Parkway was commissioned in 1907 by the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art).  The Association commissioned architects Horace Trumbauer, Clarence Zantzinger, and Paul Philippe Cret, who created a detailed parkway design that was formally added to the City Plan in 1909.  Construction on the Parkway did not begin until 1917, when French landscape architect Jacques Gréber submitted a revised plan to the Commissioners of Fairmount Park.  Gréber designed the Parkway in 1917 to emulate the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France.  The route was determined by an axis drawn from City Hall Tower to a fixed point on the hill that William Penn called "Fairmount", now the site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  The Parkway contains flags of countries from around the world.  The traffic rotary on the western end of the Parkway, at the foot of the Art Museum's Rocky Steps, is named Eakins Oval after Philadelphia painter Thomas Eakins.  The traffic lanes around Eakins Oval originally formed a regular oval; this pattern was modified in the early 1960s to its present elongated circular shape, with the truncated lanes serving as staging areas for various events.  See pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Parkway#  See also https://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/2013/benjaminfranklin.htm   

Behemoth noun  late 14c., huge biblical beast (Job xl.15), from Latin behemoth, from Hebrew b'hemoth, usually taken as plural of intensity of b'hemah "beast."  But the Hebrew word is perhaps a folk etymology of Egyptian pehemau, literally "water-ox," the name for the hippopotamus.  Used in modern English for any huge beast.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/behemoth   

Behemoth: Or the Game of God is a 2020 Mosotho action–mystery short film directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese and co-produced by Hannah Stockmann. The film stars Tseko Monaheng as 'Preacher' in the lead role.  The film received critical reviews from critics and screened at several international film festivals.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth:_Or_the_Game_of_God   

A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices.  The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage.  It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventory.  They are said to occur in the financial markets when bidders who value assets highly are prevented from bidding on them, depressing the average selling price below what it otherwise would be.  This lowering of the price can cause even further issues because it may be inaccurately perceived as signalling negative information.  The term is adapted from reference to the sale of fire-damaged goods at reduced prices.  In Proceedings of the Fitchburg [Mass.] Historical Society and Papers Relating to the History of the Town Read by Some of the Members the following entry is found:  In December, 1856, the account of an extensive fire in the American House mentions the following occupants:  E. B. Gee, clothing; T. B. Choate, drugs; J. C. Tenney, boots and shoes; Maraton Upton, dry goods; and M. W. Hayward, groceries.  Maraton Upton removed his stock to No. 9 Rollstone block, and advertised "Extraordinary fire sale; customers are invited to call and examine goods which are still warm."  In professional sports, a fire sale occurs when a team trades many of its veteran players, especially expensive star players, to other teams for less expensive and usually younger players.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_sale   

Astor Library and Lenox Library merge to form the New York Public Library (May 24, 1895) • Thomas Mann begins writing Dr. Faustus (May 23, 1943) • Sarah Josepha Hale’s Poems for Our Children, which includes the origins of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” is published (May 24, 1830) • Edith Wharton’s first published story, “Mrs. Manstey’s View” (which has serious quarantine vibes) is accepted by Scribner’s magazine (May 26, 1891) • F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is published in Collier’s (May 27, 1922) • The first draft of Of Mice and Men is eaten by John Steinbeck’s dog (May 27, 1936)  Literary Hub   

The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted on May 22, 1992.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2673  May 22, 2023 

 May 7, 2023  Hasbro, in partnership with Ageless Innovation (a licensee of Hasbro brands) has unveiled new versions of Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and The Game of Life.  Each game has been reimagined to make the play experience more appealing and easier for seniors.  Tweaks to the board games feature several age-inclusive components, said Ted Fischer, co-founder and CEO of Ageless Innovation, which specializes in developing toys for elderly consumers.  Changes include bigger play pieces that are easier to grasp, larger wording on the boards and refreshed content that is more relatable to an older demographic.  The new Scrabble Bingo 3-in-1 edition (priced at $40) has three games—the classic word game of Scrabble, Scrabble Bingo, and Scrabble Pass.  All three games have bigger letter tiles to hold and larger lettering for players to see.  Scrabble Pass incorporates a 30-second sand timer to make it more challenging.  About 10,000 people turn 65 every day in the United States, according to the AARP, a nonprofit interest group for aging Americans.  “Today, there are over 50 million people in America over the age of 65 and it could double by 2050,” said Mr. Fischer.  The AARP estimates the number of older adults will more than double over the next several decades to top 88 million people and represent over 20 percent of the population by 2050.  As the population ages, it’s also presenting companies with a rapidly expanding market for all kinds of services and products, including toys.  https://www.toledoblade.com/business/retail/2023/05/07/scrabble-trivial-pursuit-game-life-board-games-seniors/stories/20230507043

Inside the Home and Studio of a 19th-Century Artist Power Couple  Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran resided in this quirky, now-restored building in East Hampton, New York by the time Thomas Moran turned 40 in 1877, any American who followed visual art knew his work.  His majestic paintings of Western landscapes introduced many to the epic grandeur of places such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon; he even had a mountain named for him, Mount Moran, in the Teton Range of Wyoming.  His wife, Mary Nimmo Moran, had also established herself as a respected artist, and the couple had three children.  But they still hadn’t found a place to set down permanent roots, having moved from their adopted hometown of Philadelphia to Paris and later to Newark, New Jersey.  That changed in 1878, when they followed the suggestion of a friend to visit the East End of Long Island.  The quiet village of East Hampton, New York, made an impression on the Morans, its gently rolling fields evoking their native Scotland (Mary) and England (Thomas).  They rented space there for several summers before finally buying two-thirds of an acre on Main Street in 1883.  Thomas built a fanciful house known as The Studio on the property, cobbling together salvaged pieces of New York City buildings to create a structure later described by a United States Interior Department historian as “rather eccentric.”   See pictures at Preservation, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Spring 2023  Within a 15-minute drive of The Studio, you can visit six artist’s havens.  See SavingPlaces.org/historic-sites for more information.    

Good writers avoid peppering their writing with qualifiers like ‘very’ and ‘really’.  They are known as padding or filler words and generally add little to your writing.  Adding modifiers, qualifiers, and unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, weakens your writing.  There may be times when you need them, and when you do, use them.  If you choose strong, appropriate nouns and verbs, you will need to use them less often.  https://www.writerswrite.co.za/45-ways-to-avoid-using-the-word-very/   

This flat bread is called shrak in Jordan, markook in Palestine and rkak in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf and North African countries.  The bread is usually rather large, almost 60 cm in diameter, and has a very thin thickness, practically translucent.  Shrak was first mentioned in a 10th-century cookbook written by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, although here it was called “ruqaq”.  The author described it as bread thin as paper without the action of leavening agents.  Since food is a very important representation of Jordanian culture (as it symbolizes hospitality and generosity), every gathering at the table is considered a celebration.  During those, a portion of shrak is presented along almost all dishes.  Nita Ragoonanan  https://www.196flavors.com/shrak-markook/  Thank you, Muse reader!   

The Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents.  In 1991, the tricentennial of its opening to the public, the Ducal Library was renamed for Duchess Anna Amalia.  Today, the library is a public research library for literature and art history.  The main focus is German literature from the Classical and the late Romantic eras.  The library was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Classical Weimar site because of its testimony to the global cultural importance of Weimar during the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the Weimar Classicism movement.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Anna_Amalia_Library   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2672  May 19, 2023  

"Chinese gooseberry" is the lesser-known name for the kiwifruit, a popular subtropical fruit that became well known around the world in the 1950s, when it began to be exported from New Zealand on a large scale.  This fruit has a characteristic tart, acidic flavor and pulpy green flesh.  The fruits are also sometimes called kiwi fruits, or simply kiwis.  Whatever consumers call it, they can also be grown at home in temperate climates.  Beginning in the 1950s, the fruit started to be exported to various countries around the world, including the United States.  New Zealand growers changed the name of the fruit to “melonette,” due to concerns about Cold War hostilities between the United States and China that might make a "Chinese" fruit unappealing to the American market.  American importers did not like the name, however, leading New Zealand growers to suggest the alternate name of kiwifruit, which quickly caught on.  Mary McMahon   https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-a-chinese-gooseberry.htm   

Balkans, also called Balkan Peninsula, is the easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas.  There is not universal agreement on the region’s components.  The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia—with all or part of each of those countries located within the peninsula.  Portions of Greece and Turkey are also located within the geographic region generally defined as the Balkan Peninsula, and many descriptions of the Balkans include those countries too.  See map at https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans   

Lepinja (Balkan Flatbread) Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins Servings: 12 Yield: 1 loaf  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/214925/lepinja-balkan-flatbread/   

Osage-orange can now be found in all 48 contiguous states.  Its widespread distribution was supported by its boundless adaptability to wide-ranging environmental conditions and its use for several utilitarian purposes.  Trees were planted as living fences prior to the development of barbed wire.  Dense, crossing branches and sharp spines growing from the leaf axils discouraged livestock from crossing close-planted hedges.  It was also one of the primary trees used in Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs aimed at preventing soil erosion.  Thousands of miles of Osage-orange shelterbelts were planted throughout the 1930s as part of WPA soil stabilization efforts.  Finally, a number of stubborn myths have grown-up around Osage-orange such as the fruits being capable of repelling insects and spiders.  Research has debunked the insect repellency claim.  Joe Boggs  https://bygl.osu.edu/node/625   

Bitter orange, Sour Orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree Citrus × aurantium and its fruit.  It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world.  It is probably a cross between the pomelo, Citrus maxima, and the mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_orange           

Blood oranges grow on citrus trees in warm, temperate climates.  In the U.S., they are mostly grown in California and Florida and then shipped around the country. The fruit can be eaten as is, juiced, or used in baked goods, cocktails, salads, or other dishes that call for oranges.   Blood oranges are sweeter than other oranges. Their juice is delicious, but because it is quite a bit sweeter than classic orange juice, it ferments quickly and should be used or drunk the same day it's juiced. Molly Watson  Link to recipes at https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-blood-oranges-2216770   

I feel fairly certain that my hatred harms me more than the people whom I hate. - Max Frisch, architect, playwright, and novelist (15 May 1911-1991)   

On May 16, 1960 American engineer and physicist Theodore Maiman successfully fired the first laser.

On May 17, 1865 the International Telecommunication Union was founded.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2671  May 17, 2023 

Not only did Leonardo da Vinci write with a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself, he also mirrored his writing, starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left.  Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.  The purpose of his mirror writing is unknown, but one idea is that it may have kept his hands clean.  People who were contemporaries of Leonardo left records that they saw him write and paint left handed.  He also made sketches showing his own left hand at work.  As a lefty, this mirrored writing style would have prevented him from smudging his ink as he wrote.  https://www.mos.org/leonardo/activities/mirror-writing   

Caster, or castor, sugar is a type of fine granulated sugar that's widely available in the United Kingdom.  It's not quite as common in the United States, though you can find it in some baking aisles under the name "superfine sugar." I ts texture is somewhere between regular granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar.  What's with the name?  Years ago, this type of sugar was often found in a shaker (called a caster) and sprinkled on fresh fruits.   Granulated sugar will usually work just fine as a caster sugar alternative.  Corey Williams  https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-caster-sugar/   

The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States.  The term Ivy League is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools as a group of elite colleges with connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.  Its members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.  While the term was in use as early as 1933, it became official only after the formation of the athletic conference in 1954.  All of the "Ivies" except Cornell were founded during the colonial period; they thus account for seven of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution.  The other two colonial colleges, Rutgers University and the College of William & Mary, became public institutions.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League  See also https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/questions-answers/ivy-leagues-called-ivy-leagues/ 

Toledo, Ohio’s first city park, Walbridge, sits on 60 acres along the Maumee River on Broadway St. near the Toledo Zoo.  A wide, paved pathway weaves through trees near the shelter house, bandstand, and playground, continuing past a terraced hillside with benches offering views of the glistening river.  Don’t miss the spectacular Ginkgo tree on the east side of the park, nearly seven feet in diameter and at least 80 feet tall.  Alison Wood-Osmun  July 15, 2014  https://toledocitypaper.com/the-city/city-havens/ 

HOW TO HARVEST GINKGO NUTS  Wait until the fruit (technically, fleshy cones) falls to the ground in autumn, then, wearing latex gloves, pick up the fruit and squeeze the seed into a plastic bag, leaving the smelly flesh behind.  Wash away any fleshy remnants clinging to the seeds.  The seeds can then be frozen, in their shells for later use.  Ginkgo nuts should only be eaten cooked, not raw.  Bake the cleaned ginkgo seeds at 350°F for about fifteen minutes, then shell them.  Ginkgo nut shells aren’t super tough, like black walnuts or pignuts, so you can crack them with a hammer or rubber mallet.  Place them between layers of dish towels to avoid smashing the nut meats and having the shells fly all over the room.  Then, rub off any papery skins that cling to the nut meats.  Cooked nuts turn green, adding both visual interest and flavor to soups, rice, and noodle dishes.  To fully appreciate the unadulterated taste and unique (dense and velvety) texture of ginkgo nuts, fry them briefly in oil and sprinkle with salt.  These make an excellent snack with beer, sake, or wine.  Ginkgo nuts are also used in traditional Asian desserts.  For sweet recipes, boil shelled nuts, then add them to puddings, cakes, and sweet soups.  Ellen  https://backyardforager.com/ginkgo-nuts-2/    

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.  It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after Ukraine, winner of the 2022 contest with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to security concerns caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), the contest was held at the Liverpool Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and a final on 13 May 2023.  The three live shows were presented by British singer Alesha Dixon, British actress Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, with Irish television presenter Graham Norton joining for the final.  Thirty-seven countries participated in the contest, with Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia ceasing their participation, mainly due to the economic impact of the 2021–2023 global energy crisis.  The winner was Sweden with the song "Tattoo", performed by Loreen and written by Loreen along with Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son.  Finland's Käärijä finished in second place with the song "Cha Cha Cha" and topped the public vote, with Israel, Italy and Norway rounding out the top five.  Loreen became the second performer to win the contest twice after Johnny Logan, while Sweden also tied Ireland's record for the most wins at seven.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2023   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2670  May 15, 2023 

The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949.  Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen.  They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century.  The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years . . . 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively.  The brothers are almost universally known by their stage names:  Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo.  There was a sixth brother, the firstborn, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx_Brothers

October 13-22, 2023  The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival™.  For all things fall, visit Indiana’s largest festival, The Covered Bridge Festival.  This 10 day festival always starts on the 2nd Friday in October.  The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival–showcases the county’s 31 historic covered bridges and features authentic arts and crafts, fantastic food, and beautiful fall foliage.  See pictures and link to more information at https://www.coveredbridges.com/covered-bridge-festival    

Psyche comes from the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit, or invisible animating entity which occupies the physical body.”  That about sums the way we understand the word today.  People have their own individual psyches of course, but you often hear the word used to describe the similar mind set or thought process of a group of people, such as "the American psyche."  https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/psyche   

The Kentucky coffeetree is a unique tree with large, woody pods and very large leaves made up of smaller leaflets.  With its bold form, contorted branching, unique bark and decorative clusters of large pods rattling in the wind, Kentucky coffeetree is an exceptional winter ornamental.  Leaves emerge in late spring a striking pink-bronze color.  As the beautiful, large airy leaves mature they become dark bluish-green above.  The light, airy shade (semi-shade) of this tree makes gardening under it possible.  This tree's yellow fall color contrasts nicely with the clusters of dark, maturing pods.  The Kentucky coffeetree belongs to the pea or legume family.  Although widely distributed, this tree is a rare forest tree and occurs in scattered populations.  The national champion Kentucky coffeetree, 97 feet tall, is in Maryland.  At one time the Kentucky coffeetree was the designated state tree.  It occurs throughout Kentucky, but is most common in open woods in the Bluegrass.  The common name comes from the seeds being used by pioneers as a coffee substitute.  The Kentucky champion tree is in West Liberty in Morgan County and is 90 feet tall.  It is one of the largest Kentucky coffeetrees in the USA. https://www.uky.edu/hort/Kentucky-Coffeetree   

Ignatius J. Reilly is the hero of John Kennedy Toole's tragicomic tale, A Confederacy of Dunces published in 1980.  This 30-year-old medievalist lives at home with his mother in New Orleans, pens his magnum opus on Big Chief writing pads he keeps hidden under his bed, and relays to anyone who will listen the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bound for Baton Rouge.  ("Speeding along in that bus was like hurtling into the abyss.")  But Ignatius's quiet life of tyrannizing his mother and writing his endless comparative history screeches to a halt when he is almost arrested by the overeager Patrolman Mancuso--who mistakes him for a vagrant--and then involved in a car accident with his tipsy mother behind the wheel.  One thing leads to another, and before he knows it, Ignatius is out pounding the pavement in search of a job.  Over the next several hundred pages, our hero stumbles from one adventure to the next.  His stint as a hotdog vendor is less than successful, and he soon turns his employers at the Levy Pants Company on their heads.  The many subplots that weave through A Confederacy of Dunces are as complicated as anything you'll find in a Dickens novel, and just as beautifully tied together in the end.  Ignatius--selfish, domineering, and deluded, tragic and comic and larger than life--who carries the story.  He is a modern-day Quixote beset by giants of the modern age. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/310612  Winner of The Pulitzer Prize   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2669  May 12, 2023 

Sylvester Graham (1794–1851) was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread.  His preaching inspired the graham flour, graham bread, and graham cracker products. Graham is often referred to as the "Father of Vegetarianism" in the United States of America.  As his fame spread, "Grahamism" became a movement, and people inspired by his preaching began to develop and market Graham flour, Graham bread, and graham crackers.  He neither invented nor endorsed any specific product, nor did he receive any money from their sale.  Grahamite boarding-houses were established in the 1830s.  The Grahamites applied dietetic and hygienic principles to everyday life including cold baths, hard mattresses, open windows, a vegetarian diet with Graham bread and drinking cold water.  Animal flesh was banned from Grahamite homes but eggs were allowed to be eaten at breakfast and were an important component of Grahamite diets.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Graham   

Rambunctious first appeared in print in the early half of the 19th century, at a time when the fast-growing United States was forging its identity and indulging in a fashion for colorful new coinages suggestive of the young nation's optimism and exuberance.  Rip-roaring, scalawag, scrumptious, hornswoggle, and skedaddle are other examples of the lively language of that era.  Did Americans alter the largely British rumbustious because it sounded, well, British? That could be.  Rumbustious, which first appeared in Britain in the late 1700s just after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was probably based on robustious, a much older adjective that meant both "robust" and "boisterous."  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rambunctious   

According to Quaker Oats legend, it all started in the 1850s when John Stuart opened up the North Star Mills Company in Canada, followed by a German immigrant named Ferdinand Schumacher who founded the German Mills American Cereal Company in Akron, Ohio, in 1856.  Then, after a move to the United States, John Stuart and his son Robert opened the North Star Mills Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1873, as Company Histories notes.  Around that same time, Henry Seymour and William Heston, owners of the Quaker Mill in Ravenna, Ohio, decided to protect their assets by applying for a trademark for the Quaker Oats name and the logo of the Quaker man, which became a symbol of quality and value.  https://www.tastingtable.com/982720/how-quaker-oats-made-us-breakfast-history/    

On May 10th, 1849, a rivalry between two Shakespearean actors erupted into an honest-to-goodness riot outside the Astor Place Opera House in New York City—a riot that left more than 20 people dead, and some 50 wounded.  The crux of the matter?  Who played the better Macbeth:  the American (Edwin Forrest) or the Englishman (William Macready).  “The saga began several years earlier, in 1845, when the volatile Philadelphia-born star Edwin Forrest was on tour to the UK,” writes Andrew Dickson.  Stung by a poor reviews in London (the Spectator yawned that his Othello was “affected” and said his “killing of Desdemona was a cold-blooded butchery”), Forrest became paranoid that his great rival, the eminent English actor William Charles Macready, was orchestrating a campaign against him.  The following March, Forrest bought a ticket for Macready’s Hamlet in Edinburgh; just as the play-within-the-play scene began, Forrest hissed, loudly and publicly.  The affair became a scandal, particularly when Forrest sent a letter to the London Times pouring scorn on Macready’s “fancy dance” of a Dane.  Back in the US, Forrest—narcissistic even by the standards of most actors—exulted that he had struck a blow against anti-American prejudice.  Macready, an altogether quieter and more uptight character, was shocked, but had little sense how things would escalate.  On his own return tour to the US in the fall of 1848, he was astonished to discover that many American reviewers—who had praised him to the rafters on previous visits—had mysteriously turned against him. When he reached Forrest’s hometown of Philadelphia, he was dismayed to find that his enemy had arranged to perform many of the same dates in direct opposition.  One night, Macready’s Macbeth was interrupted when the audience began fighting amongst itself.  As the curtain came down, Macready protested, only to find when he opened the paper the next day that Forrest had printed a furious take-down of his “narrow, envious” rival.  The dispute simmered:  in Cincinnati a few months later, half a sheep was thrown at Macready’s feet.  Things only got more heated from there, until the fateful evening of May 10th, when a mob formed outside Macready’s final performance.  “Swelled by ranks of criminal gangs of ‘b’hoys’ from the Bronx, they tried to storm the theatre, but, finding the doors locked, pulled up paving stones from the streets with their bare hands and began to throw them through the windows,” Dickson writes.  Read more at https://link.lithub.com/view/602ea8ce180f243d6536ae8dip4jv.27il/3880d39f    

The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press and New York Times were among news outlets awarded Pulitzer Prizes May 8, 2023 honoring journalists who uncovered financial conflicts of interest and delved into issues of racism, immigration and abortion.  

The softer you sing, the louder you're heard. - Donovan, musician (b. 10 May 1946)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2668  May 10, 2023