William Bartram was the son of John Bartram, a naturalist, and Ann Mendenhall. His paternal grandfather was one of the earliest settlers along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.  Traveling with his father on various collecting trips in rural Pennsylvania and New York, Bartram's interest in nature was cultivated from a young age.  Sketching the plants and animals he observed during their travels, young William exhibited notable artistic ability.  In his later journeys, Bartram continued to represent visually the native flora, wildlife, and peoples he encountered.  Whereas his father had been largely self-educated, William was grounded in the classics, history, Latin, and French at the Philadelphia Academy (a precursor of the University of Pennsylvania), where he attended school until 1756. That same year, following his withdrawal from school, Bartram was apprenticed to a Philadelphia merchant but showed little business acumen.  Nevertheless, he moved to North Carolina in 1761 in order to run a trading post on the Cape Fear River that was backed by his uncle, Colonel William Bartram.  This was the first in a series of failed business ventures.  In 1765, Bartram accompanied his father, Royal Botanist to King George III, on an expedition to the St. John's River in Florida and was the illustrator for his father's published journal.  https://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/bartram.html    

Ed refused to take any interest in our very likely prospect of being bombed—and we live right under glass sky-lights and a roof that leaks whenever it rains,” wrote Edward Hopper’s wife, Josephine, in the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Hopper was busy, perhaps avoidantly so, at work on a new canvas, soon to be named Nighthawks.  Hopper’s scenes of city and country life—houses and gas stations, trains and movie theaters, bedrooms, and offices—present the realities of everyday America infused with a voyeuristic, psychological complexity.  During a period where abstraction grew increasingly dominant, Hopper explored the creative potential of the Realist tradition.  Certainly Hopper’s most iconic painting, arguably his masterpiece, Nighthawks is one of the most well-known works of the 20th century—a classic scene out of the “American Imagination,” to borrow from the title of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 1995 Hopper retrospective. The piece was acquired shortly after its completion by the Art Institute of Chicago, where it remains today.  See picture at https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/edward-hopper-nighthawks-facts-2414407    

The Seven Wise Men of Ancient Greece, or the Seven Sages as they are also commonly known, reflect one of the most brilliant aspects of the ancient Greek spirit.  They were namely, Thales of Miletus, Chilon of Sparta, Solon of Athens, Pittacus of Mytilene, Bias of Priene, Cleoboulos of Rhodes and Periander of Corinth.  https://www.celebrategreece.com/the-seven-sages-of-ancient-greece    

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) wrote a book called Principia Mathematica which he called “notion about motion.”  Painter Rosa Bonheuer (1811-1899) was made a member of the Legion of Honor by Empress Eugénie de Montijo of France.  Bonheure’s Horse Fair hangs in the Metropolitan of Museum of Art.  General George W. Goethals (1858-1928) led a force of 29,000 thorough mountains and jungles to build the Panama Canal.  Minute Biographies by Samuel Nisenson and Alfred Parker, 1931. 

January 18, 2024  More than a half a million beds sold at retailers like Walmart and Wayfair are under recall because they can break during use, which has resulted in dozens of injuries.  The recall impacts several different models and sizes of upholstered low profile standard and platform beds from Home Design, Inc.  The Silver Lake, Indiana-based furniture wholesaler says it has received 128 reports of these beds “breaking, sagging or collapsing" when used, including 36 unspecified injuries to date.  Both Home Design and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are urging consumers with the now-recalled beds to stop using them immediately and contact the company for free replacement slats and side rails.  Consumers can identify if their bed is being recalled checking the list of impacted models and corresponding part number, which can be found on both the CPSC's Thursday recall notice and on Home Design's website.  To receive the free repair kit, you'll need to email Home Design photos of the bed or proof of purchase as well as the headboard's “law label."  The recalled beds, which were manufactured in Malaysia, were sold at Wayfair, Walmart.com and Overstock.com between July 2018 and November 2023.  Prices ranged from $100 to $300.  The recall impacts more than 527,000 Home Design beds in the U.S. and nearly 56,000 in Canada.  https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/580000-beds-recall-break-collapse-106492215    

Machiavellianism  (mak-ee-uh-VEL-ee-uh-niz-uhm)  noun  The use of unscrupulous means, cunning, and deceit in pursuit of power, especially in politics. After Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Florentine statesman and author of The Prince, a political treatise describing the use of craft and deceit to achieve political power.  Earliest documented use:  1607.  A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg    

poetic justice (uncountable)  noun  (narratology) Synonym of poetical justice (“the idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished”) quotations ▼  (by extension, generally)  The fact of someone experiencing what they deserve for their actions, especially when this happens in an ironic manner. synonym ▲quotations ▼  Synonym:  (generally) poetical justice  The British Romantic poet Lord Byron was born on January 22, 1788, and died 200 years ago on 19 April 1824.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poetic_justice#English    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2773  January 22, 2024