Learning Curve

Last week I learned so many interesting things I had to start writing them down in my notebook.  Here are a few:

Escape Route
The popular board game "Monopoly" was invented in 1904 by an American woman named Elizabeth Phillips, and originally called "The Landlord's Game."  Phillips created this board to help explain the single tax theory of Henry George, an American writer, politician, and political economist.  George's single tax theory illustrated the belief that land (and all of nature) should be equally owned by humanity, and never privately owned by any single person.  George believed that if everyone paid an "economic rent" on land, then everyone could enjoy nature equally.  Elizabeth Phillips, a proponent of George's ideas, thought that if she could illustrate how paying "rents" enriched property owners and impoverished tenants then people would see that unfairness of private property ownership.  She also hoped to change the current land tax policies by encouraging children to play her game and increase their skepticism of private land ownership that children would carry into adulthood.  She later sold her game to Parker Brothers for a mere $500.

The best part of this story is that after Parker Brothers made some alterations to this game to illustrate the economic phenomenon of a a monopoly, they decided to market the game in the UK, and made a similar version but with London landmarks and currency.  Parker Brothers sold the license to produce in the UK to Waddington Ltd, a company based in Leeds.  In 1941, the British Secret Service asked John Waddington, the owner, to create a "special version" of this game for British soldiers in Nazi POW camps.  Waddington agreed and created hundreds of games packaged with maps, compasses, real money, and other objects useful for escaping.  These games were then distributed to British prisoners in by fake charity organizations created by the secret service.  I can't find anymore information on how the rest played out, but I can imagine that it turned out pretty cool.
"Oh, hey guys, want to play a game of Monopoly?"
"....THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER."

In Motion
The first film was shot in Leeds by Louis Le Prince.  Le Prince, a Frenchman, is widely known for being the father of film and shot the world's first documented motion pictures.  The first is called Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge, which was the first bridge built over the River Aire.  The second is called Roundhay Garden, which is shot in Roundhay Park, which I previously posted photos of in the album Sun Days.  Both of these films date back to 1888.

It is said that after the success of these films, Le Prince was headed to New York to continue with the film industry and to promote his new camera design, but he mysteriously disappeared.  Le Prince was last seen in 1890 boarding a train to Paris, but he never arrived in Paris and his body and luggage were never found.

Something About Liverpool 
I don't know much about soccer, but I did learn this week that Liverpool FC fans are known around the world for being rowdy.  They get especially rowdy when they hear the song, "You'll Never Walk Alone." 

Name that Vegetable
No one can decide what to call this delicious vegetable.

If you're an American, you might know it as a bell pepper, and that's what I'm sticking to.  But after some dinnertime confusion and an enlightening cultural meal, I've realized that it is a vegetable of many names.  The Australians call it "Capsicum" which apparently comes from the scientific latin root word for pepper (thank you, Victor).  The British call it pepper, green pepper, red pepper, and sometimes sweet pepper.  Yet still, my German and Bulgarian roommates call it "Paprika."  Take your pick.