Yahoo! Answers

Hey Guys,

With the rise of the casual office, the men’s necktie has lost much of its mojo. Who came up with the necktie in the first place?

Opinions vary, but many believe the concept originated in Croatia. Sometime during the thirty years war of the 17th century, Croatian soldiers visited King Louis XIV of France. The soldiers apparently wore loose scarves around their necks. Louis liked the look. “By 1650, Louis and his court were wearing Croatian neck scarves instead of the full lace ruffs that had previously been fashionable.”

Some argue that the necktie goes much further back. The terracotta soldiers buried with Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti seem to wear a kind of neck scarf that may be a type of early necktie. That’s from 210 B.C. Another possible originator — Ancient Rome. On a marble column constructed in 113 A.D., a group of soldiers appear to have neckwear.

Whether those instances “count” as neckties is open to debate, but most folks give King Louis XIV credit with making the look popular. Sister site Ask Yahoo! explains: “Exiled King Charles II of England brought the French cravat with him when he returned to his throne. Englishmen soon began sporting stylish neck scarves and tied them in as many as 100 different knots.”

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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**Secret Revealed**

March 17th is the big day. I’m giving you some notice so you can dig to the bottom of your laundry pile, find your green shirt from last year and put it in the washing machine. If you can’t find a green shirt, go with a blue one instead. According to historians, blue was the original color associated with Saint Patrick. In fact, the 1912 dress code for Lord Chamberlain specified that the household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland should wear St. Patrick’s blue.

The 1924 Irish Olympic football team wore St Patrick’s blue and the Northern Ireland team (known then as the “Ireland association football team”) wore St. Patrick’s blue jerseys from 1882 until 1931, when they switched to green.

Let me tell you why…

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century. Although little is known about his early life, we know that he was kidnapped by Irish Raiders at age 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He said that God talked to him in a dream, telling him to flee from captivity and head for the coast where he could board a ship and return to Britain.

He did exactly that and upon returning to Britain, he studied to be a priest. He said he was called back to Ireland on a mission where he went as a bishop in the year 432. Apparently, he was very good at converting royalty, aristocracy and the poor. He was known for using the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the father, the son and the Holy Spirit) and the shamrock became his symbol.

People later wore shamrocks on their lapels during St. Patrick’s day. On St. Patrick’s day in 1798, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms to make a political statement in support of the Society of United Irishmen — a political organization aimed at ending British rule over Ireland. Green became a symbol of rebellion and the famous ballad “The Wearing of the Green” was sung in the streets.

Because of this event, green eventually became the official color of St. Patrick’s day. It celebrated freedom from British rule and the shamrock paid tribute to St. Patrick himself.

St. Patrick’s day is a public holiday in Ireland, although it is widely celebrated in countries with large numbers of Irish descendants. It started as a feast day in the 1600s, a break during the fasting period of lent. We continue to indulge today, although that mostly involves green beer.

For this reason, I think the day after St. Patrick’s day would also make a good public holiday.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Thanks for reading,

Source: History.com, St Patrick’s Blue, The Wearing of the Green, St Patrick’s Day

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up on March 17, originally a religious holiday recognizing the patron saint of Ireland, but it’s now a popular festivity all over the world.  In celebration of this holiday here are five ways to celebrate this most popular saint’s day.

1. Eat traditional Irish food.  Corned beef and cabbage is popular among Irish Americans, but in Ireland, potatoes, Irish stew, colcannon, bacon and cabbage are one of the staples of the Irish cuisine.
2. Listen or play some Irish music.  Traditional Irish pub, folk, or Celtic songs will get you in the Irish spirit!
3. Attend your local parade. New York City, Boston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Montreal and many other big cities across the world have great parades.
4. Go to an Irish pub.  Many pubs and bars plan St. Patrick day theme parties, with special beers, food and music.
5. Watch Father Ted. A classic Irish comedy about three priests, and a housekeeper living off the west coast of Ireland.  If you dig Irish humor you’ll be quoting this sitcom.

What ways do you plan on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?  Feel free to share with the community below!

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Hey Guys,

Whenever something can go wrong, it will go wrong. That cynical bit of wisdom is known as Murphy’s Law. But who was Murphy and why was he such a Gloomy Gus?

In the late 1940s, Air Force engineer Edward A. Murphy worked at Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. In 1949, the dawn of the jet age, it was Captain Murphy’s job to figure out how much rapid deceleration the human body could tolerate. The findings would help inform future plane design.

Murphy went about this task as best he could. He instructed his assistant to mount 16 different accelerometers to a human subject. The idea was to use the instruments to measure how well the human body could tolerate the force of gravity. A rocket sled, with the human aboard, would take off super fast and then come to a quick stop.

Unfortunately, the assistant installed the accelerometers the wrong way. Upon hearing this, Murphy was said to have proclaimed, “If there is anyway to do it wrong, he’ll find it.” The comment was picked up by the press. And before long, “Murphy’s Law” became an idiom meaning “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

And that’s the story of Murphy’s Law. It’s a law that everybody, at one time or another, follows. Whether they want to or not.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Most of us have heard of the common phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover.”   The metaphorical phrase means to go deeper than just the superficial prejudged assumptions.

We’ve all heard common phrases such as, “blondes have more fun”, “red heads are fiery”, or “quiet people are shy”.  These judgments are made based on preconceived assumptions.  But, have you wondered if there are things you can tell just by looking at someone?

The UK Mirror wrote an article “What do your body parts say about you?“, and based on this study some of the following traits you were born with reveal aspects of your personality.  If you were born with brown eyes “you are family-oriented, warm-hearted, caring”, green eyes “you think 20 thoughts at the same time, need variety at work and are easily bored”.  If your nose turns up you are “kind, optimistic and full of character, often with an endless enthusiasm for new things and experiences”.  And if you are cursing your bushy eyebrows, well don’t anymore, it apparently means you are “very active and friendly, love to party and treat your friends”.

A community member asked this question: Where does the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover come from?”

Have you ever made quick judgments about someone you just met and been proven right or wrong?  Do you think everyone judges a book by its cover and it’s just human nature to do so?  Please leave a comment below.

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