Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Friday, 13 September 2019
Saturday, 31 August 2019
"I WISH YOU ENOUGH"
Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said:
"I love you and I wish you enough."
The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom." They kissed and the daughter left.
The mother walked over to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.
I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?"
"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said.
When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, "I wish you enough." May I ask what that means?"
She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more.
"When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them". Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory,
"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."
She then began to cry and walked away.
Sunday, 25 August 2019
Thursday, 22 August 2019
True Beauty
When she was asked to reveal her beauty secrets, actress Audrey Hepburn quoted this poem, which was read at her funeral:
To have attractive lips, pronounce words of kindness.
To have beautiful eyes, look at what beautiful people have in them.
To stay thin, share your meals with those who are hungry.
To have beautiful hair, let a child pass his hand every day.
To have a beautiful maintenance, walk knowing that you are never alone, because those who love you and loved you accompany you.
People, more than objects, need to be repaired, tended, revived, claimed and saved: never reject anyone.
Think about it: if one day you need a hand helping, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you get older, you will realize that you have two hands, one to help yourself, the other to help those who need it.
The Beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, her face or her way of fixing her hair. The Beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, for it is the open door on her heart, the source of her love.
The Beauty of a woman is not in her makeup, but in the true beauty of her soul. It is the tenderness that she gives, love, passion it expresses.
Monday, 12 August 2019
**Two Irishmen flew to Canada on a hunting trip. They chartered a small plane to take them into the Rockies for a week hunting moose.
They managed to bag six. As they were loading the plane to return, the pilot said the plane could take only four moose.
The two lads objected strongly. "Last year we shot six. The pilot let us take them all and he had the same plane as yours."
Reluctantly, the pilot gave in and all six were loaded. The plane took off. However, while attempting to cross some mountains, even on full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down.
Somehow, surrounded by the moose bodies, Paddy and Mick survived the crash..
After climbing out of the wreckage, Paddy asked Mick, "Any idea where we are?"
Mick replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year.
They managed to bag six. As they were loading the plane to return, the pilot said the plane could take only four moose.
The two lads objected strongly. "Last year we shot six. The pilot let us take them all and he had the same plane as yours."
Reluctantly, the pilot gave in and all six were loaded. The plane took off. However, while attempting to cross some mountains, even on full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down.
Somehow, surrounded by the moose bodies, Paddy and Mick survived the crash..
After climbing out of the wreckage, Paddy asked Mick, "Any idea where we are?"
Mick replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year.
Sunday, 11 August 2019
**For all of us in mosquito land.
Mosquito Spray...Worth a try
I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared.
The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around
the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home without it.....Pass it on.
OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89.
It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of Bug-spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please. It will
last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames, and even inside the dog house. it does really work..
Mosquito Spray...Worth a try
I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared.
The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around
the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home without it.....Pass it on.
OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89.
It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of Bug-spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please. It will
last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames, and even inside the dog house. it does really work..
Thursday, 8 August 2019
The Job
**A guy goes to the Post Office to apply for a job.
The interviewer asks him, "Are you allergic to anything?" He replies, "Yes, caffeine. I can't drink coffee."
"Ok, Have you ever been in the military service?""Yes," he says, "I was in Iraq for one tour."
The interviewer says, "That will give you 5 extra points toward employment." Then he asks, "Are you disabled in any way?"
The guy says, "Yes. A bomb exploded near me and I lost both my testicles."
The interviewer grimaces and then says, "Okay. You've got enough points for me to hire you right now. Our normal hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 am, and plan on starting at 10:00 am every day."
"The guy is puzzled and asks, "If the work hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 PM, why don't you want me here until 10:00 am?" "This is a government job", the interviewer says. "For the first two
hours, we just stand around Drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that."
The interviewer asks him, "Are you allergic to anything?" He replies, "Yes, caffeine. I can't drink coffee."
"Ok, Have you ever been in the military service?""Yes," he says, "I was in Iraq for one tour."
The interviewer says, "That will give you 5 extra points toward employment." Then he asks, "Are you disabled in any way?"
The guy says, "Yes. A bomb exploded near me and I lost both my testicles."
The interviewer grimaces and then says, "Okay. You've got enough points for me to hire you right now. Our normal hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 am, and plan on starting at 10:00 am every day."
"The guy is puzzled and asks, "If the work hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 PM, why don't you want me here until 10:00 am?" "This is a government job", the interviewer says. "For the first two
hours, we just stand around Drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that."
Wednesday, 7 August 2019
Apolitical Aphorisms
If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
~Jay Leno~
The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
~Henry Cate, VII~
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
~Aesop~
If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union
speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.
~Will Rogers~
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where
there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm
beginning to believe it.
~Clarence Darrow~
Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your
opponents will do it for you.
~Author unknown~
Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go
out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton~
Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds
from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer~
I offer my opponents a bargain if they will stop telling lies about us, I
will stop telling the truth about them.
~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952~
A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Tex Guinan~
I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be
left to the politicians.
~Charles de Gaulle~
Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to
change the locks.
~Doug Larson~
There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on
senators.
~Will Rogers~
~Jay Leno~
The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
~Henry Cate, VII~
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
~Aesop~
If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union
speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.
~Will Rogers~
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where
there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm
beginning to believe it.
~Clarence Darrow~
Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your
opponents will do it for you.
~Author unknown~
Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go
out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton~
Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds
from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer~
I offer my opponents a bargain if they will stop telling lies about us, I
will stop telling the truth about them.
~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952~
A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Tex Guinan~
I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be
left to the politicians.
~Charles de Gaulle~
Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to
change the locks.
~Doug Larson~
There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on
senators.
~Will Rogers~
Yellow Shirt
The yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away..
'You're not taking that old thing, are you?' Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt. 'I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!'
'It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!' I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt be came a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it.
After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.
The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois .. But, that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 25 years earlier.
That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her 'real' gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again..
The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!
And so the pattern was set.
On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.
In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois ... As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, 'So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up.'
I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt.. Slowly, it dawned on me.. Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's armor? My courage was renewed.
Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer
Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet.
Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words 'I BELONG TO PAT.'
Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters.
Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, 'I BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER.' But I didn't stop there. I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington , VA. We enclosed an official looking letter from 'The Institute for the Destitute,' announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds..
I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box. But, of course, she never mentioned it..
Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: 'Read John 14:27-29. I love you both, Mother.'
That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: 'I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives.. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am.. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me.'
The shirt was Mother's final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.
I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I'm glad I didn't, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.
Theological Musing Today
The Law in the Old Testament had a purpose, but it's purpose is not for Christians to try and follow.
Probably most of us are familiar with the 10 Commandments, but did you know there is
613 rules to follow in the Torah? There's moral laws, dietary laws, judicial laws, neighbourly conduct laws, and even clothing laws.
What's interesting in churches and Christian belief systems today is that we pick and choose which laws still apply today and which ones don't. For example, there is a law that says we shouldn't wear clothes with mixed fabric, but I'm guessing that you don't hear that in church and that you're breaking that command right now. We've regarded that law as one that doesn't apply today while the law regarding not contacting the dead definitely applies.
We even pick and choose which of the BIG 10 apply today and which ones don't. For example, most of us worship on Sunday, but the 10 Commandments clearly state to keep the Sabbath holy which is Saturday.
The New Testament has a lot to say about the law. For instance, Paul says the law was abolished in the flesh of Jesus. Paul also states that if you break even one law you are guilty of breaking the whole thing. Now who wants to live under that kind of pressure? Not me, that's for sure.
I think the elementary principle lost in most church teaching is this: THE LAW WAS NEVER GIVEN TO CHRISTIANS OR GENTILES! It was given to the Jews after they were freed from Egypt. The entire law including the 10 Commandments do not have any power to change your life or make you righteous.
Did you know that the Bible says, THE LAW IS FAULTY? Why do we then try to follow something that is faulty and is called the ministry of death?
This whole obeying the law thing was the main subject of debate in Acts 15. It was at this debate where Peter stands up and says, "Why are we trying to put this burden on the Gentiles that we couldn't even bear?"
Jesus said this, "Follow Me!" Jesus didn't say to follow the law, but to follow Him. Jesus knew the law was heavy and a burden. That's why Jesus says, "Come to me . . . My yoke is EASY, and my burden is LIGHT!"
The law was never for us! This is truly an elementary and foundational teaching that if we don't realize will mess up our whole view of the character of God. If your Christian life is heavy and a burden, and you're always feeling you're not measuring up enough, it's time to change your thinking. It's time to EMBRACE GOD'S GRACE!
Probably most of us are familiar with the 10 Commandments, but did you know there is
613 rules to follow in the Torah? There's moral laws, dietary laws, judicial laws, neighbourly conduct laws, and even clothing laws.
What's interesting in churches and Christian belief systems today is that we pick and choose which laws still apply today and which ones don't. For example, there is a law that says we shouldn't wear clothes with mixed fabric, but I'm guessing that you don't hear that in church and that you're breaking that command right now. We've regarded that law as one that doesn't apply today while the law regarding not contacting the dead definitely applies.
We even pick and choose which of the BIG 10 apply today and which ones don't. For example, most of us worship on Sunday, but the 10 Commandments clearly state to keep the Sabbath holy which is Saturday.
The New Testament has a lot to say about the law. For instance, Paul says the law was abolished in the flesh of Jesus. Paul also states that if you break even one law you are guilty of breaking the whole thing. Now who wants to live under that kind of pressure? Not me, that's for sure.
I think the elementary principle lost in most church teaching is this: THE LAW WAS NEVER GIVEN TO CHRISTIANS OR GENTILES! It was given to the Jews after they were freed from Egypt. The entire law including the 10 Commandments do not have any power to change your life or make you righteous.
Did you know that the Bible says, THE LAW IS FAULTY? Why do we then try to follow something that is faulty and is called the ministry of death?
This whole obeying the law thing was the main subject of debate in Acts 15. It was at this debate where Peter stands up and says, "Why are we trying to put this burden on the Gentiles that we couldn't even bear?"
Jesus said this, "Follow Me!" Jesus didn't say to follow the law, but to follow Him. Jesus knew the law was heavy and a burden. That's why Jesus says, "Come to me . . . My yoke is EASY, and my burden is LIGHT!"
The law was never for us! This is truly an elementary and foundational teaching that if we don't realize will mess up our whole view of the character of God. If your Christian life is heavy and a burden, and you're always feeling you're not measuring up enough, it's time to change your thinking. It's time to EMBRACE GOD'S GRACE!
Einstein proof: Nobel winners find ripples in the universe
WASHINGTON — For decades astronomers tried to prove Albert Einstein right by doing what Einstein thought was impossible: detecting the faint ripples in the universe called gravitational waves. They failed repeatedly until two years ago when they finally spotted one. Then another. And another. And another.
Three American scientists — including one who initially flunked out of MIT — won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday that launched a whole new way to observe the cosmos. Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences cited the combination of highly advanced theory and ingenious equipment design in awarding Rainer Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Barry Barish and Kip Thorne of the California Institute of Technology.
"It's a win for the human race as a whole. These gravitational waves will be powerful ways for the human race to explore the universe," Thorne told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
The trio were part of a team of more than 1,000 astronomers who first observed gravitational waves in September 2015. When the discovery was announced several months later, it was a sensation not only among scientists but the general public. These are waves that go through everything — including us — but carry information on them that astronomers could not get otherwise.
"The best comparison is when Galileo discovered the telescope, which allowed us to see that Jupiter had moons. And all of a sudden, we discovered that the universe was much vaster than we used to think about," Ariel Goobar of the Swedish academy said.
Weiss said he hopes that eventually gravitational waves will help science learn about "the very moment when the universe came out of nothingness."
Gravitational waves were first theorized a century ago by Einstein, but he didn't think technology would ever be able to detect the tiny wobbles, smaller than a piece of an atom.
The waves are like "a storm in the fabric of space-time that is produced when two black holes collide," Thorne said. The first detection came from a crash 1.3 billion light-years away. A light-year is about 5.88 trillion miles.
The prize is "a win for Einstein, and a very big one," Barish told the AP.
The waves are detected by a laser device, called an interferometer, which must be both exquisitely precise and extremely stable in a project that cost $1.1 billion dollars. The first observation involved two of the devices about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometres ) apart — in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. They came about 7 milliseconds apart, consistent with the speed of light.
A new detector in Italy went online and helped in the discovery of the fourth wave.
With the technology that the three developed "we may even see entirely new objects that we haven't even imagined yet," said Patrick Sutton, an astronomer at Cardiff University in Wales.
The German-born Weiss, 85, who initially spearheaded the research effort, was awarded half of the 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize amount. Thorne, 77, a theorist, and Barish, 81, who was a project director, will split the other half.
For decades, the scientists pushed for money to start the massive LIGO project, getting their first National Science Foundation grant in 1992. The first version of the detector went through six long runs looking for gravitational waves, but didn't find them because it wasn't technologically precise enough, Barish said.
And computer programs needed to solve Einstein's equations weren't quite right and "the quest was foundering," said Thorne, who peeled away from the detector work to form another collaboration to get better computing for detection.
Two decades after construction "we finally struck gold," Barish said.
Weiss also overcame failure. After flunking out of MIT, he didn't have anything to do so he offered himself as an electronics technician to a lab at MIT and learned how to solder and deal with people. He returned to school, got his bachelor's and doctorate at MIT and ended up as a professor there.
"There was a person who thought I was OK. I wasn't a complete dope," Weiss said. "I got some confidence out of that."
In a moment of poetry aimed at making the distant and infinitesimal phenomenon understandable to non-experts, the academy announcement said gravitational waves "are always created when a mass accelerates, like when an ice-skater pirouettes or a pair of black holes rotate around each other."
Professor Alberto Vecchio, from the University of Birmingham's Institute of Gravitational Wave Astronomy, said this discovery will produce results for decades to come.
"They have taken me, as well as hundreds of my colleagues, through such an intellectually rewarding and recently adrenaline-packed journey that we could not have even remotely imagined," he said. "The best part is that this is just the beginning of a new roller-coaster exploration of the universe."
For the past 25 years, the Nobel physics prize has been shared among multiple winners.
Last year's prize went to three British-born researchers who applied the mathematical discipline of topology to help understand the workings of exotic matter such as superconductors and superfluids.
The 2017 Nobel prizes kicked off Monday with the medicine prize being awarded to three Americans studying circadian rhythms — better known as body clocks: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young.
The chemistry prize will be announced Wednesday, the Nobel literature prize on Thursday and the peace prize on Friday. The economics prize, which is not technically a Nobel, will be awarded on Monday.
___
Heintz reported from Stockholm. David Keyton in Stockholm, Christopher Weber in Pasadena, California, Rodrigue Ngowi in Newtonville, Massachusetts, Collin Binkley in Boston, Massachusetts, Bob Lentz in Philadelphia, Michelle Monroe in Phoenix and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this story.
Three American scientists — including one who initially flunked out of MIT — won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday that launched a whole new way to observe the cosmos. Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences cited the combination of highly advanced theory and ingenious equipment design in awarding Rainer Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Barry Barish and Kip Thorne of the California Institute of Technology.
"It's a win for the human race as a whole. These gravitational waves will be powerful ways for the human race to explore the universe," Thorne told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
The trio were part of a team of more than 1,000 astronomers who first observed gravitational waves in September 2015. When the discovery was announced several months later, it was a sensation not only among scientists but the general public. These are waves that go through everything — including us — but carry information on them that astronomers could not get otherwise.
"The best comparison is when Galileo discovered the telescope, which allowed us to see that Jupiter had moons. And all of a sudden, we discovered that the universe was much vaster than we used to think about," Ariel Goobar of the Swedish academy said.
Weiss said he hopes that eventually gravitational waves will help science learn about "the very moment when the universe came out of nothingness."
Gravitational waves were first theorized a century ago by Einstein, but he didn't think technology would ever be able to detect the tiny wobbles, smaller than a piece of an atom.
The waves are like "a storm in the fabric of space-time that is produced when two black holes collide," Thorne said. The first detection came from a crash 1.3 billion light-years away. A light-year is about 5.88 trillion miles.
The prize is "a win for Einstein, and a very big one," Barish told the AP.
The waves are detected by a laser device, called an interferometer, which must be both exquisitely precise and extremely stable in a project that cost $1.1 billion dollars. The first observation involved two of the devices about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometres ) apart — in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. They came about 7 milliseconds apart, consistent with the speed of light.
A new detector in Italy went online and helped in the discovery of the fourth wave.
With the technology that the three developed "we may even see entirely new objects that we haven't even imagined yet," said Patrick Sutton, an astronomer at Cardiff University in Wales.
The German-born Weiss, 85, who initially spearheaded the research effort, was awarded half of the 9-million-kronor ($1.1 million) prize amount. Thorne, 77, a theorist, and Barish, 81, who was a project director, will split the other half.
For decades, the scientists pushed for money to start the massive LIGO project, getting their first National Science Foundation grant in 1992. The first version of the detector went through six long runs looking for gravitational waves, but didn't find them because it wasn't technologically precise enough, Barish said.
And computer programs needed to solve Einstein's equations weren't quite right and "the quest was foundering," said Thorne, who peeled away from the detector work to form another collaboration to get better computing for detection.
Two decades after construction "we finally struck gold," Barish said.
Weiss also overcame failure. After flunking out of MIT, he didn't have anything to do so he offered himself as an electronics technician to a lab at MIT and learned how to solder and deal with people. He returned to school, got his bachelor's and doctorate at MIT and ended up as a professor there.
"There was a person who thought I was OK. I wasn't a complete dope," Weiss said. "I got some confidence out of that."
In a moment of poetry aimed at making the distant and infinitesimal phenomenon understandable to non-experts, the academy announcement said gravitational waves "are always created when a mass accelerates, like when an ice-skater pirouettes or a pair of black holes rotate around each other."
Professor Alberto Vecchio, from the University of Birmingham's Institute of Gravitational Wave Astronomy, said this discovery will produce results for decades to come.
"They have taken me, as well as hundreds of my colleagues, through such an intellectually rewarding and recently adrenaline-packed journey that we could not have even remotely imagined," he said. "The best part is that this is just the beginning of a new roller-coaster exploration of the universe."
For the past 25 years, the Nobel physics prize has been shared among multiple winners.
Last year's prize went to three British-born researchers who applied the mathematical discipline of topology to help understand the workings of exotic matter such as superconductors and superfluids.
The 2017 Nobel prizes kicked off Monday with the medicine prize being awarded to three Americans studying circadian rhythms — better known as body clocks: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young.
The chemistry prize will be announced Wednesday, the Nobel literature prize on Thursday and the peace prize on Friday. The economics prize, which is not technically a Nobel, will be awarded on Monday.
___
Heintz reported from Stockholm. David Keyton in Stockholm, Christopher Weber in Pasadena, California, Rodrigue Ngowi in Newtonville, Massachusetts, Collin Binkley in Boston, Massachusetts, Bob Lentz in Philadelphia, Michelle Monroe in Phoenix and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this story.
Marshall McLuhan/Quotes
Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian professor, philosopher, and public intellectual. His work is one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory, as well as having practical applications in the advertising and television industries
Education: University of Manitoba, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
Marshall McLuhan/Quotes
The medium is the message.
We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.
A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
Art is anything you can get away with.
The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.
There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.
Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century.
Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.
All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.
The more the data banks record about each one of us, the less we exist.
Education: University of Manitoba, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
Marshall McLuhan/Quotes
The medium is the message.
We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.
A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
Art is anything you can get away with.
The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.
There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.
Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century.
Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.
All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.
The more the data banks record about each one of us, the less we exist.
Herkimer Diamonds
Herkimer diamonds are double terminated quartz crystals found in Herkimer County, NY. They are the most powerful of all Quartz crystals. With their natural double terminated ends and faceted, they have the ability to not only transmit their own energies, but to receive spiritual energy and to amplify and focus it. Herkimer crystals magnify the influence of other stones. Tektites and moldavites are considered to have extraterrestrial origins, formed from meteorite that struck the earth. They are very rare gemstones, that are the result of the heat of a meteorite impact that has crystallized surrounding rocks around the impact area. They are very spiritual and cosmic stones that shift your consciousness and take you to new spiritual dimension. Moldavites enhance communication with other worlds and encourage spiritual growth.
Top Stones to Combat Seasonal Affective Disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression. Most people tend to slow down a little in the winter and experience the winter blues and SAD can be extremely disabling. SAD is the result of the winter season when the days are shorter. We sleep more, become sedentary, crave carbs, gain weight, and avoid social interaction. Psychologically, we can become depressed. We hibernate.
When picking out crystals to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder think in terms of light and color therapy. Orange and yellow are the colors that are going to pack the biggest punch…these are the stones of the sun and give us exactly what we’re craving.
1. Sunstone- carries a strong anti-depressant vibrational energy and the solar energy of the sun
2. Carnelian- manifests vitality and creativity
3. Amber- it energy is warming and solar, and Amber has been linked to the Sun Gods Ra and Helios.
4. Citrine- lifts dark moods and encourages optimism.
5. Fire Opal- relieves indifference and feelings of emptiness
6. Orange calcite- a stone of happiness with an uplifting energy
When picking out crystals to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder think in terms of light and color therapy. Orange and yellow are the colors that are going to pack the biggest punch…these are the stones of the sun and give us exactly what we’re craving.
1. Sunstone- carries a strong anti-depressant vibrational energy and the solar energy of the sun
2. Carnelian- manifests vitality and creativity
3. Amber- it energy is warming and solar, and Amber has been linked to the Sun Gods Ra and Helios.
4. Citrine- lifts dark moods and encourages optimism.
5. Fire Opal- relieves indifference and feelings of emptiness
6. Orange calcite- a stone of happiness with an uplifting energy
45 Historical Sex Addicts:
# 1: Giacomo Casanova
You've probably heard of this guy. From losing his virginity in a threesome to once seducing a nun and a 14 year old girl at the same time, Casanova led possibly history's most insane, debauched sex life.
He wasn't just addicted to sex, either. Casanova was all about the art of seduction. He engaged in so many elaborate affairs with women that his name became shortened for ''Womanizer''.
#2: Albert Einstein
It took the world a long time to find out about, but Albert got AROUND. His private letters I indicated he had no less 10 mistresses.
His second wife (who he'd become involved with while married to his first, AND who was his cousin) apparently knew all about it, Freaky =MC-squared, apparently.
#3:Lyndon Johnson
Everyone remember Kennedy as a Sex Monster, but LBJ was right there with him. There was nothing in the universe Lyndon Johnson loved more than exposing himself to basically anyone and everyone, AND he used sex as a means to salve his notoriously fragile ego.
#4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Long before the invention of rock and roll, Mozart was all about sex, drugs and classical music. He has reportedly slept with his younger cousin Maria, and sent dirty letters to basically every member of his own family, (including his mother).
#5: Lord Byron
The early 19th century Romantic English poet Lord Byron got around. He had numerous publicized affairs during his life, and apparently frequently slept with both men and women. He was also rumored to have carried on a torrid affair with his half-sister.
#6: Pope Paul lll
You may be surprised to see a Pope on here, but this sort of thing wasn't uncommon in the 16th century. Pope Paul III had five children -- several after receiving explicit Holy Orders to quit it already. He's also alleged to have carried on an affair with his own daughter Constanza. Not a good dude.
#7: H.G. Wells
Novelist and futurist H.G. Wells was ahead of his time in a lot of ways, and one of them was his ardent belief in "free love" -- here defined as "whatever lets H.G. Wells keep boning." It's unclear just how many mistresses he had over the course of his life, but we know it was A LOT -- affairs that include colleagues' daughters, war correspondents, and Russian spies. See? It wasn't just JFK.
#8: Grigori Rasputin
Every picture may make Rasputin look like he's about to kill and eat the cameraman, and he supposedly had terrible personal hygiene, but he was hugely popular with the ladies.
Rasputin saw serial seduction as some kind of bizarre religious duty, and slept with basically every woman he could get his hands on.
# 9: King Henry VIII
Henry is well-known for his many wives, but his sex life was allegedly quite active even outside his six marriages.
He was known to take whatever woman struck his fancy, and since he was the king, it was kind of difficult for them to say No.
#10 Leo Tolstoy
The legendary author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina was also a hopeless sex addict in his younger years. Though he apparently tried to reform himself, he and his wife had 13 children, so there couldn't have been that much reforming going on.
# 11: Aleister Crowley
Early 20th century British occultist Aleister Crowley was into all kinds of weird religious stuff, but none more than sex Magic. "Sex magic" is ritualistic sex with the goal of bringing about some sort of magical result.
# 12: Vivien Leigh
According to her former husband Sir Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh was a sex-crazed maniac whose appetites were so ravenous that they eventually became "burdensome". She had numerous affairs, including with random taxi drivers and deliverymen, and was apparently as fond of women as she was of men.
# 13: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
These included his secretary, Missy LeHand, an exiled princess of Sweden, and his own distant cousin, Daisy Suckley. Considering he married another one of his distant cousins, that last one isn't wholly surprising.
# 14: John F. Kennedy
Every contemporary source seems to agree: JFK was desperately, constantly addicted to sex. Kennedy banged EVERYONE -- teenaged interns, Mafia plants, Russian spies, Marilyn Monroe (who may have also slept with JFK's brother Robert). Ask not what your country can do for you, indeed.
# 15: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin wasn't picky; he slept with poor women, rich women, old women, young women, American women, French noblewomen -- he just could not get enough sex. Even the statue erected in his honor in 1790 was said to descend from its pedestal and leer at women at night.
# 16: James Joyce
Unlike a lot of people on here, early 1900s literary titan James Joyce didn't cheat on his wife. He made up for it, though, by sending copious amounts of the turn of the century equivalent of sexts with her -- erotic letters that got freaky. Really, really freaky. Joyce and his wife apparently shared a fart fetish, and just could not stop talking about it.
# 17: George Sand
French novelist and memoirist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, better known by her pen name of George Sand, lived a heck of a sex life. One day she just up and decided her marriage wasn't doing it for her, and embarked on a 5-year "romantic rebellion" (her words) with numerous notable artists including Alfred de Musset and Frederic Chopin.
# 18: Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo
Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo had what could be called a complicated marriage. They cheated on each other constantly as a means of revenge, and neither one of them could seemingly ever get remotely enough sex.
# 18: Nero
The incredible thing about Nero is he might've been more depraved than even Caligula. Not only did he sleep with his own mother and marry a eunuch (among others), he also used to dress up in animal skins and attack the private parts of tied-up men and women in what he called "The Animal Game".
# 19: Jane Digby
Jane Digby was a 19th century British aristocrat known for her wildly adventurous sex life. She had numerous affairs, including with King Ludvig I of Bavaria, King Otto of Greece, and the bandit lord Christodoulos Chatzipetros before finally settling down with an Arab Sheik.
# 20: George IV
Princes can get away with a lot, and George IV pushed that boundary about as far as it could go. Not only did he have a long succession of mistresses (whom he'd drop as soon as he got bored of them), but he would sometimes invite married couples over for cards, then fondle the wife in front of her husband, which is not how you're supposed to treat guests.
# 21: Messalina
Empress Messalina was the third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius. Though it's not clear whether her wild reputation for promiscuity (including an all-night sex competition with one of Rome's most notable prostitutes) was invented after the fact by historians looking to damage her reputation, the reputation persists nevertheless.
# 22: Alfred Kinsey
Sex researcher Alfred Kinsey was big into practical study -- by which we mean he (and his wife, who was on board with it) boned lots and lots of other men and women. We're sure it was totally all for research purposes, though.
# 23: Joseph Smith
The founder of Mormonism was, even according to Mormon sources, a BIG fan of the ladies. It's not clear exactly how many wives Smith had, but he allegedly purchased at least 33 marriage licenses. This was in addition to his brazen attempts to seduce the wives of other men.
# 24: King Solomon
King Solomon is a biblical figure legendary for both his immense wealth and boundless wisdom. He's also legendary for his seemingly-permanent residence within the bone zone. According to popular mythology, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 mistresses.
# 25: Mao Zedong
Mao was the first Chairman of the Communist Party in China, having taken over the country in 1949. Mao also had some weird-ass sexual appetites. He slept with countless young women, believing it somehow revitalized him and gave him sexual powers. He was also known to have fondled male members of his personal guard, because why limit oneself?
# 26: Tallulah Bankhead
Bankhead was a legendary 20th century actress with over 300 stage, film, radio, and TV credits to her name. She's equally legendary for her incredible sex life. She herself said she "could never say 'no'" to sex and claimed to have slept with hundreds of both men and women.
# 27: Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon is the legendary French leader who came to power in the wake of the French Revolution and conquered huge portions of the European continent. He also conquered a huge number of bedchambers. Napoleon apparently had an almost countless number of affairs. He wasn't picky, either; he did the nasty with nobles, chambermaids, actresses -- he just wanted to get his freak on.
# 28: Ramesses II
Also known as Ramesses the Great, Ramesses is widely considered the greatest and most powerful ruler of the ancient Egyptian Empire. And oh man, was he into getting it on. Ramesses had 200 concubines, 96 children, and 6 wives -- one of which was his sister and three of which were his daughters.
# 29: Edward VII
Ruling from 1901-1910, Edward VII is considered the last British monarch to wield true political power. He was also a well-known horndog. Sarcastically nicknamed "Edward the Caresser," he was believed to have slept with three women a week for 50 straight years.
# 30: Fatafehi Paulah
King of Tonga in the mid-to-late 18th century, Paulah met explorer James Cook upon Cook's trip to the island in 1777. Paulah told Cook that as King, it was his sacred duty to deflower every single virgin on the island. Historical estimations would put that number at 37,800 virgins over the course of his rule.
# 31: Augustus the Strong
Augustus II of Poland was known as "the Strong" because of his immense physical prowess. He was also a devoted patron of the arts -- the carnal arts, that is. He fathered around 365 bastards and one legitimate heir. Keeping track of his mistresses and children became so confusing that at one point he accidentally slept with his own daughter.
# 32: John Holmes
It shouldn't be a shock for one of the most famous pornographic actors ever to wind up on this list. By his own estimation, Holmes nailed 3,000 women during his life.
# 33: John V
John V of Portugal is known for bringing great wealth to Portugal in the early 1700s, as well as for styling himself the Most Faithful King because of his religious piety. Yeah, about that. Turns out, John was so enamored of religion that he did the horizontal mambo with a whole convent's worth of nuns, ultimately resulting in seven illegitimate children.
# 34: Henry l
Fourth son of William the Conqueror, Henry I was the third Norman King of England. He also LOVED him some lady business. Henry was renowned for his sexual stamina, and set the record for British monarchs with between 20 and 25 illegitimate children.
# 35: King Ibn Saud
The first King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud founded the country in the early 1900s, and was the first ruler to discover the oil buried there. He also did an INSANE amount of boning, allegedly sleeping with three different women a night from the age of 11 until his death. He is the father of every subsequent Saudi King, and had an estimated 42 sons and 125 daughters.
# 36: Charles ll
Charles is best-known as the king of the Restoration, who ascended his father, Charles I's, throne in 1660 after the death of Oliver Cromwell. He was allegedly the first English king to use a condom, but you wouldn't know it from all his illegitimate children: Charles fathered at least fourteen bastards by seven different mothers.
# 37: Louis XV
Also known as Louis the Beloved, Louis XV was the second-to-last Bourbon King of France. Historians have called him "an adolescent called upon to do a man's job." He was plenty grown-up in the bedroom, though. Louis had the biggest personal brothel in history, and specifically sought out young girls (as young as 14) because he was paranoid about catching syphilis.
# 38: Genghis Khan
There have been a lot of historical figures with crazy sex lives, but perhaps no one was as prolific as Genghis Khan.
Scientists believe roughly 8% of the population of Asia is directly descended from Genghis Khan. That is a LOT of descendants.
# 39: LudVig l
Ludvig I was the last absolute monarch of Bavaria whose reign was known for strict repression and unrest. He himself never got any rest either -- in the sack, that is. Ludvig had several mistresses, including legendary British socialite Jane Digby (remember her from earlier?) and dancer Lola Montez, who ultimately helped end his reign.
# 40: Hugh Hefner
Of course the founder of Playboy magazine would be a historical sex icon. Known for always having multiple girlfriends at once, it's estimated that Hef has slept with 1,800-2,000 women over the course of his lifetime.
# 41: Rodrigo Borgia
Rodrigo Borgia, or Pope Alexander VI, became Holy Father in a different time -- the 15th century, when priests regularly had all kinds of sex and mistresses out the wazoo. It's not clear specifically how many mistresses Borgia had, but he fathered at least 9 children with them, and maybe more. Scandalous rumors even whispered of an incestuous affair with his own daughter Lucrezia.
# 42: Caligula
Considering Caligula is famous for being the most insane, depraved Roman emperor in history (a field with heavy competition), it's not shocking he slept with virtually everyone -- men and women -- who crossed his path. Caligula (not uniquely among Roman Emperors) even committed ****** with his sisters.
# 43: Fidel Castro
Communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has only loved one thing as much as he loved brutal repression during his life: boner times. A former Cuban official once said of Castro: "He slept with at least two women a day for more than four decades - one for lunch and one for supper." If true, that'd put his lifelong number around 35,000 women. And you wonder why his people are willing to do anything to leave Cuba, including ''Swim'' to the US.
# 44: Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse Francois, better known as the Marquis de Sade, was so famously debauched that his name is the root of the word "sadism". He was big into S&M, and was imprisoned for 32 years of his life for his proclivities. Some of his most famous works were even written from prison.
# 45: Catherine the Great
No, it isn't true that Catherine the Great died while trying to have sex with a horse. But the rumor became popular because she did sleep with a lot of guys as Queen of Russia. 22 nobles became her conquests in all, with many receiving huge parcels of land for their services. Now that's one hell of a sugar mama.
You've probably heard of this guy. From losing his virginity in a threesome to once seducing a nun and a 14 year old girl at the same time, Casanova led possibly history's most insane, debauched sex life.
He wasn't just addicted to sex, either. Casanova was all about the art of seduction. He engaged in so many elaborate affairs with women that his name became shortened for ''Womanizer''.
#2: Albert Einstein
It took the world a long time to find out about, but Albert got AROUND. His private letters I indicated he had no less 10 mistresses.
His second wife (who he'd become involved with while married to his first, AND who was his cousin) apparently knew all about it, Freaky =MC-squared, apparently.
#3:Lyndon Johnson
Everyone remember Kennedy as a Sex Monster, but LBJ was right there with him. There was nothing in the universe Lyndon Johnson loved more than exposing himself to basically anyone and everyone, AND he used sex as a means to salve his notoriously fragile ego.
#4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Long before the invention of rock and roll, Mozart was all about sex, drugs and classical music. He has reportedly slept with his younger cousin Maria, and sent dirty letters to basically every member of his own family, (including his mother).
#5: Lord Byron
The early 19th century Romantic English poet Lord Byron got around. He had numerous publicized affairs during his life, and apparently frequently slept with both men and women. He was also rumored to have carried on a torrid affair with his half-sister.
#6: Pope Paul lll
You may be surprised to see a Pope on here, but this sort of thing wasn't uncommon in the 16th century. Pope Paul III had five children -- several after receiving explicit Holy Orders to quit it already. He's also alleged to have carried on an affair with his own daughter Constanza. Not a good dude.
#7: H.G. Wells
Novelist and futurist H.G. Wells was ahead of his time in a lot of ways, and one of them was his ardent belief in "free love" -- here defined as "whatever lets H.G. Wells keep boning." It's unclear just how many mistresses he had over the course of his life, but we know it was A LOT -- affairs that include colleagues' daughters, war correspondents, and Russian spies. See? It wasn't just JFK.
#8: Grigori Rasputin
Every picture may make Rasputin look like he's about to kill and eat the cameraman, and he supposedly had terrible personal hygiene, but he was hugely popular with the ladies.
Rasputin saw serial seduction as some kind of bizarre religious duty, and slept with basically every woman he could get his hands on.
# 9: King Henry VIII
Henry is well-known for his many wives, but his sex life was allegedly quite active even outside his six marriages.
He was known to take whatever woman struck his fancy, and since he was the king, it was kind of difficult for them to say No.
#10 Leo Tolstoy
The legendary author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina was also a hopeless sex addict in his younger years. Though he apparently tried to reform himself, he and his wife had 13 children, so there couldn't have been that much reforming going on.
# 11: Aleister Crowley
Early 20th century British occultist Aleister Crowley was into all kinds of weird religious stuff, but none more than sex Magic. "Sex magic" is ritualistic sex with the goal of bringing about some sort of magical result.
# 12: Vivien Leigh
According to her former husband Sir Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh was a sex-crazed maniac whose appetites were so ravenous that they eventually became "burdensome". She had numerous affairs, including with random taxi drivers and deliverymen, and was apparently as fond of women as she was of men.
# 13: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
These included his secretary, Missy LeHand, an exiled princess of Sweden, and his own distant cousin, Daisy Suckley. Considering he married another one of his distant cousins, that last one isn't wholly surprising.
# 14: John F. Kennedy
Every contemporary source seems to agree: JFK was desperately, constantly addicted to sex. Kennedy banged EVERYONE -- teenaged interns, Mafia plants, Russian spies, Marilyn Monroe (who may have also slept with JFK's brother Robert). Ask not what your country can do for you, indeed.
# 15: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin wasn't picky; he slept with poor women, rich women, old women, young women, American women, French noblewomen -- he just could not get enough sex. Even the statue erected in his honor in 1790 was said to descend from its pedestal and leer at women at night.
# 16: James Joyce
Unlike a lot of people on here, early 1900s literary titan James Joyce didn't cheat on his wife. He made up for it, though, by sending copious amounts of the turn of the century equivalent of sexts with her -- erotic letters that got freaky. Really, really freaky. Joyce and his wife apparently shared a fart fetish, and just could not stop talking about it.
# 17: George Sand
French novelist and memoirist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, better known by her pen name of George Sand, lived a heck of a sex life. One day she just up and decided her marriage wasn't doing it for her, and embarked on a 5-year "romantic rebellion" (her words) with numerous notable artists including Alfred de Musset and Frederic Chopin.
# 18: Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo
Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo had what could be called a complicated marriage. They cheated on each other constantly as a means of revenge, and neither one of them could seemingly ever get remotely enough sex.
# 18: Nero
The incredible thing about Nero is he might've been more depraved than even Caligula. Not only did he sleep with his own mother and marry a eunuch (among others), he also used to dress up in animal skins and attack the private parts of tied-up men and women in what he called "The Animal Game".
# 19: Jane Digby
Jane Digby was a 19th century British aristocrat known for her wildly adventurous sex life. She had numerous affairs, including with King Ludvig I of Bavaria, King Otto of Greece, and the bandit lord Christodoulos Chatzipetros before finally settling down with an Arab Sheik.
# 20: George IV
Princes can get away with a lot, and George IV pushed that boundary about as far as it could go. Not only did he have a long succession of mistresses (whom he'd drop as soon as he got bored of them), but he would sometimes invite married couples over for cards, then fondle the wife in front of her husband, which is not how you're supposed to treat guests.
# 21: Messalina
Empress Messalina was the third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius. Though it's not clear whether her wild reputation for promiscuity (including an all-night sex competition with one of Rome's most notable prostitutes) was invented after the fact by historians looking to damage her reputation, the reputation persists nevertheless.
# 22: Alfred Kinsey
Sex researcher Alfred Kinsey was big into practical study -- by which we mean he (and his wife, who was on board with it) boned lots and lots of other men and women. We're sure it was totally all for research purposes, though.
# 23: Joseph Smith
The founder of Mormonism was, even according to Mormon sources, a BIG fan of the ladies. It's not clear exactly how many wives Smith had, but he allegedly purchased at least 33 marriage licenses. This was in addition to his brazen attempts to seduce the wives of other men.
# 24: King Solomon
King Solomon is a biblical figure legendary for both his immense wealth and boundless wisdom. He's also legendary for his seemingly-permanent residence within the bone zone. According to popular mythology, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 mistresses.
# 25: Mao Zedong
Mao was the first Chairman of the Communist Party in China, having taken over the country in 1949. Mao also had some weird-ass sexual appetites. He slept with countless young women, believing it somehow revitalized him and gave him sexual powers. He was also known to have fondled male members of his personal guard, because why limit oneself?
# 26: Tallulah Bankhead
Bankhead was a legendary 20th century actress with over 300 stage, film, radio, and TV credits to her name. She's equally legendary for her incredible sex life. She herself said she "could never say 'no'" to sex and claimed to have slept with hundreds of both men and women.
# 27: Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon is the legendary French leader who came to power in the wake of the French Revolution and conquered huge portions of the European continent. He also conquered a huge number of bedchambers. Napoleon apparently had an almost countless number of affairs. He wasn't picky, either; he did the nasty with nobles, chambermaids, actresses -- he just wanted to get his freak on.
# 28: Ramesses II
Also known as Ramesses the Great, Ramesses is widely considered the greatest and most powerful ruler of the ancient Egyptian Empire. And oh man, was he into getting it on. Ramesses had 200 concubines, 96 children, and 6 wives -- one of which was his sister and three of which were his daughters.
# 29: Edward VII
Ruling from 1901-1910, Edward VII is considered the last British monarch to wield true political power. He was also a well-known horndog. Sarcastically nicknamed "Edward the Caresser," he was believed to have slept with three women a week for 50 straight years.
# 30: Fatafehi Paulah
King of Tonga in the mid-to-late 18th century, Paulah met explorer James Cook upon Cook's trip to the island in 1777. Paulah told Cook that as King, it was his sacred duty to deflower every single virgin on the island. Historical estimations would put that number at 37,800 virgins over the course of his rule.
# 31: Augustus the Strong
Augustus II of Poland was known as "the Strong" because of his immense physical prowess. He was also a devoted patron of the arts -- the carnal arts, that is. He fathered around 365 bastards and one legitimate heir. Keeping track of his mistresses and children became so confusing that at one point he accidentally slept with his own daughter.
# 32: John Holmes
It shouldn't be a shock for one of the most famous pornographic actors ever to wind up on this list. By his own estimation, Holmes nailed 3,000 women during his life.
# 33: John V
John V of Portugal is known for bringing great wealth to Portugal in the early 1700s, as well as for styling himself the Most Faithful King because of his religious piety. Yeah, about that. Turns out, John was so enamored of religion that he did the horizontal mambo with a whole convent's worth of nuns, ultimately resulting in seven illegitimate children.
# 34: Henry l
Fourth son of William the Conqueror, Henry I was the third Norman King of England. He also LOVED him some lady business. Henry was renowned for his sexual stamina, and set the record for British monarchs with between 20 and 25 illegitimate children.
# 35: King Ibn Saud
The first King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud founded the country in the early 1900s, and was the first ruler to discover the oil buried there. He also did an INSANE amount of boning, allegedly sleeping with three different women a night from the age of 11 until his death. He is the father of every subsequent Saudi King, and had an estimated 42 sons and 125 daughters.
# 36: Charles ll
Charles is best-known as the king of the Restoration, who ascended his father, Charles I's, throne in 1660 after the death of Oliver Cromwell. He was allegedly the first English king to use a condom, but you wouldn't know it from all his illegitimate children: Charles fathered at least fourteen bastards by seven different mothers.
# 37: Louis XV
Also known as Louis the Beloved, Louis XV was the second-to-last Bourbon King of France. Historians have called him "an adolescent called upon to do a man's job." He was plenty grown-up in the bedroom, though. Louis had the biggest personal brothel in history, and specifically sought out young girls (as young as 14) because he was paranoid about catching syphilis.
# 38: Genghis Khan
There have been a lot of historical figures with crazy sex lives, but perhaps no one was as prolific as Genghis Khan.
Scientists believe roughly 8% of the population of Asia is directly descended from Genghis Khan. That is a LOT of descendants.
# 39: LudVig l
Ludvig I was the last absolute monarch of Bavaria whose reign was known for strict repression and unrest. He himself never got any rest either -- in the sack, that is. Ludvig had several mistresses, including legendary British socialite Jane Digby (remember her from earlier?) and dancer Lola Montez, who ultimately helped end his reign.
# 40: Hugh Hefner
Of course the founder of Playboy magazine would be a historical sex icon. Known for always having multiple girlfriends at once, it's estimated that Hef has slept with 1,800-2,000 women over the course of his lifetime.
# 41: Rodrigo Borgia
Rodrigo Borgia, or Pope Alexander VI, became Holy Father in a different time -- the 15th century, when priests regularly had all kinds of sex and mistresses out the wazoo. It's not clear specifically how many mistresses Borgia had, but he fathered at least 9 children with them, and maybe more. Scandalous rumors even whispered of an incestuous affair with his own daughter Lucrezia.
# 42: Caligula
Considering Caligula is famous for being the most insane, depraved Roman emperor in history (a field with heavy competition), it's not shocking he slept with virtually everyone -- men and women -- who crossed his path. Caligula (not uniquely among Roman Emperors) even committed ****** with his sisters.
# 43: Fidel Castro
Communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has only loved one thing as much as he loved brutal repression during his life: boner times. A former Cuban official once said of Castro: "He slept with at least two women a day for more than four decades - one for lunch and one for supper." If true, that'd put his lifelong number around 35,000 women. And you wonder why his people are willing to do anything to leave Cuba, including ''Swim'' to the US.
# 44: Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse Francois, better known as the Marquis de Sade, was so famously debauched that his name is the root of the word "sadism". He was big into S&M, and was imprisoned for 32 years of his life for his proclivities. Some of his most famous works were even written from prison.
# 45: Catherine the Great
No, it isn't true that Catherine the Great died while trying to have sex with a horse. But the rumor became popular because she did sleep with a lot of guys as Queen of Russia. 22 nobles became her conquests in all, with many receiving huge parcels of land for their services. Now that's one hell of a sugar mama.
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