New Leaf

I have realized that by not attending school, I feel that I am getting progressively dumber. Now, I'm not saying that I pay attention in class and therefore learn from it, but by attending classes, I have oodles of time to daydream, extrapolate, brainstorm, and (to be completely honest) dream. But simply by being in an environment where learning and mental growth are paramount, I find myself spending my time searching out new knowledge.
By working 40 hours a week at Associated Bank on a teller line in a Festival Foods, I find my thoughts most often stray to what the good sales are that week. Due to this, I decided last week to spend an hour or two during my work day, when there were no customers to work with, to go to Wikipedia (I work with what I know), and read the featured article of the day, and journal about it. I have learned things I would never have sought out. For instance, the first female Governor of Kentucky was one of the fore runners for running mate of the 1984 Democratic nominee for President, Walter Mondale, and was a future cabinet member of Clinton's until her husband was caught in a fraud scheme. Her name is Martha Layne Collins (Hall). A reward of 10,000 British pounds was offered in 1906 for the first aeroplane flight from London to Manchester, completed in under 24 hours and with 2 or fewer stops. It was accomplished in April, 1910. The reward was ten times that offered by the newspaper for the first aeroplane flight across the English Channel and the money was won by a Frenchman. The first football team the Green Bay Packers ever lost to was the Beloit Fairies. March 9th was the Last Sermon of the Prophet Muhammad (632) as well as the first of the Emergency Bank Acts put into effect by FDR (1933). Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence from Britain in 1857.  the first dental school opened in Baltimore in 1840. The new Year used to begin on March 25th in England, and was celebrated on the first beginning in 1752. The execution of King Charles I technically took place in both 1648 (as the new year had not at that time begun) and 1649 (as latter records were altered because it was the new year according to the new calender.
There is so much to learn about our world, and it has been a fun little ride journaling random facts (according to Wikipedia). What is the most outrageous thing you have learned?