The letter “H” is about the ninth most-frequently used letter of the alphabet in printed material. As an abbreviation, H might stand for His or Her in H.M. (His or Her Majesty). H can mean hydrogen, harbor, Hawaii, or Hindustan. In the world of electricity, inductance (induced voltage) is measured in units of Henries, denoted as H.
PRESIDENTIAL “H’S”
The electric light was invented by Thomas Edison, the state of Colorado was admitted to the Union, Flag Day was celebrated for the first time, and the first African American cadet graduated from West Point. All of these milestone events occurred during the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes, from 1877 to 1881.
Good advice from Rutherford B. Hayes: “Never do anything or say anything that you would be ashamed to confide to your mother.”
Between 1889 and 1893, basketball was invented, the Eiffel Tower was completed, Yosemite National Park was opened, and the zipper was patented --- all during the term of 23rd President Benjamin Harrison. Benjamin was the grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, who holds the record for the shortest time in office, only 30 days.
Warren G. Harding’s attitude toward the Chief Executive position was, “I knew that this job would be too much for me.” Herbert Hoover’s feelings toward the job were expressed in the words, “This job is nothing but a twenty-ring circus --- with a whole lot of bad actors.”
THAT’S HOPPIN’!
Hop to It! On a January day in 1998, that’s exactly what Ashrita Furman did, setting a record for the most hopscotch games ever completed in 24 hours --- 434!
“H’S” ON THE MAP
You can visit a community named Hamilton in Alaska, Alabama, California, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, or Massachusetts. Hamilton is also the capital of Bermuda.
If you’re standing in Tegucigalpa, you’re visiting the capital of Honduras, a country whose leading source of income is bananas.
When the first atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, it was predicted that it would be 70 years before any plant life could be expected to return. How shocking to see a blanket of grass and flowers just weeks after the explosion! It seems that the heat of the blast brought about germination of buried seeds. Plants that had been hard to grow in past years thrived because certain fungi and insects, which had previously impeded growth, were destroyed by nuclear radiation.
Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls was the scene of a first-of-its-kind daredevil stunt in October 1901. Schoolteacher Anna Taylor was celebrating her 43rd birthday by hurtling over the 160-foot falls, strapped inside a wooden barrel. Anna emerged relatively unscathed, with only a gash in her head. Her hopes of becoming rich from her death-defying stunt, however, never materialized, and Anna died penniless 20 years later. She was accorded the honor of being buried in the “stunters’ section” of Niagara Falls’ cemetery, esteemed as the first person and only woman to survive the Horseshoe Falls plunge.
