The New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, have become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border. They reached the top of the world at 1130 local time after a gruelling climb up the southern face.The two men hugged each other with relief and joy but only stayed on the summit for 15 minutes because they were low on oxygen.

Mr Hillary took several photographs of the scenery and of Sherpa Tenzing waving flags representing Britain, Nepal, the United Nations and India. Sherpa Tenzing buried some sweets and biscuits in the snow as a Buddhist offering to the gods.They looked for signs of George Mallory and Andrew “Sandy” Irvine who had disappeared in 1924 in a similar attempt to conquer Everest, but found nothing.

Then they began the slow and tortuous descent to rejoin their team leader Colonel John Hunt further down the mountain at Camp VI.When he saw the two men looking so exhausted Col Hunt assumed they had failed to reach the summit and started planning another attempt.But then the two climbers pointed to the mountain and signalled they had reached the top, and there were celebrations all round.

Careful Planning

Col Hunt attributed the successful climb to advice from other mountaineers who had attempted the feat over the years, careful planning, excellent open-circuit oxygen equipment and good weather.

Mr Hillary described the peak, which is 29,028 feet (8,847 m) above sea level, as “a symmetrical, beautiful snow cone summit”.He was one of the members of the expedition led by Eric Shipton in 1951 that discovered the southern route to the top of the mountain.

A year later, Tenzing reached the record height of 28,215 feet (8,599 m) during a Swiss expedition led by Raymond Lambert. Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, the surveyor-general of India who was the first to produce detailed maps of the Indian subcontintent including the Himalayas.

In Context

News of the conquest of Mount Everest did not reach the outside world until 2 June, the eve of the Queen’s coronation. Colonel Hunt and Edmund Hillary were knighted on their return.

Sir Edmund took part in several expeditions after that including a trip across Antarctica to the South Pole in 1958. He set up a medical and educational trust for the Sherpa people in 1961 and was New Zealand High Commissioner to India in Delhi from 1984 to 1989.He died aged 88 in January 2008.

Tenzing Norgay was awarded the George Medal for his achievement and later became director of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling. He died in 1986.

The body of George Mallory who had attempted the ascent in 1924 was found on Mount Everest in 1999. By the 50th anniversary of the ascent in May 2003 over 1,300 people had reached the summit of the roof of the world.

Text from BBCs OnThisDay

This is two people I really admire. The 1300 that has followed are mostly sods in  the 40years crisis with too much money and a big fat chip on their sholders – Ted

1930 Alfa Romeo 1750 Drophead Coupé

The Vittorio Jano-designed ,1750 Alfa Romeo was introduced in 1929. and this 1930 drophead coupe is one of its rarer manifestations. the Gran Turismo, with an unblown, twincamshaft engine. which developed some 55bhp. giving the car a top speed of around 80mph. This particular car was one of the stars of the first International Rally for pre-1940 Alfas, held in Lombardy in 1966.

1930 Bugatti Type 49

One of the best of the touring Bugatti chassis was the Type 49, current from 1930 to 1934. Derived from the 1927 Type 44, the Type 49 had a 3.3-litre-straight-eight engine, with two spark plugs per cylinder. Its elegant aluminium wheels are similar to those used on Bugatti’s huge 12.8 litre La Royale. Bugatti weathered the Depression by building 120mph rail-cars powered by La Royale engines.

1930 Bugatti Type 40A

Unkindly perhaps, the Type 40 Bugatti of 1926 was dubbed the ‘Molsheim Morris-Cowley’, but then this 1,5-litre, four-cylinder was, relatively, the most prosaic of the vintage Bugattis. In 1930, the Type 40A appeared, with a larger 1.63-litre power unit. This two-seater roadster has very American styling-compare it with the Ford, right down to the golf bag locker in the tail.

1930 Hispano-Suiza H6C Sedanca de Ville

Final incarnation of the 37.2hp Hispano-Suiza was the Type H6C built between 1928 and 1931. when it was succeeded by the legendary V12 model. This 1930 H6C has an unusual sedanca de ville body by Henri Binder of Paris with a sliding sunshine roof, a feature, incidentally, invented before World War I by another famous Parisian carrossier, Labourdette.

Somebody’s Darling is a roots/country duo formed by Liz Tove Vespestad and Tine Valand in the early nineties while they were students in Newcastle, England. After a couple of years of gigging in England and Norway, they released their epynomously named debut album in 1993, which quickly went gold in their home country and reached the top of the Irish imports chart. A second album, "Forever For Now", was released in 1994, but was less successful, and the duo broke up in 1995. In 2005 they got back together, and issued a greatest hits collection called "Still Wearing Black" which included material from their first two albums as well as their acclaimed cover of Leonhard Cohen’s "Dance me to the end of love" and four all new songs . Their latest album is called "Walls" (2007), and all the tracks are written by Liz Tove and Tine.

Title: Artist: Recording: Recorded: Released: Genre:

Shotgun Down The Avalanche Somebody’s Darling  Still Wearing Black  2005  2005 Roots/country

Title: Artist: Recording: Recorded: Released: Genre:

Somebody’s Darling Somebody’s Darling   Still Wearing Black1947 2005 2005 Roots/country

Title: Artist: Recording: Recorded: Released: Genre:

Born With A Broken Wing Somebody’s Darling   Still Wearing Black  2005 2005 Roots/country

A very typical car ad from the Mad Men from back in the days. If they couldn’t ridicule women as drivers  they used them, usually lightly dressed or in some tantalising situation or both, like here, to sell just about any product that had nothing to do with lightly dressed women.

Were really men back then so easily manipulated that four good looking women behind a screen would make them consider buying a car. I freely admit that I enjoy images of lightly dressed women, but would one make me buy a car. Not bloody likely – Ted

All posts material: “Sauce” and “Gentleman’s Relish” by Ronnie Barker – Hodder & Stoughton in 1977

Holiday P0stcards Part 2

The Vanden Plas Princess chassis was a very popular choice in coachbuilding during the 1960s in Britain. Along with fully built limousines, they were used under ambulances, hearses and other vehicles such as this caravan that was photographed in Lancashire, England. This Princess 4-litre caravan had 12,000 miles from new when it was advertised in the December 1977 issue of Hemmings. This is a 1967 caravan, with Rolls-Royce Phantom automatic gearbox and Connolly hide upholstery; it was alleged to have been kept in mint condition.

Related articles

I’ve been listening to Afro-American music for nearly 50 years. And worst, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it – Ted

BLACK HISTORY IN IMAGES: New Orleans in 1960 was sharply divided over the practice of segregation, and the “Citizens’ Council of Greater New Orleans” advocated some pretty silly stuff, including a protest against black musicians. Please share so we may never forget! Image and text from BlackPast.org

Laurie Amberson couldn’t have known there was magic in her bathtub that would make her every wish come true. She was dazzled by the spell, but not as dazzled as you’ll be by the spell Laurie herself casts!

Read the whole article and see
the naughty pictures HERE

Warning: Nudity do occur in this article. If you are under age or live in a country where watching images of nude women for some reason  are against the law  I take no responsibility if you click the link above. In other words you’re flying solo from here on – Ted ;-)

Related articles

This Scootacar, a rather late model as microcars go, is from England. Like many microcars, it’s essentially a three-wheeled scooter with an enclosed body. It’s even steered using something that looks very much like handlebars. Only 1,500 were made and very few has survived.

Text & image from CNNMoney

The trailer was designed by English company Environmental Transport Association, is not actually available for sale.  They claim they “developed the QTvan to highlight the estimated 220,000 people who use a mobility scooter without breakdown cover and face the prospect of a very long wait should they suffer a mechanical fault or their battery runs flat.”

The £5,500 QTvan is the world’s smallest caravan and is so named because it caters to three peculiarly British obsessions: queuing, tea and caravans. Inside, there’s a tea service, a 19-inch flat-screen television, radio, alarm clock book shelves, a full-sized single bed and kettle. It’s even available for short vacations, though with a 30-mile range and six-mph top end, it won’t get you much further than the park.

Text, images and video from LikeCool

This photo with the title as above was among the photos in a post called “These 60 Rare Photos Will Destroy Everything You Knew About The Past” posted on Distractify some 3 hours ago. But honestly, I know we are a small country with merely 5 million citizens and even fewer back when the photo was taken, still I think you would need more than 12 people to call an event a celebration.

On the other hand, a song from just after WWII called “Når det kommer en båt med bananer” (When there comes a boat with bananas) is still played on the radio from time to time, so yes, we do love bananas in Norway – Ted ;-)

From the 33rd edition of “XX^th Century Health And Pleasure Resorts Of Europe” published in 1933

GOVERNMENT – A constitutional monarchy, with a constitution dating back originally to 1867, but considerably amended in 1919. The sovereign power is declared to reside in the nation. Parliament consists of a single Chamber. of Deputies, whose members are elected for 6 years on the basis of proportional representation by suffrage of all men and women of over 2I. The Cabinet, consisting of a Minister, chosen by the Grand Duchess, and of three directors, acts as executive. There is also a Council of State, an advisory body of 15 members chosen for life by the Grand-Duchess: The Grand-Duchy has been declared neutral territory since 1867. In 1922 it entered into a customs union with Belgium, so that no customs barrier exists between these two countries.

HEAD OF STATE: H.R.H. the Grand-Duchess Charlotte.
Area: 2,586 km².
Capital: Luxembourg. (Population about 55,000.)
Currency: Belgian francs and centimes.
Languages: French and German. Population: About 290,000.
Density: 112 per km².
Weights and Measures: Decimal system (see general table).

To the TOURIST and SPORTSMAN, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg offers a variety of attractions and pastimes. The town of LUXEMBOURG is both picturesque and interesting, and forms an excellent starting point for many beautiful excursions in the Ardennes and" La Petite Suisse Luxembourgeoise." The country is wooded and interspersed with rocky scenery, ravines, waterfalls, picturesque old castles and quiet villages. The roads are good, hotels comfortable, and trout fishing and shooting are obtainable almost everywhere. The well known State controlled Bath Establishment of MONDORF-LES-BAINS is recommended for the efficacy of its radio-active waters.

Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) (North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on February 20, 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic development of Bremen and Bremerhaven. On September 1, 1970, the company merged with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) to formHapag-Lloyd AG

The company started with a route to England prior to starting a transatlantic service. In 1857, the first ship, the Adler (Eagle), began regular passenger service between the Weser region (where Bremen is located) and England. On October 28, 1857, it made its maiden voyage from Nordenham to London.

Just one year later, regular, scheduled services were started between the new port in Bremerhaven and New York using two 2,674 GRT steamships, the Bremen and the New York. International economic crises made the start of the NDL extremely difficult, and the company took losses until 1859. However, during the succeeding years, passenger connections to Baltimore and New Orleans were added to the schedule, and the company first rented and then in 1869 bought facilities on the waterfront in Hoboken, New Jersey.

In 1867-1868, NDL began a partnership with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which initiated the Baltimore Line; until 1978, this had its own ships. In 1869, Crüsemann died at only 43 years old. From 1877 to 1892, the Director of NDL was Johann Georg Lohmann. He established a new policy for the company, emphasizing fast liners. Eventually, however, H.H. Meier and Lohmann fell out over the direction of the company. In 1892, a 5,481 GRT twin-screw steamer, the company’s first, was christened the H.H. Meier after the founder; this helped to heal the breach between them.

The ship on the poster:

The SS Werra was built by John Elder & Co, Glasgow for Norddeutscher Lloyd and was launched on July 4, 1882. The iron-hull ship was 433.1 ft in length, 45.9 ft in breath and had a gross weight of  4,817 tons. She had two funnels, four masts, a single screw and traveled at a speed of 16 knots. The ship could accommodate 125 first-class, 130 second-class and 1,000 third-class passengers. Her maiden voyage from Bremen to Southampton and New York began on October 12, 1882.

After her last voyage on this route on November 9, 1891, the Werra was transferred to the Genoa – New York run. Between December 1898 and the summer of 1899 she was chartered to Spain to repatriate Spanish troops from Cuba.  On September 24, 1899 she began sailing from Bremen to Southampton, New York, Naples and Genoa. Following her final voyage between Genoa, Naples and New York, which began August 28, 1901, she was scrapped.

Text from Wikipedia

British photographer Jonathan Keys certainly stands out among contemporary photographers for his unusual photographic process, which brings the long-lost past and the present together. For starters, he uses a rare but still functional 130-year-old wooden Circa camera that requires about 15 minutes to finish one shot.See the rest of the pictures on BoredPanda

A massive aurora show hit the sky on the 27th of February 2014. This is a selection of shots from around the Isle of Lewis in the outer Hebrides of Scotland. Taken by Colin Cameron – Source: colincameronphotography.co.uk

Fresca is a diet citrus soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in the United States in 1966, the drink is now sold throughout the American continent. Fresca means "fresh" (feminine form) in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.

Since its introduction in 1966, Fresca has been marketed in the United States as a calorie-free, grapefruit-flavored soft drink, ostensibly catering to discriminating adult tastes. In ads it was described as an "imitation, citrus-flavored, artificially sweetened dietary beverage". Fresca underwent several major ingredient changes since its introduction. The drink was originally sweetened with cyclamates, which were banned by the FDA in 1969, and the banned ingredient was replaced with saccharin. However, in 1985, the saccharin was replaced by NutraSweet-brand aspartame. More recently, around the time of the 2005 redesign, acesulfame potassium was added as a secondary sweetener.

American President Lyndon B. Johnson had a soda fountain containing Fresca installed in the Oval Office.

In Latin America, Coca-Cola markets an entirely different soft drink under the Fresca brand name. This drink is grapefruit-flavored, but contains sugar. Colombia and Argentina are the only countries in which this drink is distributed with the name Quatro using Fresca’s same colors, logos and stickers.

Fresca was made available in South Africa during the early 1990s with a series of colourful ads featuring Hakeem Kae-Kazim with the slogan, "Nothing tastes like Fresca." The soft drink developed a cult following but sales were discontinued.

Fresca belongs to the family of citrus-flavored sodas. It is similar to Dr Pepper‘s Squirt. In 1997 Coca-Cola, which had requests for "Mexican Fresca" from immigrant communities, launched the soft drink throughout the U.S. as Citra. However this was not successful as a separate product line, and that drink is now sold as the Citrus flavor in The Coca-Cola Company’s Fanta line in areas with large Hispanic populations.

Fresca has so far managed to defend its niche of the market, and, like Tab, can rely on a relatively small but loyal customer base.

Fresca packaging has been redesigned several times, although advertising continues to emphasize sophistication. In 2005, Coca-Cola gave Fresca a more contemporary look, Fresca’s first makeover since 1995. During this redesign, two new flavors were introduced (Sparkling Peach Citrus and Sparkling Black Cherry Citrus) and the originalgrapefruit flavor was renamed Sparkling Citrus. Later, "Sparkling" was dropped and the original flavor was renamed Original Citrus. Several additional flavors have been added to the line-up since 2005.

Help Needed
I need your help visitors, both in suggesting sodas and soft drinks from around the world and in giving your opinion on the ones presented if you know the product. And you can start with giving your opinion on the ones posted already or reading what other visitors have written  – Ted

List of Soft drinks and sodas posted already
Visitors soft drinks and sodas suggestions and comments

Ford Motor Company bolstered its place in the medium-price field with introduction of the Mercury for 1939. Mainly the idea of Henry Ford’s only son Edsel, then company president, the new make was conceived as a "super deluxe" Ford to fill the big price gap that had long existed between Ford and the Lincoln Zephyr. Initially, it was carefully priced somewhat below Oldsmobile and about even with the Pontiac Eight. Though Mercury wouldn’t match the volume of these GM rivals in its early years, it did average about 80,000 annual sales through most of the Forties, good for 12th or 13th place in the industry production standings. This represented important new business for Dearborn, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Mercury’s arrival coincided with a low point in Ford Motor Company’s fortunes, which wouldn’t begin to improve for another decade. Though Ford had long been able to boast the industry’s only low-price V-8 cars, as well as the innovative Zephyr and the great coachbuilt K-series Lincolns, old Henry’s hidebound adherence to out-moded engineering like mechanical brakes and leaf-spring, solid-axle front suspension had cost the company dearly in the high-volume market. Mercury was part of Edsel’s plan to reverse the steady sales slide, and it was shrewdly planned to keep development costs low and thus help the firm conserve cash.

The first-year Mercurys looked much like the 1939 Fords, which was a plus. E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, the company’s young chief stylist, gave both makes one of the most pleasing shapes of the late prewar era. The major design elements were a crisply pointed prow bisecting a vee’d grille, headlamps moved into the front fenders, and rounded overall lines characteristic of "first -generation" streamlining. The Mercury arrived on a four-inch-longer (116-inch) wheelbase and was somewhat heavier than the Ford. To compensate for the extra weight, Edsel specified a boredout version of the familiar Ford flathead V-8, with 239 cubic inches and 95 horsepower instead of 221 cid and 85 bhp. Body styles were limited to four five-passenger types: two-door sedan and coupe-sedan; four-door Town Sedan, and two-door convertible. Prices ranged from $916 for the two-door sedan to $1018 for the convertible. An important new mechanical feature shared with other Ford Motor Company products this year was Henry’s long-shunned hydraulic brakes.

A mah-jong tables for dwarfs, a couple of white inner tubes and your ready to  play the game with cooling water well above you butt on a hot summer day. Whether this was regarded unfit activities for young women or not is beyond my eclectically gathered knowledge but the girl on the left seem rather upset by the fact that the photo was taken - Ted
Image from National Photo Company Collection at Library Of Congress