I regularly review the state of the Hydrogen Society.  Today, I will focus on the history. I've long been intrigued by hydrogen. 70-75% of the mass in the Universe is hydrogen. 90% of atoms are hydrogen. When combusted in air, the result is water. Isotopes tritium and deuterium are the keys to fusion. Why is hydrogen so abundant? The Big Bang produced mostly hydrogen and helium. Colorless and odorless. Hydrogen's simplicity makes it the primary fuel for the formation of stars. Hydrogen consists of one proton and one electron, making it the lightest and simplest atom. Makes up 63% of all atoms in the human body. Hydrogen's story. In 1526, Paraclesus first observed hydrogen gas. Theodore de Mayerne found the gas combustible in 1650. In 1671, Robert Boyle first artificially produced hydrogen. Henry Cavendish in 1766 formally identified it as a distinct element. Antoine Lavoisier coined the name hydrogen from the Greek words hydro (water) and genes (creator). In 1783, Jacques C...

Did you know that both Mother's and Father's Days are national holidays?  Of course they are always celebrated on Sundays, so they are not a federal holiday.  President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914 designating  Mother's Day  as the second Sunday in May.  Of course motherhood has long been cherished, and the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in honor of mother godesses Rhea and Cybele. Mind you, the Greeks and Romans also honored fathers, and in Catholic Europe, St. Joseph's Day ( March 19 ) is a feast day dedicated to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.  But Father's Day in the USA had a rather startling beginning that few know. First, Father's Day did not become a national holiday until 1972. The reason why has everything to do with civil rights movements in the 1960s. The story starts in 1964 when a middle-aged father and mid-level federal appointee, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, dreamt a solution to America's racial conflict in his sle...

I guess this is good news.  Hawaiian Airlines merged with Alaska Air.  More specifically,  Alaska purchased Hawaiian for $1.9 billion .  We recently have been traveling a lot on both.  United Air seems to have backtracked in many ways the past few years.  Even though my loyalty program is with them, the company has so decimated the utility of using miles that it doesn't matter anymore.  In any case, when you travel in business or first class, you can always use the executive lounge of that airline. One more bit of news.   Have you noticed that Israel is killing and maiming Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon with pagers?    Yes, this is that small device you use to page people.   Apparently, what happened is that mobile phones can be tracked, so they were discarded by the Hezbollah and replaced by pagers.  You cannot talk on them.  These devices can only text a message.   The Hezbollah ordered 5,000 pag...