Pascua Florida Day
If you live in Florida, and even if you don’t, you should know that April 2nd, is Pascua Florida Day. Today is traditionally held as the day that Juan Ponce de León first landed in Florida, claiming it in the name of the Spanish Crown.
Tampa Bay Fossil Agatized Coral
METEORITE Most Sought After! BONITA SPRINGS, Florida !
There is quite some debate to the “true” day on which he landed; dates vary, up to the 8th. The spot where he landed, is believed to be in present day St. Augustine, in the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park (which incidently says that Ponce de León landed on April 3rd).
ST. AUGUSTINE FLORIDA~FOUNTAIN of YOUTH~POST CARD
Legend holds that Ponce de León, the second Governor of Puerto Rico, discovered, or at least went on a quest for, elusive Fountain of Youth. In the Caribean Island Region, the native peoples would talk about the curitive properties of the waters from the land of “Bimini”. (Leading some skeptics to counter that most likely he actually landed in the Bahamas)
CHARONIA VARIEGATA~154mm~Bahamas SEASHELL
SIRATUS BEAUII #02 “73mm” (Florida, USA)
Upon the death of Christopher Columbus in 1506, the Spanish Crown appointed Ponce de León as the Governor of Puerto Rico, but he was forced to relinquish his position in 1512. This was the result of judicial protest put for buy Columbus’s son, Diego. Feeling that his name and reputation was soiled, and being to proud to serve under Diego Columbus, he applyed for, and was granted a title to explore the “areas north of Cuba” in the name of Spain. The following April, of 1513, his voyage ended when Ponce de León’s boat ran assure. Preportedly discovering, “La Florida” or “Pascua Florida”, translating from spanish to, “Flowery Passover”. (tradition holds that it was Easter day)
CORAL SPHERE UNUSUAL & ELEGANT 2″ FLORIDA
There is no proof that he left insearch of the Fountain. The first time the 2 are linked is in a 1535 historical text printed 11 years after his death. It states that Ponce de León was in search of the curative springs of Bimini as a remedy for his sexual impotence. (heresy, or confession of confidant in the know? You be the judge.)
Calcite in Merecenaria Permagna - Rucks’ Pit, Florida
Three Mile Island Accident
At 4:00am, March 28th, 1979, (one year to the minute after the reactor’s start-up) the main feedwater pumps of the TMI-2 reactor at The Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant FAILED. Marking the begining of the most significant nuclear energy related accident in American history. Operators in the control room were relying on faulty, cheaply constructed equipment, and ambigious gauges and LEDs to determine the cause of the problem, which was a loss of coolant accident, however this was not determined untill after the 6am shift change, over 165 minutes after the initial problem sequence, that the site radiation alarm sounded and a “Site Area Emergency” was called.
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD HAZ MAT RADIOACTIVE PLACARD SIGN
Incidently Easton is also the home to the Crayola Factory (which you need reservations to go to in the summer).
Purple Fluorite, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
When the series of events leading to the accidnet are looked at step by step, the concept of murphy’s law comes to mind. While the accident itself resulted in little (if any) scientifically documented health problems to the public, it irreversibly changed not only the publics opinion on nuclear powerplants, it also managed to redirect the course of commercialized power generating in the United States. At the time of the accident 129 nuclear power plants had been approved for construction in the US; of those, only 53 were ever completed.
We have collected in Prospect Park several times, you can read about our trip there last summer, or see a video of us collecting a couple years ago.
Pyrite Cubes in Matrix - Pennsylvania
Wavellite, Mount Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania
Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Light TMI Coffee Mug
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
On this day in 1911 the famous Triangle Stirwaist Factory caught fire and killed 148 garmet workers. The fire, started by unknown causes, origanated on the 8th floor. Most of the workers on the 9th and 10th floors recieved ample warning, and were able to escape the burning building. However the warning did not reach the young, largely immigrant seamtresses on the 8th floor in time. This floor only had one exit, a poorly connected fire escape, that soon fell from the weight of so many people on it at one time. The regular doors were looked during working hours to keep the women from leaving their posts, but no one had taken the time to unlock it, as the owners escaped to the roof for safety as soon as the fire broke out. Many of the women, upon realizing that they were trapped, broke the facotry windows and jumped to their deaths, the ones that didn’t were over came by the smoke and fire.
Dendritic Quartz Triangle Cabochon
This event shocked and horrified the public, being the worst industrial accident to date, and resulted in the push for safety reform for factory workers. In October of that same year the American Society of Safety Engineers was founded. The owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were aquitted of criminal charges, but were ordered by the civil courts to pay reparations of $75 per victim to the families of the deceased. Today the Ash Building, as it is now called it a National Historic Landmark, located iat 23-29 Washington Place, Manhattan, New York.
GENUINE NANTAN METEORITE PYRAMID
MAGNETITE OCTAHEDRON CRYSTALS FROM AUSTRALIA
