Genealogy tip for today: Handwriting, #3Tutorials,
Helps and Tips
We have been talking about handwriting
the last couple of days. I have discovered there is an overwhelming amount of
information on the Internet of sites that are available for help.
Some sites are designed to
help you with script of foreign languages (other than English) some are
designed to help you with English during different time periods. We had said we
would look at scripts from 100 to 500 years ago. But I think instead of
rehashing what has already been said in other places I will give you several
links for you to check out.
If this is something that you
are seriously interested in, these websites will not only give you good
information but easy tutorials, and exercises that you can practice to improve
your reading skills of older scripts or foreign languages.
One thing that was abundantly
clear as I looked over other websites was that you need to practice, practice,
practice. The more you do, the better you will get at reading older documents. That sounds like a lot of things in life,
doesn’t it?!!
Here
are some of websites I found:
The two links above came from
this page, which
has even more information.
Here’s
another one – an online tutorial. This looks like a good
one and covers the time period I mentioned in the opening paragraphs.
About.com’s
page on handwriting has several articles that are good to read.
~TIPS~
Here are some tips that I
have gathered from around the web that are good points to remember:
-Buy and use a good magnifying glass.
-Don’t guess – read
carefully, interpret only what you see, not what you think.
-Use letters/words from one
part of a document to help interpret a difficult part.
-Look for dates. Familiarity
with dates can help with figuring out handwriting or letters.
-Create an alphabet chart as
you figure out letters.
-Find and watch online
tutorials on old handwriting.
-For vowels, substitute other
vowels till the word makes sense. See if you can decipher whether a letter is a
vowel or consonance.
-Figure out lower case
letters first.
-Sometimes letters are open
(like “o”) even when they are not supposed to be.
Here
are some more tips. Reading other people’s handwriting is or can be a real
challenge. But with helps and some “tricks” and a lot of practice, you will be
able to read old documents and even solve some riddles of writing, heretofore
unsolvable.
If any of these posts are helpful drop us a line in
the comments section below. We just want to know if the information we provide
to you is helpful in anyway.
1517
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Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the
church at Wittenberg in Germany. Luther's theories and writings inaugurate
Protestantism, shattering the external structure of the medieval church and
at the same time reviving the religious consciousness of Europe.
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1803
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Congress ratifies the purchase of the entire Louisiana area in
North America, adding territory to the U.S. which will eventually become 13
more states.
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1838
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A mob of about 200 attacks a Mormon camp in Missouri,
killing 20 men, women and children.
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1864
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Nevada becomes the 36th state.
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1941
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After 14 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National
Memorial is completed.
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1952
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The United States explodes the first hydrogen bomb at
Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.
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1968
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The bombing of North Vietnam is halted by the United
States.
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1971
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Saigon begins the release of 1,938 Hanoi POW's.
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1984
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Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated in New
Delhi by two Sikh members of her bodyguard.
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1998
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Iraq announces it will no longer cooperate with United
Nations weapons inspectors.
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1999
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EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes into Atlantic Ocean killing
all 217 people on board.
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2000
|
|
Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident
crew to the International Space Station.
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2002
|
|
Former Enron Corp. CEO Andrew Fastow convicted on 78
counts of conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice and wire
fraud; the Enron collapse cost investors millions and led to new oversight
legislation.
|
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1795
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John Keats, poet.
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1802
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Benoit Fourneyron, inventor of the water turbine.
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1860
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Juliette Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
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1887
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Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese Nationalist.
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1896
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Ethel Waters, actress and blues singer.
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1902
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Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet, journalist and
short story writer.
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1917
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William H. McNeil, historian (The Rise of the West).
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1925
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Charles Moore, influential post-modern architect.
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1930
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Michael Collins, U.S. astronaut.
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1931
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Dan Rather, journalist; anchor of CBS Evening News
(1981–2005).
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1936
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Michael Landon, actor (Bonanza, Little House on
the Prairie TV series).
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1937
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Tom Paxton, folk singer, songwriter, musician; received a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).
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1942
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David Ogden Stiers, actor; best known for his role as
stuffy Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H* TV series
(1977–1983).
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1950
|
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Jane Pauley, journalist; co-host of The Today Show
(1976–1989) and Dateline NBC (1992–2003).
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1950
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Antonio Taguba, retired US Army major general best known
for authoring the Taguba Report on abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq; Taguba is the second American citizen of Philippine birth to reach the
rank of general in the US Army.
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1961
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Sir Peter Jackson, New Zealand film director, producer,
screenwriter (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit)
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1961
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Larry Mullen Jr., musician; drummer for U2 band.
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2005
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Infanta Leonor of Spain, second in line of succession to
the Spanish throne.
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milquetoast
PRONUNCIATION:
(MILK-tohst)
MEANING:
noun: A timid,
unassertive person.
ETYMOLOGY:
After
Caspar Milquetoast, a comic strip character by H.T. Webster (1885-1952). A
synonym of the word is milksop. Earliest documented use: 1932.
USAGE:
"Martin
Oberman: This is a very tough place. You can't be a milquetoast."
Peter Slevin; Testing Rahm; The Washington Post; Sep 13, 2012.
Peter Slevin; Testing Rahm; The Washington Post; Sep 13, 2012.
Explore "milquetoast" in the Visual Thesaurus.
Poetry
should please by a fine excess and not by singularity. It should strike the
reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a
remembrance. -John Keats, poet (1795-1821)
Today’s
Recipe
Treats,
No Tricks!
This isn’t
a recipe for something to eat, but it is about food!!! :-)
Click on
the title above and it will take you to some tips in carving your best pumpkin
ever!!
ENJOY!
Now You Know!