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Smoot
The smoot is a nonstandard, humorous unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha by Oliver R. Smoot, who in October 1958 lay down repeatedly on the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, so that his fraternity brothers could use his height to measure the length of the bridge. Description One smoot is equal to Oliver Smoot's height at the time of the pledge, . The bridge's length was measured to be "± 1 εar" with the "±" showing measurement uncertainty and spelled with an epsilon to further indicate possible error in the measurement. Over the years the "±" portion and "ε" spelling have been left out in many citations, including some markings at the site itself, but the "±" is recorded on a 50th-anniversary plaque at the end of the bridge. History Oliver R. Smoot was selected by his Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity pledgemaster because he was deemed shortest—which made measuring the bridge the most labor-intensiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvard Bridge
The Harvard Bridge (also known locally as the MIT Bridge, the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, and the "Mass. Ave." Bridge) is a steel haunched girder bridge carrying Massachusetts Avenue ( Route 2A) over the Charles River and connecting Back Bay, Boston with Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the longest bridge over the Charles River at . After years of disagreement between the cities of Boston and Cambridge, the bridge was built jointly by the two cities between 1887 and 1891. It was named for Harvard University founder John Harvard. Originally equipped with a central swing span, it was revised several times over the years until its superstructure was completely replaced in the late 1980s due to unacceptable vibration and the collapse of a similar bridge in Connecticut. The bridge is known locally for being marked off in the idiosyncratic unit of length called the smoot. Conception In 1874 the Massachusetts Legislature authorized construction of a bridge between Boston and Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Humorous Units Of Measurement
Many people have made use of, or neologism, invented, units of measurement intended primarily for their humor value. This is a list of such units invented by sources that are notable for reasons other than having made the unit itself, and that are widely known in the Anglophone world for their mathematical joke, humor value. Systems FFF units Most countries use the International System of Units (International System of Units, SI). In contrast, the furlong/English brewery cask units#Firkin, firkin/fortnight system of units of measurement draws attention by being extremely old fashioned and off-beat at the same time. One furlong per fortnight is very nearly 1 centimetre per minute (to within 1 part in 400). Besides having the meaning of "any obscure unit", furlongs per fortnight have also served frequently in the classroom as an example on how to reduce a unit's fraction. The speed of light may be expressed as being roughly 1.8 terafurlongs per fortnight (or megafurlongs per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initiates. It has almost 8,700 current undergraduate members affiliated with chapters and associate chapters at 166 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its members may be known variously as Lambda Chis, LXAs, LCAs, Lambdas, Chops, or Choppers at different campuses. Lambda Chi Alpha was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is a member of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), which it rejoined in November 2023 after withdrawing from the conference in 2015. Among the largest 15 social fraternities in the world, Lambda Chi Alpha is the youngest. Since 2014, after maintaining its headquarters at various locations in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, it has been headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, outsid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science. In response to the increasing Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialization of the United States, William Barton Rogers organized a school in Boston to create "useful knowledge." Initially funded by a land-grant universities, federal land grant, the institute adopted a Polytechnic, polytechnic model that stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge in 1916 and grew rapidly through collaboration with private industry, military branches, and new federal basic research agencies, the formation of which was influenced by MIT faculty like Vannevar Bush. In the late twentieth century, MIT became a leading center for research in compu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Google Search
Google Search (also known simply as Google or Google.com) is a search engine operated by Google. It allows users to search for information on the World Wide Web, Web by entering keywords or phrases. Google Search uses algorithms to analyze and rank websites based on their relevance to the search query. It is the most popular search engine worldwide. Google Search is the List of most-visited websites, most-visited website in the world. As of 2025, Google Search has a 90% share of the global search engine market. Approximately 24.84% of Google's monthly global traffic comes from the United States, 5.51% from India, 4.7% from Brazil, 3.78% from the United Kingdom and 5.28% from Japan according to data provided by Similarweb. The order of search results returned by Google is based, in part, on a priority rank system called "PageRank". Google Search also provides many different options for customized searches, using symbols to include, exclude, specify or require certain search be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Google Earth
Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geographic information system, GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a Computer keyboard, keyboard or computer mouse, mouse. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or Tablet computer, tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the Earth and is also a Web Map Service client. In 2019, Google revealed that Google Earth covers more than 97 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts Highway Department
The Massachusetts Highway Department (abbreviated MassHighway) was the highway department in the U.S. state of Massachusetts from 1991 until the formation of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009. The responsibilities of MassHighway included the design, construction and maintenance of all state highways and bridges and signage of numbered routes. During that time it was a part of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT), which was also reorganized into the Department of Transportation. As part of the reorganization, the separate Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was dissolved and its duties assumed by the MassDOT highway division. The department was split into five district offices managed by a District Highway Director (DHD) under the supervision of the Chief Engineer at MassHighway headquarters in Boston. This district plan has been continued under MassDOT and the Boston area (westward along the Mass Turnpike to Weston and south th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milestone
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they can give their position on the route relative to some datum location. On roads they are typically located at the side or in a Central reservation, median or central reservation. They are alternatively known as mile markers (sometimes abbreviated MMs), mileposts or mile posts (sometimes abbreviated MPs). A "kilometric point" is a term used in Metrication, metricated areas, where distances are commonly measured in kilometres instead of miles. "Distance marker" is a generic unit-agnostic term. Milestones are installed to provide linear referencing points along the road. This can be used to reassure travellers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance travelled or the remaining distance to a destination. Such refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
69 (number)
69 (sixty-nine; ) is the natural number following 68 (number), 68 and preceding 70 (number), 70. An odd number and a composite number, 69 is divisible by 1, 3, 23 (number), 23 and 69. The number and its pictograph give its name to the sexual position of 69ing, the same name. The association of the number with this sex position has resulted in it being associated in meme culture with sex. People knowledgeable of the meme may respond "nice" in response to the appearance of the number, whether intentionally an innuendo or not. In mathematics 69 is a semiprime because it is a natural number that is the product (mathematics), product of exactly two prime numbers (3 and 23), and it is an interprime between the numbers of 67 (number), 67 and 71 (number), 71. 69 is not divisible by any square number other than 1, making it a square-free integer. 69 is a Blum integer since the two factors of 69 are both Gaussian primes, and an Ulam number—an integer that is the sum of two distinct prev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles River
The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles back on itself several times and travels through 23 cities and towns before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. The indigenous Massachusett named it , meaning "meandering" or "meandering still water". Hydrography The Charles River is fed by approximately eighty streams and several major aquifers as it flows , starting at Teresa Road just north of Echo Lake (Hopkinton), Echo Lake () in Hopkinton, passing through 23 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts before emptying into Boston Harbor. Thirty-three lakes and ponds and 35 municipalities are entirely or partially part of the Charles River drainage basin. Despite the river's length and relatively large drainage area (), its source is only from its mouth, and the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other jurisdictions, such as Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong, offer both the postgraduate JD degree as well as the undergraduate Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Civil Law, or other qualifying law degree. Originating in the United States in 1902, the degree generally requires three years of full-time study to complete and is conferred upon students who have successfully completed coursework and practical training in legal studies. The JD curriculum typically includes fundamental legal subjects such as constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal law, contracts, property, and torts, along with opportunities for specialization in areas like international law, corporate law, or public policy. Upon receiving a JD, graduates must pass a bar examinatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety of celebration. The term "parade" may also be used for multiple different subjects; for example, in the Canadian Armed Forces, "parade" is used both to describe the procession and in other informal connotations. Protest demonstrations can also take the form of a parade, but such cases are usually referred to as a march instead. History The first parades date back to , only being used for religious or military purposes. The Babylonians celebrated Akitu by parading their deities and performing rituals. To celebrate the federal government's victory in the American Civil War, 145,000 Union soldiers marched in a two-day Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C. They passed before the President, the Cabinet, and senior officers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
