This image shows musical instruments from the 18th century. The keyboard instrument is a harpsichord, the forerunner of the modern piano. The harpsichord is the instrument that Bach and other Baroque composers wrote for. It has no sustaining pedal, and has a light, pretty, almost metallic sound. It has virtually no touch sensitivity, which meant that to get more sound, you had to add more notes. Hence the structure of Baroque keyboard music, often described by the word "terraced". This realisation leads to the question - when one is playing music originally written for harpsichords on a modern piano, should they play it as if they were playing on a harpsichord, or should they use the capabilities of the modern piano to add more expression, which was not possible before the development of the piano? Fortunately, the performer has the liberty of choice in this matter, and both methods give an equally beautiful performance. Another interesting note about harpsichords is that they get out of tune extremely quickly. I have never heard a harpsichord in concert without seeing it be painstakingly tuned immediately prior to the performance.
This picture shows some of Alexander Graham Bell`s instruments. Mr. Bell was, of course, the inventor of the telephone. He is often claimed as a Canadian, but others find that claim rather tenuous. He was born in Edinburgh in 1847, moved to Canada with his parents at the age of 23, and really pursued his career in the States, although he and his family kept a home in Baddock, NS, and often returned there for months at a time, and he is buried there. Bell did much more than invent the telephone. He taught and worked to help the deaf, invented an artificial respiration device that led to the artificial lung, and made contributions to many other varied fields of science, including flight and genetics.
Teddy bears are named after President Theodore (Teddy) S. Roosevelt. The first stuffed bear had been made in the late 19th century. In 1902, President Roosevelt went on a hunting trip, and refused to kill a bear cub. The next year, Morris Michton made a bear toy in his honour, calling it "Teddy`s Bear".
Click here to go to my favourite museum--The Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature.
Here are some neat links to do with history:
Internet Archive of Text & Documents--(really neat!)
History Web Ring
The History Net
American & British History Resources on the Internet