Tuesday, November 5, 2019

First Electric Toaster, Pop-Up Toast, and Sliced Bread

First Electric Toaster, Pop-Up Toast, and Sliced Bread Toasting began as a method of prolonging the life of bread. It  was initially toasted over open fires with tools to hold it in place until it was properly browned. Toasting  was a very common activity in Roman times; tostum is the Latin word for scorching or burning. As the Romans traveled throughout Europe vanquishing their foes in early times, it’s said that they took their toasted bread right along with them. The British developed a fondness for the Romans toast and introduced it in the Americas when they crossed the ocean. The First Electric Toasters The first electric toaster was invented in 1893 by Alan MacMasters in Scotland. He called the device the â€Å"Eclipse Toaster,† and it was manufactured and marketed by the Crompton Company. This early toaster was reinvented in 1909 in the U.S. when Frank Shailor patented his idea for the â€Å"D-12† toaster. General Electric ran with the idea and introduced it for use in the home. Unfortunately, it only toasted one side of the bread at a time and it required that someone stand by to manually turn it off when the toast looked done. Westinghouse followed with its own version of a toaster in 1914, and the Copeman Electric Stove Company added an â€Å"automatic bread turner† to its toaster in 1915. Charles Strite invented the modern timed pop-up toaster in 1919. Today, the toaster is the most common household appliance although it’s only  been in existence in the U.S. a little over 100 years. An unusual online museum is dedicated to the toaster, with lots of photos and historical information. Otto Frederick Rohwedder and Sliced Bread Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the bread slicer. He first began working on it in 1912 when he came up with the idea of a device that would hold the slices together with hat pins. This was not a resounding success. In 1928, he went on to design a machine that sliced and wrapped the bread to prevent it from going stale. The Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri started selling Kleen Maid Sliced Bread on July 7, 1928, possibly the first sliced bread sold commercially. Pre-sliced bread was further popularized by Wonder Bread in 1930, helping to spread the toasters popularity even further. The Sandwich Long before Rohwedder figured out how to efficiently slice bread and before Shailor patented the first American toaster, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, originated the name â€Å"sandwich† in the 18th century. Montagu was a British politician who served as secretary of state and first lord of the Admiralty. He presided at the Admiralty during the British defeats of the American Revolution, and he was notoriously unpopular for his charges of obscenity against John Wilkes.  He loved to eat beef between slices of bread. His  sandwich allowed the Earl to leave one hand free for card playing.  Hawaiis Sandwich Islands are rumored to have been named after him by Captain James Cook in 1778.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

The role of the IMF (international monetary fund) in helping poor and Case Study

The role of the IMF (international monetary fund) in helping poor and debt-troubled countries - Case Study Example tated that the IMF was created for the following purposes: to promote the global monetary and the exchange stability, facilitate the expansion and a balanced growth of international trade and helping in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments for current transactions. This paper is going to discuss why the IMF have to help out poor and dept troubled nations, conditions that borrowing countries need to meet to be eligible for the loans and the ethical foundations the IMF use to help out nations that are already in dept. The paper will further discuss if the loans harm or help in the development of poor countries and debt troubled nations and if the IMF and their policy makers have undisclosed purposes to pursue certain policy objectives. Carin and Wood (2005) stated that the IMF plays a major role in the global monetary system, which involves lending funds to countries having problems to pay off their debts, providing fund surveys, and monitoring the financial and economic developments in member countries. The IMF provides training and technical assistance for countries that request it hence enabling the poor and debt-troubled nations to alleviate problems of poverty and provide the citizens with their basic needs. Gould (2006) stated that the IMF helps the poor and debt troubled nations to handle balance of payments difficulties, ensure stable economies and restoration of economic growth in the various countries. The IMF programs help in unlocking financial opportunities for the poor countries because the program serves as a signal that countries have adopted reinforcing policy credibility and sound policies that increases the investor’s confidence. The countries eligible for borrowing loans from the IMF need to be members of the organization. Boughton (2001) stated that member countries could request for assistance if it has a balance of potential or actual payments need. This is when the country cannot find enough finances on affordable terms