My Word!
Exploring the Rich History of Scrabble
In 1931, the Great Depression — the worst economic crisis in American history — had thoroughly dampened the country’s spirit. Amidst the crisis, Alfred M. Butts, an out-of-work New York architect, decided to create a game to take his mind off the economy. Aspiring to develop a classic to join the ranks of other timeless card and board games, Butts came up with the idea for a board-and-tile game he non-committedly named “Criss Cross,” which we now know as Scrabble. THE ARCHITECT’S PLAN At its core, Scrabble was inspired by crossword puzzles and always featured the iconic lettered tiles, each with separate quantities and point values. Butts determined the point values by surfing through his collection of local newspapers and counting how often each letter appeared. To prevent players from creating too many cheap plurals, he included only four “S” tiles in each box and assigned the letter a measly 1 point. Butts was eager to share his idea with the world, but the world was not as eager to receive it. He pitched the game to several publishers and retailers, but all rejected it. Butts had to retail it on a small scale, and the game did not Did you know the color of fire is determined by its temperature? For example, blue and violet flames are hottest at a scorching 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit, while red flames are considerably cooler at around 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. This may leave you wondering: If the hottest fire on Earth is blue, why is the sun yellow? For starters, it isn’t . The explanation is fascinating and may surprise you! Shedding Light
become the surefire hit he expected it to be. It wasn’t until fellow New Yorker James Brunot discovered the game that things changed for the better. Brunot offered to mass-produce the game and, in exchange, would provide Butts with a portion of the profits, which Butts happily agreed to. BRUNOT’S BARGAIN As soon as Brunot secured the rights to the game, he began making significant changes to it. These included redesigning the board, its color, players’ starting position, and the location of various score multiplier tiles. But his most important contribution was changing its name to Scrabble!
The owner of Macy’s then discovered the game and offered to carry it in his stores. Brunot went from creating 12 copies of the game an hour when he
first acquired the rights to 2,000 sets per week by 1952. By 1954, millions of copies were sold. Today, the game has been translated into over 20 languages and has sold over 100 million copies. People play the game worldwide, in tournaments and living rooms alike, and it has allowed millions to share in the joy initially envisioned by a down-on-his-luck architect in a time when hope was a distant prospect.
What Color Is the Sun?
WHAT COLOR IS THE SUN? A star’s color — like fire — is based on its surface temperature and the wavelength of colors perceivable by the human eye. Like with fire on Earth, the coldest stars appear red, whereas the hottest stars appear blue. Our sun’s surface is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit — a median temperature as far as stars are concerned — and emits light across the entire visible color spectrum. However, our sun actually emits the greatest amount of light in a green wavelength but not in great enough quantities for our eyes to perceive it. Because of this, if we were to look at our sun from space, the near-equal saturation of colors would cause us to perceive it as being white. Astronauts get the opportunity to witness the true color of the sun all the time — though I hope they don’t stare for too long. WE SEE FILTERED SUNLIGHT. The sun does not appear white from our perspective because of our atmosphere: When sunlight reaches Earth, our atmosphere filters out a greater proportion of blue light than red light, causing our sun to appear yellow. Likewise, when sunlight has to penetrate a greater proportion of our atmosphere — such as during sunrise and sunset — the sun takes on a red, vibrant appearance. Hopefully, this information helps you see the sun in a new light!
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