Unique Rooms of the White House

The most famous house in America, the White House, is iconic. The house is also enormous, with a complex of hundreds of rooms. Of course, everyone knows about the famous areas like the Oval Office and the Situation Room. But within the complex lies a number of unique and interesting rooms.

The White House has an indoor gym to exercise.

Beneath the staircase of the North Portico, there is the Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley.

In the East Wing, there is a 42 seat movie theater. In 2017, this theater made news after it was revealed “Finding Dory” was the first film shown during the Trump Administration.

The family dining room is much smaller than the state dining room, and is used to host smaller and more quaint dinners.

In the kitchen, there is the Chocolate Shop where deserts are made. The Chocolate shop also prepares the gingerbread during Christmas and the Easter eggs during Easter. There is the music room that President Clinton created in order to create his saxophone.

The China room, on the first floor, houses a number of expensive antiques.

The Flower Shop is where florists prepare flowers for decorations and other occassions.

On the top floor of the White House is the Solarium where one can go to relax. In the past, it was used as a study room for the Carters, and a board game room for the Clintons.

Then there is the Game Room to play pool in. In all, the White House offers a number of fun ammenities for the President and the first family to enjoy while dealing with the stress of being leader.

Abadi, M. (2020, August 21). 15 rooms in the White House you probably never knew existed, from a chocolate shop to a private bowling alley. Business Insider. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-facts-rooms-2018-2#flower-shop-10.

Human Evolution

The history of human evolution is complex and fascinating. Humans have come to dominate the planet, but coming to this point was not easy. Tracing our evolutionary history back by nearly half a billion years, we can see how we evolved. Our ancestors faced extinction dozens of times, and experienced countless threats and disasters. Humans were truly on the verge of extinction many times. This is our story. The story of humans.

From the first cells, mutations and cell division occurs until our ancestors appear as a three-inch-long worm, swimming in the ancient oceans 550 million years ago.

In the form, we have no eyes though. Over tens of millions of years, mutations give us our eyes, refining our vision with natural selection. Our brains develop through more mutations.

Eventually, we look like this.

A simple fish, swimming through the ancient oceans. However, there is a serious threat.

Anomalocaris, the first Apex predator.

Overtime, evolution gifts us traits to better help us survive. 375 milllion years ago, we are a bigger and well protected fish.

But there is an even bigger threat.

This monster proved so menacing, we were pushed to shallower waters to escape the dangers. Natural selection then took to give us another crucial advantage: to breathe air. During this time, we have lungs and gills. Even though our gills are gone now, you can see evidence of them on the human body in the form of hiccups. Eventually, we leave the water altogether.

Overtime, our bodies adapt to life on land. Thicker skin, claws, and the ability to lay eggs at around 340 million years ago.

Once again, natural selection takes over. To be competitive against other species for food, we develop powerful jaw muscles, stronger legs, and higher mental capabilities. At 280 million years ago, we look like an ideal species, with extinction seemingly not a threat anymore.

But again, a threat arises. This time though, it’s not a predator. In Siberia, molten rock works its way up to the surface. A significant portion of the Earth is now covered in lava. With huge amounts of carbon dioxide trapping sunlight, temperatures soar to over 37 C. 95% of species die during this time. After that disaster, we went from being a lizard to being cat-sized.

However, now it is dinosaur time! To keep ourselves safe from being eaten by dinosaurs, we de-evolve. Our size gets smaller and smaller until we are the size of a rat 66 million years ago. At this point, our lives are spent in hiding from the dinosaurs.

Living in the fear of dinosaurs, we become nocturnal to avoid being eaten. Our senses are refined to detect dinosaurs. Our brains further develop to analyze the environment. In a way, living with dinosaurs are responsible for the higher intellect of humans. More importantly, to protect our offspring from being eaten as eggs, we give birth to babies. We nurture and care for our offspring to give them the best chance of survival.

Eventually, the reign of the dinosaurs came to an end. With little food and vegetation as a result of the asteroid, the dinosaurs simply do not have enough food to sustain themselves. But what remains is plenty of food enough for our little bodies. A long time later vegetation grows back with food in the trees. 56 million years ago, our new life is above ground in the trees. We are now primates.

Eventually, though, 4.4 million years ago as forests disappear due to climate change and plate tectonics, we are forced out of the trees and back onto the ground. To reach more food, we learn to walk on two legs. Our tails disappear as well. What remains is the coccyx.

As our brain develops further, we reach a new important milestone: we learn how to use stone tools. At this point, we transition from scavenger to hunter. We also learn how to utilize fire for warmth, and to cook raw meat. With our ability to communicate also developing, we’ve at last arrived at the species of homo sapiens. 200,000 years ago, the first of what we call humans, came about. And that is the story of our evolution, from fish to lizard to rat to monkey to finally to us as humans.

the Discovery Channel. (2012). Mankind Rising – Where do humans come from. Retrieved from http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/season-2-episodes7.htm.