Encyclopedia Britannica

Oct. 10, 1959: Engineers performed a strength test on the Watts Towers, subjecting Simon Rodia's spindly sculptures to "a winch-powered cable's side pull of 10,000 lbs.," The Times reported. The towers, constructed over 30 years, "turned out to have been wrought lovingly and well," moving less than an inch, the newspaper said. "The test was made because the city had sought to tear down the strange structures" because they were considered a hazard, The Times said.

A memorial service has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at St. James Episcopal Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles for H. George Blasdel, an ophthalmologic surgeon known nationally for his work both with people and animals. Dr. Blasdel, whose Aug. 1 death was reported this week, was 72 and had suffered a stroke.

Several signs in Mile Square [Regional] Park state: "All recreation areas are considered wildlife sanctuaries." The David L. Baker golf course and the wildlife preserve are recreation areas. Therefore, they are wildlife sanctuaries. However, county planner Richard Adler says that the red foxes, inhabitants of Mile Square Park long before either of the golf courses was created, must be eliminated (July 22). Was this the plan all along? He indicates, obviously on his own authority, that the foxes are "more of a pest like rodents or groundhogs."

In her Nov. 30 column on the TV movie "The Reagans," Patt Morrison asks, "When did the nation begin letting moviemakers teach history?" The answer: In the late '30s, when the Encyclopedia Britannica, in a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, began distributing 16-millimeter prints of historical shorts and excerpts from historical films to schools. According to Kevin Brownlow in "The Parade's Gone By," beginning with D.W. Griffith, the makers of historical films did voluminous research to ensure their films were as historically accurate as possible, given the knowledge and what was considered acceptable for depiction at the time.

Akira Yoshizawa, recipient of a Google Doodle honoring the 101st anniversary of his birth, was no mere paper folder.  He was an origami artist credited with raising the paper-folding technique to a higher plane. And then dousing it with water. Yoshizawa's work seems to have expression -- even emotion .  From a flat piece of paper, he conjured sculpture.  It helped that he had come up with a new technique, arguably his most important contribution to origami --  wet-folding , or "wet origami.

A 14-year-old girl from San Diego has won the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling "guetapens," a French-derived word that means an ambush, snare or trap. Snigdha Nandipati, an eighth-grader at Francis Parker School in La Jolla, was calm and collected throughout as she beat out eight other finalists Thursday at the competition in Oxon Hill, Md. Her grandfather had reportedly promised her a trip to India if she won. She is an avid reader and coin collector who aspires to become a psychiatrist or neurosurgeon.

While many things are no longer the same anymore for Britons, they take comfort in the knowledge that at least they still drive on the left. In fact, one sure way to rile them is to suggest that they change lanes to get in line with the rest of Europe and many other parts of the world. So heaven help those who dare to propose shifting from the left lane to the right, as a West German politician discovered when he raised the matter.

Dr. Luis Leal has taught for 55 years on university campuses across the nation, currently at UC Santa Barbara, imparting to American students what might be called the Mexican version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. For this among other accomplishments, President Clinton awarded Leal, 90, the National Humanities Medal last week in a White House ceremony. The award honors persons whose work has deepened understanding of the humanities.