Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:48:21
Subject: Blue
From: simonsaysthis@omphalos.com
To: skipvskip@hotmail.com

Skip:

Just to update you on my research----->

Scattering of light in the atmosphere causes the blue color of the sky.

As for water, its color is a faint blue. Although water appears clear in small amounts, its blue color becomes more visible the more water we look through: thus lakes and oceans are bluer than a shallow stream.

Blueberries are actually purple, not blue.

Film is typically most sensitive to blue light. Bluescreens are most often blue because of the color's complementary relationship to flesh. The most common color in most filmed scenes is flesh tone, so the opposite color is the logical choice to avoid conflicts.

Owls are believed to be the only animals that can see the color blue.

During the medieval period in Europe, the most important blue dyes were Indian indigo and the somewhat less intense, cheaper, and locally available woad. As early as 55 BC, Romans found painted people or "picti" in Gaul, who dyed their skin blue with woad.

Manufacture of woad dye involved fermenting woad leaves with human urine. The standard method for the dyers was to drink wine or other alcohol and then to use their enriched urine for the fermentation process. Pieces of fabric were immersed in the woad bath, typically on Sundays, for at least 12 hours. In Germany, the practice of dyers lying around the courtyard after hanging fabric on Mondays gave rise to colloquial expressions such as "Blauer Montag" (Blue Monday: stay away from work on Monday) and "Blau werden" (Get blue: Get drunk).

Indian indigo prevailed slowly over woad based on its better dyeing properties and deeper color. The word Indigo is derived from the Greek Indikon and the Latin Indicum, meaning a substance from India. From 1600 onwards, the records of the East India Company document the production of indigo in India and its export. Indigo labor practices were notoriously exploitative. An Englishman in the Bengal Civil Service is said to have commented that "not a chest of indigo reached England without being stained with human blood." There were violent indigo riots in Bihar in 1868. In 1917 Ghandi launched an enquiry into the exploitation of indigo workers, which contributed, at least in part, to the growth of India's nationalization movement. 

The first book printed on blue paper was published in 1514 in Venice by Aldus Manutius. Throughout the 16th century, blue papers were popular in Venetian special editions.

The blue in the American flag represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

Blue represented failure to the Cherokee. Cherokee warriors would pray for the enemy to become blue and walk in a blue path.

The "elliptic salon," with the Yellow Oval Room above and the Diplomatic Reception Room below it, the Blue Room is one the highlights of the White House tour, a room in which generations of American Presidents have greeted thousands of celebrities, world leaders, and captains of American industry to state dinners and receptions. The color blue was introduced during the administration of Martin Van Buren in 1837; he redecorated the oval salon and began the tradition of the "blue room." The sapphire blue fabric used for the draperies and furniture covering is similar in color to fabric used in the room in 1800's. The blue satin draperies were derived from an early 19th century French source. The walls were hung with a light gold paper adapted from an early 19th century American paper with borders adapted from two early 19th century French papers. The upper border is a blue drapery swag; the lower border along the chair rail blue and gold with rosettes.

Shades of blue among the top ten colors as selected by thousands of Americans in the 2000 Crayola Crayon Census:
#1 Blue
#2 Cerulean
#4 Midnight Blue
#5 Aquamarine
#8 Denim
#10 Blizzard Blue

Kinds of Blue in HTML:
MidnightBlue    25 25 112     #191970
NavyBlue    0 0 128     #000080
CornflowerBlue    100 149 237     #6495ED
DarkSlateBlue    72 61 139     #483D8B
SlateBlue    106 90 205     #6A5ACD
MediumSlateBlue    123 104 238     #7B68EE
LightSlateBlue    132 112 255     #8470FF
MediumBlue    0 0 205     #0000CD
RoyalBlue    65 105 225     #4169E1
Blue     0 0 255     #0000FF
DodgerBlue    30 144 255     #1E90FF
DeepSkyBlue    0 191 255     #00BFFF
SkyBlue    135 206 235     #87CEEB
LightSkyBlue    135 206 250     #87CEFA
SteelBlue    70 130 180     #4682B4
LightSteelBlue    176 196 222     #B0C4DE
LightBlue    173 216 230     #ADD8E6
PowderBlue    176 224 230     #B0E0E6
LightCyan    224 255 255     #E0FFFF
CadetBlue    95 158 160     #5F9EA0
SlateBlue1    131 111 255     #836FFF
SlateBlue2    122 103 238     #7A67EE
SlateBlue3    105 89 205     #6959CD
SlateBlue4    71 60 139     #473C8B
RoyalBlue1    72 118 255     #4876FF
RoyalBlue2    67 110 238     #436EEE
RoyalBlue3    58 95 205     #3A5FCD
RoyalBlue4    39 64 139     #27408B
Blue1    0 0 255     #0000FF
Blue2    0 0 238     #0000EE
Blue3    0 0 205     #0000CD
Blue4    0 0 139     #00008B
DodgerBlue1    30 144 255     #1E90FF
DodgerBlue2    28 134 238     #1C86EE
DodgerBlue3    24 116 205     #1874CD
DodgerBlue4    16 78 139     #104E8B
SteelBlue1    99 184 255     #63B8FF
SteelBlue2    92 172 238     #5CACEE
SteelBlue3    79 148 205     #4F94CD
SteelBlue4    54 100 139     #36648B
DeepSkyBlue1    0 191 255     #00BFFF
DeepSkyBlue2    0 178 238     #00B2EE
DeepSkyBlue3    0 154 205     #009ACD
DeepSkyBlue4    0 104 139     #00688B
SkyBlue1    135 206 255     #87CEFF
SkyBlue2    126 192 238     #7EC0EE
SkyBlue3    108 166 205     #6CA6CD
SkyBlue4    74 112 139     #4A708B
LightSkyBlue1    176 226 255     #B0E2FF
LightSkyBlue2    164 211 238     #A4D3EE
LightSkyBlue3    141 182 205     #8DB6CD
LightSkyBlue     4 6 123 139     #607B8B
LightSteelBlue1    202 225 255     #CAE1FF
LightSteelBlue2    188 210 238     #BCD2EE
LightSteelBlue3    162 181 205     #A2B5CD
LightSteelBlue4    110 123 139     #6E7B8B
LightSteelBlue1    202 225 255     #CAE1FF
LightSteelBlue2    188 210 238     #BCD2EE
LightSteelBlue3    162 181 205     #A2B5CD
LightSteelBlue4    110 123 139     #6E7B8B
LightBlue1    191 239 255     #BFEFFF
LightBlue2    178 223 238     #B2DFEE
LightBlue3    154 192 205     #9AC0CD
LightBlue4    104 131 139     #68838B
DarkBlue    0 0 139     #00008B

I thought I ought to share this information with you, please feel free to make use of it in any way that you see fit.

Simon