Genius Albert Einstein

Celebrating the GENIUS ALBERT EINSTEIN - born 14 March 1879

E=mc² 

So many brilliant & inspiring quotes: 

• Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
• Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
• Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new
• Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
• Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
• Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge.
• If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
• You never fail until you stop trying


Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. - Wikipedia

Amazing True Stories of African Animal Heroes: Part 2

The animals of Africa are the heroes of many old folktales - and many real-life tales. We have already rounded up and illustrated some of these stories on our blog, and, because the animals of Africa are so great, there have been even more incredible feats.

Enjoy these three true stories about the real-life animals heroes of this epic continent!

1. The Lions' Protection

In Ethiopia, not so long ago, a little girl was kidnapped by a group of evil men. They held her captive for a week, until three lions came to her rescue!
Defying their reputations for being ruthless attackers, the lions kept the little girl safe from harm until she was found by the police and her family. Upon the other humans' arrival, the lions humbly retreated into the forest.


2)  The Mothering Instincts of the Chimpanzee

A chimpanzee baby was seemingly not like the others. This baby had weaker legs, was much smaller and couldn't keep her mouth closed. The poor baby also had a growth on her stomach and could not eat solid foods.
Mother chimp showed amazing patience with her little daughter. She fed her milk long after all the other babies her age had moved on to eating solids. She refused to allow others to take of her, with the exception of one of her other daughters. She made do with using just three limbs to climb trees so she could hold her little girl.
Without her love, the little chimpanzee baby would not have survived for as long as she did (sadly, she died before the age of two, possibly due to malnutrition).

3) The Lioness versus the Crocodile

A lioness was one among her tribe needing to cross a river - a river with a deadly crocodile lurking in its waters. In a split second, she had her claws out, her teeth bared and she was fighting the crocodile! Her front legs gripped the crocodile's jaws as she dunked the beast below the waters! The crocodile tried to to bite her, but in vain. He ran away in fear, and all the cubs and the other lions could go about their day.

Sources/Image Credits (images displayed are re-imaginings composed by Epic):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jinterwas/5995124588
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8305836/ns/world_news-africa/t/ethiopian-girl-reportedly-guarded-lions/#.V9erBK2kptU
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/lionness-fends-off-alliga_n_1701939.html
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tanzania-wild-chimp-found-caring-her-infant-down-syndrome-1528579


 

African Folklore Collection: Volume 2

Since July was inspired by superheroes and superheroics (in honour of Comic Con), we at Epic recalled some folklore tales from our continent that we felt fit the theme. The animals in these stories are totally worthy of being called heroes - read about their feats below!

How Eagle Saved Monkey from Hyena

A Ghanaian folktale tells the story of a Hyena who fell into a trap in the ground and could not get out. He cried for help, but he had such a bad reputation for being treacherous that all the passers-by refused. Until, finally, kindly Monkey heard his cries and lent a helping hand, despite his instincts. And, true to everybody's suspicions, Hyena attacked Monkey!

Eagle flew overhead and spotted the struggle. He swooped down and pulled Monkey away from Hyena, then demanded to know what was going on. Monkey explained what Hyena did. Eagle wanted to see exactly what had happened and asked Hyena to recreate the scenario. Hyena obliged, and got climbed back in the trap, realizing too late that Eagle had tricked him to save Monkey!

How Zebra Got His Stripes

A Bushman folktale tells the story of how the zebra got his stripes - by saving the animals' only water supply from the villianous baboon! 

The baboon had claimed the watering hole for himself, and to chase the thirsty animals away, he lit a big fire next to the water. 

One day, the zebra, his coat gleaming a pure white in the burning sun, approached the water, wanting a drink. The baboon, angry, shooed him away, but the zebra rightfully said that the water belonged to everyone. And so, they fought for it, and the battle raged, until the zebra kicked the baboon so hard that the baboon went flying - and the zebra lost his balance and fell into the scorching flames of the baboon's fire! The burning sticks and logs seared black stripes into his fur, and to this day, the zebra wears these markings as a badge of honour.

How the Hare Saved the Animals

There's a story of a hare that saved all the animals from becoming the lion's dinner. The lion had requested that each day, an animal must be brought to him to eat, or he'd hunt them all down. The animals had obliged, each one living in fear that their turn to be dinner would be next. One day, it was the hare's turn, but instead of shaking in fear, he smiled knowingly, and just before presenting himself, he rolled in the dirt, covering himself in mud. The lion turned his nose up at the unappetizing creature,, and the hare told him that he was supposed to deliver a big juicy hare, but another lion stole it from him! And, just as the hare suspected, the lion wanted to jealously fight this other lion, so hare led him to a well, pointed at lion's reflection and told him that was his foe. The lion jumped in head-first, and never resurfaced.

Follow us on social media and look out for the #FolkloreThursday hashtag! We're on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

African Folklore Collection: Volume 1

Every Thursday, Epic likes to discover and share ancient African tales: of animals, magical beings and fantastic happenings.

The lush, diverse African continent is full of these tales and they deserve to be preserved - so we've collected all of the ones we've posted onto our social media channels so far, with more to follow.

Here's the first volume, first posted in June 2016:

The Elephant's Trunk

The elephant used to have a small snout, which he liked, but it made feeding uncomfortable as he'd often have to use his knees. One day, while drinking water at the river, he caught the attention of a crocodile, who decided that the elephant looked very tasty. He sneaked towards the elephant beneath the water, lunged forward and grabbed the elephant's snout. Luckily, the elephant was too strong for the crocodile to pull him beneath the water, and he stood his ground. The crocodile was relentless and only after an hours-long tug of war did he give up - leaving the poor elephant with a stretched-out nose.

The Ostrich and the Jealous Lions

There's an old Bushmen tale of some proud male lions who were jealous of the ostriches, for all the lionesses admired the ostriches' voice. The lions were belittled by their women, who said they spoke as if they had their tails in their mouths.

The lions thus conspired to tear at the ostriches' chests and rip out their lungs, in the hopes that eating the lungs would grant them a voice as deep and as full as the lionesses liked. 

Today, the lions all love to show off their famous roars.

Mermaids of the Karoo

Rumours and legends about mermaids and merfolk have been swirling around Southern Africa for millennia. In the Klein Karoo, the home of the ancient Khoisan people, are rock paintings of mermaids - perhaps strange for a rather dry part of South Africa, until you remember that 250 million years ago, the Klein Karoo used to be an ocean! Still, more recently, are local claims of mermaids combing their hair by little rock pools.

You can find more stories by exploring the African Folklore tag, and you can stay up to date by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - look out for the #FolkloreThursday hashtag!

Amazing True Stories of African Animal Heroes

Many an epic tale has been inspired by the animals of Africa: from the literal hundreds of folktales that span the continent to the Disney classic The Lion King. Africa is home to incredibly powerful animals - and sometimes these animals prove that they are capable of being truly inspiring, performing feats of kindness and bravery. Here are three true stories of animal heroics:

1. How the Gorillas Outsmarted the Poachers

In the Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda live the Kuyama Gorilla Clan, whose home had been plagued by poachers who had set traps for antelope from their tree branches. The traps were set up rather sinisterly: a noose would be tied from a branch, held in place on the ground with a rock or a stick and then hidden by dry leaves and branches.

One day, tragedy struck, and one of the younger members of the clan had been lost to one of these traps.

Two four year old gorillas, Rwema and Dukore, decided to take matters into their own hands. The duo ran toward a trap they’d spotted. Rwema hopped on the branch and broke it while Dukore dismantled the noose. It is said that they’ve since spread their knowledge to the other members of the clan, in hopes of not letting another one of their family fall victim to poachers.

2. The Chimpanzee Alpha Adopts a Baby Boy

In the Ivory Coast, in Taï Forest National Park, lived a lively little chimpanzee named Oscar. Up until the age of three, he had lived with his loving mother Isha, and he’d thought she’d be around to guide him until he was about ten years old. However, one day, Oscar’s mother was hurt during a territorial fight with a rival band of chimps. It’s said that after the fight, a leopard killed Isha during her weakened state - and Oscar never saw his mother again.

The alpha male, Freddy, was known for being as gruff and as intimidating as any other alpha male chimpanzee - after all, he’s not the alpha for nothing! After Oscar has grown thin from having nobody to care for him (all the other chimp moms had their hands full with their own  young) he decided that he was going to take Oscar in and raise him as if he was his own. And so he did, and Freddy and Oscar live in their forest as father and son.

3. The Elephant Calf’s Distress: How It Was Saved By Its Family

One day, in Kenya, a herd of elephants were crossing the Ewaso Nyiro river. Elephants have always had a very strong sense of family and this particular herd was no different. On this particular day, the river was particularly rough. The older, stronger elephants were able to withstand the strong pull of the river current and could safely make it to the other side. There was a little elephant calf in the herd - so small that he could not fight the river and was swept up! Luckily, an older elephant hurried to his aid and used her girth to block the calf from being swept further. The baby’s mom heard his cry from the river bank, and rushed over to help her child. Together, the elephants got the little calf out safely and carried on with their day - solidifying the elephant’s renown for being protective and loving of their families. 

Sources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120719-young-gorillas-juvenile-traps-snares-rwanda-science-fossey/

http://www.livescience.com/8052-altruistic-chimpanzees-adopt-orphans.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/15/baby-elephant-saved_n_5324828.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hippo_family_in_Mara_river.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/frank-wouters/3707215708

Images are re-imaginings composed by Jessica at Epic.