Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Wednesday Search Challenge (7/4/11): Who is the mystery man?


Having travelled fairly widely, I’ve been impressed by a name and face that keep recurring—there seem to be statues to this guy everywhere I visit! 

This man of mystery is vastly underrated  and under-remembered in our national memory.  But the remarkable thing is that he’s the only person I know who is a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, AND the United States!  He has an impressive career and made many key contributions to engineering in the United States, including improving a key fort’s defenses. 

Today’s July 4th challenge has three parts:

(Easy)  What is the name of our mystery man?
 (Moderate)  What is the monument to the man who tried to sell off the fort that was fortified by our mystery man?
 (Harder)  What are the lyrics to the first verse of the song our mystery man wrote?  (Not just a hero, but a musician as well!) 

As usual, please let us know HOW you found the answer and HOW LONG it took you to come up with it!  

Search on!  

(And get ready for next week's challenge which pretty hard...)  





________
Special announcement:  Reminder....  I'm teaching a special online "Power Searching with Google" class beginning on July 10th.  The class will be 6 classes long and featuring short videos, lots of examples and more search activities.  If you like this blog's Search Challenge feature, you'll probably enjoy the class.  

Find out more on the Official Google Blog Post about the Power Searching With Google Class

If you'd like, register at Power Searching With Google Registration.  Hope to see you online! 

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20 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 4, 2012 at 2:51 AM

    The mystery man's name is Tadeusz Kościuszko
    The Boot Monument in the Saratoga National Historical Park refers to Benedict Arnold, who tried to sell the Fort named after him at West Point, subsequently renamed to Fort Clinton.
    The Polonez Kościuszki's lyrics where written by Rajnold Suchodolski and the first verse is:

    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    Took me about ten minutes alternating between google ("national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, AND the United States", "Polonez Kosciuszki") and wikipedia

    ReplyDelete
  2. ted millsJuly 4, 2012 at 3:22 AM

    It took about 5 minutes.

    The first answer is Tadeusz Kościuszko, which I found on Google with the query "Poland Lithuania Belarus United States hero". This site was the fourth result. The first was a Wikipedia entry on him.

    I searched the page for "fort" and found we were eventually talking about West Point.

    Went to Google, searched for "who tried to sell West Point" and got Benedict Arnold.

    Google search: Benedict Arnold monument and got the Boot Monument, which is located in Saratoga, New York.

    The final part took the longest. The winning combo of words turned out to be: "Suchodolski lyrics Kościuszko" and the fourth result looked like the winner. Clicked on "translate page" and got this:

    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    Happy July 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  3. krossbowJuly 4, 2012 at 3:39 AM

    Began with [ national hero in Poland Lithuania Belarus ] to get http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko

    (Easy) Tadeusz Kościuszko

    then searched [ Kosciuszko fortification ] to get http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/kosciuszko/military.html This gave me the forts he worked on.

    Searched for [ sell fort ticonderoga ] and got a few possibilities but hit pay dirt with [ sell "west point" ] http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/arnoldwp.html

    Search [ "benedict arnold" monument ] to get http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument

    (Moderate) Boot Monument

    Time so far about 5 minutes.

    Back to the wikipedia article and look for music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko#Music

    Search for [ Kościuszko polonaise ] to find a Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hSlNGIgsrA

    The description of the video gave me "The original polonaise composed by T. Kosciuszko was changed into two songs, 1. during his lifetime "Podróż twoja nam niemiła"(Your farewell saddens us) , 2. during the 1830 Uprising "Patrz Kosciuszko na nas z nieba" (Kosciuszko, look at us from heaven)."

    Searched for [ "Podróż twoja nam niemiła" ] gave me the Polish Wikipedia article for the song. Clicked Translate this page http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonez_Ko%25C5%259Bciuszki&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Podr%25C3%25B3%25C5%25BC%2Btwoja%2Bnam%2Bniemi%25C5%2582a%2522%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DX%26tbo%3D1%26prmdo%3D1%26biw%3D1916%26bih%3D1083%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=jRv0T6W6HYjG6wG26tXqBg&ved=0CGkQ7gEwAQ


    (Harder) Your journey to us unpleasant
    better friendship in the house was.
    Kochalim you over your life,
    Duly respected ... '

    or the Polish lyrics

    Podróż twoja nam niemiła
    lepsza przyjaźń w domu była.
    Kochalim cię nad swe życie,
    Szanowali należycie...'

    20 minutes total, but part of that was watching the video ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Arthur WeissJuly 4, 2012 at 4:19 AM

    Answers:
    Part 1: Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko
    Part 2: Saratoga Boot Monument, commemorating Benedict Arnold.
    Part 3: In the original Polish...
    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    To find part 1 took under 2 minutes. I started with the picture which I thought I'd seen before - and did a Google image search (pasting in the URL). This gave me that it was a "US Revolutionary War Soldier Silhouette" but no name. So I did a web-search adding in Poland Lithuania Belarus Engineer to the search terms. The first link gave me

    The Patriots Lay Siege to the Star Fort http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=32831 which named Thaddeus Kosciuszko - with all the confirming details half-way down the page.

    A search for Thaddeus Kosciuszko gave the Wikipedia page which has a separate section for his music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko#Music. This led me to the wiki page of the Lyricist which mentioned the music - Polonez Kosciuszki. A search for this gave the Lyrics (in Polish) i.e. http://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Polonez_Ko%C5%9Bciuszki - the first 4 lines in English (from Google Translate) are
    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    as in the blood of enemies will wade,
    we need your sword,
    To liberate their homeland.

    The middle question was the bit that took the longest (because I'm a Brit and so don't view Benedict Arnold as a traitor!!!). The memorial is the Saratoga Boot Monument

    ReplyDelete
  5. Charlie BibliotekarzJuly 4, 2012 at 4:54 AM

    I think that the name of the mystery man is Tadeusz Kościuszko. And I didn't have to search this. I just know it. Here in Poland we are learning about him in school.

    Second question:

    I guess the answer is The Boot Monument, which commemorates Major General Benedict Arnold's.

    I found it by typing this sentence in google:

    "who tried sell of fort build by tadeusz kosciuszko".

    And I found article in wikipedia about Kosciuszko:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko

    And information about Benedict Arnold.

    Then I typed: "Benedict Arnold monument" in google. Found this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument


    Third question:
    I just carefully read an article about Kosciuszko in wikipedia, there is section music:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko#Music

    Kościuszko composed a polonaise, but the lyrics are written by Rajnold Suchodolski. And I am writing them in polish:

    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    Please tell me if I am right or wrong.

    Greetings from Cracow, Poland.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MariannaJuly 4, 2012 at 4:57 AM

    1. (Easy) I know this, because I'm Polish-American. Thaddeus Kosciuszko or Tadeusz Andrzej Bonaventura Kościuszko". We know our Polish heros... Copernicus, Adam Malysz, Rafal Blechacz.


    2. (Moderate) This took me the longest, because Kosciusko apparently built more than one fort. Busy guy. I started out with the main Taddy K wikipedia page here and did a quick ctrl+f for "fort".

    a. Fort Billingsport (nothing about a monument http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Billingsport)
    b. Fort Ticonderoga (nothing about selling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Ticonderoga_(1777))
    c. Star Fort (no "monument" or "sell" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ninety-Six)
    d. Fort Clinton (West Point) (destroyed today http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Clinton_(West_Point))

    Well, Wikipedia wasn't helpful. So I googled "Kościuszko fort", found this a mention of "Fort Saratoga" (http://detroit1701.org/Kosciuszko%20Statue.html"), wikipedia'd that, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga,_New_York) no dice.

    "fort monument kosciuszko sale" brings up too many Taddy monuments in google.

    "fort kosciuszko sold" in google brings me to here, (http://www.peasantprince.com/Partners.html), where I learn that our young Thad "walked into Ben Franklin's print shop and told the sage of Philadelphia that he was trained as a military engineer and artilleryman and that he wanted to enlist in the Continental Army. After testing the Pole's abilities and knowledge of geometry, Franklin put Kosciuszko to work". I also learn that Benedict Arnold tried to sell Kosciuszko's West Point fortification plans, and I wonder if we would ever build a momument to a traitor? [Google search: "Benedict Arnold monument"] Turns out there's a monument to his foot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument)



    3. (Hard) I searched for "Kosciuszko music" found the wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko), learned that he wrote a polonaise but that another guy, Rajnold Suchodolski, composed the lyrics. From his wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajnold_Suchodolski), I found that the polonaise is called "Polonez Kosciuszki". I googled "polonez kosciuszki tekst" (thanks Google Autosuggest), and clicked on the third result from the Polish library of songs

    Patrz Kościuszko na nas z nieba,
    jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    by Ojczyznę oswobodzić.
    Wolność droga w białej szacie
    złotem skrzydłem w górę leci,
    na jej czole patrzaj, bracie,
    jak swobody gwiazda świeci.

    which I have roughly translated for you here (unfortunatley, without the ABABCDCD rhyme scheme)

    Kościuszko, look on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of our enemies we'll continue to wade
    we need your sword,
    to liberate our Fatherland.
    Freedom is expensive in a white cloak
    It flies up on a golden wing,
    Look onto her forehead, brother,
    How easily the stars do shine.

    Here's the piece on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hSlNGIgsrA
    ______________________________________________________________



    Thanks for the 4th of July adventure. In total, the search and write up took me half an hour. Just finding the answers would have taken me about 15 minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. kozelJuly 4, 2012 at 5:03 AM

    His name: Tadeusz Kościuszko
    The monument: The Boot Monument on the Saratoga Battlefield
    The first verse:Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    About 5 minutes, began with a search of the country names listed with the word fortifications led to his wiki

    ReplyDelete
  8. CaseyJuly 4, 2012 at 5:30 AM

    Okay, the first part was easy. My search string was "belarus poland lithuania united states engineering" which shot back a Wiki page for Tadeusz Kościuszko. This dude did a lot, including uses his engineering skills to beef up defenses at Fort Clinton/West Point. Which leads us to question two...

    The man who tried to sell West Point was good ol' Benedict Arnold. It's hard to imagine a monument to the biggest double crosser in US History (sorry LeBron), but there is one. The Boot Monument in Saratoga commemorates Arnold's service to the Continental Army during the Battle of Saratoga, although his named is not officially etched into the monument. This was found just by clicking on Arnold's name within the Kościuszko article.

    Lastly, the first verse to the song Kościuszko wrote... Well, the Wiki article mentions the song and a gentleman by the name of Rajnold Suchodolski, who wrote the lyrics. I did a search for "Rajnold Suchodolski" Kościuszko which spit back the lyrics as found on the Polish Wiki.

    In Polish:
    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    In English:
    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    as in the blood of enemies will wade,
    we need your sword,
    To liberate their homeland.

    Overall, the entire challenge took about 10 minutes. I liked this one and enjoyed learning about Kosciuszko and more about Arnold (my previous knowledge basically came from The Brady Bunch).

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 4, 2012 at 5:44 AM

    (Easy) Tadeusz Kościuszko — less than 1mn, google [engineering United States fort defenses poland lithuania -nato]

    (Moderate) Benedict Arnold's Boot monument — maybe 10mn, first [forts built by Kościuszko] led to http://www.revolutionaryday.com/usroute9w/westpoint/default.htm, then follow Arnold's trail

    (Harder) Podróż twoja nam niemiła — 10mn, Wikipedia => polonaise with lyrics by Rajnold Suchodolski => google [Rajnold Suchodolski] => http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kpalion/Sandbox => [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kpalion/Sandbox]

    ReplyDelete
  10. Berna BleekerJuly 4, 2012 at 6:48 AM

    I think I've found the guy. First I did an image search for the silhouette, but I only found a false trail (Samuel Crossman). Then I just googled "national hero Poland Lithuania Belarus United State" and found Tadeusz Kosciuszko.

    I clicked on his wikipedia article, where Fort Clinton (West Point) was mentioned in a picture caption. The wikipedia article also said "It was Kościuszko's defenses at West Point that General Benedict Arnold attempted to pass to the British", so it was Benedit Arnold who tried to sell that fort.

    Googling "Benedict Arnold monument" found the Boot Monument in Saratoga National Historical Park, New York.

    The wikipedia article also said that Rajnold Suchodolski wrote the lyrics for Kosciuszko's polonaise; googling "Kosciuszko polonaise" found Polonez Kosciuszkowski on YouTube, where it says that the first line of the song was "Podróz twoja nam niemila".

    Googling for that, I found http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonez_Ko%C5%9Bciuszki, which gives the lyrics to the first verse:
    Podróz twoja nam niemila
    lepsza przyjazn w domu byla.
    Kochalim cie nad swe zycie,
    Szanowali nalezycie...

    I forgot to record the time it took me. A long time, maybe as much as 2 hours :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glenn W.July 4, 2012 at 7:07 AM

    Started search off with "heroes from the revolutionary war" and added in "belarus" hoping that the combination of subjects would lead to the answer. It did. First result was a Wikipedia about Tadeusz Kościuszko.

    Searched "Tadeusz Kościuszko fortifications." The second result indicated West Point. Wikipedia entry on West Point article reveals he oversaw the construction of the defense of West Point. Searching on this page for "sell" reveals it was Benedict Arnold how tried to sell West Point to the British.

    Searching "Benedict Arnold" to get to the Wikipedia entry and page search for monument reveals The Boot Monument at Saratoga.

    The Tadeusz Kościuszko Wikipedia article included an entry for music. A quick search for "Polonez Kościuszki" revealed the lyrics in Polish. Google Translate did the rest.

    Name: Tadeusz Kościuszko

    Monument: The Boot Monument at Saratoga

    Music:
    Tadeusz Kościuszko composed the music for Polonez Kościuszki though he did not write the lyrics.

    Lyrics in Polish:
    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    Lyrics in English:
    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    Total search time: 10 - 15 minutes

    ReplyDelete
  12. elindbloomJuly 4, 2012 at 7:27 AM

    Searched 'national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, AND the United States' which led to Wikipedia Page for Tadeusz Kościuszko. The page talked about him fortifying Fort Collins so searched 'who tried to sell fort collins' which gave results for Benedict Arnold. Searched Benedict Arnold monument which led to Boot Monument. This took no time at all.

    The wikipedia page discusses his composing a polonaise. Multiple searches for Kościuszko polonaise and lyrics did not provide many results for actual lyrics but did lead me to a youtube video using alternate spelling of 'polonez kosciuszki.' Searching this lead me to a polish wiki page giving me the lyrics:

    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    Using google translate:

    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    The lyrics took about 20 minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. masqueraderJuly 4, 2012 at 8:00 AM

    Search on Goo5le for Poland Lithuania Belarus hero to get wikipedia Page for Tadeusz Kościuszko. Time taken 5 seconds

    ReplyDelete
  14. MarloweJuly 4, 2012 at 8:39 AM

    Sometimes, I hate Blogger!! This isn't my account-- but Blogger isn't letting me sign into any OpenID accounts, so here we go.

    I had the answer all typed up but the internet/blogger ATE IT. Oh well. I'm basically a first time answerer for your blog, and I hope I do this right.

    The answer to one is Tadeusz Kościuszko. I got that by googling 'national hero Belarus.' I got lucky and he turned out to be right on top.

    Number two took me about twenty minutes-- mostly because I spent some time following the wrong fort. The fort is Fort Billingsport, and the traitor is Benedict Arnold, who tried to sell the plans to the British. I thought that it was a fort in PA, so I first googled 'revoluntary war fort philadephia,' but when that didn't work out, I tried 'Kościuszko fort.' Once that came up with Fort Billingsport, I googled 'Fort Billingsport sold' and came up with the Benedict Arnold story. 'Benedict Arnold monument' came up with the Boot Monument in the Saratoga National Park in NY.

    Answer number three came easier for some reason. Googling 'Tadeusz Kościuszko music' came up with his Wikipedia page which had a paragraph about him writing a piece of music which had inspired a Polish poet named Rajnold Suchodolski write a poem called 'Kosciuszko Polonaise.' Googling that came up with the Polish wikipedia entry-- and hitting the translate this button sent it through Google Translate.

    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    Freedom of the road in a white robe
    Gold leaf flies upwards,
    On her forehead, see my brother,
    As star of freedom lit.

    This is the freedom of singing, chanting, singing,
    We przelejem her blood, blood, blood!

    Who said that the Russians
    These are our brothers, Lekh,
    This first in the head fired
    Before the church of the Carmelites.

    Who has not felt in being indolent
    Our bonds, rights abuse,
    This, as a traitor, otter life
    The bones niemszczonych Prague.

    This is the freedom ...

    With our spirit and weapons
    Pole ground Shalt prize.
    Traitor chisels, we shall win,
    Because Chłopicki leads us!

    Only together, only in compliance,
    And be the model of the insurgents;
    After all, the people the dictator!
    The whole nation with a dictator!

    This is the freedom ...

    Next time I try, I shall type it out first in something besides the Blogger comment box and keep my better notes saved! I hope I'm right!

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownJuly 5, 2012 at 2:27 AM

    Google search = engineer poland lithuania belarus lithuania
    gives the Wikipedia page for (#1) Tadeusz Kościuszko which also gives
    Fort Billingsport monument (approx 5 mins)

    Lots of different searches for 'Fort Billingsport' and 'sell', 'sold' yielding nothing so scanned search results for 'Fort Billingsport' of which this (we3teachers.blogspot.com/2011/12/general-tadeusz-kosciuszko.html) was one which mentioned Benedict Arnold from which I found his Wikipedia page which lead me to the (#2)Boot monument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument)

    Going back to the main wiki page gives us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Kościuszko#Music

    which links to

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajnold_Suchodolski

    so we search 'Polonez Kosciuszki' and call translate on the results

    (#3)
    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    Approx 20 mins total

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sarah SJuly 5, 2012 at 6:18 AM

    This one took me about 20 minutes. The name was easy; searched national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, AND the United States and got his wikipedia page. From that same page, I found Rajnold Suchodolski as the writer of the lyrics to Kosciuszko's music. Once I found the lyrics, I translated to English. As for the monument, I searched for Ft. Ticonderoga, Saratoga and West Point combined with sell and monument and came up with Benedict Arnold.

    1. Tadeusz Kościuszko
    2. Boot Monument at Saratoga National Historical Park for Benedict Arnold.
    3. See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    ReplyDelete
  17. DominicJuly 5, 2012 at 9:26 AM

    This search took me about 30 minutes. I was thrown off by your use of the drawing/silhouette and began my search by seeking information about that image. That did not work out too well.
    I found the name of the "mystery man" by doing a simple google search which included the names of the countries you mentioned along with Revolutionary War Hero. I chose this latter term based on your use of the silhouette.
    Once I had the name, the other questions quickly and easily fell into place.

    1. Thaddeus Kosciusko (there are other spellings possible for this name).

    2. Although Kosciusko helped to fortify many locations, I believe that you are referring to West Point which Benedict Arnold tried to sell to the British.
    A monument to Benedict Arnold "The Boot Monument" is located at Saratoga National Historical Park.

    3. Kosciusko composed music, but the lyrics associated with that music were written by Rajnold Suchodolski.
    Patrz, Kościuszko, na nas z nieba,
    Jak w krwi wrogów będziem brodzić,
    Twego miecza nam potrzeba,
    By ojczyznę oswobodzić.

    Wolność droga w białej szacie
    Złotym skrzydłem w górę leci,
    Na jej czole, patrzaj bracie,
    Jak swobody gwiazdka świeci.

    Which Google Translate translates as:

    See, Kosciuszko, on us from heaven,
    As in the blood of enemies will wade,
    We need your sword,
    To liberate the homeland.

    Freedom of the road in a white robe
    Gold leaf flies upwards,
    On her forehead, see my brother,
    As star of freedom lit.

    ReplyDelete
  18. MarydeeJuly 5, 2012 at 12:42 PM

    To contribute additional trivia, there's a county named after Kościuszko in northern Indiana.

    ReplyDelete
  19. patitaJuly 5, 2012 at 12:53 PM

    It took me the time to type his name into Wikipedia for the moderate and harder questions--growing up in Saratoga Springs gave me an unfair advantage! Great choice for the challenge, he certainly deserves more attention than he gets!

    ReplyDelete

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