Monday, September 25, 2006

Lollipop

A lollipop, or lolly, is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavoured sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. In many regions of the United States, the term "sucker" is used interchangeably with or instead of "lollipop". In these areas, the term "lollipop" is often applied to candy that is disc-shaped, while "sucker" is applied to candy that is spherical. Lollipops come in a variety of flavors from cherry, grape and orange to watermelon and green apple. In Europe, especially the Nordic countries, Germany and the Netherlands, salmiakki-flavoured lollipops are also available, but these are largely unknown to the USA. With numerous companies producing lollipops, the candy now comes in dozens of flavors.
They were first commercially manufactured on a large scale in the 1920s. Some lollipops contain fillings, such as bubble gum or Tootsie Rolls. Notable brand names include Chupa Chups and DumDums.
The origin of the lollipop has yet to be determined. Both Racine, Wisconsin and San Francisco, California, claim that they made the first automatic lollipop maker.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Denmark

The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Located north of Germany, southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is in Scandinavia in northern Europe, but not on the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Denmark borders the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and consists of a peninsula named Jutland attached to Northern Germany, the islands of Funen , Zealand, Bornholm and many smaller islands, often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, one of the oldest monarchies in the world, and is part of the European Union. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are crown territories of Denmark, each with political home rule. Denmark is one of the elected members of the UN Security Council and is a leader in the "Scandinavian Model" of public services.