2025.09.26 – Explosive-Atmosphere Competence (ATEX/CompEx/IECEx), Early States and Kings, Human Origins and Eurasia–Africa Development, Japan’s War Decisions and WWII’s Globality, Atlantic Slavery & “Willie Lynch,” Dutch Usage, Columbus & “America,” Russia’s Roles in Europe, Culture and Cases, Rhodesia, Biology Notes, and Site-Heater Identification

Summary

This one-stop brief explains how ATEX (law) differs from CompEx and IECEx CoPC (personal competence), clarifies where Mesopotamia is and why kingship emerged, and outlines why Eurasia adopted farming earlier than many African regions because Eurasia had more domesticable species and an east–west diffusion axis, while many African regions face a north–south climatic barrier. It traces Japan’s path to Pearl Harbor, the atomic bombings and surrender, and why WWII was already global before U.S. entry. It also covers Atlantic slavery, Dutch usage, Columbus’s story and the “America” name, when Russia proved decisive in European wars (historically), plus culture notes, Rhodesia basics, primate–bear biology, and a construction-site heater ID.

Context and Scope

Covered here:
• ATEX/CompEx/IECEx scopes and how awareness differs from hands-on competence, plus the typical route toward IECEx CoPC.
• Interpretation of a photo of a wall-mounted device (identified as a non-Ex site electric heater).
• Mesopotamia’s geography; early kings; why monarchies arise; human origins in Africa and reasons for Eurasia’s earlier agricultural uptake (animal names translated in Spanish at first mention).
• Emperor Hirohito’s role; embargoes; Pearl Harbor; Hiroshima/Nagasaki; whether WWII would still count as “world” without U.S. entry; why multiple wars synced.
• Atlantic slavery under Portugal, England and in the United States; the booklet commonly called “The Willie Lynch Letter / The Making of a Slave” and why it is apocryphal.
• Dutch usage: brug, weg, ’s avonds.
• Columbus: belief about Asia, the naming of “America,” death, family, living nobiliary line, and historic vs. current stipends.
• “Russia saved Europe” episodes vs. the modern economic claim.
Where evidence was missing, you’ll see “no documented evidence.”

Exhaustive Narrative of Facts

01. ATEX, CompEx, IECEx CoPC — scopes

• ATEX (EU) is a legal framework for explosive atmospheres in workplaces: classify zones (0/1/2 for gases; 20/21/22 for dusts), assess risks, control ignition sources, and maintain an Explosion Protection Document.
• CompEx assesses individual competence for Ex tasks via theory and practical assessments in accredited centers.
• IECEx CoPC certifies personal competence to IEC 60079 task modules (e.g., Ex001–Ex008) through written and hands-on exams, with holders listed on a public register.

02. From ATEX awareness to IECEx CoPC

• Typical path: demonstrate hands-on skills (install, inspect, repair, classify per IEC 60079), then pass IECEx CoPC modules aligned with the job role. ATEX knowledge supports legal compliance; it does not substitute competence certification.

03. Photo: site-heater identification (non-Ex)

• Wall unit with side air intakes, top discharge duct, power cable, on/off switch and 24-hour mechanical timer; sticker: “Ballast Nedam Materieel Rotterdam.” Nearby Dutch sign: “Verboden schroeven, spijkers in de wanden te brengen.”
• Identified as a construction-site electric space heater. No visible ATEX/IECEx marking; use in Ex zones would be inappropriate unless proven otherwise.

04. Mesopotamia’s location

• Between the Tigris and Euphrates across modern Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey, Kuwait, Iran. Mesopotamia is in Asia, not Africa.

05. Early kings and why monarchies arose

• Early named rulers include Enmebaragesi of Kish (c. 26th century BC) and Sargon of Akkad (c. 23rd century BC). European traditions cite Minos (Crete), Mycenaean rulers, and the legendary Roman kings (starting with Romulus, 753 BC by tradition).
• A single definitive “first European king”: no documented evidence.
• Drivers for kingship: war coordination, irrigation and labor organization, dispute settlement, religious legitimation, and dynastic continuity.

06. Human origins and Eurasia–Africa development

• Homo sapiens originated in Africa (~200–300 ka), with major out-of-Africa dispersals ~60–70 ka.
• Farming emerged ~10 ka in the Fertile Crescent.
• Eurasia adopted agriculture earlier than many African regions because Eurasia had more domesticable cereals/animals and an east–west climatic axis that eased diffusion; many African regions lie along a north–south axis with sharper climatic shifts that slow spread.
• Domesticates referenced: horses (caballos), cattle (vacas/ganado vacuno), sheep (ovejas), goats (cabras).
• Claims of innate biological superiority: no documented evidence. African state traditions include Egypt, Nubia, Mali, Ethiopia, Great Zimbabwe.

07. Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa) — role

• Reign 1926–1989. He did not directly order the Pearl Harbor strike; planning came from military leadership (notably Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto).
• On 15 Aug 1945, he broadcast the decision to accept surrender, urging subjects to “endure the unendurable.”

08. Why embargoes targeted Japan

• Embargoes/export controls—culminating in a U.S. oil cutoff (July 1941)—responded to Japanese expansion: Manchuria (1931), all-out war in China (from 1937) including the Nanjing Massacre, and occupation of French Indochina (1940–1941). UK and Dutch authorities applied parallel restrictions.

09. Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, surrender

• Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 1941) sought to disable the U.S. Pacific Fleet and secure resources.
• U.S. declared war 8 Dec; Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. 11 Dec, interlinking the European and Pacific wars.
• Hiroshima (6 Aug 1945) and Nagasaki (9 Aug 1945), together with Soviet entry (9 Aug), precipitated acceptance of unconditional surrender announced 15 Aug and signed 2 Sep 1945.

10. Would it still be a “world war” without U.S. entry?

• Yes. By 1939–41, large-scale fighting already covered Europe, Africa, and Asia under multiple empires and alliances; the global scope pre-dated December 1941.

11. Why so many wars overlapped (WWII)

• Weak post-WWI enforcement, Versailles grievances, the Great Depression, and imperial/resource rivalries produced synchronous conflicts. Alliances, colonial networks, and modern logistics (radio, aviation, carriers, submarines) bound distant theaters into one war.

12. Atlantic slavery — Portugal, England, United States

• Portugal pioneered Atlantic slavery in the 15th century, sending enslaved Africans mainly to Brazil and other colonies.
• England (e.g., Royal African Company) dominated 17th–18th-century trade to the Caribbean and North America.
• About 400,000 enslaved Africans arrived directly in the territory of today’s United States; millions went to the English Caribbean.
• U.S. slavery ended in 1865 (13th Amendment).

13. “Willie Lynch” booklet and two napkin notes

• One napkin read “THE NATIVE OF A SLAVE”; the generic canonical phrasing is “The Narrative of a Slave” (Spanish: “El relato de un esclavo”). Canonical memoirs with similar title patterns: Frederick Douglass (1845), Olaudah Equiano (1789), Harriet Jacobs (1861).
• A second napkin misspelled “Willy Linch”; conventional: “Willie Lynch.”
• The pamphlet circulated as The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave / The Making of a Slave is apocryphal/modern: no archival record of a 1712 speech; anachronistic language; mass diffusion in the 1990s.
• Themes: divide-and-rule, breaking family bonds, fear–distrust–envy, and the trope of “300 years” of control. Typical price: about €5–€7.

14. Dutch usage — brug, weg, ’s avonds

• brug = bridge (plural bruggen, diminutive brugje), de-word; pronunciation /brʏx~brʏɣ/.
• weg = road/way (noun; plural wegen, diminutive weggetje) and also “away/gone” (adverb/adjective); a de-word; pronunciation /ʋɛx~ʋɛɣ/.
• avond = evening; ’s avonds = in the evening; vanavond = this evening; middag = afternoon. Therefore ’s avonds ≠ “por la tarde.”

15. Columbus — belief and recognition

• Landed 12 Oct 1492, believing he had reached Asia; he likely never fully accepted that the lands were a separate continent.

16. How “America” got its name

• The name appears in 1507 on Martin Waldseemüller’s world map and in Cosmographiae Introductio, honoring Amerigo Vespucci (Americus → America). Usage spread to both continents.

17. Columbus — death and family

• Died 20 May 1506 in Valladolid, aged roughly 54–55 (birth commonly 1451, Genoa).
• Spouse: Filipa Moniz Perestrelo. Sons: Diego Colón (married María de Toledo) and Hernando/Fernando Colón (scholar and biographer).

18. Columbus — descendants and stipends

• The line through Diego persists; a living descendant holds Spanish noble titles including Duke of Veragua (also Admiral of the Ocean).
• Today: no public salary for merely being a descendant.
• Historically: after the Pleitos Colombinos, the Crown granted titles, lordships and incomes (juros, some encomienda-linked), later reduced or lost (e.g., Jamaica seized by England in 1655).

19. Russia “saving Europe” — when and now

• Historically decisive within coalitions:
  • Against Napoleon (1812–1814): the failed invasion of Russia and the Sixth Coalition’s victories (e.g., Leipzig) opened the road to Paris (1814).
  • 1914: early Russian offensives in East Prussia forced Germany to divert forces, aiding France before the Marne.
  • 1941–1945: the USSR carried the main European land war, from Stalingrad/Kursk to Berlin.
• Motives: self-defense, alliances, balance of power, not philanthropy.
• Now: the claim that “Russia will save Europe’s economy again” has no documented evidence here; Europe has reduced reliance on Russian energy (from >40% pre-2022 to roughly ~11% by pipeline and <19% including LNG in 2024, with Ukraine transit ending in 2025) and baseline forecasts point to modest growth rather than imminent collapse.

20. Gloria Estefan — injury and song attribution

• 1990 bus crash → spinal fracture; surgery with rods; wheelchair during recovery; later regained mobility.
• Married to Emilio Estefan since 1978. A claim that a “first husband” was an abusive drug addict: no documented evidence.
• The cheerful Spanish track about Sunday events, “La Banda Dominguera,” belongs to Control, not Gloria Estefan.

21. Sarah Brightman and Andrew Lloyd Webber

• Marriage ended in 1990 with adultery cited. Later narratives mention an alleged affair, his later relationship with Madeleine Gurdon, and career pressures; a single definitive cause has no documented evidence.

22. Sunny von Bülow — coma

• Mechanism: severe hypoglycaemia → permanent brain injury; episodes in late 1979 and 21 Dec 1980 (persistent vegetative state thereafter).
• Competing explanations—alleged insulin injection vs. alcohol/sedatives/fasting—remained unresolved.
• Legal arc: initial conviction followed by acquittal on appeal.

23. Rhodesia — geography and one anecdote

• Historical Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) was landlocked, bordered by South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana. Major features: Zambezi, Limpopo, 1,000–1,500 m plateau, Matobo Hills, Eastern Highlands. Climate: rainy summers, dry winters. Resources: gold, chromium, asbestos, copper, coal. Crops: tobacco, maize, cotton.
• Anecdote of a blue-blood Rhodesian woman dying “bleeding” while playing piano: no documented evidence.

24. Monkey–bear relationship (taxonomy)

• Both are placental mammals (Eutheria) but diverge by order and super-order: monkeys are Primates within Euarchontoglires; bears are Ursidae (order Carnivora) within Laurasiatheria. Their last common placental ancestor dates to roughly 90–100 million years ago.

Practical Takeaways

• ATEX = law; CompEx/IECEx = people. Awareness alone is not the same as competence certification (CompEx or IECEx CoPC modules).
• If equipment lacks Ex marking (as with the identified site heater), treat it as non-Ex and keep it out of hazardous zones.
• Mesopotamia is Asian; a single “first European king” is undocumented; monarchies arose from concrete coordination needs.
• Eurasia vs. many African regions: earlier farming in Eurasia because of domesticable species and an east–west diffusion corridor; biology-based superiority claims lack evidence.
• Embargoes on Japan answered expansion; Pearl Harbor linked global theaters; Hiroshima/Nagasaki + Soviet entry drove surrender.
• WWII would still be “world” without U.S. entry, given its pre-existing tri-continental scope.
• Atlantic slavery: Portugal and England were central; about 400,000 enslaved people arrived directly in what is now the U.S.; slavery there ended 1865.
• Dutch quick guide: brug = bridge; weg = road/away; ’s avonds = in the evening (not “por la tarde”).
• Columbus died 1506; “America” (1507) honors Vespucci; a noble line persists, but no salary today for being a descendant (historic incomes once existed).
• “Russia saving Europe” fits some historical coalitions, but current claims of an economic rescue lack supporting evidence alongside Europe’s lower dependence on Russian energy and modest baseline growth.
• Cultural/case notes: Estefan’s recovery and song misattribution; Brightman/Webber divorce with no single proven cause; Sunny von Bülow’s hypoglycaemia with disputed origin.