A Brief History On March 25, 1996, the European Union banned the import of beef and beef byproducts from Britain due to an outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as “Mad Cow Disease.” Digging Deeper Incurable and always fatal, Mad Cow Disease in humans is called Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, caused by a “misfolded” protein called a prion that attacks the brain. Most victims die in 13 months after suffering psychiatric and psychomotor problems and pain. Incubation of the disease may take 20 years or more! Another horrible brain rotting disease is caused by Brain Eating Amoebas, which infects people…
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A Brief History On March 10, 1535, Tomás de Berlanga, a Spanish Bishop based in Panama, accidentally discovered the Galapagos Islands while sailing to Peru. These beautiful islands were not occupied by humans at the time and seem to never have had human inhabitants. The 18 main islands are famous for their unique species of animals and plants and as the inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Digging Deeper Accidental discoveries have led to great things, including: In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, finding the Americas while on his way to East Asia, opening a vast and rich…
A Brief History On March 4, 2020, Nik Wallenda of the famous acrobat and daredevil family, became the first person to walk on a wire above the crater of the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. Not to be outdone, his wife, Erendira, performed an aerial routine above the smoking crater! Digging Deeper The Wallenda family is famous for many of their death-defying firsts, with Nik personally holding 11 Guinness World Records, including being the first to walk across Niagara Falls on a high wire. Other daredevils have achieved epic firsts, including: Annie Edson Taylor, the first to survive going over Niagara…
A Brief History On February 11, 2001, the “Anna Kournikova Virus” was set loose by a Dutch computer troll, infecting the email of millions of users with a joke image of the eponymous tennis player along with a not so funny virus infecting their computers. Digging Deeper Anna, of course, had nothing to do with the computer plague that bears her name, and today we look at a few other unfortunately named items. Firstly, any disease or bad medical condition. Examples would be Parkinson’s, Graves’, Alzheimer’s, Hodgkin’s, Crohn’s, or Down Syndrome. Sadism and Masochism are also both named after people!…
A Brief History On February 5, 2024, Royal spokespersons released information that the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King Charles III, had been diagnosed and is under treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. Digging Deeper King Charles, age 75, has been receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate gland which resulted in the cancer being discovered. While not specifically naming the nature of the cancer, it was reported to not be prostate cancer. No prognosis has been released, and the King is being treated on an outpatient basis. He is expected to resume…
