Browsing: Lifestyle

A Brief History On May 17, 1970, Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl’s boat made of reeds in the ancient way set sail across the Atlantic Ocean to prove people from North Africa could have reached the New World by boat. Digging Deeper Heyerdahl, born in 1914, was already famous for his 1947 voyage from South America to Polynesia on his balsa wood raft, Kon-Tiki, proving Native South Americans could have traveled to Polynesia, thus being the source for the population there. Making the nearly 5000 mile trip in 101 days, the Kon-Tiki voyage prompted other adventurers to replicate the voyage, and…

A Brief History On May 17, 1990, homosexual people around the world breathed a sigh of relief and vindication when the General Assembly of the World Health Organization ruled that homosexuality would no longer be considered a mental illness, paving the way for the culture shaking changes that have followed in the next 26 years. Digging Deeper One major change in American culture was marked when the first legal same sex marriages in the United States were performed on May 17, 2004 in Massachusetts.  The Netherlands had broken this taboo in 2001 and as of now a total of 15…

A Brief History On May 15, 1718, Mr. Puckle patented what could be considered the first machine gun. With “innovative” ideas like a version with square bullets, it was a military and financial flop. This happens, weapons that seem like a good idea that real life proves are not so good. Here are 10 examples of such failures. Digging Deeper 10. T-64/T-72/T-80 Tank, USSR, debut 1960‘s. Mobile, tough armor, and a huge 125 mm gun (when US and allied main tank guns were 105 mm) with an automatic loader, allowing the crew to be reduced by 1 (no need for…

A Brief History On May 14, 1796, English scientist Edward Jenner used pus scraped from a cowpox pustule to inoculate his gardener’s son, the first ever vaccine used. Cowpox is a disease similar to smallpox, but much more mild, similar to chicken pox. Digging Deeper Jenner and others observed the fact that milkmaids frequently got cowpox, but never seemed to get smallpox, and smallpox was a deadly disease that killed about 20 percent of Europe’s population (with about 60 percent of that population getting the disease). Purposely infecting the boy with cowpox and after the boy recovered exposing him to…

A Brief History On May 14, 1939, in Peru, 5 ½ year old Lina Medina became the youngest documented human mother in history. Giving birth to a 6 pound healthy boy, due to Lina’s small pelvis the birth was performed by Caesarian section. Digging Deeper Far from a hoax or myth, this case was well documented after her parents brought her to a doctor because of her odd weight gain. From that point on when it was discovered this Kindergarten aged girl was pregnant, she was the center of medical and media attention. The baby boy was named Gerardo in…