Browsing: Nature

A Brief History On December 29, 1916, the Russian known as “Rasputin,” or “The Mad Monk,” was murdered by a group of Russian noblemen, finally dying the next day after surviving being poisoned with cyanide and shot three times, and ultimately having to be drowned.  Today, we look at some of history’s toughest characters that were hard to kill. Digging Deeper Blackbeard the Pirate: In 1718, the most notorious pirate of them all was finally killed in spectacular fashion, only after being shot five times and slashed by swords 20 times! Hugh Glass: A tough as nails Mountain Man and…

A Brief History On December 26, 2022, the British world, including Canada, celebrate Boxing Day, a holiday historically when well off people would give gifts to their servants, lower working class, and poor people.  The day after Christmas is good for some other things, too, especially resting after all the hubbub of Christmas Eve and Christmas. Digging Deeper Here are some notable events related to December 26th: 1776: American forces, led by George Washington after his famous crossing of the Delaware River, won the Battle of Trenton. 1898: Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of Radium. 1919: Babe Ruth…

A Brief History On September 21, 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed by the Senate as the first ever female Justice of the Supreme Court.  What other indications do we have that American women are really on an equal basis with men? Digging Deeper We list a few of these facts that can be considered signs of equal rights progress: Women’s Suffrage, 1920; The Equal Pay Act of 1963; a married woman was first allowed to get a credit card in her own name, 1974; the first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, 1981; the first American woman astronaut…

A Brief History On September 12, 2013, the American space agency, NASA, reported that its spacecraft, Voyager 1, had become the first ever man-made object to leave our solar system. Digging Deeper Known as “interstellar space,” the space beyond our own solar system is also described as the “Heliopause,” a region beyond the reach of the “solar wind” effects of our sun.  Interstellar space is also roughly described as space beyond any of the orbiting planets, planetoids, and other space objects that go around our sun. In numbers you may be able to relate to, interstellar space begins about 11…

A Brief History On September 3, 1976, an American Viking 2 spacecraft landed on the surface of Mars.  People have always dreamed of a Mars space expedition, and although this effort did not land any humans on the Red Planet, the fact that the US was able to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars certainly made the prospect of someday landing people on Mars more likely. Digging Deeper Viking 2 landed in an area called Utopia Planitia and was actually the second American spacecraft to land on Mars, the first being Viking 1, on July 20, 1976.  The first Earth…