Browsing: Nature

A Brief History On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare was born in the Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina.  Each year the current residents of Roanoke Island celebrate her birthday with an Elizabethan Renaissance Festival. Digging Deeper Whereas the date of death is often known for many famous people throughout history, their births were mostly insignificant and thus not recorded.  For Virginia the exact opposite is true.  As the first child born to English settlers on the North American continent, her birth is important.  This is largely where her story also ends.  In fact it is unknown if and when…

A Brief History On August 6, 1964, a University of North Carolina graduate student studying climate cut down the oldest known tree in the world, the 5,000-year-old “Prometheus,” a Bristlecone Pine located on Wheeler Peak in Nevada.  The icing on the cake?  The U.S. Forest Service allowed it! Digging Deeper Why would anyone cut down the oldest tree on Earth while it was still healthy and sound?  There are quite a few answers to that question, and conflicting ones at that.  Various stories have circulated as to why the tree was cut down instead of just a core sample taken.  These range from: 1) broken…

 A Brief History On August 4th, 1761, the first veterinary school of medicine was founded by Claude Bourgelat in Lyon, France. Digging Deeper Claude Bourgelat did not study veterinary medicine himself; he had studied law but later directed an academy for horseback riding. He soon became an authority figure on horse management, and he wrote books on the morphology and anatomy of horses. His reputation brought him to the king’s attention, and the royal horse breeding program in the French province of Lyonnais was put under his supervision. In addition to founding the first veterinary school of medicine in Lyon,…

A Brief History On July 29, 1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, married her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In her case, the only thing advantageous about this marriage, was that it ensured that the Scottish throne stay under the control of the House of Stuart by keeping it in the family so to say. Other that that, except for producing a son to carry on the lineage, the marriage was a complete disaster. Digging Deeper First cousins are defined as cousins who share at least one grandparent. Marriages between first cousins have taken place throughout history in both royal houses…

A Brief History On this day, July 6, 1893, the town of Pomeroy, Iowa, was almost completely destroyed by a massive tornado! Digging Deeper Named for landowner and congressman Charles W. Pomeroy (September 3, 1825 – February 11, 1891), the town’s history dates back to at least the 1870s when a railroad was planned to be built through the Iowa settlement.  As the town’s official website notes, this railroad “bridged the gap between small rural towns and larger cities” by taking “passengers to Fort Dodge and” hauling “cattle to Chicago.” After a couple decades of prosperity, tragedy descended upon the town on July 6, 1893.  In the heat…