| 17 | Germanicus of Rome celebrates his victory over the Germans. | |
| 1328 | William of Ockham is forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII. | |
| 1647 | A new law bans Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts. The penalty is banishment or death for a second offense. | |
| 1670 | Charles II and Louis XIV sign a secret treaty in Dover, England, ending hostilities between England and France. | |
| 1691 | Jacob Leisler, leader of the popular uprising in support of William and Mary’s succession to the throne, is executed for treason. | |
| 1736 | British and Chickasaw forces defeat the French at the Battle of Ackia. | |
| 1831 | The Russians defeat the Poles at the Battle of Ostroleka. | |
| 1835 | A resolution is passed in the U.S. Congress stating that Congress has no authority over state slavery laws. | |
| 1864 | The territory of Montana is organized. | |
| 1865 | The last Confederate army surrenders in Shreveport, Louisiana. | |
| 1868 | President Andrew Johnson is acquitted of all charges of impeachment. | |
| 1896 | The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, is crowned. | |
| 1938 | The House Committee on Un-American Activities begins its work of searching for subversives in the United States. | |
| 1940 | The evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk begins. | |
| 1946 | A patent is filed in the United States for the H-bomb. | |
| 1958 | Union Square, San Francisco, becomes a state historical landmark. | |
| 1961 | The civil rights activist group, Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee, is established in Atlanta. | |
| 1961 | A U.S. Air Force bomber flies across the Atlantic in a record of just over three hours. | |
| 1969 | Apollo 10 returns to Earth. | |
| 1977 | The movie Star Wars debuts. |
Consuming
moderate amounts of chocolate was associated with significantly lower
risk of being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF)—a common and
dangerous type of irregular heartbeat—in a large study of men and women
in Denmark led … Read more
To understand how a bird can balance on one leg, you have to know that bird legs are not how we humans normally think of them. The upright part that supports the flamingo are analogous to our shins and feet. The thigh and knee are hidden under the feathers, and provide a platform of sorts for the flamingo to sit on. The explanation is at The Atlantic, where Ed Yong helpfully draws on a photograph to make it clear.Standing on one leg “is a challenging yoga posture, and a test of coordination that people use,” says Ting. To maintain our balance, we constantly use our muscles to make tiny adjustments to our posture. Flamingos have no such problem. When they raise a leg, their body weight shifts in a way that naturally stabilizes the joints of their standing limb, so they can remain upright without any muscular activity. They can sleep like that. And as Chang and Ting found, they can even keep balanced when dead. You can pose a flamingo cadaver on one leg, and leave it there.
Like
ants and termites, several species of stingless bees have specialized
guards or soldiers to defend their colonies from attacks by natural
enemies. The differentiation of these guardian bees, which are more
robust, larger, and … Read more
