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Today in History

1521   Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.  
1820   The Missouri Compromise is enacted by Congress and signed by President James Monroe, providing for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state, but prohibits slavery in the rest of the northern Louisiana Purchase territory.
1836   After fighting for 13 days, the Alamo falls.  
1853   Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata premieres in Venice.  
1857   The Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision holds that blacks cannot be citizens.  
1860   While campaigning for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln makes a speech defending the right to strike.   
1862   The USS Monitor left New York with a crew of 63, seven officers and 56 seamen.  
1884   Over 100 suffragists, led by Susan B. Anthony, present President Chester A. Arthur with a demand that he voice support for female suffrage.  
1888   Louisa May Alcott dies just hours after the burial of her father.
1899   Aspirin is patented following Felix Hoffman's discoveries about the properties of acetylsalicylic acid.  
1901   A would-be assassin tries to kill Wilhelm II of Germany in Bremen.  
1914   German Prince Wilhelm de Wied is crowned as King of Albania.  
1916   The Allies recapture Fort Douamont in France during the Battle of Verdun.  
1928   A Communist attack on Beijing results in 3,000 dead and 50,000 fleeing to Swatow.  
1939   In Spain, Jose Miaja takes over Madrid government after a military coup and vows to seek "peace with honor."  
1943   British RAF fliers bomb Essen and the Krupp arms works in the Ruhr, Germany.  
1945   Cologne, Germany, falls to General Courtney Hodges' First Army.  
1947   Winston Churchill opposes the withdrawal of troops from India.
1948   During talks in Berlin, the Western powers agree to internationalize the Ruhr region.
1953   Upon Josef Stalin's death, Georgi Malenkov is named Soviet premier.  
1960   The Swiss grant women the right to vote in municipal elections.  
1965   The United States announces that it will send 3,500 troops to Vietnam.  
1967   President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his plan to establish a draft lottery.  
1973   Richard Nixon imposes price controls on oil and gas.
1975   Iran and Iraq announce that they have settled the border dispute.
1980   Islamic militants in Tehran say that they will turn over the American hostages to the Revolutionary Council.  
1981   Reagan announces plans to cut 37,000 federal jobs.  
1987   The British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in the Channel off the coast of Belgium. At least 26 are dead.

Resisting Conformity

Why Conformity Is So Hard to Resist

Breaking the stranglehold of conformity only takes a few outliers.

Headaches

Why Do We Get Headaches?

Most of us know what it's like to suddenly go "eeeyow!!" when a headache decides to pay a visit. A common tension headache is annoying; a stabbing migraine can be debilitating. Find why and how our noggins get achy.

Catching the Flu

Adults Only Really Catch Flu About Twice a Decade

Think you have the flu? If you're over 30, chances are you don't.

Mind Blowing… These Unbelievable Facts Will DESTROY Your Understanding Of Time

Time has always perplexed the human race. We’ve tried to define it, track it, and measure it since the emergence of civilization. However, facts like these listed here show us how distorted our perception of time can be and how much we still need to learn about the fourth dimension.

20. If you’re over 45, the world population has doubled in your lifetime.

In 1968, the world population was 3,557,000,000. Today, the world population is 7,217,000,000 and grows by over 200,000 daily.

Ziggy

Street brought to a standstill when man dressed as Superman attacked his car with a pole

A man wearing a Superman costume stopped traffic on Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday afternoon.

Stick and axe wielded in dispute between men over not sharing Doritos

An argument over Doritos escalated to the point where a man threatened another with a stick before his companion then threatened him with an axe, police in Australia's Northern Territory say.

Duty Superintendent Louise Jorgensen said police were called to a disturbance near the Darwin Post Office at around 2:00pm on Sunday. "Two males began arguing about a packet of Doritos. Apparently one was not sharing," Superintendent Jorgensen said.
Superintendent Jorgensen said one of the men picked up a stick and threatened the other. "The other male then casually got up, strolled over to a witch's hat, lifted it up and grabbed an axe which had been hidden underneath," she said. "He then walked straight towards the other male threatening to hit him."
She said Transit Safety Officers then asked the man to drop the weapon. "When he refused they approached and tackled him to the ground. They held him until police arrived and executed the arrest," she said. Superintendent Jorgensen said the man was charged with threatening behavior and going armed in public.

Students unhappy about ban on strawpedoing

Students banned from strawpedoing have accused their union leaders of running a “draconian nanny state”. Anyone caught strawpedoing, downing high-sugar alcopops while using a straw to avoid creating a vacuum, in the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) club on Potterrow now face being thrown out by staff.

But angry undergraduates have condemned the move. An online petition calling on EUSA to “Un-ban the Strawpedo” has been launched, and on Saturday night unrest broke out in the queue to get into The Big Cheese, a popular club night run by EUSA, as a group of students allegedly tried to storm the club to strawpedo their drinks in protest at the ban.
Tasha Boardman, EUSA’s vice-president services, said: “We have a responsibility to operate in a socially responsible manner in accordance with licensing law. We had been seeing an increase in strawpedoing which is not deemed as responsible consumption under licensing legislation, which we have a duty to uphold.
“We removed the straws so we could communicate to customers when requesting a straw that strawpedoing is not a practice we allow and if caught they may be removed.” Dr Sarah Jarvis, medical adviser to alcohol education charity Drinkaware, says that strawpedoing could put students at risk of “drinking too much, too quickly”.

Man told police officers that all the items in his vehicle were his except for anything illegal

A Florida man pulled over for allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs told deputies that all the belongings in the vehicle were his, except for any illegal items.

Robert Eugene Pursley was pulled over in Mary Esther at around 2:45am on Feb. 15. After the DUI arrest, 54-year-old Pursley’s vehicle was inventoried before being towed, according to the arrest report.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies found a small baggie of cocaine in the center console. Pursley told deputies “all the items in his vehicle were his except for anything illegal,” the report said.
He refused to submit to a urine test for the DUI and, when asked if a urine test would show cocaine use, allegedly replied with “no comment.” He is charged with DUI, failing to drive within a single lane, knowingly driving while his license was suspended or revoked and possession of cocaine. His next scheduled court date is March 10.

Police found weed in tub labelled 'Not Weed'

A 21-year-old Nebraska motorist was arrested on Saturday night after a police officer discovered his marijuana stash inside a plastic tub labelled “Not Weed.”

Jordan Meier was travelling with three passengers at around 9pm when a Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled over his 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on a Lincoln street for a traffic violation.
Meier was subsequently “placed into custody for DUI,” investigators noted. During a post-arrest inventory search of Meier's vehicle, officers located a 16-ounce plastic container (which once held Land O’Lakes sour cream) under the front passenger seat.
Meier claimed ownership of the container, which had the words “Not Weed” written in marker on its lid. But when deputies opened the container, they found more than 11 grams of marijuana inside. As a result, Meier was also cited for possession of marijuana.

27-year-old woman impersonating 65-year-old boyfriend thwarted by falling off fake mustache

A 27-year-old woman who posed as her senior citizen boyfriend to withdraw cash from his account was given away when her fake mustache started peeling off.

Man fined for throwing horse poo over politician

A veteran protester in New Zealand has been found guilty of throwing a bucket of watered-down horse manure over former ACT leader John Banks last year. Judge Anne Kiernan ordered Castislav "Sam" Bracanov to pay $400 plus court costs at the Auckland District Court on Monday. Judge Kiernan said Bracanov did not dispute what happened last year. The issue was that Bracanov believed he was not guilty of the assault because he thought Banks deserved to have manure thrown over him, she said. While Bracanov believed he had done the right thing, he did not produce any legal defense to the charge, the judge said. Bracanov said he would do it again and said the judge was "not human" for finding him guilty. The judge reminded Bracanov he could appeal the decision.

During the trial the judge watched a recording of a police interview with Bracanov where he explained how he hid behind a car, waiting to throw the manure over Banks outside the High Court in Auckland on May 19 last year. The 79-year-old said he got the manure from a paddock at Mangere Bridge in South Auckland, and watered it down. Bracanov said he believed Banks owed him $8,000 because he was fined $10,000 in 1992 for throwing manure on a visiting royal Rolls Royce but should have only been fined $2,000. Banks was police minister at the time. Banks said he did not harbor any animosity towards Bracanov. The incident happened on the first day of the former MP's High Court trial on charges of knowingly filing a false electoral return relating to his failed 2010 bid for the Auckland mayoralty.

Banks was later found guilty but the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal late last year and a retrial ordered.​ Speaking outside the court on Monday, Banks said he would prefer not to be at the trial and that he did not make a complaint about the manure incident. Banks, who was summoned to give evidence, said Bracanov was an old man who was not well. The trial was repeatedly delayed while Bracanov, who defended himself, prepared for the judge-alone trial and technology issues were resolved. Bracanov arrived at the court wearing his slippers and before the trial began, clearly restated his not guilty plea on the charge of common assault. Speaking before the trial, Bracanov said he and Banks were now "square", and he now had respect for Banks.

YouTube link.

At a previous court appearance on the charge Bracanov said the muck throwing was an act of revenge. Banks, who was the first witness, said an "old man" who seemed "very angry" and "very agitated" tipped a bucket of horse manure over him. Banks said the muck ruined his suit and did not help with his day at court. "The last thing I needed on that morning was an altercation with anyone," he said. Banks was then given leave by the High Court to go home and change his clothes before his trial began. When asked by police prosecutor Joon Yi how he knew it was horse manure Banks said: "It certainly smelled like horse manure and it looked like horse manure, so it must have been horse manure." Banks said the manure was "very sloppy" and he feared there would be a further altercation or more manure coming his way after the first incident, so he went into the court building with his friends to get away from "the old man" whom he now knew to be Bracanov.

Random Photos

First Known Human

Remains of First Known Human Found in Ethiopia

Newly unearthed remains push back the origin of our genus by an incredible 400,000 years.

Earlier Humans

Humans Emerged Much Earlier Than Thought

The very first human dates to at least 2.3 million years ago, a new study concludes, suggesting that the origins of our genus could go back 3 million years ago.

Ice Cave

Inside an Alaskan Ice Cave

Go inside Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska -- a-12-mile-long sheet of ice.

Lonely 50-year-old monkey has successful first date following the death of her partner

Daisy, a lonely 50-year-old monkey, has gone on a successful first date following the death of her partner. When her companion died Daisy's owners asked the Wild Futures monkey sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall, to take her on and introduce her to new friends.

Keepers at the sanctuary were encouraged when they saw Daisy and her date Pepe "ganging up" on keepers. Daisy was first rescued from a pet shop in 1980 and was found to have cigarette burns and broken fingers. Claire Turnbull from Wild Futures said: "She did have a companion but he sadly died and the owners have luckily realized she shouldn't be on her own."
Daisy spent six weeks in quarantine at the sanctuary before she was introduced to Pepe, described as "a very friendly chap". Ms Turnbull said: "What they're actually doing there is what we call ganging up behaviour so it's the two of them threatening the camera, the keepers and by doing that they form a bond with one another."

The sanctuary said capuchins were a particularly intelligent, social species that naturally lived in the rainforests of South and Central America. All of the keepers at the sanctuary live on site to provide 24-hour care for the animals. Ms Turnbull said: "The really nice thing is to see the way they come in and how they recover and develop and end up with monkey friends."

Out-of-control cats overrun Japanese island

A Japanese island which is home to just 22 people is being overrun by cats. The felines were originally brought to the island of Aoshima, off Ehime prefecture, to deal with mice that were damaging fishing boats.

But with no predators, their breeding got out of control - and so far the authorities have done little about it. There are now around 120 cats on the island, and only 10 of them have been neutered. The cats have survived by foraging on local crops and food left in rubbish.
The island village, which has no shops or hotels, has come to be known as Cat Island and it is drawing crowds from the mainland on twice-daily ferries. At its peak, the island had a population of 900, but this gradually dropped over the past 70 years as young people moved away.

YouTube link.

Now, with the sudden surge in its popularity, some of the island's inhabitants are worried that their quiet lives are going to be disrupted. One said: "I just hope that (tourism) doesn't become a burden on the people who live here and if so then I don't think it's a problem."

Penguins harassed by tourists with selfie sticks

A colony of little penguins in St Kilda, near Melbourne, Australia, is under threat from snap-happy tourists who are taking flash photos of the birds using selfie sticks. Guide Susie Parker told 3AW , (audio interview), that tourists are jamming the probes into burrows to capture the perfect shot, but the close-ups are upsetting the penguins and could potentially injure them.

"The selfie stick's not really the problem, it's the flash on the camera that's coming out," she said. "Penguins don't have eyelids, so they can't blink and their eyes are very sensitive." Although the flightless birds are not afraid of humans, they can be easily startled and stressed from visitors invading their space.
Earthcare president Terry Lobert, whose volunteer penguin guides show tourists around the colony at dusk, said selfie sticks worsened a long-standing problem. “I think this is the first year we’ve seen people using them,” Mr Lobert said. “They can get their phones really close to the penguins now; we have to tell them not to stick it right in the penguin’s face, to keep their distance. It’s just unpleasant for the penguins, to have people invading their space.”
Mr Lobert warned tourists the little birds might retaliate, and could even “peck the phone and break it - they are quite strong.” Volunteers use torches covered with red cellophane to illuminate penguins so visitors can take photos without the harsh light of a flash distressing the birds. Signs are posted around the colony warning tourists not to use flash photography, but Mr Lobert said many tourists “either don’t read them or pretend they haven’t read them”.

HIV Origins

Origins of HIV Virus Strains Traced to Gorillas

Gorillas in southern Cameroon appear to be the source for the second-most-lethal category of the HIV virus that infects humans.

Migration

How Do Birds Know When to Migrate?

The mechanism that tells birds to return in spring is still a mystery, but signs suggest it's triggered by weather and its effect on food supply.

No Lightweight

Young Dino Weighed Whopping 3,527 Lbs

The young dinosaur likely didn't die from starvation, according to the new, likely highly accurate estimate.

Do Dogs Forget?

Does Your Dog Forget You While You're Away?

We like to imagine our pets are in agony while we're out of the house, even if it's just for half an hour. Sure, we observe their joy when we return, but, clinically speaking, what's going on in our furry friends' short-term memory?

Born Lucky

Black Cats, Dogs, Other Animals May Be Born Lucky

Forget ridiculous superstitions about black cats -- dark-colored animals carry survival perks in their coloring.

Starving Koalas

Hundreds of Starving Koalas Killed in Australia

Close to 700 koalas have been killed off by authorities in southeastern Australia because overpopulation led to the animals starving.

Spiders and Painkillers

Spider Venom May Be Key to New Painkillers

In lab-dish tests, seven compounds obtained from venom blocked a protein crucial for transmitting the sensation of pain to the human brain.

Archaeology Moles

Moles Get Jobs as Diggers at Danish Archaeology Site

A museum in Denmark is using the small burrowers to help dig up a fort complex from the Middle Ages.

Animal Pictures