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Archaeologists excavating Santa Ana Cave

2009-08-06T04:11:00.001-07:00

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Archaeologists excavating Santa Ana Cave (Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain), searching for new archaeological levels and the end of the sediment deposits. "Excavation" usually refers to the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains.

Photo credit: Mario Modesto Mata

Recently featured: Yellow-faced Honeyeater – Louis Armstrong – Metriorrhynchus rhipidius

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August 6: Feast of the Transfiguration in Christianity

2009-08-06T04:10:00.001-07:00

On this day...

August 6: Feast of the Transfiguration in Christianity; Independence Day in Bolivia (1825) and Jamaica (1962)

1538 – Spanish Conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded a European urban settlement in what is today Bogotá, Colombia.
1806 – The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by its last emperor Francis II during the aftermath of the War of the Third Coalition.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy (pictured) on Hiroshima, Japan, killing as many as 140,000 people.
1991 – British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee first posted files describing his ideas for a system of interlinked, hypertext documents accessible via the Internet, to be called a "World Wide Web".
2008 – Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was ousted from power by a group of high ranking generals that he had dismissed from office several hours earlier.

More anniversaries: August 5 – August 6 – August 7

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"King Richard" lost his ear in a car accident

2009-08-06T04:09:00.000-07:00

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

... that the yellow wart (pictured) is often confused with the fly agaric?
... that Rudolf Caracciola once drove a car on public roads at 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph)?
... that a mummy was found in a cave in Wyoming?
... that "King Richard" lost his ear in a car accident, but still scored 24 times for his country?
... that Mexican land grant Rancho Los Medanos was called "New York of the Pacific" by the New York army colonel who bought it?
... that in 1967 Kōji Seki directed Perverted Criminal, Japan's first 3-D film and the world's first 3-D sex film?
... that "A slumber did my spirit seal" is the only poem in William Wordsworth's Lucy poem series that does not mention the dead Lucy by name?
... that Richard Leroy Walters, a homeless man who managed his money from the billiards room of a senior center in Phoenix, Arizona, converted to Catholicism on his deathbed and left $4 million to charity?

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured) is sworn in as President of Iran.

2009-08-06T04:08:00.000-07:00

In the news

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured) is sworn in as President of Iran for a second term amid protests.
North Korea pardons two imprisoned American journalists during a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Three people are killed in a pneumonic plague outbreak in Ziketan Town, Qinghai, China.
More than 180 people are killed and 30 others injured in nomadic conflicts in Sudan.
Bolivia becomes the first country in South America to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves.
A new strain of the human immunodeficiency virus is discovered in a woman from Cameroon.
Eight Christians are killed in religious unrest in Punjab, Pakistan, triggered by an alleged desecration of a Qur'an.
Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

Phagocytes are the white blood cells

2009-08-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

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Phagocytes are the white blood cells that protect the body by ingesting (phagocytosing) harmful foreign particles, bacteria and dead or dying cells. They are essential for fighting infections, and for subsequent immunity. Phagocytes are important throughout the animal kingdom, and are highly developed in vertebrates. One liter of human blood contains about six billion phagocytes. Phagocytes were first discovered in 1882 by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov while he was studying starfish larvae. Phagocytes of humans and other animals are called professional or non-professional, depending on how effective they are at phagocytosis. The professional phagocytes include cells called neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, and mast cells. The main difference between professional and non-professional phagocytes is that the professional phagocytes have molecules called receptors on their surfaces that can detect harmful objects, such as bacteria, that are not normally found in the body. Phagocytes are therefore crucial in fighting infections, as well as in maintaining healthy tissues by removing dead and dying cells that have reached the end of their life-span. During an infection, chemical signals attract phagocytes to places where the pathogen has invaded the body. (more...)

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Red River Trails

2009-03-29T23:27:00.001-07:00

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The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony and Fort Garry in British North America, with the head of navigation on the Mississippi River in the United States. These trade routes ran from the location of present-day Winnipeg in the Canadian province of Manitoba across the international border and by a variety of routes across what is now the eastern part of North Dakota and western and central Minnesota to Mendota and Saint Paul, Minnesota on the Mississippi. Travellers began to use the trails by the 1820s, with the heaviest use from the 1840s to the early 1870s, when they were superseded by railways. They gave the Selkirk colonists and their neighbours, the Métis people, an outlet for their furs and a source of supplies other than the Hudson's Bay Company, which was unable to enforce its monopoly in the face of the competition that used the trails. Free traders, independent of the Hudson's Bay Company and outside its jurisdiction, developed extensive commerce with the United States, making Saint Paul the principal entrepôt and link to the outside world for the Selkirk Settlement. That corridor has now seen a resurgence of traffic, carried by more modern means of transport than the crude ox carts that once travelled the Red River Trails. (more...)

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GhostNet

2009-03-29T23:26:00.002-07:00

In the news

Researchers from the University of Toronto discover GhostNet, a China-based electronic spying operation which has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries.
In a referendum, Mayotte chooses to become an overseas department of France.
Flooding in the Red River causes evacuations in Manitoba, Canada, and in North Dakota and Minnesota, USA.
A suicide attack kills at least 48 people at a mosque in Khyber Agency, Pakistan.
Situ Gintung, a dam in Tangerang, Indonesia, fails, flooding hundreds of homes and killing at least 97 people.
Mirek Topolánek (pictured) tenders his resignation as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic following his government's loss of a parliamentary confidence vote.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India decides to relocate the 2009 Indian Premier League from India to South Africa due to security concerns.
Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

Ruby Cycle Co Ltd

2009-03-29T23:26:00.001-07:00

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

... that Daniel Thompson, poet laureate of Cuyahoga County, published work in the street newspaper Homeless Grapevine (advertisement pictured)?
... that the Ruby Cycle Co Ltd was bankrupted when a large motorcycle order from the Imperial Russian Army was stopped by the Russian Revolution?
... that former Houston Astro Craig Biggio won his first Silver Slugger Award as a catcher before winning four at second base?
... that young escapees from a military police boot camp in Serei Saophoan District, Cambodia, are beaten by other residents when they are recaptured?
... that while commonly found in central California, Agaricus lilaceps can sometimes be found at the campus of Stanford University under the eucalyptus located there?
... that despite being a professor of Finno-Ugric languages, Knut Bergsland spent his final years studying the unrelated language Aleut?
... that the Russian anarcho-syndicalist newspaper Golos Truda relocated from New York to Petrograd when its entire editorial staff decided to move to Russia following the February Revolution?
... that the development of Darkness over Daggerford, an expansion for the computer game Neverwinter Nights, was coordinated mostly over Skype?

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Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day in Trinidad and Tobago

2009-03-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

On this day...

March 30: Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day in Trinidad and Tobago

1282 – Sicilians began to rebel against the rule of the Angevin King Charles I of Naples, starting the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
1912 – Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.
1940 – World War II: Wang Jingwei was installed by Japan as head of the puppet government in China.
1964 – Jeopardy!, the popular game show created by Merv Griffin where contestants must phrase their responses in the form of a question, made its debut on the NBC television network.
1981 – Trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, obsessed fan John Hinckley, Jr. shot and wounded U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three others outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C..
2006 – Aboard Soyuz TMA-8, on a mission to the International Space Station, Marcos Pontes (pictured) became the first Brazilian to go into space.
More events: March 29 – March 30 – March 31

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A World War I-era poster

2009-03-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

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A World War I-era poster sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture encouraging children to raise sheep to provide wool for the war effort. The poster reads, "Twenty sheep to clothe and equip each soldier / Boys and girls can help / Join a sheep club".

Poster credit: Breuker & Kessler, Co.

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Cone Nebula

2009-03-26T21:14:00.002-07:00

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The Cone Nebula is located about 2,600 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros and is so named because of its apparent shape. The cone's shape comes from a dark nebula consisting of cold molecular hydrogen and dust in front of a faint emission nebula containing hydrogen ionized by S Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264, of which the nebula is part. This image shows the upper 2.5 light-years of the 7 light-year-long Cone Nebula.

Photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope

Recently featured: Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet – Pyrotechnics stunt performer – Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light

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Crucibulum laeve

2009-03-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

... that the white bird's nest mushroom Crucibulum laeve (pictured) produces a chemical that inhibits an enzyme implicated in the formation of cataracts in individuals with diabetes mellitus?
... that flautist Eugenia Zukerman has been the Classical Music Correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning since 1980?
... that the original Liberty ship was designed by the owners of J.L. Thompson and Sons shipyard in Sunderland?
... that Charles Scribner II's country house in Cornwall, New York, combined a Shingle Style exterior with a Colonial Revival interior?
... that after being imprisoned for allegedly leading Islamic militants in Azerbaijan, Ahmad Salama Mabruk began leading a new militant group within prison?
... that when the Vika Line opened in 1995, it was the first new street line of the Oslo Tramway since 1939?
... that politician Warren Tolman ran a campaign for governor of Massachusetts while suing to implement the state's Clean Elections law?
... that Street Fighter IV character Rufus has been listed as 12th on GameDaily's "Top 25 Most Bizarre Fighting Characters" list?

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Feast day of Rupert of Salzburg (Roman Catholic Church)

2009-03-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

On this day...

March 27: Cheti Chand, Gudi Padwa and Ugadi in various parts of India (2009); Feast day of Rupert of Salzburg (Roman Catholic Church)

1794 – To protect American merchant ships from Barbary pirates, the United States Congress passed the Naval Act to establish a naval force of six frigates, which eventually became the United States Navy.
1851 – Explorer Lafayette Bunnell and other members of the Mariposa Battalion became the non-indigenous discoverers of California's Yosemite Valley (pictured).
1977 – Two Boeing 747 airliners collided on a foggy runway at Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people and resulting in the worst aircraft accident in aviation history.
1998 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug sildenafil, better known by the trade name Viagra, for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
2002 – A suicide bomber killed about 30 Israeli civilians and injured about 140 others at the Park Hotel in Netanya, triggering Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorist Israeli military incursion into the West Bank, two days later.
More events: March 26 – March 27 – March 28

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Mirek Topolánek

2009-03-26T21:12:00.002-07:00

In the news

Mirek Topolánek (pictured) resigns as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic following his government's loss of a parliamentary confidence vote.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India decides to relocate the 2009 Indian Premier League from India to South Africa due to security concerns.
Mount Redoubt, a stratovolcano in Alaska, undergoes a series of explosive eruptions.
Michael Misick resigns as Premier of the British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos after self-government was suspended during a corruption investigation.
Japan defeats South Korea 5–3 in 10 innings to win the 2009 World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles.
Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

Peter Jones

2009-03-26T21:12:00.001-07:00

Today's featured article

Peter Jones (1802–1856) was an Ojibwa Methodist minister, translator, chief and author from Burlington Heights, Upper Canada. Jones converted to Methodism at age 21 after attending a camp-meeting with his half sister. As a bilingual and bicultural preacher, he enabled the Methodists to make significant inroads with the Mississaugas and Iroquois of Upper Canada, both by translating hymns and biblical texts in Ojibwe and Mohawk and preaching to Indians who did not understand English. Beyond his preaching to the Indians of Upper Canada, he was an excellent fundraiser for the Canadian Methodists, and toured the United States and Great Britain giving sermons and speeches. Jones drew audiences of thousands, filling many of the buildings he spoke in, but came to resent the role, believing the audiences came to see Kahkewāquonāby, the exotic Indian, not Peter Jones, the good Christian he had worked so hard to become. Jones was also a political leader. In 1825, he wrote the Indian Department; his letter was the first the department had ever received from an Indian. This brought him into contact with Superintendent of the Indian Department James Givins and influential Bishop John Strachan, with whom he arranged the funding and support of the Credit Mission. (more...)

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William Shakespeare's Hamlet

2009-03-26T05:29:00.002-07:00

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French actress Sarah Bernhardt, in a promotional photograph for her performance as the titular character of William Shakespeare's Hamlet in London, holding the skull of Yorick. The portrayal of a character by an actor of the opposite sex is known as en travesti, a "pseudo-French" term which derives from the misinterpetation of travesti (the past participle of the French verb travestir) as a noun. Before the late 17th century, it was considered immoral for women to appear on stage, and as such, males (usually adolescents) would play female roles. With the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 women started appearing on the English stage in both female and male roles.

Photo credit: James Lafayette

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Mount Triumph

2009-03-26T05:29:00.001-07:00

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

... that Mount Triumph (pictured) in North Cascades National Park is well-known among regional climbers for its lack of easy climbing routes?
... that the father and son combination Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder each won a Silver Slugger Award at first base?
... that a Fairey Swordfish from HMS Archer was the first aircraft ever to land on Ascension Island?
... that Sultan Ali of Johor signed a treaty on 10 March 1855 with the Temenggong which formally ceded his sovereignty claims over Johor?
... that, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the eldest son of Earl Siward of Northumbria, Osbeorn, died in battle against King Macbeth of Scotland in 1054?
... that in 1890, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Davis v. Beason that it was acceptable to prohibit religious polygamists from voting?
... that a sub-marine eruption near the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano in Tonga began spewing steam, smoke, pumice, and ash thousands of feet into the sky on March 16, 2009?
... that the Borromeo String Quartet uses laptops instead of paper sheet music when they perform?

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Independence Day in Bangladesh

2009-03-26T05:28:00.001-07:00

On this day...

March 26: Independence Day in Bangladesh (1971)

1027 – Pope John XIX crowned Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
1484 – William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, printed his translation of Aesop's Fables.
1636 – Utrecht University, one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe, was established.
1971 – After the Pakistan Army attempted to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in Operation Searchlight, East Pakistan declared its independence from Pakistan to form Bangladesh (original 1971 flag pictured), starting the Bangladesh Liberation War.
1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons, entered into force.
1999 – The Melissa computer worm was released, infecting e-mail systems around the world.
More events: March 25 – March 26 – March 27

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Indian Premier League 2009

2009-03-26T05:27:00.002-07:00

In the news

The Board of Control for Cricket in India decides to relocate the 2009 Indian Premier League from India to South Africa due to security concerns.
Mount Redoubt (pictured), a stratovolcano in Alaska, undergoes a series of explosive eruptions.
Japan defeats South Korea 5–3 in 10 innings to win the 2009 World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles.
A Pilatus PC-12 crashes into a cemetery in the U.S. state of Montana, killing at least 14 people.
Ireland win their first Six Nations Grand Slam in rugby union since 1948.
A 7.6 M_w earthquake occurs off the coast of Tongatapu, Tonga, shortly after a large scale undersea volcanic eruption begins in the region.
Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

Nathu La

2009-03-26T05:27:00.001-07:00

Today's featured article

Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It is located on the Indo-China border connecting the Indian state of Sikkim with the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The pass, at 4,310 m (14,140 ft) above mean sea level, forms part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan. It is also spelled Ntula, Natu La, Nathula, or Natula. Nathu La is one of the three trading border posts between China and India; the other two are Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh (or Lipulech) in Uttarakhand. Sealed by India after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, it was re-opened in 2006 following numerous bilateral trade agreements. The opening of the pass is expected to bolster the economy of the region and play a key role in the growing Sino-Indian trade. Currently, agreements between the two nations limit trade across the pass to the export of 29 types of goods from India and import of 15 from the Chinese side. The opening also shortens the travel distance to important Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region. (more...)

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Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light

2009-03-24T00:49:00.003-07:00

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Recreational fishermen cast their lines in front of the Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light, ca. 1900, in Oswego, New York, United States. This lighthouse was built in 1889 and was in operation until 1934, when it was replaced by the current facility.

Photo credit: Detroit Publishing Co.

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World Tuberculosis Day

2009-03-24T00:49:00.001-07:00

On this day...

March 24: World Tuberculosis Day

1603 – King James VI of Scotland acceded to the throne of England and Ireland, becoming James I of England (pictured) and unifying the crowns of the three kingdoms for the first time.
1882 – German physician Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that causes tuberculosis.
1934 – The United States Government passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, establishing the Commonwealth of the Philippines, a ten-year transitional government in preparation for full Philippine independence and sovereignty.
1976 – Dirty War: President Isabel Perón of Argentina was kidnapped and deposed in a bloodless coup d'état.
1989 – The tanker Exxon Valdez spilled more than 10 million U.S. gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, causing one of the most devastating man-made environmental disasters at sea.
1999 – Kosovo War: NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
More events: March 23 – March 24 – March 25

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Faith Lutheran College, Redlands

2009-03-24T00:48:00.001-07:00

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

... that Native Americans occupied the Rogue River around the Rogue River Ranch (pictured) over 9,000 years before European settlers arrived?
... that when Per Øisang hosted the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's election debates in the early 1960s, the questioning of politicians was conducted by other politicians?
... that Faith Lutheran College, Redlands was the first independent Christian school opened in the Redlands Shire, South East Queensland?
... that college basketball player Evan Turner was the only unanimous first-team All-Big Ten Conference choice by both the coaches and the media for the 2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season?
... that the porch of Macclesfield Castle in Macclesfield, dating from the reign of English King Henry II and the only standing part of the castle, was replaced by cottages and shops in 1932?
... that judge and law school dean George G. Bingham was once the coroner for Yamhill County, Oregon?
... that Australian Made, a 1987 concert tour promoting "Good Times" and the mateship of nine local acts, was headlined by INXS and ended with two band managers coming to blows?
... that James Beach was selected to run for the Camden County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders after appearing at a candidate recruitment interview complaining and waving his tax bill?

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A Pilatus PC-12 crashes into a cemetery in the U.S.State

2009-03-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

In the news
A FedEx Express cargo aircraft (aircraft pictured) crash-lands at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing two people in the first fatal accident at the Japanese airport. A Pilatus PC-12 crashes into a cemetery in the U.S. state of Montana, killing at least 14 people. Ireland win their first Six Nations Grand Slam in rugby union since 1948. A 7.6 M_w earthquake occurs off the coast of Tongatapu, Tonga, shortly after a large scale undersea volcanic eruption begins in the region. Floods in Angola and Namibia kill 90 people and leave at least 25,000 others homeless. A suicide attack kills four South Korean tourists and a local guide in Shibam, Yemen. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

In the news

A FedEx Express cargo aircraft (aircraft pictured) crash-lands at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing two people in the first fatal accident at the Japanese airport.
A Pilatus PC-12 crashes into a cemetery in the U.S. state of Montana, killing at least 14 people.
Ireland win their first Six Nations Grand Slam in rugby union since 1948.
A 7.6 M_w earthquake occurs off the coast of Tongatapu, Tonga, shortly after a large scale undersea volcanic eruption begins in the region.
Floods in Angola and Namibia kill 90 people and leave at least 25,000 others homeless.
A suicide attack kills four South Korean tourists and a local guide in Shibam, Yemen.
Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

Operation Varsity

2009-03-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

Today's featured article

Operation Varsity was a joint American–British airborne operation that took place in March 1945, towards the end of World War II. It was planned to aid the British 21st Army Group, under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, in securing a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany by landing two airborne divisions on the eastern bank of the Rhine near the towns of Hamminkeln and Wesel. The operation involved two airborne divisions from US XVIII Airborne Corps: the British 6th Airborne Division and the US 17th Airborne Division. Despite some errors by the airborne forces, the operation was an overall success, with both divisions landing and capturing a number of bridges across the Rhine and securing several towns which could have been used by the enemy to delay the advance of the British ground forces. The two divisions incurred more than 2,000 casualties, but captured approximately 3,000 German soldiers in the process. The operation was the last large–scale Allied airborne operation of World War II, and was the largest in history. (more...)

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