Koko the gorilla is one of the most studied primates in history. Her handlers have been examining her remarkable ability to understand language. Koko communicates in American Sign Language, and has been known to create her own terms for new items and ideas using signs she already knows (calling a ring a ‘finger-bracelet’ for instance). In 1984, Koko asked her trainers whether she might be allowed to keep a pet cat....
They may reveal mysteries or accidental new states of nature. Or they may prove old suspicions. Others deliberately push to break the barriers, to learn about long-gone cultures from one body, or even to create what does not exist in nature. 10 New Space Mineral When a meteorite smacked into southern Russia in 2018, gold hunters mistook it for a precious nugget. The chunk was a disappointment when it landed on the laboratory table and tested negative for gold....
10Kick The Bear A Virginia woman, Laurie Cooksey, took a hike one evening with her three children and came across a black bear. Black bears can be especially dangerous because the “play dead” rule does not work with them, as it does with browns and grizzlies. The Virginia Department of Games and Inland Fisheries estimate about 17,000 black bears in that area, but they also argue that attacks do not happen often....
Now that the beloved monarch has died, it might surprise you that we know exactly what will happen next. The world’s governments and media have been preparing for it for decades. [NOTE: When this article was written, the Queen was still alive. Consequently the present tense is used liberally throughout.] 10 Previous Royal Deaths Have Gone Terribly Despite a reputation for pomp and circumstance, previous royal funerals and ceremonies have been disasters....
10 Tooth Found in a Milky Way Candy Bar Sue Calhoun and her husband took a road trip to Dallas, Texas, to pick up a new tractor in 2010. Like a lot of us, Sue enjoys a snack on the road. Her snack of choice? A Coke and a Milky Way candy bar. She and her husband stopped at a gas station, and she got her candy bar and soda. However, she got way more than she paid for....
Nowhere Man This is a timeless classic that can still bring a chill to anyone. There is something about the harmonies on this song that was missing from most of the other British bands of the period. As great as the Rolling Stones were, they would never be able to honestly match the songwriting skill of Lennon and McCartney. When you combine that with the booth work of George Martin, musical magic happens....
Requiem for a Dream 2000, Darren Aronofsky Requiem for a Dream exposes four paralleled individuals and their menacing addiction to heroin, cocaine, and diet pills (speed). Taking place in Brooklyn amidst the waning Coney Island, the drugs are very easily obtained and keep each main character in its cycle of dependence. The protagonist Harry Goldfarb is your typical heroin junky with an ambitious plan of “Getting off hard knocks,” with help from his cocaine crazed girlfriend Marion and his long time friend Tyrone....
What better way to get the ball rolling than to discuss politics! So, the question is, in your view, who do you think will win the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election to go up against President Trump? Give us a reason for your choice. The primary contenders are: Joe Biden 2. Elizabeth Warren 3. Bernie Sanders 4. Kamala Harris 5. Pete Buttgieg 6. Robert O’Rourke 7. Corey Booker 8....
Before politics, Mr Macron was an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque, and Mrs Le Pen was a lawyer working mainly as a public defender. The question we present you today is: Who should be the next president of the Republic of France? Note that we are not asking who you think will win, but rather who you think should win. Who will be better for France in the long-term?...
Yet many of the conveniences we’ve grown to rely on have existed for thousands of years in some form or other. But without modern production methods and materials, our ancestors used their innate creativity to tackle everyday issues. 10 Greenlandic Seal Fur Thongs Mostly, clothes have become skimpier throughout history. But the modern thong is a surprisingly old innovation that Greenlandic Inuits have been rocking for several hundred years. The naatsit is a traditional G-string-like undergarment made of seal fur, chosen for its durability and not-too-hot and not-too-cold level of insulation....
Yet while I’m sure many of you are familiar with hundreds of beautiful, instantly recognizable pieces, this is a list of ten pieces which rival even the most famous pieces in beauty, yet have slipped under the radar. Of course, some of these will be known to some of you, but hopefully everyone will find something new here. At some point in my life, I have played all of these pieces (of course, not all up to concert standard!...
There are thousands of talented women who have made the world a better place, but these 10 are some of the most influential. Odds are, you haven’t heard of many of them, but all 10 deserve recognition for their work. Due to their incredible accomplishments, these women are presented in no particular order as they stand together equally. 10 Jovita Idar Long before the United States considered giving women the right to vote, Jovita Idar was fighting against a patriarchal society that oppressed her for both her femininity and her origins....
In its time, though, Babylon was one of the world’s most powerful cities, a name uttered with awe. Much of the real Babylon has been lost to time, but archaeologists have found pieces. Through them, we glimpse into one of the world’s first great civilizations. 10A Babylonian Home In 1899, archaeologists found the city of Babylon itself. Inside, they saw a hint of what life was like in an ordinary Babylonian home....
10Piotr Jaroszewicz Piotr Jaroszewicz was a Polish politician who served as prime minister from December 1970 to February 1980. Initially a teacher, Jaroszewicz joined the Soviet-backed First Polish Army during World War II and later held a number of positions in the Polish government. During his time as prime minister, he joined with Edward Gierek, the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, to launch an ambitious economic program—which ended in a massive failure....
10Jeronimo De Aguilar At some point between 1509 and 1511, a Spanish ship was cruising the Caribbean in search of slaves when it was hit by a sudden storm and ran aground on a reef. The crew escaped to a small skiff, which drifted for a fortnight before washing up on a beach on the Yucatan coast. There, they were discovered by a group of local Maya who fed them corn, meat, and chocolate, but also kept them in wooden cages....
Many train robbers got away with millions of dollars in cash, gold, silver, and bank notes. The exploits of some were sufficient to make train robberies an iconic image of the Wild West, but such crimes were not an exclusively American phenomenon. Here are ten of the most memorable train heists in history. 10 The Bezdany Raid In an attempt to help free Poland from Russian occupation, Jozef Pilsudski put together a plan to overtake a train in the town of Bezdany in 1908....
So here are 10 autobiographical songs that really tell a story. 10 “Baby Girl” There were a lot of memorable songs from Sugarland’s 2004 debut album, and “Baby Girl” is probably the most tenderhearted. It is the story of a struggling young singer who writes letters home telling her parents about the modest venues she is playing. She asks them to send her money but at the same time, assures them that her big break is just around the corner....
‘Viking’ originally meant ‘to go on an expedition’ or ‘to go raiding.’ The word immediately conjures up pigtails, horned-hats, and longships with dragons carved in the prow. However these familiar images are more myth than truth. In the 19th century renewed interest in the Vikings resulted in a Romanticized version of the Viking. This renewed interest was known as the Viking Revival. Painters Sir Frank Dicksee, Albert Goodwin, Henryk Hector Siemiradzki, and Robert Gibb depicted Viking funerals and raids....
Unfortunately, this list will not make you want to go hiking. That is because David Carpenter (aka “the Trailside Killer”) spent the years from 1979 to 1981 preying on hikers and nature walkers in and around Northern California. The Santa Cruz Mountains and the more bucolic parts of Marin County were Carpenter’s favorite hunting grounds. There, the Trailside Killer raped and murdered 7–10 individuals. One of the few people who managed to escape Carpenter wound up giving birth to a famous Hollywood actress, thus connecting the vile Trailside Killer to the lively world of entertainment....
10Who Killed Jon Parr? John Parr was likely one of the first—if not the first—British citizen to be killed during World War I, but no one really knows what happened to him. The young man from London was just 14 when he signed up to fight, lying about his age to join the military. His first deployment was to northern France in 1914, where his unit was one of those tasked with stopping the German advance through Belgium....
