The date was February 1, 1960. The place was Woolworth’s restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina. It all started when four college freshmen, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, entered the “whites only” Greensboro Woolworth’s and sat down at the lunch counter. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
[read more...]A recent study conducted by Dr. Erik Trinkaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, gives scientists new reasons to question which factors are most responsible for the population growth of early modern humans. Scientists previously believed that a long lifespan helped early modern humans thrive, and that Neanderthals went extinct due to a shorter life span. However, this study’s findings suggest that both groups had relatively similar life spans, which means other factors will need to be examined.
[read more...]Until recently most researchers believed that prehistoric humans ate a meat-centered diet. Now a new study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal shows this view of the so-called Paleolithic diet might be false.
[read more...]In 1922, just as the archaeologist Howard Carter was about to give up his search, an undisturbed tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh was discovered. It was the tomb of King Tutankhamun, or King Tut for short, a young ruler from Egypt’s 18th dynasty.
[read more...]The dodo bird went extinct about 350 years ago. And for many years after that, people knew very little about this strange looking bird. By the 19th century, the descriptions of this bird were so unbelievable that its very existence was considered a myth.
[read more...]Imagine a species where individuals change their appearance so dramatically by adulthood that they appear to be an entirely different individual. The skull transformations of the great three-horned triceratops and the dome-headed pachycephalosaurs seem to have been just this dramatic.
[read more...]Some believe that the fabled dinosaurs dominated Earth until their untimely demise 65 million years ago. But many people do not know that other species may have been more prominent and had a huge evolutionary significance: the marine reptiles.
[read more...]Discovered in 1909, the Burgess Shale Outcrops in the Canadian Rockies display a menagerie of prehistoric marine fossils. These rock formations offer scientists a glimpse at the incredible expansion of complex multi-cellular life that occurred 550 million years ago, during what is known as the Cambrian Era.
[read more...]Satchel Paige was one of the greatest pitchers of the Negro Leagues. His impressive career spanned five decades.
[read more...]If you travel north of Madison on Highway 12 for about 25 minutes you will cross the Wisconsin River at Sauk City. Soon after crossing the Wisconsin River Bridge, Highway 12 begins its climb through an ancient mountain chain. This is Wisconsin’s famous Baraboo Range.
[read more...]My family and I moved to Madison from Nepal over five years ago. It took time to feel settled here, but we have finally become more accustomed to the life and culture of the United States.
[read more...]It is the staple food for half the world’s population, going almost unnoticed as a side to countless dishes. It’s a food that is incorporated into thousands of recipes, from simple dishes to culinary masterpieces. It is also the second most cultivated grain in the world, harvested on every continent, save for Antarctica.
[read more...]Rarely do scientists discover two unique dinosaur species on the same continent within the same month. But they accomplished just that in December of 2003—on Antarctica.
[read more...]The rise and fall of cities, cultures and civilizations are often surrounded by mystery. History is like a giant puzzle, with gaps we don’t completely understand.
[read more...]In the last issue of the Simpson Street Free Press, Helen Zhang wrote an article about new research suggesting Neanderthals were capable of symbolic thinking. Now, Spanish researchers have discovered that Neanderthals may have also been very aggressive hunters.
[read more...]There is an ethnic group that has successfully faced down the most powerful empires of modern times. For thousands of years the Pashtun people of Afghanistan and Pakistan have battled powerful foreign adversaries. Through it all they have maintained their independence and sovereignty. They have seen plenty of conflict, both foreign and domestic.
[read more...]Josh Gibson is said to be one of the greatest baseball players ever. He was known as the “Black Babe Ruth,” and played in the Negro Leagues. His impressive statistics’ his reputation, and his nickname all stand testament to his incredible skill. Some experts at the time even considered him to be better than Babe Ruth.
[read more...]Just Like Josh Gibson, is a wonderful little book by Angela Johnson, and is perfect for young girls aspiring to become baseball players, or just about any other career traditionally thought of as “man’s work.” In this book, a little girl tells the story of her grandmother’s love for baseball as a child growing up in the 1940s.
[read more...]John “Buck” O’Neil was a player and a coach that changed baseball forever.
[read more...]On June 5, 1989, a single man stood defiantly in front of several tanks that had been ordered to gun down protestors in Tiananmen Square. The unidentified protestor was pulled away by bystanders moments before death.
[read more...]John Muir is most famous for drawing up the plans that set boundaries for Yosemite National Park. He advocated the creation of the park, writing articles and co-founding the Sierra Club to protect its beauty.
[read more...]Louis Pasteur was the founder of stereochemistry, the savior of the silk industry of south France, and the developer of pasteurization. He was a man whose scientific genius led to many discoveries in science.
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