He trotted noisily across the hardwood floors in his clodhoppers.
Mata Hari
Mata Hari was an exotic dancer and courtesan executed by firing squad for
espionage during WWI. A dancer in Paris, she joined the German secret service in 1907. During the war, she betrayed important
military secrets confided to her by the many high Allied officers who were on intimate terms with her. She was caught when
French intelligence identified her through an intercepted coded message. What about the code in question remains a mystery?More...
Mont Blanc Tunnel Linking France and Italy Opens (1965)
This tunnel is located in
the Alps between France and Italy, near Mont Blanc ("white mountain"). It is 7.25 miles (11.6 kilometers) long and 28.2 ft
(8.6 meters) wide and is a major trans-Alpine transport route, particularly for Italy, which relies on the tunnel for shipping
as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe. A disastrous fire lasting two days and reaching temperatures of 1,000°
Celsius (1,832°F) killed 39 people there in 1999. What caused the fire?More...
Trygve Lie (1896)
Lie was a Norwegian politician who became the first UN Secretary
General in 1946. In this role, he took an active part in a variety of negotiations and incurred the enmity of the USSR by
supporting UN action in the Korean War. His critics have argued that he was under the influence of a select few in the UN
Secretariat and was at times blinded by arrogance and stubbornness. What was the impetus for his resignation?More...
Tyrannosaurs Faced "Midlife Crisis"
Researchers studying the remains of Albertosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus, concluded that life could be tough for teenaged tyrannosaurs. After surviving a high infant mortality rate, tyrannosaurs were relatively safe between age 2 and sexual maturity. At that
stage, their mortality rate shot up to about 23%, possibly as a result of fighting for mates and the stress of laying eggs.More on the subject...
I see heaven's glories shine and faith shines equal... Emily Bronte (1818-1848)
