Author Archives: dcaligari

Today we celebrate Nautilus Night, highlighting all the lesser-known extant cephalopods – Hopefully the shocking nature of the documentary wasn’t too off-putting for your holiday celebrations And so it goes

October 8, 1871 –Mrs O’Leary’s cow started The Great Chicago Fire that destroyed more than 17,000 buildings, killed more than 300 people and left 90,000 homeless, on this date. Catherine O’Leary seemed the perfect scapegoat: she was a woman, immigrant, and Catholic – a combination which did not fare well in the political climate ofContinue reading “Bad cow”

October 8, 1966 –The first Doctor Who episode to feature the Cybermen (the first episode of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet) aired on this date. The episode is the last episode to star William Hartnell as the First Doctor (and Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor).

October 8, 1869 –Franklin Pierce, an American politician and the fourteenth President of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857 is to date the only president from New Hampshire and was the first president born in the nineteenth century. His good looks and inoffensive personality caused him to make many friends, but he sufferedContinue reading “Perhaps being president isn’t all it’s cracked up to be”

Every year from the 8th to the 12th of October, International Cephalopod Awareness Days come around to teach the world about Cephalopods. This event is all about celebrating and sharing how fascinating and incredible they are! Today is Octopus Day, celebrating all the eight-armed fellows. And so it goes

Before trees existed, Earth was covered with giant white mushrooms. These huge fungi were 24 feet tall and three feet wide, and covered most of the Earth’s surface before trees existed.

October 7, 1959 – … There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark. The dark far side of the Moon was photographed for the first time and pictures relayed back to Earth by Russia’s Luna 3 spacecraft. After passing the Moon, the Luna 3 looked back from aContinue reading “This probably kept US politicians up at night”

October 7, 1492 –Because of a flock of seagulls (I kid you not,) Columbus changed course to the southwest, on this date. As a result he missed discovering Florida, leaving it for Fountain of Wayne (I mean Youth) groupie, Ponce de León, to discover. Imagine if he hadn’t, the mess we’d be in

An ant can’t die from falling. Because of their incredibly small weight and rock-hard exoskeleton, an ant’s terminal velocity isn’t enough to harm it upon impact. Simply put, they could survive being dropped from heights like the Empire State Building and walk away unscathed.

October 7, 1960 – Route 66 premiered on this date. The Corvette was replaced every three thousand miles. Chevrolet was the show’s sponsor. It was never explained how Tod was able to get a new Corvette so often. The Corvette was never red, as often believed. It was light blue in the first season, beigeContinue reading “Route 66”