Leonardo da Vinci's origins are still shrouded in mystery

Although today is considered the greatest genius of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci has not yet revealed all its secrets, its origins remain unknown despite more than 30 years of research, Agnese Sabato and Alessandro announces biographies Vezza.

The two researchers have tried in recent decades reconstitution of the genealogical tree of the greatest thinker and inventor of the Middle Ages, despite very little information currently available.

In fact, the only mention of the birth of da Vinci appears in a notarial document of 1457: "Lionardo, aged 5 years, the illegitimate son of San Piero and Caterina, who is now married to Acchattabriga di Piero del Vacche da Vinci . "

Leonardo da Vinci and the origin of semen Notes and Records Royal Society Publishing 

If biographies were able to identify the person presumed father, San Piero in one of a Florentine notary, absolutely no information about Caterina could not be found. Vinci Italian city archives do not keep any mention of Leonardo's mother, although legend has it that it had been the face of the local peasants.

Five da Vinci inventions Ancient Origins

"Most likely, Catherine would have been a slave of Balkan origin or Arabic, even more because many of the citizens of Florence also used to hold slaves. Official records mentions over 550 servants in wealthy families, and the search is more difficult as most slaves were named Maria, Marta and Caterina "announces Vezza.

Although its origins remain disputed, Italian researchers believe that Leonardo da Vinci would have Arab roots, as demonstrated tests on his fingerprints.


Other articles on the same theme:

• Inferno 2016 Movie "Historical Review and facts"

• New Dan Brown novel entitled "Origins" out next year in the popular series of The Da Vinci Code

• Mona Lisa nude version , painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting was found in a private collection

• The REAL hidden message in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper: Claims artist left out halos to show Jesus was a 'common mortal'

First detection of boron on the surface of Mars New finding provides more clues about water habitability

ChemCam target Catabola is a raised resistant calcium sulfate vein with the highest abundance of boron observed so far. The red outline shows the location of the ChemCam target remote micro images (inset). The remote micro images show the location of each individual ChemCam laser point (red crosshairs) and the B chemistry associated with each point (colored bars). The scale bar is 9.2 mm or about 0.36 inches. Credit: JPL-Caltech/MSSS/LANL/CNES-IRAP/William Rapin

Boron has been identified for the first time on the surface of Mars, indicating the potential for long-term habitable groundwater in the ancient past. This finding and others from NASA's Curiosity rover science team will be discussed in a press conference today in San Francisco during the American Geophysical Union conference.

"No prior mission to Mars has found boron," said Patrick Gasda, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "If the boron that we found in calcium sulfate mineral veins on Mars is similar to what we see on Earth, it would indicate that the groundwater of ancient Mars that formed these veins would have been 0-60 degrees Celsius [32-140 degrees Fahrenheit] and neutral-to-alkaline pH." The temperature, pH, and dissolved mineral content of the groundwater could make it habitable. 

Mars with oceans - Imgur

The boron was identified by the rover's laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, which was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in conjunction with the French space agency. Los Alamos' work on discovery-driven instruments like ChemCam stems from the Laboratory's experience building and operating more than 500 spacecraft instruments for national defense. Boron is famously associated with arid sites where much water has evaporated away -- think of the borax that mule teams once hauled from Death Valley. However, environmental implications of the boron found by Curiosity are still open to debate. Scientists are considering at least two possibilities for the source of boron that groundwater left in the veins: 

The Curiosity rover on Mars with a simulated Chem- Cam laser pulse ResearchGate 

It could be that the drying out of part of Gale lake resulted in a boron-containing deposit in an overlying layer, not yet reached by Curiosity. Some of the material from this layer could have later been carried by groundwater down into fractures in the rocks. Or perhaps changes in the chemistry of clay-bearing deposits and groundwater affected how boron was picked up and dropped off within the local sediments.The discovery of boron is only one of several recent findings related to the composition of Martian rocks. Curiosity is climbing a layered Martian mountain and finding rock-composition evidence of how ancient lakes and wet underground environments changed, billions of years ago, in ways that affected their favorability for microbial life.

As the rover has progressed uphill, compositions trend toward more clay and more boron. These and other variations can tell us about conditions under which sediments were initially deposited and about how later groundwater moving through the accumulated layers altered and transported ingredients.Groundwater and chemicals dissolved in it that appeared later on Mars left its effects most clearly in mineral veins that filled cracks in older layered rock. But it also affected the composition of that rock matrix surrounding the veins, and the fluid was in turn affected by the rock.

Map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars 

"There is so much variability in the composition at different elevations, we've hit a jackpot," said John Grotzinger, of Caltech, Pasadena, Calif. As the rover gets further uphill, researchers are impressed by the complexity of the lake environments when clay-bearing sediments were being deposited and also by the complexity of the groundwater interactions after the sediments were buried.

"A sedimentary basin such as this is a chemical reactor," Grotzinger said. "Elements get rearranged. New minerals form and old ones dissolve. Electrons get redistributed. On Earth, these reactions support life." Whether Martian life has ever existed is still unknown. No compelling evidence for it has been found. When Curiosity landed in Mars' Gale Crater in 2012 the mission's main goal was to determine whether the area ever offered an environment favorable for microbes.Four recent drilling sites, from "Oudam" this past June through "Sebina" in October, are spaced about 80 feet (about 25 meters) apart in elevation. This uphill pattern allows the science team to sample progressively younger layers that reveal


Mount Sharp's ancient environmental history. "Variations in these minerals and elements indicate a dynamic system," Grotzinger said. "They interact with groundwater as well as surface water. The water influences the chemistry of the clays, but the composition of the water also changes. We are seeing chemical complexity indicating a long, interactive history with the water. The more complicated the chemistry is, the better it is for habitability. The boron and clay underline the mobility of elements and electrons, and that is good for life.


Other articles on the same theme:

• 4,000 confirmed exoplanets similar to Earth

• Australian Radio Telescope Parkes Joins $100 Million Search for Alien Life

• Researchers have found another planet (Wolf 1061c) that can sustain life: Located just 14 light-years away

• Back to Europa! ALIEN OCEAN NEXT NASA'S MISSION TO EUROPA

• Chances are very high that Europa , Jupiter's moon host alien life. NASA announcement

Story source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencedaily . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Australian Radio Telescope Parkes Joins $100 Million Search for Alien Life

The Parkes radio telescope in Australia is the third telescope to begin searching for signs of intelligent alien life as part of the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project. Credit: CSIRO

Updated today 20/05/2020

$100 million search for intelligent alien life just added a big arrow to its quiver.

Breakthrough Listen has begun using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to scan the heavens, representatives of the ambitious, decade-long project announced Monday (Nov.7).

Parkes, Narrabri radio telescopes to be upgraded to improve Space Connect

The Parkes dish becomes the third telescope to be employed by Breakthrough Listen, joining the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory in Northern California


"The addition of Parkes is an important milestone," billionaire entrepreneur Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives, which include Breakthrough Listen, said in a statement. "These major instruments are the ears of planet Earth, and now they are listening for signs of other civilizations."

The Parkes radio telescope can tilt 60° from vertical and would take 15 minutes to perform a 360° rotation. photo: wikipedia.org

The first Breakthrough Listen observations for the Parkes dish came Monday, when scientists turned the telescope toward the Proxima Centauri star system to look for possible signals from alien civilizations.

Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the sun, lying just 4.2 light-years away from Earth's star. This past August, astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-size planet orbiting in Proxima Centauri's "habitable zone," the just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist on a world's surface.

It's therefore possible that the planet, known as Proxima b, may be capable of supporting life as we know it, scientists have said.

"The chances of any particular planet hosting intelligent life-forms are probably minuscule," Andrew Siemion, director of the University of California, Berkeley's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research Center, said in the same statement.

"But once we knew there was a planet right next door, we had to ask the question, and it was a fitting first observation for Parkes," Siemion added. "To find a civilization just 4.2 light-years away would change everything."

Proxima Centauri is also the target of Breakthrough Starshot, a Breakthrough Initiatives effort that aims to blast tiny, sail-equipped "nanoprobes" toward the system at 20 percent the speed of light using powerful lasers. Milner and a group of researchers, including famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking, announced Breakthrough Listen in July 2015. Over the next 10 years, the $100 million endeavor aims to search the 1 million stars closest to the sun, as well as the 100 nearest galaxies to the Milky Way, for possible SETI signals.

The 210-foot-wide (64 meters) Parkes dish, which is operated by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), lies near the town of Parkes, in the state of New South Wales. The radio telescope famously helped relay live video of the Apollo 11 moon landing back to Earth in July 1969, a role featured in the 2000 film "The Dish."

Breakthrough Listen representatives also announced last month that the project would be teaming up with China's new Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) — the world's largest radio telescope — to coordinate SETI observations.


Other articles on the same theme:

• After 20 years of work and billions of dollars spent, the gigantic NASA space telescope is completed. It has gold plated mirrors and is 100 times more powerful than Hubble

• An unusual signal was obtained by Russian astronomers. It may have extraterrestrial origins

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• It was created the most complex map of the Milky Way . It shows that our galaxy is much more extensive than previously thought

Story source:


The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Space . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Another '' Habitable Planet Proxima B'' this exoplanet has important water reserves

Significant water reserves were discovered exoplanet Proxima b, Swiss scientists say. Proxima b could be the closest planet outside the Solar System, a telluric exoplanet, which is in the habitable zone of the star Proxima Centauri.

Proxima b has the same specific features Earth, it can be considered akin to Earth and has significant reserves of water, having dimensions substantially similar to Earth.

Habitable Proxima-b Planet Found Next Door to Milky Way  photo: youtube

All this comes in support of the theory of a life on distant Proxima b exoplanet, say researchers at the University of Berne Swiss. They conducted measurements and necessary research and assume exoplanet Proxima b is slightly larger than Earth, then it reached conclusions that about 90% of the mass of the exoplanet is hard rock specific mountain area and 10% is water, specific oceans. Proxima b is a duplicate of Earth.

According to researchers who study planetary science, small planets are among the best candidates for the role of "second Earth", where life can exist. As a result, studies on such objects will be continued and expanded, according to researchers, reports RIA Novosti news agency.

Recently scientists announced that the star next to the star Proxima Centauri was also invented the closest exoplanet to Earth, which closely resembles the Sun, which was noted potentiometers training cycle dark points.

Remember that Proxima b exoplanet was discovered by researchers this year using spectral analysis method. Spectral analysis is a method of physical research composition of substances by examining its spectrum of radiation.

According to the study published, these variations indicate the presence of a planet, performing a complete orbit around the star in 11.2 days Proxima Centauri. Proxima b exoplanet it is almost 7.5 million kilometers or 0.05 AU of the star (about 5% of the distance from Earth to the Sun).



Other articles on the same theme:

• 4,000 confirmed exoplanets similar to Earth

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• The new found alien world named HD 131399Ab

• Researchers have found another planet (Wolf 1061c) that can sustain life: Located just 14 light-years away

Story source:


The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Descopera . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Tunnel of light "between life and death has found scientific explanation

A respected neurologist founded a compelling new theory about the experiences of life and death.

The experiences of life and death

Gillian MacKenzie remembers he was worried about his unborn child's condition when the world around them was swallowed up in darkness, except for one bright spot. It was aware that the task had problems and lost much blood during it, but he felt comfortable in that light.

"Initially it was a single point, and then I noticed that I was dragged toward him, he thereby increasing increasingly more. The brightness was so strong that I felt that I was in a tunnel" claimed it .

"I felt no fear when I was in the tunnel and immerse me in the light. It was not a very pleasant feeling. I can only describe as a feeling of trance" continues Gillian.

"Suddenly I heard a male voice shouting:" Gill! ". It was a voice very cute and I thought, 'Oh no, I stand before God, and I do not even believe in him." He asked me if I know who is and I replied: "Yes, but I'm afraid I can not pronounce your name." it turned out he had a good sense of humor, because chuckled upon hearing my response "resumed it.

Gillian's experience has happened many years ago, before the appearance of stories about the experiences of life and death. And today that it looks real feeling for Gillian, who suffered a haemorrhage during childbirth.

No one can know for sure, but scientists believe that about one in ten will experience between life and death, most likely during a cardiac arrest.

In general we see light, we go through a tunnel, we meet with a loved one or we will gravitate over our body, watching doctors and nurses trying to revive us.

Those who have gone through such an experience described this event as cheerful and thinking what has changed for life.

Most people think that had a flash and threw it on the afterlife. Often this experience strengthens their faith and lead to the disappearance of fear of death. For these people, the events seem real, lucid and valuable.

For them might come as a shock news that a respected American neurologist believes he can explain in terms of physiological symptoms totate experiences between life and death. These explanations will refute the ideas that the souls leave their bodies to make a journey in the afterlife and to return to Earth.

A neurologist provides scientific explanation

Kevin Nelson, a professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky, studied for 30 years experiences between life and death.

In his new book, he explained all the experience of life and death, his central argument involving REM (rapid eye movement). At this stage of sleep most dreams occur while the person sleeps has paralyzed body except the eyes, heart and diaphragm - the one that controls breathing.

Professor Nelson believes that some people are more sensitive than others to what is called "intrusion of REM", when the paralysis that accompanies REM occurs when a person is waking and is often accompanied by hallucinations appearing real.

The study led by Professor Nelson examined 55 cases of people who claimed to have had an experience of life and death. Of these 60% had experienced previous episodes of REM intrusion, compared with 24% of participants who were randomized.

"Instead of passing directly from the REM state of wakefulness, the brains of people who claim to have experiences between life and death, tends to combine the two states", explains Professor. This leads to positioning the subject in a state called "borderline conscience."

"Many people go through this state for only a few seconds or minutes, to pass the state of REM or waking. Being« borderline of consciousness ", paralysis, lights, hallucinations and time dreaming are normal. During a crisis such as cardiac arrest, this condition might explain what is known as the experience of life and death "continued Nelson.

In his study, Professor stressed that such experiences are encountered situations where borderline between life and death (such as trauma or cardiac arrest). These episodes have in common interruption of blood flow to the brain.

"Normally, 20% of the blood pumped by the heart to the brain. If blood flow is reduced and reaches a third of the usual amount, the brain remains active up to 10, up to 20 seconds before losing consciousness. The brain suffer injury, even if blood flow remains low for hours, "says the researcher.

"When blood is ejected from the head immediately before blackouts, tissue that is most affected is the retina, not the brain. When the retina is affected, there is a feeling of darkness that comes from outside to inside, and thus tunnel effect "explains Nelson.

"Light at the end of the tunnel can come from two different sources. It can be an ambient light - the light of a hospital room, which may be the only element recognizable when the blood is drained from the brain. Alternatively, REM system, which is known to activate visual system could generate an internal light that exists only in the brain ", mentioned Professor.

"Part of the brain associated with out of body experiences, temporoparietală region, near the area responsible for the sensation of movement." This could explain why people feel that a move during these experiences.

"Normally, this portion of the brain is involved in the REM, but in some cases, this system is not working properly, and during the transition to the state of REM brain can get some sensations of movement" added Nelson.

To explain the sensations of liberation of the soul and leave the body, Professor Nelson made reference to a study by Swiss neuroscientist Olaf Blanke. He and his team made an amazing discovery while preparing a woman for 43 years for surgery. This woman suffered seizures and the surgeon and applied a series of electrical impulses in the brain to detect where the problem comes.

Suddenly, the woman, who was conscious during the procedure, said he had an experience of leaving the body and was looking down at her. When the electric current has been interrupted, it was "back" into the body.

"Feels like the woman of being outside or inside of the body can be altered as simple as activating a switch to turn on or off a light bulb," said Professor Nelson.

The feeling of bliss could be explained by the reward system of the brain. During moments of crisis, the body eliminates a number of chemicals that causes a feeling of relaxation and wellbeing.

If during a hunting trip, the group was cornered by a predator, and people were sure to be killed would have had more chance one of them would be left behind without fighting to save other. Predator would spend time and energy on one person, it is easier for the rest of the group to escape.

During the experience of life and death, Gillian MacKenzie met his grandfather who died two years ago. It's said that gave birth to a boy - the right thing, but that would not have been where it knows - and he had the feeling that leaves his body, floating above him and he saw doctors and nurses how it operates.

It also noted that hovered over her husband and Hamish, who followed him in the corridors of the hospital, seeing as it gives him a phone to her mother.

"I was not scared, but I wanted to Hamish can announce that everything will be fine and I will return in a way back into the body," explained Gillian.

"I told my grandfather that they must leave and go back to take care of the baby and husband, but he I warned that I must have strong arguments to be allowed to go back into the body," continues Gillian.

During this episode, Gillian relived different times in the past, both good and bad, and had returned with a different perception over their lives. For example, she never forgave her mother for having left her boarding school and remembers that she cried when she left.

"Reliving those moments, I realized it was very hard for her to see me crying, but was not allowed to look back. I understand better the situation and I told my grandfather that I should return to share this new view of such problems and to help the others. After I came back, "said Gillian.

In the years that followed, Gillian became an adviser. "Before this experience I was intolerant people, but I've changed and I became a different person."


"You can come up with a rational explanation regarding this kind of experience, but it would be in vain. For us these episodes are real and have a profound effect on us and how we live our lives afterward. After this experience I ' gone any fear that ought to have in relation to my death and I think this turned me into a better person. you can call hallucinations, if you want, but they are part of our reality "said Gillian .

God's existence is denied by the scientific explanation of this phenomenon?

Professor Nelson said he did not intend to deny the existence of God or to diminish the importance of this kind of experience.

"There is a schism growing between those who believe that God is an anachronism and believes that all spiritual experiences are a dangerous illusion, and those who say that religion is the basis of their lives," explains Nelson.

"I thought it would be shown as a neurologist trying to explain the nature of spiritual experiences, not to make false theories. I treat with great respect such experiences because they are very important for those who had them. They can be considered the most influential experiences that could ever have to "continuous teacher.

"So I must try to explain in terms of physiological causes and ways in which these experiences, but I could demonstrate that they are not inconsistent with people's faith in God for the religious," he said.


"After all, who can say that this mechanism was not created by God just to give people comfort when they need it - when approaching death?" Concludes Professor neurologist Kevin Nelson.

Story source: 


The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Daily Mail . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Water existed on Mars billions of years before scientists about the phenomenon Consider Possible

The new evidence provided by NASA spacecraft, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed that the entire network of lakes and streams fed by melted snow on Mars existed much earlier than it imagined researchers.

Based on the new images taken on ancient region, north of Mars, researchers said there was a considerable amount of water ,, '' with about a billion years before the '' wet Age '' of the red planet to end. This indicates that the planet was suitable for microbial life for much longer than estimated by the researchers.

,, I discovered valleys carrying water to lake basins, '' said a team member, Sharon Wilson, of the Smithsonian Intitutului. ,, Some of the lakes filled pools indicates that there was a considerable amount of water in those times, '' she added.

Wilson and his team analyzed images recorded in the northern area of ​​Mars called Arabia Terra (an extremely eroded known as one of the oldest areas of the planet)

Researchers were able to identify signs of water evaporated long ago. ,, One of the lakes in the region can be compared with the amount as Lake Tahoe, '' Wilson said. The researcher explained that this lake was fed by a Martian valley south out of bed in the north and pouring a large pool called Heart Lake.

Heart Lake is part of the whole system of lakes and valleys that stretch 150 kilometers along the northern planet. The team estimated that the lake could support a quantity of 2,790 cubic kilometers of water. Based on information gathered from 22 craters in the area, the team concluded that these lakes there were two or three billion years. Meanwhile melted snow each season could supply all water areas.


Researchers said they found such formations in other parts of Mars, but the north and south of the equator humid regions were much more extensive.

Source: Science Alert

How life emerged on Earth? The old theory is removed

The argument is the fact that, until now, knew too little information on how life on Earth is driven.

For several decades, the main hypothesis on the origins of life was linked to the formation ,, primordial soup ", an event which would have occurred during the first bodies as a result of a chemical reaction triggered within an area with warm water. Recent research however, indicate that life on Earth would have appeared in the depths of the oceans, in the so-called hydrothermal vents ,, ".

A study published in the journal Nature Microbiology suggests that the oldest common ancestor of all living beings is fed with hydrogen as a gas in a high temperature environment, such as hydrothermal vents. On the other hand, the primordial soup hypothesis ,, "says that life would appear when an energy source came into contact with water from the Earth's surface, creating simple molecules first. They were subsequently grouped into structures DNA, which in time led to the formation of the first living organisms.

Recent studies made on genes that most likely were present and there were first living cells on Earth have shown that organisms first appeared on our planet in the deep-sea hydrothermal vents. From within these structures, the alkaline fluids penetrate into the ocean water, producing the natural gaps proton concentrations in a manner similar to the activating all living cells.

The research conducted recently suggests that in the early stages of development of living organisms, chemical reactions in the cells of these variations were driven proton. Then, the cells were able to reproduce these individual differences out of the area of ​​activity of hydrothermal vents, colonizing the oceans and, eventually, the entire planet.

Hydrothermal vents are the only known natural structures that could constitute places of occurrence of the first organic molecules. Aeastă hypothesis was accepted on ,, detriment of primordial soup "because until now knew very little about the principles that govern how life is driven.



Other articles on the same theme:

• Slovenia's ultra-rare 'dragon eggs' are hatching as we speak.

• Great Blue Hole, the most impressive place in the world for diving

• Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

• 4,000 confirmed exoplanets similar to Earth

August 12 is the day the last monarch of Egypt died Cleopatra VII. Mark Antony and Cleopatra story would be known millennia later

Updated 05/05/2020

While Octavian occupied Athens, Mark Antony and Cleopatra landed at Paraitonion in Egypt. The couple then went their separate ways, Antony to Cyrene to raise more troops and Cleopatra to the harbor at Alexandria in a misleading attempt to portray the activities in Greece as a victory. It is uncertain whether or not, at this time, she actually executed Artavasdes II and sent his head to his rival, Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene, in an attempt to strike an alliance with him

Cleopatra committed suicide on this day in 30 BC India Today

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 12 year 30 BCE, Cleopatra VII, the last monarch of Egypt, took his life.

According to legend, the Egyptian queen was killed in the year 30 BC, leaving himself bitten by a poisonous snake. But a German specialist proposes - based on recent research - a different version regarding the cause of death of Cleopatra.

Queen #Cleopatra VII (reign 51-30 BC) Pinterest

Studying ancient medical writings and consultation with biologists research on snakes, Christoph Schaefer, a professor at the University of Trier, concluded that death was due to Cleopatra's not poison, but a cocktail of toxic substances extracted from plants.

                                Cleopatra VII Photo: pinterest.com

The specialist believes that the Queen would have committed suicide drinking a mixture of opium and hemlock extract omag - a combination used in those times to cause a painless death within hours.

Christoph Schaefer thinks that Queen Cleopatra, famous for its charm, wanted to keep the beauty even in the last hours of life; therefore, it's hard to believe he chose death by snake bite; such a death is preceded by an agony that can last several days and disfigures the one dying.

Cleopatra ruled Egypt between 51-30 i. Hr .; after the death of Roman Emperor Caesar, it was allied with Marc Antony in the fight against Caesar's heir, Octavian.

                    Julius Caesar Photo: pinterest.com

Defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium, Antony committed suicide; Cleopatra she did the same shortly after his death on August 12, 30 i. Hr.

Cleopatra was Egypt's last monarch. After her death, the country became a Roman province.

Antony and Cleopatra's Legendary Love Story - Biography.com

Meaning of 12 august
1816 - Ion Ghica was born writer, economist, politician, member and president of the Romanian Academic Society, Romania's prime minister twice, four times president of the Romanian Academy (d. April 22, 1897).


Invenitmundo brings you the main meanings of August 12:

1833 - The US city of Chicago founded.

1848 - He died George Stephenson, English engineer, inventor of the first public railways that use steam locomotives (n. 1781).

1866 - was born Bonavente Jacinto Martinez, playwright, Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1922: "Night of the Sabbath," "Snow fiancee," "Letters of a Woman" (d. July 14, 1954).

1899 - Longinus was born Scarlat, general and dermatovenerologist Romanian doctor, member of the Romanian Academy (d. March 13, 1979).

1925 - Norris McWhirter was born, one of the founders Book of Records (d. April 19, 2004)

1933 - was born Mazilu actor Gheorghe Nae "Crane Mitrea," "Expedition", "The turmoil" (d. June 2001)

1933 - A linguist and philologist died Philippide Alexander, member of the Romanian Academy, the founder of the school of linguistics in Iasi (b. May 1, 1859).

1937 - He died writer Alexandru Sahia (Alexandru Stanescu), post-mortem member of the Romanian Academy (b. October 9, 1908).

1948 - He died Harry Brearley, inventor steel (b. February 18, 1871).

1955 - He died writer Thomas Mann, Nobel laureate for Literature in 1929, "Buddenbrooks", "The Magic Mountain", "Death in Venice", "Joseph and his brothers," "Doctor Faustus" (n. June 6, 1875).

1982 - The actor Henry Fonda died "evil woman" "The Grapes of Wrath," "War and Peace", "Darling Clementine" (b. May 16, 1905).

1992 - was signed at Geneva Agreement between the Government of Romania and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHOR) to support the development structures Romanian institutions with competence in the field of refugees and asylum.

1992 - A composer and pianist died John Cage prepared piano inventor and one of the initiators of random music, along with P. Boulez (France) and K. Stockhausen (Germany) (b. September 15, 1912)

1997 - The government approved through an Emergency Ordinance, Law of Transport. Regulating provide non-discriminatory access to transport infrastructures for all operators authorized to perform transport activity.

1999 - The European Commission Delegation in Bucharest and the National Agency for Regional Development have launched the largest bidding Romanian Project PHARE funds, worth 19.375 million euros.

1999 - Romania received the first tranche of a loan from the International Monetary Fund, worth 73 million dollars.

2000 - He died actress Loretta Young, Loretta Divine dubbed, laureate Oscar "farmer's daughter", "A night to remember" (n. 1913).

2000 - Russian submarine K-141 Kursk sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.

2004 - President Ion Iliescu decorated him at Cotroceni Palace on German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, National Order "The Star of Romania" with the rank of Grand Cross.

2005 - A contingent of 380 Salvadoran troops went to Iraq to secure the fifth rotation of troops to this country.

2006 - The Lebanese government approved unanimously resolution 1701 which demands the cessation of hostilities with Israel despite "reservations".

2007 - The Israeli government has passed a draft budget with a record 73 billion dollars.

2008 - Michael Covaliu athlete won bronze in the sword of the Olympic Games in Beijing, bringing the Romanian delegation second medal at the competition in China.

Other articles on the same theme:

• Egypt in the New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 B.C.)

• Pharaoh Tutankhamun was not really a strong man (virtual reconstruction PHOTO)

• Frightful mysteries of mummies were untied

• Secrets of the oldest and most expensive portraits in the world

• Pankration or fear the Greeks when they are angry ! ( Ancient Martial Arts )

The Stunning Beauty Of Whales And Dolphins

Christopher Swann(57) is a British photographer with a long career behind him which has one very specific mark. For 25 years he’s been trying to catch the majestic beauty of large sea creatures – whales and dolphins, and he’s been doing it with a great success. His photos are showing all the beauty hidden in these sea giants which despite their size leave on us calming effect coming from the grace in their movements through watery vastness.

“I love the beauty and perfection of the sea,” Swann told mymodernmet. “Cetaceans epitomize that, and nothing is more perfect than any cetacean underwater, but whales are really special. To see animals so huge yet so graceful, so at ease and at one with their surroundings, is exquisite.”

Christopher Swan has decided to focus his career completely on these majestic creatures in the future. We think that’s a very good decision according to the wonderful photographs he’s been making so far. Look at some of his amazing photos in the gallery below and read what he says about his great passion.

Other articles on the same theme:

• Rare footage captured near Australia: '' It is Migaloo, the white whale with porcelain skin
• The greatest longevity on Earth. It Has 400 years.
• Unicorn of the Sea: Narwhal Facts
• Mysterious New Whale Species Discovered in Alaska

Photographer Christopher Swan