On March 21, 1971, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization declared this as World Forestry Day to share information, research, and project updates on forests and forestry around the world. This day was chosen because it is the vernal equinox in the Northern…
Today the world celebrates International Women’s Day to commemorate the contribution of women locally and globally. We salute women who have and continue to inspire, women who have paved the way for so many who follow, role models, heroines, firsts in so many fields…
On this day in Sault Ste Marie Ontario, future neuro-ophthalmologist and payload specialist Roberta Lynn Bondar was born. Of course, no one knew all that at the time. Or even what those words meant. She had to learn to walk first! And to prefer…
On October 18, 1616, English botanist and herbalist physician Nicholas Culpeper was born. Receiving early lessons in Latin and Greek, he read widely in his grandfather’s library. He learned about the application of medical plants from his grandmother. Culpeper attended Cambridge but discovered sports…
NOW! BIRDCAST ALERTS to give us Real Time heads-up about migratory birds on the move. This BirdCast Alert is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
On August 25, 1916, the United States National Park Service was created by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act to care for all national parks, historic battlefields, and monuments throughout the country. More than 400 National Parks later… the USNPS celebrates its…
On August 24, 79, the first recorded explosion of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, was witnessed by the 18-year-old nephew of the Commander of the Roman Fleet. His uncle sailed with ships to rescue survivors, leaving the teen to observe the eruption from home across the…
On August 23, 2003, Ukkusiksalik, became Nunavut’s 4th and Canada’s 41st national park. Pronounced /ooo koo SIK sa lik/, the name Ukkusiksalik refers to the carvable stone found in the area from which an ukkusik [pot] is made. Just south of the Arctic Circle…
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space. He made a 108-minute orbital flight in the fully automated Vostok 1 space capsule. Gagarin did not land in his space capsule. Vostok 1’s reentry into the atmosphere…
On February 22, 1857, German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born. He was a student and protégé of the great Hermann von Helmholtz. Hertz began his career as a university lecturer and quickly established himself as an accomplished speaker. In his lab, Hertz demonstrated…