Oddities In The History Of Sex Research: Homosexual Necrophilia In The Mallard Duck

On June 5, 1995, Kees Moeliker, the curator of the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam, heard a loud bang just outside of his office. He went over to the window and discovered that a drake mallard had hit one of museum’s windows at full speed and died. Moeliker observed another male mallard came over and start picking at the dead duck’s head. The live mallard then proceeded to mount the corpse and forcefully rape it. This activity went on for a full seventy-five minutes, during which time the perpetrator took only two short breaks. Moeliker documented the entire event by taking notes and photos from safely behind the museum’s windows. When the necrophiliac mallard was finished, Moeliker secured the violated corpse and stashed it in a freezer for later examination.

Doctor in mid-surgery heart scare

 

 

An Italian surgeon is recovering after completing a brain operation despite suffering an angina attack during the procedure, media reports say.

Greeks Abroad: The man who speaks 32 languages

MANY people are able to speak two languages fluently, or maybe three or even four, but Ioannis Ikonomou, who is comfortable speaking almost three dozen, is not like many people.

In a telephone interview with the Athens News (in English) from his office at the European Commission in Brussels, the 46-year-old translator says he began learning English, his first foreign language, at the age of 6.

“I liked it so much that there was no stopping me,” says Ikonomou, whose mother tongue is Greek.

“The next language was German. Then after a few years I stated learning Italian. And then, more and more. While I was in high school I wanted to learn Russian, Turkish and Arabic. I always wanted to learn more. I feel comfortable speaking about 32 languages.”

Dust Veil of AD 536

According to written records and supported by dendrochronology and archaeological evidence, for 12-18 months in AD 536-537, a thick, persistent dust veil or dry fog darkened the skies between Europe and Asia Minor. The climatic interruption brought by the thick, bluish fog extended as far east as China, where summer frosts and snow are recorded in historical records; tree ring data from Mongolia and Siberia to Argentina and Chile reflect decreased growing records from 536 and the subsequent decade.

The climatic effects of the dust veil brought decreased temperatures, drought and food shortages throughout the affected regions: in Europe two years later came the Justinian smallpox plague. The combination killed perhaps as much as 1/3 of the population of Europe; in China the famine killed perhaps 80% of people in some regions; in Scandinavia the losses may be been as much as 75-90% of the population, as evidenced by the numbers of deserted villages and cemeteries.

A Woman’s Story

A little over sixty years ago, a young, intelligent black woman named Gwen was graduating from Allenby Junior Public School in Toronto. Her teacher provided her with a notice telling her where to attend secondary school the following Autumn, and she carefully carried it to her home on St. Clements Avenue, in an area that was affordable and populated by young, middle-class families.

Civil War hero Robert Smalls seized the opportunity to be free

He sat at the conference table next to Frederick Douglass as they tried to convince President Abraham Lincoln that African Americans should be allowed to fight for their own freedom. He served five terms in Congress. He ran a newspaper and helped found a state Republican Party.

But first, he had to win his freedom.

To do that, he conceived a plan that struck a blow against the Confederacy so significant that he was heralded across the nation. Carrying out his mission required bravery, intelligence and precision timing — attributes that many whites at that time thought blacks didn’t possess.

Robert Smalls proved them wrong and changed history in the doing.

The burglar with the lemon juice disguise

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler walked into two Pittsburgh banks and robbed them in broad daylight, with no visible attempt at disguise. He was arrested later that night, less than an hour after videotapes of him taken from surveillance cameras were broadcast on the 11 o’clock news. When police later showed him the surveillance tapes, Mr. Wheeler stared in incredulity. “But I wore the juice” he mumbled. Apparently, Mr. Wheeler was under the impression that rubbing one’s face with lemon juice rendered it invisible to videotape cameras (Fuocco, 1996).