Auto, a six-year-old boy from Thailand who was dying of cancer, was granted his last wish not long ago — to see Moo Deng, the young pygmy hippo who’s become an Internet darling. When the Khao Kheow Open Zoo just south of Bangkok heard about Auto’s wish, they invited him for a visit. As if sensing the boy’s need, Moo Deng, who usually sleeps in the water, remained on land that … [Read more...]
In 1904, stenographer Elizabeth Magie was granted a patent for her creation, The Landlord’s Game. A big hit with her friends in Maryland, Magie’s circular board game featured properties for sale and a ‘Go to Jail’ space, much like its later, more famous iteration – Monopoly. But Magie’s version had a much different purpose. She created it as a teaching tool to show the dangers … [Read more...]
You’ve probably never heard of him, but James Lafayette is a man worth remembering. Born into slavery in 1748 (records are sketchy, but he was likely a Sagittarian), James served bravely in the Revolutionary War under the Marquis de Lafayette, whose name he later took. His efforts as a spy were crucial to the American victory at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown – which became the … [Read more...]
In September 1954, after receiving a terminal diagnosis, 63-year-old Annie Wilkins decided that a big change was in order. After living on the family farm in Maine her entire life, and with all her relatives gone, she decided to hit the road. When a coin toss came up heads, she took it as a sign. Wilkins sold homemade pickles and mortgaged her rundown farm to buy supplies and a … [Read more...]
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.” Psalm 55:6. There is a scene in the 1997 movie The Wings of the Dove in which a gentleman at a party confronts his glamorous friend Kate (played by Helena Bonham Carter) and playfully accuses her of having far too much going on … [Read more...]
