The alligator gar fish, aka Atractosteus spatula, is often found in Texas and weighs up to 350 pounds while measuring up to 10 feet long. Wikimedia CommonsThe alligator gar is one of the largest freshwater fish species in North America.
Despite being one of the world’s oldest living species, the alligator gar spent much of the 20th century being thought of as a “trash fish” that needed to be eradicated from the underwater ecosystem. Read More...
When a dead whale washed ashore on an Oregon beach in late May, it called to mind an incident in 1970 when the state detonated a beached whale with dynamite. This time, however, the state parks department was adamant: "History isn't repeating itself."Oregon State ParksThe decaying remains of the dead humpback whale that washed up in Nehalem Bay State Park in late May.
When a dead whale washed up on the beaches of Florence, Oregon in November 1970, the state made the infamous decision to deal with it in a rather unconventional way: by blowing the whale up. Read More...
Between 1624 and her death in 1663, Queen Ana Nzinga ruled over the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms while fending off European colonial forces.Wikimedia CommonsThe fearless ruler of the Ndongo and Matamba people of present-day Angola, Queen Nzinga fended off Portuguese slavers throughout the 17th century.
Sometime around 1583, a little girl named Nzinga Mbande was born in what’s now Angola. Hers was not an easy entry into the world, and legend has it she was born with her umbilical cord around her neck. Read More...
