Things Worth Noting
Lunokhod 1, the Soviet Union’s groundbreaking robotic lunar rover, became the first vehicle to operate on another celestial body when it landed via Luna 17 in Mare Imbrium on November 17, 1970—exactly 55 years ago today. This eight-wheeled, bathtub-shaped rover, designed by Alexander Kemurdzhian and built by Lavochkin, weighed 840 kg and featured a solar-charged […]
Cleto Escobedo III (1966–2025) was a talented saxophonist and bandleader best known for leading Cleto and the Cletones on Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003. Born in Las Vegas, he grew up playing music under his father’s guidance and formed a lifelong friendship with Jimmy Kimmel at age nine. A skilled musician in jazz, funk, and […]
Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday honoring deceased loved ones with joy, not mourning. Celebrated November 1–2, it blends Aztec and Maya traditions with Catholic All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. Families build ofrendas—altars with photos, pan de muerto, cempasúchil marigolds, sugar skulls (calaveras), and favorite foods like tamales […]
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) was a German-born U.S. diplomat and statesman who shaped Cold War foreign policy as National Security Advisor (1969–1975) and Secretary of State (1973–1977) under Nixon and Ford. A Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, he served in World War II, earned a Harvard PhD, and rose through academia before entering government. Known for […]
James Watson (1928–2025), American molecular biologist, co-discovered DNA’s double helix structure with Francis Crick in 1953 using X-ray data from Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. They won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Watson led Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, directed the Human Genome Project (1988–1992), and wrote bestsellers like The Double Helix. His later career […]
3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) is the third confirmed interstellar comet, discovered July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS survey in Chile. Traveling on a hyperbolic trajectory with eccentricity >1, it reached perihelion at 1.4 AU on October 30, 2025, and will exit the Solar System. The 10–20 km nucleus shows strong CO₂ and CO outgassing, low water, […]
Operation MKOFTEN was a secret CIA and DoD program (1968–1973) that tested drugs like LSD and experimental compounds on humans and animals to develop mind control and interrogation tools. Run at Edgewood Arsenal and Holmesburg Prison, it focused on behavioral and toxicological effects, creating databases of drug impacts for espionage use. Led by Sidney Gottlieb, […]
Project 4.1 was a secret U.S. medical study launched after the 1954 Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll unexpectedly spread radioactive fallout over Rongelap, Utirik, and Ailinginae Atolls in the Marshall Islands. Instead of immediate evacuation, 239 Marshallese and 28 Americans were monitored for radiation effects. The 15-megaton blast caused acute radiation sickness—nausea, […]
The Stargate Project was a secret U.S. Army program launched in 1977 at Fort Meade, Maryland, to test psychic abilities like remote viewing, ESP, and clairvoyance for military intelligence. Run by the DIA and CIA, it aimed to close a perceived psychic warfare gap with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Key figures included […]
Operation Sea-Spray was a secret 1950 U.S. Navy test that sprayed Serratia marcescens and Bacillus globigii over San Francisco to study bioweapon vulnerability. From September 20–27, a ship offshore released aerosol clouds, exposing nearly all 800,000 residents to thousands of particles. No one was informed. Soon after, Stanford Hospital saw 11 rare urinary tract infections; […]