Danny Baza Blas

Pacific Islanders were sailing large stretches of ocean--thousands of miles into the wind--a long time ago before European imperialist expeditions of exploration and colonization began. The histories and the technologies used by innovative Pacific-Islander seafarers were destroyed in order to subdue the population and make them more malleable to western intent. This video explores some of the ideas being researched and reconstructed to bring life to ancient seafaring culture of pre-European contact Chamorros of the Mariana Islands.

Harrison on his death bed (from Free Historic Stock Photos ) In an article  By Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak in today's edition of the NY Time, President Harrison, known to be the shortest-serving U.S. president, serving only about a month before his untimely death, officially due to pneumonia, may have died of god-awful Salmonella. Apparently in D.C. around the 1840's there was not proper sewage treatment, and all of the poopy water collected in a marsh near the White House. Bacteria may have collected in the manure marsh, creating a deadly pathogen, which may have been the cause of Harrison's demise.

Jośe Mujica is considered the poorest leader of countries on the planet. He is the president of Uruguay, a small country of around 3 million citizens, and donates about 90% of his monthly salary to charity. Mujica lives a simple, austere life, and drives his own vehicle. He once fought the government, and now he leads it. When Mujica was ultimately captured and locked up, he learned to be friends with rats and frogs, while in solitary confinement, to keep himself sane. Read more about President Mujica here and here