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Historical Events on September 16


  • 1400 Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers
  • 1575 King Johan Casimir of Palts promises military aid to the Huguenots
  • 1597 Albert VII Archduke of Austria’s Spanish forces lose control of the city of Amiens to French King Henry VI

1620 The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England, with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World [O.S. Sep 6]

  • 1652 Spanish troops occupy Dunkirk
  • 1654 Russian troops occupy Smolensk in Poland
  • 1666 Jewish mystic and rabbi Sabbatai Zevi, the “Messiah,” appears before Sultan Mehmed IV, puts on a Turkish turban and converts to Islam
  • 1668 Polish King John II Casimir Vasa resigns and goes to France the following year

The Old Pretender

1701 James Francis Edward Stuart (13) “The Old Pretender”, becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father James II

  • 1702 Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I declares war on France, Cologne, and Bavaria
  • 1729 William IV Prince of Orange installed as Stadtholder of Groningen
  • 1747 French troops occupy Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands
  • 1782 Great Seal of the United States of America used for the first time
  • 1795 British capture Cape Town, South Africa, from the Dutch

Silvana

1810 Carl Maria von Weber‘s opera “Silvana”, starring his future wife Carone Brandt in the title role, premieres at the Nationaltheater in Frankfurt, Confederation of the Rhine

Event of Interest

1810 Priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rings the church bells in Dolores, Mexico, issuing a call to arms known as the “Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores)”, calling for the end of Spanish rule. Celebrated today as Mexican Independence Day.

Event of Interest

1822 George Canning becomes British Foreign Secretary for the second time, serving until 1827

  • 1830 Oliver Wendell Holmes writes poem “Old Ironsides” as tribute to the 18th-century USS Constitution

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

1847 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust buys Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, preserving it as a national memorial to the Bard

  • 1848 Slavery is abolished in all French territories
  • 1857 Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857 comes into force, establishing individual rights, including universal male suffrage and freedom of speech, and removes Catholicism as the official religion, thus fiercely attacked by Pope Pius IX
  • 1858 First overland mail to California

Livingstone Sights Lake Nyasa

1859 British explorer David Livingstone is the first European to sight Lake Nyasa – now forms Malawi’s boundary with Tanzania & Mozambique

  • 1861 British Post Office Savings Bank opens
  • 1862 Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s army surrounds 4,000 federals at Munfordville, Kentucky
  • 1863 Robert College of Istanbul, Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist
  • 1864 US Civil War: Battle of Coggin’s Point, Virginia (Hampton-Rosser Cattle Raid)
  • 1867 Ottawa Rough Riders and Senators play Canadian football game
  • 1869 Golf’s first recorded hole-in-one is scored by Tom Morris at Prestwick’s 8th hole in Scotland
  • 1873 German troops leave France
  • 1885 5th America’s Cup: Puritan (NY Yacht Club) beats Genesta (Royal Yacht Squadron, Isle of Wight, UK) by 1:38 for 2-0 series win
  • 1892 Amsterdam swimming club renamed “The Y”
  • 1893 Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma, opens white settlement homesteaders

Stephen Crane Scandal

1896 Stephen Crane is threatened with arrest after intervening when a woman he was interviewing, Dora Clark, is arrested on suspicion of prostitution

  • 1901 Alturas, California, is incorporated as the only city in Modoc County

Gauguin in the Marquesas

1901 French painter Paul Gauguin settles in Atuona in the Marquesas Islands

  • 1906 Kaarlo Nieminen wins first Finnish marathon
  • 1908 Carriage maker William C. Durant founds General Motors in Flint, Michigan
  • 1913 Thousands of women demonstrate for Dutch female suffrage
  • 1915 US takes control of the customs and finances of Haiti for ten years
  • 1919 American Legion incorporated by an act of US Congress
  • 1919 Dutch Ruether beats Giants 4-3 to clinch Cincinnati’s first National League pennant

1920 The “Wall Street bombing” occurs at 12:01 when a horse-drawn wagon explodes on Wall Street, New York, killing 38 and injuring 143

Baseball Record

1924 St. Cardinals future Baseball HOF first baseman Jim Bottomley sets MLB all-time single game RBI record of 12 in a 17-3 rout of Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field

  • 1926 Hurricane in Florida and Alabama kills 372
  • 1926 Italian-Romanian peace treaty is signed
  • 1926 Philip Dunning and George Abbott’s play “Broadway” premieres in New York City
  • 1926 St. Louis Cardinals beat the Phillies 23-3
  • 1928 San Felipe Segundo/Okeechobee hurricane crosses through the Bahamas as a Category 4 storm, killing 18, as it travels from Puerto Rico to Florida
  • 1929 Police shoot at strikers in Maastricht, Netherlands, killing two people
  • 1930 Phillies, trailing 10-5, score 5 in the 9th. Then Pirates score 4 in the top of the 10th, so Phillies score 5 in the bottom of the 10th to win 15-14
  • 1931 A blimp is moored to the Empire State Building in New York City
  • 1931 St. Louis Cardinals repeat as NL champions with a 6-3 win over the Phillies
  • 1932 30.8 cm of rainfall in Westerly, Rhode Island (state record)

1932 British actress Peg Entwistle (24) commits suicide by jumping from the letter “H” in the “Hollywoodland” (now “Hollywood”) sign in Los Angeles, California [1]

Redskins First Game

1937 Redskins NFL franchise plays first game in Washington at Griffith Stadium and defeats the New York Giants in season opener, 13–3

  • 1938 British racing driver George Eyston sets a world auto speed record at 357.5 mph
  • 1939 the New York Yankees clinch their 11th and 4th successive pennant by finishing with a 106-45 record

Leo Durocher Suspended

1940 Leo Durocher is suspended from Ebbets Field for “inciting a riot”

  • 1940 Luftwaffe attack central London
  • 1940 Samuel Rayburn of Texas is elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives
  • 1940 St. Louis Browns’ Johnny Lucadello is the second player to hit a home run from each side of the plate

1st US Peacetime Draft

1940 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Training and Service Act, the first US peacetime draft

Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia

1941 Adolf Hitler orders that for every dead German, 100 Yugoslavs should be killed

  • 1941 German armoured troops surround Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 1941 Jews of Vilna, Poland, are confined to the Ghetto
  • 1942 Japanese attack on Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, repelled
  • 1943 Montgomery’s 8th army links up with invading forces in Salerno
  • 1943 Soviet army under general Vatutin reconquers Romny, Northern Ukraine
  • 1945 Barometric pressure at 856 mb (25.55″) off Okinawa (record low)
  • 1947 John Cobb sets a world auto speed record at 394.2 mph
  • 1947 Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo, and the Tone River area, killing at least 1,930
  • 1949 KABC TV channel 7 in Los Angeles, CA (ABC) begins broadcasting
  • 1950 Cleveland Browns (formerly AAFC) play their first NFL game, defeating Philadelphia 35-10
  • 1950 Viet Minh offensive against French bases in Vietnam
  • 1951 US National League umpire Frank Dascoli clears the Dodgers bench, ejecting 15 players
  • 1953 AL approves St. Louis Browns’ move to become Baltimore Orioles

The Robe

1953 First movie in CinemaScope, “The Robe,” based on the book by Lloyd C. Douglas, directed by Henry Koster, and starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, premieres

  • 1954 CKLW TV channel 9 in Windsor, ON (CBC) begins broadcasting
  • 1955 Bauer and Berra hit home runs in the 9th, beating the Red Sox 5-4 and taking over first
  • 1955 US Auto Club forms to oversee four major auto racing categories
  • 1955 Yankee Mickey Mantle pulls a hamstring muscle while running out a bunt
  • 1957 Coup in Thailand deposes Premier Songgram
  • 1957 Los Angeles City Council approves a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for the Dodgers

Algerian Self Determination

1959 French President Charles de Gaulle recognizes Algeria’s right to self-determination

  • 1960 Amos Alonzo Stagg retires as a football coach at 98 years old after a 70-year career that included his final coaching role as the kicking coach at Stockton Junior College
  • 1960 Milwaukee Braves’ future Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn no-hits the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 at County Stadium
  • 1961 CDU loses West Germany election
  • 1961 USSR performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, USSR
  • 1961 WLKY TV channel 32 in Louisville, Kentucky (ABC) begins broadcasting
  • 1962 Brian Kilby wins the marathon in 2:23:18.8 at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games
  • 1962 Gerda Kroon runs a European record in the 800 m in 2:02.8
  • 1962 Public TV channel 13 begins broadcasting in New York City
  • 1962 USSR performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, USSR
  • 1963 “The Outer Limits” premieres on ABC-TV
  • 1963 WVAN TV Channel 9 in Savannah, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1964 “Shindig” premieres on ABC-TV
  • 1965 Boston Red Sox’s Dave Morehead throw a no-hitter against Cleveland Indians, winning 2-0

Bowie Changes His Name

1965 British singer Davie Jones changes his stage name to “David Bowie” to avoid confusion with the Monkee of similar name

Metropolitan Opera House Opens

1966 Metropolitan Opera House opens in Lincoln Center, New York City, with Leontyne Price as Cleopatra in “Antony and Cleopatra” by Samuel Barber

  • 1967 Anni Pede runs the women’s world record marathon in 3:07:26
  • 1967 KPAZ TV Channel 21 in Phoenix, AZ (IND) begins broadcasting
  • 1967 USSR performs a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeastern Kazakhstan
  • 1968 KLNI (now KADN) TV channel 15 in Lafayette, LA (IND) begins broadcasting

Nixon Appears on Comedy Show

1968 Richard Nixon appears on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in”

  • 1970 King Hussein of Jordan forms military government
  • 1971 A number of Unionists resign over the proposed tripartite talks involving Northern Ireland, the UK, and the Republic of Ireland
  • 1971 Six Ku Klux Klansmen are arrested in connection with the bombing of ten school buses
  • 1972 First TV series about mixed marriage, “Bridget Loves Bernie,” premieres

The Bob Newhart Show

1972 The sitcom “The Bob Newhart Show” (the Chicago one) debuts on CBS-TV; the first episode “Fly Unfriendly Skies” stars Penny Marshall as the stewardess

NFL Record

1973 Buffalo running back O.J. Simpson rushes for a then-NFL-record 250 yards in the Bills’ 31-13 win at New England

  • 1974 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) begins regular rail service crossing under the San Francisco Bay, through the Transbay Tube

Blood on the Tracks

1974 Bob Dylan begins recording his 15th album “Blood on the Tracks” in New York City

Haig Heads NATO

1974 US General Alexander Haig, Jr. becomes NATO supreme commander in Europe

1974 US President Gerald Ford announces conditional amnesty for US Vietnam War deserters

  • 1975 MLB Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Rennie Stennett is second to hit 7-for-7 in a 9-inning MLB game in a 22-0 rout of Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field in Chicago
  • 1975 Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia (National Day)
  • 1975 The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight
  • 1976 American Episcopal Church approves the ordination of women as priests and bishops
  • 1976 Egyptian president Sadat re-elected
  • 1976 Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir
  • 1977 90-minute pilot of “Logan’s Run” premieres on TV

Drowning in Sea of Love

1977 Ringo Starr releases single “Drowning in Sea of Love” in the UK

  • 1977 Seattle beats Royals 4-1 to end KC’s winning streak at 16 games
  • 1977 Sire Records releases “Talking Heads: 77,” the debut studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, featuring the single “Psycho Killer”
  • 1978 7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes near Tabas, central Iran, killing an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people
  • 1978 American rockers the Grateful Dead perform last of three-night stand at the Giza Sound and Light Theater beside the Sphinx at the foot of the Great Pyramid in Egypt

Filming Begins for Life of Brian

1978 Filming begins for “Monty Python‘s Life of Brian” on location in Monastir, Tunisia

  • 1978 New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox 3-2 at Yankee Stadium; Blue Bombers’ sixth win over arch-rivals in two weeks
  • 1979 “Rapper’s Delight,” the debut single by hip-hop trio Sugar Hill Gang, is released by Sugar Hill Records
  • 1979 Catfish Hunter Day at Yankee Stadium
  • 1979 Coup in Afghanistan under Hafizullah Amin
  • 1979 KC’s Willie Wilson hits his 5th inside-the-park home run, the most since 1925
  • 1979 Russian Bolshoi Ballet dancers Leonid and Valentina Kozlov defect to the US in Los Angeles, California
  • 1979 The families of Peter Strelzyk and Gunter Wetzel arrive in West Germany from communist East Germany in a hot air balloon
  • 1979 USSR performs a nuclear test
  • 1982 Massacre of over 1,000 Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila begins
  • 1986 Fire in Kinross gold mine in Transvaal, South Africa, kills 177
  • 1987 California’s Bob Boone catches his record 1,919th major league game
  • 1987 New York City’s WNET-TV Channel 13 begins around-the-clock broadcasting

Pope Ends LA Tour

1987 Pope John Paul II‘s ends his Los Angeles tour with an interfaith meeting at Dodger Stadium with leaders of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism

  • 1987 USSR performs a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeastern Kazakhstan
  • 1988 Cincinnati Reds Tom Browning pitches a perfect game, beating LA Dodgers 1-0
  • 1988 Jury awards Valerie Harper $1.6 million in dispute over TV series
  • 1988 Scottish singer Fish leaves progressive rock group Marillion

1989 14th Toronto International Film Festival: “Roger & Me” directed by Michael Moore wins the People’s Choice Award

1990 42nd Emmy Awards: L.A. Law, Murphy Brown, Peter Falk, and Patricia Wettig win

  • 1990 Pirate Radio NY International begins transmissions on WWCR
  • 1991 Norm Charlton is suspended for seven days for intentionally hitting Steve Scioscia with a pitch
  • 1991 Otis Nixon of the Atlanta Braves is suspended for the rest of 1991 due to cocaine use
  • 1992 900 die in floods in Pakistan
  • 1992 Black Wednesday: The UK government is forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism after being unable to keep it above the agreed lowest limit
  • 1992 FCC votes to allow competition for local phone service

Baseball Record

1993 Minnesota Twins’ Dave Winfield becomes the 19th player to achieve 3,000 hits

  • 1994 Fire Department puts out smokey electrical fire in the White House

Baseball Record

1995 Greg Maddux of the Braves sets a record with 17 consecutive road victories

  • 1996 First One-Day International in Canada, India vs. Pakistan at Toronto
  • 1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Panama City, Florida, on WTBB 97.7 FM

Baseball Record

1996 MLB Minnesota Twins’ Paul Molitor becomes the 21st player to reach 3,000 hits

  • 1996 NASA launches Space Shuttle STS 79 (Atlantis 17)
  • 1997 American Basketball League MVP Nikki McCray signs with the WNBA

Jobs Apple CEO

1997 Apple Computer Inc. names co-founder Steve Jobs as interim CEO

Baseball History

1997 Mark McGwire signs with the St. Louis Cardinals for $26 million

  • 1999 14.8 inches (37.6 cm) of rainfall from Hurricane Floyd at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (state record)
  • 1999 First-ever season of “Big Brother” reality show begins on the Veronica channel in the Netherlands

Baseball Record

2000 Sammy Sosa becomes the second player to hit 50 or more home runs in three consecutive years, joining Mark McGwire

  • 2005 Camorra Mafia boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples

2007 59th Emmy Awards: The Sopranos, 30 Rock, James Spader, and Sally Field win

  • 2007 One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269, carrying 128 crew members and passengers, crashes in Phuket, Thailand, killing 89 people
  • 2012 14 people are killed and 7 wounded by a roadside bomb Jandol, Turkey
  • 2012 8 female civilians are killed by a NATO airstrike in Laghman, Afghanistan
  • 2012 8 police officers are killed by a roadside bombing by Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants in Turkey
  • 2012 Anti-Japanese protesters set fire to Panasonic plant in Qingdao, China
  • 2012 Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, seeks a court order to resolve a week-long teachers’ strike
  • 2012 NHL locks out its players after the expiry of the collective bargaining agreement
  • 2013 12 people are killed after a gunman opens fire at a naval yard in Washington, D.C.
  • 2013 21 people are killed by Hurricane Ingrid in Mexico

Rwandan President Re-elected

2013 Paul Kagame wins re-election to the Rwandan presidency in a landslide

Partners

2014 Barbra Streisand releases the album “Partners,” featuring duets with other artists, and when it reaches No. 1, Streisand becomes the only recording artist with a top album in six decades

  • 2015 700 million malaria cases prevented in Africa since 2000, according to a report by the University of Oxford in the “Nature” journal
  • 2015 8.3 magnitude quake hits off coast of Illapel, Chile, killing 11 and prompting the evacuation of 1 million
  • 2015 A report published in “Nature” journal states 3 million people die each year from air pollution, more than from malaria and HIV/AIDS combined
  • 2015 In a military coup in Burkina Faso, President Michel Kafando and other officials are seized by presidential guards
  • 2015 Oil tanker explosion kills 170 in Maridi, South Sudan
  • 2015 Second Republican presidential candidates debate, hosted by CNN, features Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump facing off at the Reagan Presidential Library

Sports History

2016 Chris Sharma free solos Alasha in Mallorca, Spain, the world’s first 9a+ (5.15a) deep-water solo route

  • 2017 New Zealand All Blacks rugby union team hands South Africa their biggest test match defeat in history, beating the Springboks 57-0 in Rugby Championship round in Albany, NZ
  • 2018 Cycling land speed record is broken for men and women by Denise Mueller-Korenek, who rides at 183.932 mph (296.010 km/h) at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, making her the first and only woman to hold the overall title
  • 2018 First-ever performance of the comedy “Love’s Victory” by Lady Mary Wroth at Penshurst Place, England, 400 years after it is written

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What Happened on September 16


Major Events

  • 1620 The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England, with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World [O.S. Sep 6]
  • 1795 British capture Cape Town, South Africa, from the Dutch
  • 1810 Priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rings the church bells in Dolores, Mexico, issuing a call to arms known as the “Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores)”, calling for the end of Spanish rule. Celebrated today as Mexican Independence Day.

More September 16 Events

Sep 16 in Film & TV

  • 1989 14th Toronto International Film Festival: “Roger & Me” directed by Michael Moore wins the People’s Choice Award

Sep 16 in Music

Sep 16 in Sport

  • 1869 Golf’s first recorded hole-in-one is scored by Tom Morris at Prestwick’s 8th hole in Scotland
  • 1957 Los Angeles City Council approves a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for the Dodgers

Did You Know?

700 million malaria cases prevented in Africa since 2000, according to a report by the University of Oxford in the “Nature” journal

September 16, 2015


Fun Fact About September 16

Carriage maker William C. Durant founds General Motors in Flint, Michigan

September 16, 1908

Famous Weddings

  • 1862 Future Queen of Hawaii Lili’uokalani (24) weds American secretary John Owen Dominis (29) until his death in 1891
  • 1936 American actor Henry Fonda (31) weds Canadian-American socialite Frances Ford Seymour (28) at Christ Church, New York City, until her death in1950
  • 1967 American “Gilligan’s Island” actor Bob Denver (32) weds second wife Jean Webber; divorce in 1970

More September 16 Weddings

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Recovering the Story of the Empress Messalina After a Roman Cancellation — History News Network


From “Messaline Dans La Loge de Lisisca,” Agostino Carraci, 16th c., depicting the rumored moonlighting of the first-century empress in a Roman brothel.

Towards the end of 48 CE a workman carried his tools down into a tomb on the outskirts of Rome. Among the rows of niches, he found the urn holding the ashes of Marcus Valerius Antiochus. He had been a hairdresser and the freedman of the empress Valeria Messalina – a fact he had been proud enough of to record on his tombstone. The workman took out his tools; his job that day was to chisel off the empress’s name.

Messalina had been killed that autumn, in the midst of a scandal that had rocked Rome. She’d been accused of bigamously marrying one of her lovers and plotting to oust her husband, the emperor Claudius, from the throne. The real reason for Messalina’s fall probably lay more in the power plays of court politics than in some grand, mad, bigamous passion, but it didn’t matter. A succession of her alleged lovers were executed, and then, fearing that Claudius might be swayed by love for his wife, an imperial advisor ordered that Messalina herself be killed before she had the chance to plead her case.

Tacitus, the great historian of Roman tyranny, recorded that Claudius hardly reacted when the news of his wife’s death was brought to him at dinner –– he simply asked for another glass of wine. Claudius seemed to want to forget completely, and the senate was willing to help him. They decreed that every trace of Messalina –– every image of her, and every mention of her name –– should be destroyed. It was only the second time in Roman history that an official order of this kind, now referred to as damnatio memoriae, had been passed. The decree applied to both the public and private sphere; statues of Messalina were dragged off plinths in town-squares and domestic atria before being smashed, or melted down, or recut. Mentions of her name were rubbed off official records, and chiselled equally off honorific monuments and hairdressers’ epitaphs.

Damnatio memoriae has sometimes been referred to as a form of ancient Roman “cancel culture,” but this was a process utterly unlike modern cancellation –– one that could not be replicated today. In the age of the internet someone might be unfollowed, their invitations to speak at official events rescinded, they might be attacked in op-eds. Their name might even become unmentionable in certain circles. But while the reach and influence of “the cancelled” might be reduced, the evidence of their existence and actions cannot be destroyed. Their government records and Wikipedia pages still record their birthdate; their tweets, however dodgy, are still cached in some corner of the internet. They can post videos of themselves crying and apologizing, tweet a glib brush-off, or publish ten-thousand-word tracts of self-justification. The cancelled might be dismissed, but they cannot be erased.

The situation was different in 48 CE. The sources of information about Roman political figures were less varied and more traceable than they are today –– and the mediums through which such information was disseminated, generally more smashable.

The public image of imperial women like Messalina was carefully controlled. Official portrait types were developed, copies of which were sent off to cities throughout the empire, where they were copied and recopied again for public buildings, shop-windows, private houses. These statues, along with coin types and honorific inscriptions, were designed to present Julio-Claudian women as icons of ideal Roman femininity and imperial stability. Messalina’s best-preserved portrait is almost Madonna like – she stands, veiled, balancing her baby son Britannicus, then heir to the empire, on her hip; coins minted in Alexandria depict the empress as a veiled fertility goddess, carrying sheaves of corn that promise the prosperity of imperially protected trade routes. Such a coherent image could be destroyed almost wholesale – especially when driven by an official, central edict rather than simply by a shift in popular consensus; there is only one surviving statue of Messalina that was not discovered pre-broken by the conscientious minor officials of the mid-1st century.

So where does this leave the historian? At first glance the situation is dire –– our information about imperial Roman women is always limited, and in this case much of that information has been purposefully and systematically destroyed. On reflection, however, it is more complex; the destruction of Messalina’s images and honours had created a vacuum and an opportunity.

The official narrative of the Julio-Claudian rulers, expressed in stone and bronze, was always supplemented by a secondary, ephemeral narrative of rumor. This was a period that saw politics move ever more away from the public arenas of the senate and the assembly into the private world of the imperial palace as power was ever-increasingly concentrated in the figure of the emperor. The women of the Julio-Claudian family were central to this new dynastic politics; they had access to the emperor that senators could only dream of, and all the while they were raising a new generation of potential heirs to the imperial throne. As the opacity of the new court politics encouraged ever more frenzied speculation about the private lives and intrigues of its players, much of that speculation came to center on the women.

Messalina’s dramatic and sudden fall from grace had raised questions and, in leaving her memory and reputation unprotected, the process of damnatio memoriae allowed people to propose answers. Rumours of the empress’ political and sexual conduct –– some of which may have been circulating during her life, some of which must have evolved after her death –– could now be openly discussed, elaborated upon and written about.

The result is an extraordinarily rich tangle of reality and myth. The sources are almost certainly right to accuse Messalina of orchestrating her enemies’ downfalls and deaths (no one could survive almost a decade at the top of the Julio-Claudian court without a little violence); their attribution of such plots to sexual jealousy and “feminine” passion rather than to political necessity is more suspect. Similarly, there is no reason to believe ancient writers totally unjustified in accusing Messalina of adultery; their claims that she slipped out of the palace nightly to work in a low-class brothel, or that she challenged the most notorious courtesan in Rome to a competition of who could sleep with more men in twenty-four hours (and won with a tally of twenty-five) are far more difficult to credit.

The unravelling of these stories is both the challenge and the joy of ancient history. The process is also revealing on two counts. The evaluation of these stories brings us closer to re-constructing the narrative of Messalina’s real life, her history, and her impact on her times. But even those tales that cannot be credited are of value. The stories and rumours that Rome constructed about its most powerful women when given totally free rein tell us a great deal about its contemporary culture and society –– its anxieties, its prejudices, its assumptions, and its desires. 



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Just 4 Days of Junk Food Can Rewire Your Brain’s Memory Center


Hamburger Unhealthy Junk Food Obesity
Scientists have discovered that junk food can alter brain memory circuits within days. The research hints that early lifestyle interventions might help safeguard memory and prevent long-term cognitive decline. Credit: Stock

A high-fat diet quickly disrupts neurons tied to memory, but restoring glucose or dietary changes can repair the damage. These findings may guide strategies to reduce dementia risk.

Diet impacts the brain a lot more than we think.

A study conducted by researchers at the UNC School of Medicine, recently published in Neuron, shows how diets high in junk food can rapidly alter the brain’s memory center, increasing the likelihood of cognitive impairment. The findings point to new opportunities for early interventions that could help prevent lasting memory decline linked to obesity.

CCK interneurons and disrupted glucose use

The research team, led by Juan Song, PhD, professor of pharmacology and principal investigator, along with first author Taylor Landry, PhD, discovered that a specific group of neurons in the hippocampus, known as CCK interneurons, become hyperactive after exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD). This heightened activity occurs because the brain loses its ability to properly take in glucose (sugar). Even after only a few days on this type of diet, which mirrors Western junk foods rich in saturated fats such as cheeseburgers and fries, memory processing in the hippocampus is disrupted. The study also identified a central role for the protein PKM2, which regulates how brain cells use energy, in driving these harmful effects.

Juan Song
Juan Song, PhD. Credit: UNC School of Medicine

“We knew that diet and metabolism could affect brain health, but we didn’t expect to find such a specific and vulnerable group of brain cells, CCK interneurons in the hippocampus, that were directly disrupted by short-term high-fat diet exposure,” Song said, who is a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center. “What surprised us most was how quickly these cells changed their activity in response to reduced glucose availability, and how this shift alone was enough to impair memory.”

Brain Health Study Summary

  • Mice were fed a high-fat diet that mimicked junk food before undergoing behavioral tests.
  • After only four days on this diet, researchers observed that CCK interneurons in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, became unusually active.
  • These findings suggest that fatty junk foods can begin altering brain function almost immediately, long before weight gain or diabetes develops.

The study also emphasizes how strongly memory circuits respond to dietary influences, highlighting the critical role of nutrition in supporting brain health. According to the researchers, consuming a high-fat diet that is high in saturated fats may raise the risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Interventions restore brain health

The research also shows that restoring brain glucose levels actually calmed down overactive neurons and fixed memory problems in mice. The study found interventions like dietary modifications or pharmacological approaches may be effective in preserving brain health for obesity-related neurodegeneration. Notably, researchers discovered that dietary interventions like intermittent fasting periods following a high-fat diet were sufficient to normalize CCK interneurons and improve memory function.

“This work highlights how what we eat can rapidly affect brain health and how early interventions, whether through fasting or medicine, could protect memory and lower the risk of long-term cognitive problems linked to obesity and metabolic disorders,” said Song. “In the long run, such strategies could help reduce the growing burden of dementia and Alzheimer’s linked to metabolic disorders, offering more holistic care that addresses both body and brain.”

This research is ongoing to further understand how these glucose-sensitive neurons disrupt brain rhythms that support memory. Researchers plan to test whether these targeted therapies could be translated into humans and how a high-fat diet could be a factor in Alzheimer’s disease. Lifestyle-based interventions will also be explored, such as dietary patterns that stabilize brain glucose, to see if they offer protective benefits.

Reference: “Targeting glucose-inhibited hippocampal CCK interneurons prevents cognitive impairment in diet-induced obesity” by Taylor Landry, Laura Perrault, David Melville, Zhe Chen, Ya-Dong Li, Ping Dong, W. Todd Farmer, Brent Asrican, Hannah Lee, Libo Zhang, Ryan N. Sheehy, Corina Damian, Thomas Collins, Nehemiah Stewart, E.S. Anton and Juan Song, 11 September 2025, Neuron.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.016

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Endangered Sharks Found in U.S. Grocery Store Seafood, Study Warns


Shark Fins
A new study has revealed that much of the shark meat sold in U.S. markets is misleadingly labeled, with DNA tests showing it often comes from endangered species such as hammerheads. Credit: Shutterstock

A study uncovered widespread mislabeling of shark meat in U.S. markets, with endangered species sold cheaply under vague labels.

A recent investigation by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has revealed a troubling trend in the U.S. seafood market. Shark meat sold in grocery stores, fish markets, and even online is not only frequently mislabeled but also often comes from species at risk of extinction.

The team analyzed 29 samples using DNA barcoding to confirm what type of shark was being sold. Their results showed that 93% of the products were labeled in vague or misleading ways, and the meat came from 11 different species.

Alarmingly, some of the samples were identified as great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead, both of which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies as critically endangered. Despite their precarious status and worldwide population declines, meat from these sharks was available to American buyers for as little as $2.99 per pound.

Shark Meat Grocery Store
Pictures of shark meat purchased for the study. Credit: Savannah Ryburn

“Mislabeling and ambiguous labeling remove consumers’ ability to choose what they are putting in their bodies,” said Savannah Ryburn, Ph.D., first author of the study and co-instructor of the seafood forensics class that conducted the research. “For example, two species in our study, scalloped hammerhead and great hammerhead, were ambiguously labeled as ‘shark,’ even though they are strongly advised against consumption due to their very high mercury levels. Without accurate and precise labeling, consumers cannot avoid purchasing these products.”

Health Risks of Mislabeled Shark Meat

The researchers found that of the 29 products tested, 27 were labeled simply as “shark” or “mako shark” without a species designation. Even among the two products that were labeled with a species name, one turned out to be incorrect. These findings highlight a major gap in seafood transparency and consumer safety.

“The United States should require seafood distributors to provide species-specific names for the products being sold,” said John Bruno, Ph.D., distinguished professor and co-instructor of the seafood forensics class.

Shark meat is known to contain high levels of mercury, which can pose serious risks to human health, particularly for children and pregnant people. The researchers emphasize that accurate labeling is essential not only for conservation but also for consumer protection.

“Sharks such as great and scalloped hammerheads are the ocean’s equivalent of lions, and we were shocked by how cheaply the meat of these rare, long-lived apex predators was sold,” added Ryburn. “Some samples were only $2.99 per pound.”

The study, which contributes to a limited but growing body of research using DNA barcoding to investigate the accuracy of shark product labeling in the U.S., calls for stronger regulations and oversight of seafood labeling practices.

Reference: “Sale of critically endangered sharks in the United States” by Savannah J. Ryburn, Tammy Yu, Kelly J. Ong, Eldridge Wisely, Meggan A. Alston, Ella Howie, Peyton LeRoy, Sarah Elizabeth Giang, William Ball, Jewel Benton, Robert Calhoun, Isabella Favreau, Ana Gutierrez, Kayla Hallac, Dakota Hanson, Teagan Hibbard, Bryson Loflin, Joshua Lopez, Gracie Mock, Kailey Myers, Andrés Pinos-Sánchez, Alejandra Maria Suarez Garcia, Adriana Retamales Romero, Audrey Thomas, Rhiannon Williams, Anabel Zaldivar and John F. Bruno, 5 August 2025, Frontiers in Marine Science.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1604454

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Scientists Find a Way to “Bulletproof” T Cells Against Cancer


T Cells Cancer Cells
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the harsh environment inside tumors, characterized by low oxygen and high acidity, induces stress in T cells’ mitochondria, which then release reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage telomeres and drive T cell exhaustion. Credit: Shutterstock

Telomere damage drives T cell exhaustion. Antioxidants restored their cancer-fighting strength in mice.

Tumor environments place heavy stress on immune cells that fight cancer. Limited oxygen, elevated acidity, and other harsh conditions overload mitochondria, the cell’s energy producers, which contributes to T cell fatigue and worsens cancer outcomes.

A new study in Immunity, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, showed in mice that these conditions prompt mitochondria to release reactive oxygen species (ROS). These molecules travel to the nucleus and damage telomeres, ultimately pushing T cells into a dysfunctional state.

“The really exciting part about this research is that by preventing damage to telomeres via a targeted antioxidant, we can rescue T cell function,” said lead author Dayana Rivadeneira, assistant professor in the Pitt Department of Immunology and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “This opens the door to novel therapies to improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies.”

Chromosomes From Mouse T Cells Showing Telomeres in Green
Chromosomes from mouse T cells showing telomeres in green. Credit: Rivadeneira et al. (2025) Immunity

Unexpected mitochondrial connection

Rivadeneira and senior author Greg Delgoffe, a professor in the Pitt Department of Immunology and UPMC Hillman, did not originally plan to investigate telomeres. Their initial focus was on how mitochondrial damage influences T cell performance. A collaboration with Patricia Opresko, professor in the Pitt Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, and the late Marcel Bruchez, professor of biological sciences and chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, expanded the study to include telomeric damage.

Dayana Rivadeneira
Dayana Rivadeneira, assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Immunology and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Credit: University of Pittsburgh

To explore this, the team engineered mice with a genetic system that produces highly localized oxidative damage at either telomeres or mitochondria when exposed to far-red light.

“What we found was remarkable,” said Delgoffe. “Whether we damaged the mitochondria or the telomeres, we got the same result: dysfunctional T cells. There is crosstalk between the engine of the cell and the brains of the cell, the mitochondria, and the nucleus. This is something we didn’t necessarily appreciate, at least in the immune system.”

“When you damage the mitochondria, one of the first thing that gets damaged is the telomeres,” Rivadeneira added. “And, likewise, when you damage the telomeres, they talk back to the mitochondria to initiate a program that tells the cell to shut down and become exhausted.”

Antioxidant therapy to restore function

Because ROS — highly reactive oxygen molecules that cause cellular damage — were responsible for telomeric damage, Delgoffe and Rivadeneira hypothesized that ROS-neutralizing antioxidants could protect or restore T cell function.

To neutralize ROS specifically at telomeres, they took mouse T cells and tethered an antioxidant protein to another protein that resides at telomeres. When they infused these T cells into mice with an aggressive form of melanoma, the animals had much better survival and smaller tumors than those given regular T cells.

Potential for CAR-T therapy

According to the researchers, this antioxidant approach could be applied to CAR-T therapy, which involves taking a patient’s T cells and genetically engineering them to better recognize cancer cells before reinfusing them.

“This research is highly translatable because this approach could easily be incorporated into standard CAR-T protocol,” said Delgoffe. “While you’re genetically engineering T cells to improve cancer-fighting capability, you could also make them bulletproof against oxidative damage.”

Fluorescent Mouse Chromosomes and Portraits of Researchers
Left photo — Chromosomes from mouse T cells showing telomeres in green. Credit: Rivadeneira et al. (2025) Immunity. Right Photo, Dayana Rivadeneira (left) and Greg Delgoffe. Credit: University of Pittsburgh

Now, the researchers are working to develop a similar telomere-specific antioxidant approach for modifying human T cells, which they eventually hope to test in clinical trials.

In her newly launched lab, Rivadeneira also plans to investigate more broadly how telomere health influences the immune system and cancer outcomes. One area of interest is understanding how chemotherapy alters T cell function by damaging telomeres and whether this could influence whether patients respond to immunotherapy.

Reference: “Oxidative-stress-induced telomere instability drives T cell dysfunction in cancer” by Dayana B. Rivadeneira, Sanjana Thosar, Kevin Quann, William G. Gunn, Victoria G. Dean, Bingxian Xie, Angelina Parise, Andrew C. McGovern, Kellie Spahr, Konstantinos Lontos, Ryan P. Barnes, Marcel P. Bruchez, Patricia L. Opresko and Greg M. Delgoffe, 9 September 2025, Immunity.
DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2025.08.008

Funding: NIH/National Institutes of Health, Cancer Research Institute, Mark Foundation For Cancer Research

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Excavations Revealed Evidence That Early Humans Lived In Britain More Than 700,000 Years Ago


Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – After six years of excavations, University of Cambridge archaeologists reveal in their study led by Dr Alastair Key from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, that early humans lived on the River Stour banks in Kent 712, 000 to 621, 000 years ago and reoccupied the region during an ice age around 440, 000 years ago.

Excavations Revealed Evidence That Early Humans Lived In Britain More Than 700,000 Years Ago

A selection of the flake artefacts recovered from the excavations at Old Park, Canterbury (UK). Source

For over a century, it has been established that early humans inhabited the banks of the ancient Stour River in Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom. This conclusion is supported by the discovery of thousands of Palaeolithic stone artefacts in this area since the 1920s. These artefacts date from 712,000 to 621,000 years ago. Researchers further found the possibility that humans occupied these northern latitudes during this harsh climatic event. The makers of these very early tools are a species commonly known as Homo heidelbergensis.

An intriguing discovery was made regarding artifacts created by later populations of Homo heidelbergensis, who are generally considered the ancestors of early Neanderthals. Approximately 440,000 years ago, during one of Britain’s most severe ice ages, the Stour River deposited a layer of gravel that was subsequently covered by sand. Between these two sediment layers, archaeologists uncovered remarkably sharp stone tools.

Dr. James Clark from the University of Cambridge explains that humans were making flint tools directly on the gravel during this ice age, and these tools were quickly covered before their edges broke. This finding is exciting because it was thought impossible for humans to survive in Britain during these cold phases, showing the adaptability of early populations.

However, these populations may only have been summer visitors, or could have occupied the region during the brief, warmer interglacial periods found within the broader glacial event.

Excavations Revealed Evidence That Early Humans Lived In Britain More Than 700,000 Years Ago

Four of the handaxes recovered from Fordwich Pit, Old Park, Canterbury (UK). Two of the rough elongated forms can be observed in the top row, while two of the more heavily flaked and likely younger handaxes are on the bottom row. Source

In addition to the 440,000-year-old artifacts, researchers also unearthed microscopic plant fossils known as phytoliths. These findings suggest that these ancient populations inhabited a relatively cold grassland environment. While the data are interpreted with caution, they indicate that these early humans may have shared an ecological niche with grassland fauna, including extinct species of horses and rhinos.

“If humans lived in a cool-to-cold grassland ecosystem at this time, even if only during the summer, it raises important questions about how they did this.,” says Dr Michaela Leonardi, a University of Cambridge and Natural History Museum palaeoecologist who modelled Old Park’s ancient environment as part of the research.

“Did these populations track migrating prey? Could they have made clothing with sewn seems or shelters to guard against the cold?”

Excavations Revealed Evidence That Early Humans Lived In Britain More Than 700,000 Years Ago

An artist’s interpretation of the Old Park Palaeolandscape during a warm interstadial within the Anglian glaciation event, c. 440,000 years ago. Image credit: Nguyen Ngoc My Ha – source

The study plays a crucial role in providing historical context for the hundreds of stone tool artifacts discovered at the site.

A tool category, known as Acheulean handaxe, is hard to interpret due to two distinct types: one highly shaped and ovate, the other roughly made and elongated. Two archaeological layers separated by 200, 000 years suggest that these tools were made by different human populations with potentially different cognitive and behavioral capabilities.

The roughly made handaxes are possibly the oldest in northern Europe and are atypical for the region, while the more refined ones share features common to other Acheulean sites. The research continues to analyze stone tool artefacts historically found at the site.

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Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

 





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Latvia’s Stone Age Cemetery Reveals Stone Goods’ Role In Burial Rituals Of Children, Women, And Men


Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – A new study, focusing on the Zvejnieki cemetery in northern Latvia, one of the largest Stone Age burial sites in Europe, has provided invaluable insights into Stone Age life and death traditions. The results showed that stone tools were just as likely to be buried with women and children as with men.

Latvia's Stone Age Cemetery Reveals Stone Goods' Role In Burial Rituals Of Children, Women, And Men

Stone Age tools unearthed in Latvia’s Zvejnieki Cemetery. Image credit: University of York

This discovery challenges the traditional notion that stone tools were exclusively linked to men.

The site, which was in use for over 5,000 years and contains more than 330 graves, has revealed a significant aspect of archaeological study. Previously, stone artifacts found in these burials had not been thoroughly examined. At Zvejnieki and other Stone Age burial sites, such tools were often overlooked as being unremarkable.

This research reveals that these artifacts played a far more significant role in burial rituals than previously thought. Some tools appear to have been intentionally created and then broken as part of funerary rites.

“The site in Latvia has seen numerous investigations of the skeletal remains and other types of grave goods, such as thousands of animal teeth pendants,” said Dr Aimée Little, from the Centre for Artefacts and Materials Analysis, part of the University of York’s Department of Archaeology.

Latvia's Stone Age Cemetery Reveals Stone Goods' Role In Burial Rituals Of Children, Women, And Men

Image source

Why people provided seemingly utilitarian items to the deceased was a crucial aspect that the team wanted to explore deeper.

According to Dr. Little, the research challenges the longstanding stereotype of “Man the Hunter,” a prevalent theme in Stone Age studies. This stereotype has even occasionally influenced how some infants were identified by sex, based on their association with lithic tools.

The study also found women were as likely, or more so than men, to be buried with stone tools.  During this era, women were traditionally expected to fulfill domestic roles.

They were primarily responsible for cooking the animals hunted by men, engaging in various crafts, and caring for the family. This stereotype reflects the societal norms and expectations of that time period.

Children and older adults were the most common recipients of stone artifacts.

“This research demonstrates that we cannot make these gendered assumptions and that lithic grave goods played an important role in the mourning rituals of children and women, as well as men,” added Dr Anda Petrovic, from the University of Belgrade.

There is still a vast amount of knowledge about the lives and deaths of Europe’s earliest communities. This knowledge should be revealed.

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Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

 

 





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