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Historical Events on September 11


  • 9 The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends after four days with a Germanic alliance defeating Roman forces and putting an end to expansion of the empire east of the Rhine
  • 910 Benedictine abbey of Cluny founded by William, Duke of Aquitaine, in Burgundy, France, one of the greatest monasteries of Western Europe
  • 1185 Byzantine nobleman Isaac II Angelos kills courtier Stephanus Hagiochristophorites, triggering a revolt and the overthrow of Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, placing Isaac on the throne
  • 1213 Chinese general Chih-Chung assassinates Emperor Wei Shao Wang (former Prince of Wei) in Peking and proclaims himself Regent
  • 1226 The Roman Catholic practice of public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass spreads from monasteries to parishes

Ögedei Khan

1229 Ögedei, son of Genghis Khan, is elected the Mongolian Khan, succeeding Genghis after his father’s death (or September 13)

Battle of Stirling Bridge

1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scottish rebel William Wallace defeats the English

  • 1304 William the Good becomes Earl of Holland
  • 1390 Lithuanian Civil War (1389-1392): the Teutonic Knights begin a five-week siege of Vilnius

1503 Michelangelo begins sculpting the 12 Apostles for the Cathedral of Florence, creating over-life-sized marble statues, of which only one, that of St. Matthew, is partly finished

  • 1541 Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors, lead by Michimalonko
  • 1557 Catholic and Lutheran theology debated in Worms
  • 1609 An expulsion order is issued against the Moriscos of Valencia, beginning the expulsion of all of Spain’s Moriscos (former Muslims and their descendants)

Siege of Bristol

1645 General Thomas Fairfax‘s New Model Army occupies Bristol after the city surrenders

  • 1655 Peter Stuyvesant recaptures Dutch Fort Casimir from the Swedes in Delaware

Battle of Zenta

1697 Battle of Zenta: Holy League forces led by Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat an Ottoman army under Mustafa II near Zenta, Kingdom of Hungary, ending Ottoman control over large parts of Central Europe

Swedish Invasion of Russia

1708 Great Northern War: Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, marking the turning point in the war

  • 1709 Battle at Malplaquet during War of the Spanish Succession: English, Austrian and Dutch Great Alliance defeat France
  • 1714 French and Spanish troops under the Duke of Berwick occupy Barcelona
  • 1741 Queen of Bohemia Maria Theresa addresses the Hungarian Parliament
  • 1758 Battle of Saint Cast: France repels British invasion during the Seven Years’ War
  • 1786 Annapolis Convention on interstate commerce opens to discuss reversing protectionist trade barriers between US states
  • 1792 The French Blue gem (later the Hope Diamond) is stolen along with other French crown jewels from the royal storehouse in Paris during the Reign of Terror
  • 1802 France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont
  • 1814 Americans defeat the British at the Battle of Plattsburgh, which began on September 6, during the War of 1812
  • 1814 Battle of Lake Champlain: The American navy defeats the Royal Navy at Plattsburgh, New York, ending the British invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812
  • 1839 First Canadian track and field meet held at Caer Howell Grounds

Oh! Susanna

1847 First singing of Stephen Foster‘s “Oh! Susanna” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Swedish Nightingale

1850 Opera singer Jenny Lind, “The Swedish Nightingale,” gives her first US concert at Castle Garden in New York City, promoted by P. T. Barnum

  • 1852 Olympia Columbian is the first newspaper published north of the Columbia River
  • 1853 First electric telegraph used between Merchant’s Exchange, San Francisco, and Point Lobos, California
  • 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre: Mormons, disguised as Native Americans, murder 120 settlers in Utah
  • 1877 Russo-Turkish War: The third Russian assault on Plevna, Ottoman Empire (now Pleven, Bulgaria), aided by Romanian forces, mostly fails, although the Romanians take Grivitsa; up to 20,000 Russian and 6,000 Turkish casualties
  • 1881 Triple landslides bury Elm, Switzerland
  • 1882 First international conference to promote anti-Semitism meets in Dresden, Germany (Congress for the Safeguarding of Non-Jewish Interests)
  • 1883 American architect James Cutler patents the postal mail chute for the Elwood Building in Rochester, New York
  • 1885 Moses Hopkins is named minister to Liberia
  • 1886 6th America’s Cup: Mayflower (NY Yacht Club) beats Galatea (Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club, Scotland) for a 2-0 series victory
  • 1891 The Jewish Colonization Association is established by Baron Maurice de Hirsch
  • 1893 “Svoboda,” the oldest existing Ukrainian newspaper, is founded as a weekly publication by Father Hryhorii Hrushka in Jersey City, New Jersey, and expands to a daily in 1921
  • 1893 Bronx Gas & Electric Company opens on Frisby and Tremont Ave
  • 1893 First conference of the World Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago, Indian monk Swami Vivekananda gives influential speech
  • 1893 Shaku Soen is the first Zen teacher to visit the West (Chicago)

Kingdom of Kaffa Ends

1897 After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to the ancient kingdom

Kruger Leaves Transvaal

1900 President of Transvaal, Paul Kruger, crosses the border into Mozambique

  • 1903 The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held, making it the oldest major speedway in the world

Satyagraha

1906 Mahatma Gandhi coins the term “Satyagraha” to characterize the non-violence movement in South Africa

  • 1909 German astronomer Max Wolf rediscovers Halley’s comet
  • 1910 First commercially successful electric bus line opens in Los Angeles

Collins Steals Record

1912 Philadelphia second baseman Eddie Collins steals an MLB record of 6 bases in the Athletics’ 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field

  • 1914 Australia invades New Britain, defeating German colonial forces

St Louis Blues

1914 Father of the Blues, W. C. Handy, publishes “St. Louis Blues,” his most famous composition

1916 First true self-service supermarket, Clarence Saunders’ “Piggly Wiggly,” opens in Memphis, Tennessee [1]

  • 1916 German troops conquer Kavalla, Greece
  • 1916 The Quebec Bridge’s central span collapses during reconstruction, killing 11 men
  • 1919 US Marines again send troops to Honduras
  • 1921 Nahalal, the first moshav in Israel, is settled
  • 1922 Australian newspaper The Sun News-Pictorial, the predecessor of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, is founded
  • 1922 The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia
  • 1923 Bernie Neis hits the 1,000th Dodger home run
  • 1923 Boston Red Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke retires 27 New York Yankees
  • 1923 ZR-1 (biggest active dirigible) flies over New York’s tallest skyscraper, Woolworth Tower
  • 1926 Aloha Tower is dedicated in Honolulu, Hawaii
  • 1926 Spain leaves the League of Nations due to Germany joining
  • 1926 Yankees’ Bob Meusel ties the record with three sacrifice flies
  • 1927 After losing 21 in a row to New York, the Browns win their last meeting 6-2
  • 1927 Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hits his 50th home run during his MLB record 60 HR season in New York’s 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Browns at Yankee Stadium
  • 1928 First trans-Tasman crossing from Australia to New Zealand is piloted by Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm, arriving in Christchurch after 14 hours and 25 minutes
  • 1928 First TV drama WGY’s “The Queen’s Messenger” broadcasts in the New York area, starring Izetta Jewell

Ty Cobb’s Last Hit

1928 Philadelphia Athletics’ Ty Cobb pops out in his last MLB at-bat in a 5-3 loss to the Yankees in New York

  • 1929 San Francisco Mayor Rolph inaugurates a new pedestrian traffic light system
  • 1930 Stromboli volcano in Sicily ejects 2-ton basaltic rocks 2 miles, making it one of the most violent eruptions in recorded history
  • 1932 Polish aviators Franciszek Żwirko (36) and Stanisław Wigura (31), international “Challenge 1932” winners, are killed when their RWD-6 plane crashes in a forest in Těrlicko, Czechoslovakia, during a storm en route to an air meet in Prague
  • 1933 Antwerp’s Sportpaleis in Belgium, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opens; renovated from 2010 to 2013
  • 1936 A’s pitcher Horace Lisenbee gives up 26 hits in a game
  • 1939 Battle of Kutno Pocket: Germans advance to Warsaw
  • 1939 British submarine Triton torpedoes British submarine Oxley
  • 1939 Iraq and Saudi Arabia declare war on Nazi Germany
  • 1940 Anton Mussert establishes the Dutch SS
  • 1940 Buckingham Palace in London is damaged by German bombs
  • 1940 Frank C. Walker of Pennsylvania takes office as the 54th US Postmaster General
  • 1940 George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer
  • 1940 Nazi Germany begins Operation Seelöwe (Sealion, the aborted invasion of England)

Lindbergh’s War Claim

1941 Charles Lindbergh claims the “British, Jewish, and Roosevelt administration” are trying to get the US into World War II

Pentagon Construction Begins

1941 Construction of the Pentagon begins in Arlington County, Virginia (completed January 15, 1943). Designed by architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain, construction is overseen by Leslie Groves

Order to Shoot Axis Ships

1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the US Navy that any Axis ship found in American waters be shot on sight

Five on a Treasure Island

1942 Enid Blyton publishes “Five on a Treasure Island,” the first of her “Famous Five” children’s novels, starting one of the best-selling children’s series ever with over 100 million copies sold

  • 1942 Transport #31 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany
  • 1943 Jewish ghettos of Minsk and Lida, Belarus, are liquidated
  • 1943 Last German Q-ship or “pirate ship” sinks near Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile
  • 1943 US and Australian troops join in Salamaua, New Guinea
  • 1943 WWII: Allied armed forces conquer Salerno, Italy
  • 1944 A reconnaissance squadron of the US 5th Armored Division “Victory Division” is the first Allied force to enter Nazi Germany

Tojo Attempts Suicide

1945 Hideki Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister during most of World War II, attempts suicide rather than face a war crimes tribunal but fails; he is later hanged

  • 1945 Physician Willem J. Kolff performs the first successful kidney dialysis, using his artificial kidney machine in the Netherlands
  • 1946 First mobile long-distance car-to-car telephone conversation
  • 1950 A train crash in Coshocton, Ohio, kills 33
  • 1950 An episode from the TV series “Dick Tracy” sparks an uproar over violent content
  • 1950 First typesetting machine to dispense with metal type is exhibited

Chadwick Swims Channel

1951 Florence Chadwick becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to France, taking 16 hours and 19 minutes

The Rake’s Progress

1951 Igor Stravinsky‘s opera “The Rake’s Progress,” with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, premieres at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy

  • 1953 KSBW TV channel 8 in Salinas-Monterey, CA (NBC) begins broadcasting
  • 1953 WEHT TV channel 25 in Evansville, IN (CBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1954 20.4 cm of rainfall at Brunswick, Maine (state record)
  • 1954 KXJB TV Channel 4 in Valley City (Fargo) (NBC) begins broadcasting
  • 1955 Dedication of the first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe, the Bern Switzerland Temple

1955 Juan Manuel Fangio in a Mercedes wins the season-ending Italian Grand Prix at Monza to take his third Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship by 17 points from Englishman Stirling Moss

  • 1955 KTVT TV channel 11 in Fort Worth-Dallas, TX (IND) begins broadcasting
  • 1956 Cincinnati Reds outfielder Frank Robinson ties rookie record with his 38th home run
  • 1956 New York Yankees Yogi Berra ties career record for home runs by a catcher (236)
  • 1956 Vladimir Kuts runs a world record 10,000 m in 28:42.8
  • 1958 Great Britain performs an atmospheric nuclear test on Christmas Island
  • 1959 Baltimore starter Jerry Walker pitches all 16 innings as the Orioles edge the Chicago White Sox 1-0 at Memorial Stadium

Spingarn Medal

1959 Composer and jazz orchestra leader Duke Ellington wins NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his musical achievements

  • 1959 Congress passes a bill authorizing food stamps for low-income Americans
  • 1959 Elroy Face’s 22-game winning streak ends as Dodgers beat Pirates 5-4
  • 1960 The Young Americans for Freedom, meeting at the home of William F. Buckley Jr., promulgate the Sharon Statement
  • 1960 XVII Summer Olympic Games close at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy
  • 1961 Founding of the World Wildlife Fund in Morges, Switzerland
  • 1961 Hurricane Carla strikes near Port O’Connor, Texas, with winds of 175 mph
  • 1962 KVCR TV channel 24 in San Bernardino, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1962 The Beatles record “Love Me Do,” “PS I Love You,” and a slow version of “Please, Please Me,” with session player Andy White on drums; Ringo relegated to tambourine
  • 1963 Typhoon Gloria strikes Taiwan, killing 330 people and causing $17.5 million in damage

Mornyork Ltd

1964 Beatles guitarist George Harrison forms Mornyork Ltd, a music publishing company now known as Harrisongs

  • 1964 Gillette’s 20-year contract with Madison Square Garden and ABC to televise fights for free ends as Dick Tiger defeats Don Fullmer at Cleveland Auditorium
  • 1965 Beatles’ “Help!” album goes to #1 and stays at #1 for 9 weeks
  • 1965 Braves’ second consecutive one-hitter against the Mets
  • 1965 The 1st Cavalry Division of the United States Army arrives in Vietnam
  • 1966 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
  • 1966 Johnny Miller becomes the first New York Yankee to hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat; his second home run comes in his final MLB at-bat in 1969

Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan

1966 Rolling Stones’ fourth appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”; they perform three songs, including “Paint It Black”

The Carol Burnett Show

1967 “The Carol Burnett Show,” starring Carol Burnett, premieres on CBS-TV in the US

  • 1967 A’s drop grievance filed with the National Labor Relations Board against C. Finley
  • 1967 Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour begins with a bus driven somewhat aimlessly around Western England
  • 1967 French President Charles de Gaulle visits Poland
  • 1967 India/China border conflicts
  • 1967 US Surveyor 5 makes the first chemical analysis of lunar material
  • 1967 WSRE TV channel 23 in Pensacola, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1967 WUNE TV channel 17 in Linville, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1967 WUNF TV channel 33 in Asheville, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1967 WUNG TV channel 58 in Concord, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • 1968 Air France Flight 1611 crashes off Nice, France, killing 89 passengers and 6 crew
  • 1969 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

Hendrix’s Last Interview

1970 American rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix gives what becomes his final interview with NME’s Keith Altham in England

  • 1970 Ford Motor Company introduces its first North American subcompact model, the Pinto
  • 1970 Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine release the majority of 310 hostages from the Dawson’s Field hijackings near Zarqa, Jordan; 56 hostages, mostly Jews and Israeli citizens, are held until September 25
  • 1971 Egypt adopts its constitution
  • 1972 BART begins service with a 26-mile (42-kilometer) line from Oakland to Fremont
  • 1972 XX Summer Olympic Games close at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany

Allende Deposed in Coup

1973 Chilean President Salvador Allende, the first elected Marxist president of a South American country, is deposed in a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet

  • 1974 Cardinals beat Mets 4-3 in 25 innings (7 hours 4 minutes), record 202 plate appearances, and Félix Millán and John Milner come to bat 12 times each
  • 1976 Minnie Miñoso (52) bats for the Chicago White Sox 12 years after his retirement as a player; he goes hitless

Crosby and Bowie Record Duet

1977 American crooner Bing Crosby and British singer David Bowie record duet “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” at ATV Elstree Studios near London for television special “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas”

1977 The Atari 2600, originally known as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), is released in North America, revolutionizing the video game industry

  • 1978 Medical photographer Janet Parker is the last known person to die of smallpox; she contracted the infection in a laboratory in Birmingham, England
  • 1980 Chile adopts its constitution
  • 1980 Ron LeFlore (91st) and Rodney Scott (58th) set a teammate steal record
  • 1981 Second government of Dries van Agt forms in the Netherlands
  • 1983 Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris runs for 118 yards in a Steelers 25-21 win at Green Bay to become only the third player in NFL history to rush for 11,000 yards
  • 1983 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • 1985 International Cometary Explorer (ISEE 3) passes Giacobini-Zinner by 7,900 km

Rose Passes Cobb

1985 Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets career hit 4,192 off Eric Show of the San Diego Padres, eclipsing Ty Cobb‘s record

  • 1985 Sri Lanka achieves its first Test cricket victory, defeating India by 149 runs
  • 1986 Dow Jones Industrial Average suffers biggest one-day decline ever, plummeting 86.61 points to 1,792.89 as 237.57 million shares trade
  • 1986 US performs a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • 1987 Shootout at Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s church in Haiti, 12 die
  • 1988 Lost steamship “the Ship of Gold” SS Central America, sunk in 1857, is rediscovered in waters off North Carolina by a group led by Tommy Gregory Thompson using Bayesian search theory [1]
  • 1988 One-third of the population argues for Estonian autonomy
  • 1988 Sport Aid, a series of charity runs, is held to raise money for children suffering from hunger and famine
  • 1989 Drexel formally pleads guilty to securities fraud
  • 1989 KSO-AM in Des Moines, Iowa, changes its call letters to KGGO
  • 1991 “La Toya: Growing Up in The Jackson Family” goes on sale
  • 1991 14 die in a Continental Express commuter plane crash near Houston, Texas
  • 1991 Atlanta Braves pitchers Kent Mercker, Mark Wohlers, and Alejandro Pena pitch the first combined no-hitter in the National League, beating the San Diego Padres 1-0
  • 1991 NY Yankees final game at Baltimore Orioles’ Memorial Stadium
  • 1992 Hurricane Iniki hits Kauai, Hawaii, killing 3 people and injuring 8,000
  • 1993 Junxia Qu runs a 1500 m women’s world record in 3:50.46
  • 1994 46th Emmy Awards: Frasier, Picket Fences, and Kelsey Grammer win
  • 1994 Jingyi Le swims a world record in the women’s 50 m freestyle with a time of 24.51 seconds
  • 1995 Eastern Tennessee begins using 423 as the new area code
  • 1995 Ohio’s Governor Voinovich proclaims “Cleveland Indians Day”
  • 1995 Soyuz TM-22 lands
  • 1996 Union Pacific Railroad purchases Southern Pacific Railroad
  • 1997 After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom
  • 1998 16th Commonwealth Games open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it the first Asian country to host the games

Starr Report

1998 Independent counsel Ken Starr sends a report to the U.S. Congress accusing President Bill Clinton of 11 possible impeachable offenses

  • 2000 Activists protest against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, Australia

Blueprint

2001 Jay-Z releases his album “Blueprint,” featuring contributions by Eminem and Kanye West

9/11: United Flight 93

2001 Passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 attempt to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists, causing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field, killing all 44 people on board

  • 2001 Terrorists hijack a passenger plane and crash it into the Pentagon, killing 125 people

2001 Two passenger planes hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists crash into New York’s World Trade Center towers, causing the collapse of both and the deaths of 2,606 people

  • 2002 Through extreme and coordinated effort, the Pentagon is rededicated after repairs are completed exactly one year after the attack on the building

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What Happened on September 11


Major Events

  • 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scottish rebel William Wallace defeats the English
  • 1609 An expulsion order is issued against the Moriscos of Valencia, beginning the expulsion of all of Spain’s Moriscos (former Muslims and their descendants)
  • 1697 Battle of Zenta: Holy League forces led by Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat an Ottoman army under Mustafa II near Zenta in the Kingdom of Hungary, ending Ottoman control over large parts of Central Europe
  • 1708 Great Northern War: Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, the turning point in the war
  • 1916 First true self-service supermarket, Clarence Saunders’ “Piggly Wiggly,” opens in Memphis, Tennessee [1]
  • 2001 Passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 attempt to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists, causing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field, killing all 44 people on board
  • 2001 Terrorists hijack a passenger plane and crash it into the Pentagon, killing 125 people
  • 2001 Two passenger planes hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists crash into New York’s World Trade Center towers, causing the collapse of both and the deaths of 2,606 people

More September 11 Events

Sep 11 in Film & TV

  • 1928 First TV drama WGY’s “The Queen’s Messenger,” starring Izetta Jewell, broadcasts in the New York area

Sep 11 in Music

  • 1914 Father of the Blues, W. C. Handy, publishes “St. Louis Blues,” his most famous composition

Sep 11 in Sport

  • 1985 Sri Lanka achieves its first Test cricket victory, defeating India by 149 runs


Fun Fact About September 11

The Atari 2600, originally known as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), is released in North America, revolutionizing the video game industry

September 11, 1977

Articles, Photos and Quiz

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Planetary Collisions Could Hold the Key to Alien Habitability


High Energy Venus Impacts
An SwRI-led team compared the early impact history of Venus and Earth, determining that Venus experienced higher-energy impacts that created a superheated core. Models show these conditions could create Venus’ extended volcanism and younger surface. Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Impact history should be considered a key factor in the search for habitable Earth-like exoplanets.

Southwest Research Institute, working with Yale University, has produced a review highlighting recent scientific advances in understanding how the rocky inner planets, known as terrestrial planets, came to be and how they have changed over time. Their Nature Review journal paper examines the influence of late accretion on the long-term development of these planets, focusing on how this stage shaped their physical and chemical characteristics as well as their potential for supporting life.

Stars and planets emerge when immense clouds of gas and dust collapse under gravity. This process creates a central star, such as our Sun, surrounded by a broad disk of material that gradually clumps together.

Within this disk, the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) formed as small rocky fragments collided and merged into larger planetesimals, which later grew into protoplanets. During this period, late collisions played an especially important role. Earth appears to have been the last of the four to fully form, reaching roughly 99% of its final size within 60 to 100 million years after the earliest solid materials came together.

The Role of Late Accretion

“We examined the disproportionate role late accretion — the final 1% of planetary growth — plays in controlling the long-term evolution of the Earth and other terrestrial planets,” said the paper’s lead author, Dr. Simone Marchi, of SwRI’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado. “Differences in planets’ late accretions may provide a rationale for interpreting their distinct properties. We made advances constraining the history of late accretions, using large-scale impact simulations and understanding the consequences of interior, crustal, and atmospheric evolution.”

A recent wealth of geochemical data from meteorites and terrestrial rocks has led to a better understanding of the formation of planets. With these advances, collisions and their various consequences have emerged as crucial processes affecting the long-term evolution of terrestrial planets. For instance, the tectonics, atmospheric composition, and water of Venus and Earth appear to be tied to late accretion. The surface variability of Mars and the high metal-to-silicate mass ratio of Mercury are also associated with late large impacts.

Evolution of Terrestrial Planets Graphic
A new SwRI-led paper highlights the scientific progress made in understanding the evolution of terrestrial planets, including the effects of late large impacts on pre-existing modes of tectonics. For instance, the Earth experienced transient subduction, when one tectonic plate slides beneath another. Because Venus’ surface is covered by a single plate, a high-velocity impact led to a superheated core and long-lived volcanism. On Mars, a large, low-velocity impact facilitated variations in its hemispheres. Impacts also modify the atmospheres of terrestrial planets in profound ways, including eliminating or supplementing existing gases. Credit: Southwest Research Institute

“Impact histories should play a critical role in the search for habitable exoplanets like Earth,” Marchi said. “The habitability of a rocky planet depends on the nature of its atmosphere, which is tied to plate tectonics and mantle outgassing. The search for Earth’s twin might focus on rocky planets with similar bulk properties — mass, radius, and habitable zone location — as well as a comparable collision history.”

Models provide insights into the total number and history of impacts, but geologic activity can obscure some evidence. The scientific community uses lunar impacts, additional observations, and dynamic models to better understand and “constrain” the bombardment history of the rocky planets.

Tracking the Fate of Impactors

“The fate of an impactor’s material is crucial to understanding the target body’s physical and chemical evolution,” Marchi said. “We assess the abundance of certain elements that have an affinity for metal in the mantle and crust of planetary objects to understand the timing and processes that led to the formations of their core, mantle, and crust.”

Impacts also modify the atmospheres of terrestrial planets in profound ways, particularly affecting the abundance of volatile elements, such as water and carbon, that easily vaporize. Collisions can blow off pre-existing atmospheres, or conversely, volatile-rich impactors can deliver these components to a planet’s surface and atmosphere. The abundance of volatiles provides insights into the formation, evolution, and habitability of terrestrial planets.

“These processes almost certainly played a role in the prebiotic chemistry of early Earth, but their implications in the origin of life remain a mystery,” Marchi said.

Reference: “The shaping of terrestrial planets by late accretions” by Simone Marchi, and Jun Korenaga, 28 May 2025, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08970-8

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Why Are Rivers in Alaska Turning Orange?


Salmon River Alaska's Brooks Range
The Salmon River in Alaska now runs a rusty orange thanks to metal contaminants unleashed by thawing permafrost. Credit: Taylor Rhoades

Warming soil releases toxic metals that threaten fish and disrupt food chains.

In Alaska’s Brooks Range, rivers that were once clear enough to drink have turned a murky orange as toxic metals spread through the water. Warming is thawing long-frozen ground, setting off chemical reactions that are harming fish and disrupting entire ecosystems.

As global temperatures rise, permafrost — permanently frozen Arctic soil that has stored minerals for thousands of years — is melting. Water and oxygen seep into newly exposed layers, breaking down sulfide-rich rock. This process produces sulfuric acid, which pulls naturally occurring metals such as iron, cadmium, and aluminum from the rock into the river.

Changes like these are often linked to mining activity. In this case, however, mining is not the cause.

“This is what acid mine drainage looks like,” said Tim Lyons, a biogeochemist at the University of California, Riverside. “But here, there’s no mine. The permafrost is thawing and changing the chemistry of the landscape.”

Research Team in the Alaskan Wilderness
The research team in the Alaskan wilderness. Credit: Taylor Rhoades

Scientific Alarms

A new paper detailing the severity of the contamination has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Though the study focuses on the Salmon River, researchers warn that similar transformations are already underway across dozens of other Arctic watersheds.

“I have worked and traveled in the Brooks Range since 1976, and the recent changes in landforms and water chemistry are truly astounding,” said David Cooper, Colorado State University research scientist and study co-author.

Ecologist Paddy Sullivan of the University of Alaska first noticed the dramatic changes in 2019 while conducting fieldwork on Arctic forests shifting northward — another consequence of climate change. A pilot flying Sullivan into the field warned him the Salmon River hadn’t cleared up after the snowmelt and looked “like sewage.” Alarmed by what he saw, Sullivan joined forces with Lyons, Roman Dial from Alaska Pacific University, and others to investigate the causes and ecological consequences.

Salmon River in the Past
The Salmon River in better times. Credit: Patrick Sullivan/University of Alaska

Their analysis confirmed that thawing permafrost was unleashing geochemical reactions that oxidize sulfide-rich rocks like pyrite, generating acidity and mobilizing a wide suite of metals, including cadmium, which accumulates in fish organs and could affect animals like bears and birds that eat fish.

In small amounts, metals aren’t necessarily toxic. However, the study shows that levels of metals in the river’s waters exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxicity thresholds for aquatic life. In addition, the iron-clouded waters reduce the amount of light reaching the bottom of the river and smother insect larvae eaten by the salmon and other fish.

Ecological and Human Consequences

While current metal concentrations in edible fish tissue are not considered hazardous to humans, the changes to the rivers pose indirect but serious threats. Chum salmon, a key subsistence species for many Indigenous communities, might struggle to spawn in gravel beds choked with fine sediment. Other species, such as grayling and Dolly Varden, may also be affected.

“It’s not just a Salmon River story,” Lyons said. “This is happening across the Arctic. Wherever you have the right kind of rock and thawing permafrost, this process can start.”

Unlike mine sites, where acid drainage can be mitigated with buffers or containment systems, these remote watersheds might have hundreds of contamination sources and no such infrastructure. Once the chemical process begins, the only thing that can stop it is the recovery of the permafrost.

“There’s no fixing this once it starts,” Lyons said. “It’s another irreversible shift driven by a warming planet.”

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Rapid Response program, highlights the potential danger for other Arctic regions. The researchers would like to help communities and land managers anticipate future impacts and, when possible, prepare for them.

“There are few places left on Earth as untouched as these rivers,” Lyons said. “But even here, far from cities and highways, the fingerprint of global warming is unmistakable. No place is spared.”

Reference: “Wild, scenic, and toxic: Recent degradation of an iconic Arctic watershed with permafrost thaw” by Patrick F. Sullivan, Roman J. Dial, David J. Cooper, Charles Diamond, Christopher J. Tino, Daniel D. Gregory, Russell E. Wong and Timothy W. Lyons, 8 September 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2425644122

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The U.S. Is Sitting on a Goldmine of Critical Minerals – but They’re Being Thrown Away


Landscape of Colorado’s Climax Mine
Colorado’s Climax Mine, which produces produces approximately 30 million pounds of molybdenum every year, was among the U.S. mining operations evaluated in the critical minerals analysis published in the journal Science. Credit: Colorado School of Mines

Critical U.S. minerals are already mined but discarded. Small-scale recovery could meet demand and cut waste.

According to a new study published in Science, existing U.S. mines already produce all the critical minerals needed each year for energy, defense, and technology.

The problem, explained Elizabeth Holley, associate professor of mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and lead author of the study, is that these resources are not being recovered. Instead, minerals such as cobalt, lithium, gallium, and rare earth elements, including neodymium and yttriu,m are being discarded in the waste streams of other mining operations, such as those for gold and zinc.

“The challenge lies in recovery,” Holley said. “It’s like getting salt out of bread dough – we need to do a lot more research, development, and policy to make the recovery of these critical minerals economically feasible.”

Data-driven analysis of U.S. mines

To carry out the study, Holley and her colleagues created a database documenting annual output from federally permitted metal mines across the United States. They then applied a statistical resampling method to combine this production data with geochemical measurements of critical minerals in ores, compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey, Geoscience Australia, and the Geological Survey of Canada.

Through this method, the researchers were able to estimate how much of these critical minerals is produced and processed at U.S. mines each year but ultimately not recovered. Instead, these valuable resources are being discarded as mine tailings, which must then be stored and managed to reduce the risk of environmental pollution.

“This is a brand-new view of ‘low hanging fruit’ – we show where each critical mineral exists and the sites at which even 1 percent recovery of a particular critical mineral could make a huge difference, in many cases dramatically reducing or even eliminating the need to import that mineral,” Holley said.

Recoverable elements and potential impacts

The analysis in Science looks at a total of 70 elements used in applications ranging from consumer electronics like cell phones to medical devices to satellites to renewable energy to fighter jets and shows that unrecovered byproducts from other U.S. mines could meet the demand for all but two – platinum and palladium.

Among the elements included in the analysis are:

  • Cobalt (Co): This shiny bluish-gray metal, essential for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, is produced as a secondary material during nickel and copper mining. Recovering under 10 percent of the cobalt that is currently mined and processed but left unrecovered would be sufficient to supply the entire U.S. battery industry.
  • Germanium (Ge): A brittle, silvery-white semi-metal used in electronics and infrared optics, including sensors for missiles and defense satellites, is found in zinc and molybdenum deposits. By reclaiming less than 1 percent of the germanium already mined and processed but not recovered in the U.S., domestic demand could be fully met without relying on imports.

Environmental and policy opportunities

The benefits of enhanced recovery are not only economic and geopolitical but also environmental, Holley said – recovering these critical minerals instead of sending them to tailings piles would reduce the environmental impact of mine waste and open more opportunities for reuse in construction and other industries.

“Now that we know which sites are low-hanging fruit, we need to conduct detailed analyses of the minerals in which these chemical elements reside and then test the technologies suitable for recovery of those elements from those specific minerals,” Holley said. “We also need policies that incentivize mine operators to incorporate additional processing infrastructure. Although these elements are needed, their market value may not be sufficient to motivate operators to invest in new equipment and processes without the right policies in place.”

Reference: “By-product recovery from US metal mines could reduce import reliance for critical minerals” by Elizabeth A. Holley, Karlie M. Hadden, Dorit Hammerling, Rod Eggert, D. Erik Spiller and Priscilla P. Nelson, 21 August 2025, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adw8997

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Miniature ‘Hydriai’ (Water Jars) Found In Hellenistic Sanctuary In Algai, Turkey’s Aegean Region


Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – A temple dedicated to Demeter is being excavated during ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Aigai. Aigai is located in the western province of Manisa in Turkey’s Aegean Region.

Miniature 'Hydriai' (Water Jars) Found In Hellenistic Sanctuary In Algai, Turkey's Aegean Region

Excavations in the ancient city of Aigai, which dates back to the eighth century B.C. Image source:

Demeter, one of the twelve Olympian gods, was worshipped as the goddess of soil, grain, agriculture, and fertility. For an agrarian society like ancient Greece, this divinity was clearly of the utmost importance in daily life and religion.

Dated back to to the eighth century B.C., Aigai was one of the 12 cities founded by the Aeolian people in Western Anatolia.

Since 2004, extensive archaeological efforts have led to the discovery and analysis of enormous number of artifacts and structures within this historic site.

Miniature 'Hydriai' (Water Jars) Found In Hellenistic Sanctuary In Algai, Turkey's Aegean Region

Ruins of the ancient city of Aigai, discovered during earlier excavations. Hurriyet Daily News

In addition to numerous findings that shed light on the history of the period, the city also hosts three temples identified as belonging to the pagan belief system. In previous excavations, the temples of Athena and Apollo were uncovered. This season’s archaeological efforts are concentrating on a temple thought to be dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility in the ancient Greek world, along with its surrounding area.

Professor Yusuf Sezgin leads the excavation activities within the ancient city, and serves as the head of the Archaeology Department at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Manisa Celal Bayar University.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, he said that this year, the team was working in a special area of the ancient city that had not been excavated before. This place is located about 30 meters west of the theater, near the cliffs and at the foot of the city wall, where the mysterious temple structure stands.

Miniature 'Hydriai' (Water Jars) Found In Hellenistic Sanctuary In Algai, Turkey's Aegean Region

Ruins of the ancientr city of Aigai. Source

The team unearthed the structure, which is of about 50 square meters and dates back to the Hellenistic period. It  consists of two rooms, filled with a large number of  miniature hydria (water vessels).  It was once dedicated to the goddess Demeter according to an inscription found by German researchers who came to Aigai in 1886.

Sezgin emphasized that due to the limited amount of agricultural land in Aigai, which lies in a rather barren region, of the country, the local community held Demeter in high esteem, drawing inspiration from the goddess’s nurturing spirit and the abundance of blessings she bestowed.

Her presence was a constant reminder of the power of growth and renewal.

Miniature 'Hydriai' (Water Jars) Found In Hellenistic Sanctuary In Algai, Turkey's Aegean Region

Mosaic depicting the Greek god Poseidon from the ancient Greek city of Aigai (earlier excavations). Image credit: Anadolu Agency

Professor Sezgin explained that a temple was constructed at this location to honor the goddess. However, in the 1960s, illegal excavations caused significant damage to the site. During these unauthorized digs, numerous artifacts were uncovered, including votive offerings dedicated to the goddess. Notably among these findings are miniature hydriae—small versions of water-carrying vessels—which were specifically offered in devotion to her.

In ancient Greece, vessels served multiple purposes, including the collection of water, oil, votes, ashes, and prizes. Water held particular significance as it symbolized abundance and fertility. Given its crucial role in agriculture, water was considered extremely valuable.

It is believed that people would gather water from natural springs and place it into these small vessels as offerings or leave them as votive gifts, according to the researcher, who added that approximately 1,000 miniature hydria have been documented so far, underlining that these findings demonstrate the cultural and religious importance that the people of Aigai attributed to Demeter.

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Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

 





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Ancient DNA Unveils How Slavs Transformed Europe


Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Historians have long debated the origins and spread of Slavic material culture and language, questioning whether it was due to a mass migration, the gradual assimilation of local populations, or a combination of both. The evidence has been sparse, particularly in the early centuries when cremation practices hindered DNA studies and archaeological findings were limited. However, a new study utilizing ancient DNA is poised to illuminate these critical questions and reveal how Slavs transformed Europe.

Ancient DNA Unveils How Slavs Transformed Europe

The Slav Epic – The coronation of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan as East Roman Emperor. Credit: Public Domain

The expansion of the Slavs is one of Europe’s most significant yet least understood historical events. Beginning in the 6th century CE, Slavic groups started appearing in Byzantine and Western records as they settled across vast regions from the Baltic to the Balkans and from the Elbe to the Volga. Unlike well-documented migrations such as those of Germanic tribes like the Goths or Langobards or legendary conquests by groups like the Huns, understanding Slavic history has posed challenges for medieval European historians.

This difficulty arises partly because early Slavic communities left minimal archaeological evidence: they practiced cremation, constructed simple dwellings, produced plain pottery without decoration, and did not create written records for several centuries. Consequently, even defining “Slavs” has been complex—often applied by external chroniclers or misused in later nationalistic debates.

To address these uncertainties about their origins and impact on Europe’s cultural landscape, an international team led by researchers from Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia, and Croatia under the HistoGenes consortium has conducted a groundbreaking, comprehensive ancient DNA study on medieval Slavic populations.

Through the sequencing of over 550 ancient genomes, the research team has uncovered that the emergence of the Slavs was fundamentally a narrative of migration. The genetic evidence indicates their origins in a region extending from southern Belarus to central Ukraine. This finding aligns with previous linguistic and archaeological reconstructions, which have long proposed this geographic area as the cradle of Slavic development.

“While direct evidence from early Slavic core regions is still rare, our genetic results offer the first concrete clues to the formation of Slavic ancestry—pointing to a likely origin somewhere between the Dniester and Don rivers” says Joscha Gretzinger, a geneticist from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and lead author of the study.

Beginning in the 6th century CE, data indicate that large-scale migrations spread Eastern European ancestry across Central and Eastern Europe, significantly altering the genetic composition of regions like Eastern Germany and Poland. Unlike traditional models of conquest and empire, these migrations were characterized by flexible communities rather than sweeping armies or rigid hierarchies. Societies were often organized around extended families and patrilineal kinship ties.

Ancient DNA Unveils How Slavs Transformed Europe

The burial site of an adult woman, undisturbed and intact, reveals genetic markers that suggest she was a local resident. Accompanying her remains were grave goods, including jewelry made from glass beads and an amulet crafted from a cowrie shell. Pre-Slavic cemetery of Brücken, feature 13913:29. Credit: Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte

In Eastern Germany, this shift was particularly pronounced; society was anchored by large, multi-generational pedigrees with extensive kinship networks that differed from the smaller nuclear families of the previous Migration Period. Conversely, in areas such as Croatia, the influx of Eastern European groups caused minimal disruption to existing social structures. Here, communities often retained features from earlier periods, allowing new and old traditions to blend or coexist.

This regional diversity underscores that the spread of Slavic groups was not uniform but a dynamic transformation tailored to local contexts and histories.

“Rather than a single people moving as one, the Slavic expansion was not a monolithic event but a mosaic of different groups, each adapting and blending in its own way—suggesting there was never just one “Slavic’ identity, but many.” explains Zuzana Hofmanová from the MPI EVA and Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, one of the senior lead authors of the study.

Spotlight on eastern Germany

The genetic record provides fascinating insights into historical migrations, revealing no significant sex bias as entire families moved together, with both men and women playing equal roles in shaping emerging societies. Future data will further illuminate how each community adapted to migration and its local history.

In Eastern Germany, the genetic data tell a particularly compelling story. After the decline of the Thuringian kingdom, over 85% of the region’s ancestry traces back to new arrivals from the East. This represents a shift from the earlier Migration Period when populations were more cosmopolitan, exemplified by Brücken—a late antique cemetery in Sachsen Anhalt showcasing Northern, Central, and Southern European ancestry.

Ancient DNA Unveils How Slavs Transformed Europe

Excavation in 2020 at the pre-Slavic cemetery of Brücken, Mansfeld-Südharz District (Saxony-Anhalt). Credit: Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte

As Slavic groups spread, this diversity transitioned to a population profile similar to modern Slavic-speaking communities in Eastern Europe. Archaeological evidence from cemeteries indicates these new communities were organized around large extended families with patrilineal descent patterns; women typically left their home villages upon marriage to join other households.

Today, this genetic heritage persists among the Sorbs—a Slavic-speaking minority in Eastern Germany—who have maintained a genetic profile closely linked to early medieval Slavic settlers despite centuries of cultural and linguistic changes surrounding them.

Spotlight on Poland

In Poland, recent research challenges previous notions of long-term population continuity. Genetic evidence indicates that from the 6th and 7th centuries CE, the region’s earlier inhabitants—descendants with strong ties to Northern Europe and Scandinavia—largely vanished and were gradually replaced by newcomers from the East. These newcomers are closely related to modern Poles, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. This conclusion is supported by analyses of some of Poland’s earliest known Slavic inhumation graves at Gródek, offering rare direct evidence of these early migrants. Although the population shift was significant, genetic data also show minor instances of intermixing with local populations. These findings highlight both the magnitude of population changes and the intricate dynamics that have shaped today’s Central and Eastern European linguistic landscape.

Spotlight on Croatia

The Northern Balkans exhibit a distinct pattern compared to other northern immigration areas, characterized by both change and continuity. Research into ancient DNA from Croatia and surrounding regions indicates a notable influx of Eastern European-related ancestry, yet this did not result in a complete genetic overhaul. Instead, Eastern European migrants intermingled with the region’s diverse local populations, forming new hybrid communities. Genetic studies reveal that in contemporary Balkan populations, the proportion of Eastern European ancestry varies significantly but typically constitutes about half or less of the modern gene pool. This underscores the area’s intricate demographic history.

Ancient DNA Unveils How Slavs Transformed Europe

Aerial view of the Velim burial site in Croatia. Credit: Archaeological Museum Zadar

At Velim, one can observe this mixed community formation where some of the earliest Slavic burials display evidence of both Eastern European migrants and up to 30% local ancestry. The Slavic migration here was not marked by conquest but rather by gradual intermarriage and adaptation. This process has contributed to the cultural, linguistic, and genetic diversity that continues to define the Balkan Peninsula today.

Independent confirmation in Moravia, Czechia

In a recent study published in Genome Biology, researchers from Czechia, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, led by Dr. Zuzana Hofmanová, discovered a significant population change in Southern Moravia (Czechia). This demographic shift is linked to the emergence of Slavic-associated material culture originating from modern-day Ukraine. The study found that while earlier Migration-period individuals exhibited considerable genetic diversity, those associated with Slavic cultural horizons showed genetic affinities to Northeastern Europe—a trait not previously observed.

The dataset notably included an infant buried within an early Slavic context typically associated with cremations. This finding helps pinpoint the regional and temporal changes tied to the Prague-Korchak culture. Furthermore, this genetic signal persisted through individuals from the 7th and 8th centuries and continued into the 9th and 10th centuries when this area became part of one of the earliest Slavic states—the Moravian principality. This period is notable for Saints Cyril and Methodius’ contributions to creating Old Church Slavonic language and Glagolithic script for their mission among the Moravian Slavs.

A new chapter in European history

This study not only solves the historical enigma of how one of the world’s largest linguistic and cultural groups emerged but also sheds light on why Slavic groups expanded so effectively, leaving few traces historians traditionally sought. According to medievalist Walter Pohl, a senior lead author of the study, the Slavic migration exemplifies a unique model of social organization: “a demic diffusion or grassroots movement, often in small groups or temporary alliances, settling new territories without imposing fixed identities or elite structures.”

Their success likely stemmed from a pragmatic and egalitarian lifestyle that avoided the burdens and hierarchies prevalent in the declining Roman world. In many regions, Slavs presented a viable alternative to surrounding waning empires. Their social resilience, simple subsistence economy, and adaptability made them well-suited for periods of instability caused by climate change or plagues.

New genetic findings support this view. Where early Slavic groups appear in archaeological and historical records, their genetic traces align: they share common ancestral origins but exhibit regional differences due to mixing with local populations. In northern areas where earlier Germanic peoples had largely departed, space was available for Slavic settlement. In southern regions, Eastern European newcomers integrated with established communities. This patchwork process accounts for today’s remarkable diversity in cultures, languages, and genetics across Central and Eastern Europe.

See also: More Archaeology News

Johannes Krause from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology states that “the spread of the Slavs was likely the last demographic event on a continental scale to reshape both Europe’s genetic and linguistic landscapes permanently.” With these findings, researchers can now look beyond gaps in written records to trace the true extent of Slavic migrations—one of Europe’s most influential yet understated historical chapters—echoes of which persist today in languages, cultures, and even DNA across millions on the continent.

The study was published in Nature

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer





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