Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream" make Billboard history (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop princess Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" reached a new height this week as "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" became the album's fifth single to reach the top of Billboard's pop songs chart, marking the first time any album has amassed such a feat in its 19-year history.

If Perry's newest No. 1 also lands atop the Hot 100 later this week, "Teenage Dream" will be the only album other than Michael Jackson's "Bad" to generate five separate No. 1s. "Bad" was released in 1987, before Billboard began issuing the pop song chart.

Prior to "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" reaching No. 1, "Teenage Dream" was tied with Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (2006-07) and Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (2009) which both had four singles snag the top spot.

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" became not only Perry's fifth No. 1 off "Teenage Dream" but her seventh overall, tying her with Lady Gaga for second-most No. 1s since the chart's inception. Rihanna currently holds the record with eight.

(Reporting by R.T. Watson; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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10 of the Most Unusual Last Wills & Testaments of the Famous

A “last will and testament,” or simply a “will,” is “an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of his estate”. It is a document whereby a person, called the “testator,” disposes of his/her properties or “estate,” to take effect upon his/her death.

While most people create Wills and Testaments to put their final and financial affairs in order, there have been these certain other people in the world who have used these means to make a political point or program line; or well, just to make for a good old hearty laugh!

Here's the Top 10 of the Most Unusual Last Wills And Testaments

1- Virgil Died in 10 B.C

Last Wish: Burn the Aeneid



The great Roman poet, Virgil is known for his Aeneid, once famous as the National Poem of Rome. Before his death, Virgil had completed only 12 books as opposed to the 24 of the epic poems by Homer.

Since his work was left incomplete, he had ordered for it to be destroyed by fire after his death. However, when his friends found out about this strange bout of destructive death wish, they convinced him to remove this particular request from his will.

He consented and the poem was published to great acclaim. I am sure we all have something to be grateful for as far as Virgil’s tenacious friends are concerned.

2 - William Shakespeare Died in 1616

Last Wish: That his wife receive his ‘Second best bed.’

This strange wish made by Shakespeare caused much speculation among people about his relationship with his wife Anne Hathaway. Not only it was a strange request, it was put on the document as an after thought. In those times, leaving a bed to someone though was not an unusual thing as a good quality bed sans vermin or fleas was a highly prized and a very expensive thing.

However, adding fuel to the debate was the epitaph that Shakespeare left on his grave: ‘Blest be the man that spares these stones, /And cursed by he that moves my bones.’ While some conjecture that Shakespeare meant to scare off Grave Robbers, the wordings however were taken so seriously that when his wife died seven years later, her body was allowed to be placed with his.

3 - Charles Dickens Died in 1870

Last Wish: That mourners ‘who attend my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hatband, or other such revolting absurdity.’

Along with the above, Dickens also wrote that he was not to have a public funeral and the place and time of his funeral was not be made public. He also requested for an inexpensive funeral with only three plain ‘mourning coaches.’

Dickens’s request however were ignored – and on a grand scale! He was honored by a full funeral cortege, with all members present in full funeral regalia. His funeral aptly put was a national event.

The man who was used to getting whatever he wanted in life, in a sense died wanting in that manner.

4 - George Bernard Shaw Died in 1950

Last Wish: He ordered no religious service and that his tombstone not ‘take the form of a cross or any other instrument of torture or symbol of blood sacrifice.’

George Bernard Shaw was not so soft on religion and his will included a section that lent his support to ‘Darwin’s millennial saga of creation’ over the Bibles’ ‘six day synopsis’. GB Shaw had always been deeply fascinated with the idea of a reformed English spelling. He created a 40 letter phonetic alphabet to make spelling much simpler.

As a part of his will, he left a sizable portion of his estate to promote the new alphabet. This was however overruled by the court as it was ‘not nearly possible’ and the money was distributed to three organizations: The British Museum, The National Gallery of Ireland and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

5 - Benjamin Franklin Died in 1790

Last Wish: That in a democracy, his daughter not engage in ‘the expensive, vain and useless pastime of wearing jewels.’

Benjamin Franklin was one of most deeply admired men the New World as well as the Western World in the late 18th century.

The reason though for this odd request was that as former ambassador to France, Franklin was given the portrait of King Louis XVI in a frame that was studded in 408 diamonds. He left this picture and frame to his daughter Sarah and included the strange last wish in his will to dissuade her from removing the diamonds from the frame to get jewelry made for her.

6 - John B Kelly Died in 1960

Last Wish: That the clothing bills of his daughter, Princess Grace, not bankrupt the Principality of Monaco.

Kelly was a multimillionaire contractor who was also a triple Olympic Gold Medal Winner. His daughter/actress Grace Kelly was married into the Royal Family of Monaco. His will though was his attempt at a last laugh, a god humored expense at the cost of his family.

Some really amusing sections of his will are:

(To my son John) all my personal belongings, such as trophies, rings, jewelry, watches, clothing and athletic equipment, except the ties, shirts, sweaters and socks, as it seems unnecessary to give him something of which he has already taken possession.

He however left nothing to his Son in Law, Prince Rainer of Monaco, stating:

I don’t want to give the impression that I am against sons-in-law. If they are the right type, they will provide for themselves and their families, and what I am able to give my daughters will help pay the dress shop bills, which, if they continue as they started out, under the able tutelage of their mother, will be quite considerable.

7 - Harry Houdini Died in 1926

Last Wish: That his wife hold an annual séance so that he could reveal himself to her.

Owing to his mother’s death, in his later life, Houdini had become very interested in spiritualism as he felt the impact of the great loss of her death. After tying unsuccessfully for many years to communicate with her through spiritualists, he gave up and decided that the whole thing was hogwash.

However, in order to prove it, Houdini left his wife with a secret note with 10 words randomly selected that he would communicate to her after his death. For as long as
10 years his wife held a séance on Halloween waiting for him to utter through random words to her, Houdini never showed up.

8 - Napoleon Bonaparte Died in 1821

Last Wish: That his head be shaved and that his hair be divided amongst his friends.

In a stranger twist to a strange tale, recent analysis revealed that some of the hair that was kept by his friends contained large amounts of arsenic.

His symptoms prior to his death, like vomiting dried blood are very consistent with arsenic poisoning. There is speculation that the walls of his room contained arsenic (not very uncommon at that time), and that it was his environment that killed him. However, there are others who believe that he was slowly poisoned by the English. Infact, due to his stomach cancer, his doctor was prescribing him another kind of poison which contributed to his final demise.

9 - William Hearst Died in 1951

Last Wish: That anyone who could prove ‘that he or she is a child of mine (receive) a sum of one dollar. I hereby declare that any such asserted claim (…) would be utterly false’.

Hearst was an American newspaper magnate and a leading newspaper publisher. He was the son of a self made millionaire, George Hearst. However, he found out that his father received a northern California newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner as payment for a gambling debt. He asked his father to give him the paper to run and he eventually built a multimillion dollar empire out of it.

Hearst was also the grandfather of Patty Hearst; the heiress was known to suffer from Stockholm syndrome.

10 - John Bowman Died in 1891

Last Wish: For dinner to be prepared every night after his death, well, for incase if he came back to life… then what?

Bowman’s wife and two daughters had died before him and he had somehow become convinced that his entire family would be reincarnated together. Driven by this weird belief, he set up a trust worth $50,000 to pay servants to keep up the housework in his 21 room mansion.

He also requested that a daily meal be prepared in case if the family reincarnated and returned hungry! His wish was honored until his trust ran out of funds in 1950.

• Reference/Source: Thisblogrules.com [Jul 1, 2011]

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10 of the Most Famous/Known Facts That Are Actually Wrong

Nothing beats a good dose of myth busting – it is one of our favorite pastimes here at the Always10. This top10 list is no exception. Following on from the very popular 10 of the Most Famous/Known Facts That Are Actually Wrong, we are presenting varied list of “facts” that most people believe which are, in fact, insincere talk. By the end of this list you should be ten facts smarter!

10 - The United States Lost the Vietnam War

While it is a fact that the country known as the Republic of South Vietnam no longer exists (having been absorbed by its Communist neighbor to its north) the truth is that its demise was not because the United States lost its seven-year long war there. In fact, by the time the country was overrun by the North Vietnamese in the spring of 1975, the United States had been out of Vietnam for nearly two years, its active involvement having concluded with the signing of the Paris Peace Accord in January, 1973. The only reason the war is considered a “loss” for America was because of its great cost (57,000 Americans killed) and its general unpopularity at home. It could be considered a political defeat, however, in that America was essentially so worn down by the conflict that it lost the will to come to South Vietnam’s defense when the North Vietnamese launched their invasion, thereby effectively surrendering that nation’s sovereignty to its Communist neighbor and giving the U.S. a black eye that took literally decades to recover from. However, it did not “lose” the war in the traditional respect in that it was defeated militarily by a superior foe. In fact, the Paris Accord gave the U.S. everything it wanted from North Vietnam, bringing the war to what could be considered a positive close. Who could have guessed the North Vietnamese would renege on the treaty just two years later?

9 - Charles Lindbergh was the First Man to Cross the Atlantic Ocean by Air

While “Lucky Lindy” became quite the hero when he made the first solo crossing of the Atlantic by air—a grueling 34 hour, 3,600 mile flight—he was not the first man to make the crossing by air. In fact, he was something like the 85th man to do so. The feat was actually first accomplished by a pair of British aviators, John Alcock and Arthur Brown, eight years earlier when they flew a British Vimy bomber from Newfoundland, Canada, to Ireland in June of 1919. It was also accomplished by the entire crew of the German-built and manned zeppelin, the U.S.S. Los Angeles in 1924, when they flew the monster ship to America as war reparations. And, of course, this doesn’t include the men who may have made it but didn’t survive, such as the French aviators Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli, who attempted the flight a mere three weeks before Lindbergh only to vanish somewhere between Paris and New York. (Many suggest, however, that they may have actually made it across, only to crash land in the uncharted forests of Newfoundland.) Lindbergh was, however, the first to make the flight solo, which is what made it such an accomplishment—especially considering that as there was no autopilot in that day, he was forced to remain awake the entire 34 hours of the flight. Talk about a bad flight!

8 - Columbus Was the First European to Discover North America

Though the idea that Columbus was the first European to discover America was held as sacrosanct for most of this countries’ history, it is becoming more commonly acknowledged today that he was probably not the first European to make the crossing. That honor generally goes to some Viking named Leif Erickson, who is believed by historians to have made his way from Scandinavia to Newfoundland a good five hundred years before ‘ol Chris was even born. In fact, the Vikings established villages in Greenland and on the Canadian coast, making them the first Europeans to colonize the New World as well. There is even evidence that the ancient Phoenicians—an eastern Mediterranean sea-going people who lived between 1550 and 300 BCE—might have accomplished the deed centuries earlier than that! Columbus was the first European to discover it in “modern” times, however, and the first to make the fact that a continent existed between Europe and Asia known to the “civilized” world. Another “fact” that needs revising is the one that imagines that Columbus set out on his quest in an effort to prove that the world was not flat. In fact, no one in 1492 believed the Earth was flat. What he wanted to prove is that it was possible to get from Europe to China by sailing west rather than east. In effect, he was looking for a shortcut and found a whole continent in the process.

7 - The Wright Brothers Were the First to Fly an Airplane

While the accomplishments of the gifted brothers from Dayton, Ohio cannot be diminished, the fact is there are a number of people who may have accomplished the feat of being the first to fly a manned, heavier-than-air craft in powered flight (as opposed to unpowered gliders, which had been flown for years before the Wright Brother’s first flight). Probably the best claim to having been the first is attributed to a German immigrant named Gustav Whitehead, who may have made one and possibly two flights in a small monoplane of his own design (and powered by a tiny motor also of his own design) as early as 1901—two full years before the Wright Brother’s tried it. Unfortunately, ol’ Gustav was a better mechanic and aviator than an archivist and he neglected to get any photos of the flight or document it (although there was a reporter from a local paper supposedly present—along with a handful of witnesses—who allegedly saw a second flight in 1902). Had he done so, he might have changed aviation history rather than remaining just a footnote. Whitehead wasn’t alone in the claim of being the first, however, as some maintain that Frenchman Clement Ader may have accomplished the task in 1897 in a frail-looking plane named the Avion III and another Frenchman, Felix du Temple, might have done it as early as 1874. Even a Russian Army Officer, Alexander Mozhaiski, supposedly accomplished the feat in a monster steam powered aircraft in 1884, so the list of candidates who may have beat the Wrights into the air is considerable. The Wrights, however, did come up with the first truly controllable aircraft, making the previous claims fairly moot in that none of those earlier attempts flew very far (usually a couple hundred of feet) or were controllable—with the possible exception of Whitehead. If only the man had thought to buy a camera.

6 - Alexander Graham Bell Invented the Telephone

Not to take anything away from the prolific Mr. Bell, but he didn’t come up with this modern little irritant on his own, but was one of several men who were working the idea at the same time. What he did do was be quicker on the draw than his competitors by getting to the patent office first. In fact, some historians maintain that another fellow named Elisha Gray was the first to create a working telephone, only to see Bell get all the credit for it. (And Gray has a pretty good claim according to many, with over 70 other patents—many communications oriented—to his credit. In fact, he may have missed out beating Bell to the Patent Office by a few hours!) Other names frequently mentioned for their work on early communication devices are Antonio Meucci, who was experimenting—quite successfully—with the electromagnetic telephone in 1857; Innocenzo Manzetti—who may have invented a “speaking telegraph” as early as 1865; and the German inventor Johann Philipp Reis, who was working on the idea during the 1860s. However, it was a Hungarian inventor named Tivadar Puskas who made the telephone useful by inventing the switchboard and with it something known as the “party line”, thereby making it possible for people to use Meucci’s/Manzetti’s/ Reis’/Gray’s/Bell’s invention in a practical way.

5 - Charles Darwin Was the First to Conceive of the Theory of Evolution

Like the telephone, no timely idea is birthed by a single mother. There is almost always more than one person working on a good idea at the same time, with one of them inevitably getting most of the credit in the end. This was not only true of inventions, but of scientific theories as well—in this case the (at the time) controversial theory of evolution. British naturalist Charles Darwin is usually credited with coming up with the concept, but the fact is there were any number of scientists and naturalists working on the thorny issue of how human beings got here (in a non-Biblical way). The foundation for the idea may have been laid down by the Greek philosopher and scientist Anaximander (610 BCE-546 BCE), who was the first to suggest that physical forces, rather than supernatural forces, create order in the universe. However, the basics for the modern theory of evolution were first articulated in 1745 by the French mathematician and philosopher Pierre Louis Maupertius. Additionally, Charles Darwin’s own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, wrote of the idea as early as 1796. However, few men did as much for the theory as did the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who came up with the first truly cohesive theory of evolution, in which he argued that there was a natural force that drove organisms up a ladder of complexity, and a second environmental force that adapted them to local environments through use and disuse of characteristics, differentiating them from other organisms—which was very close to Darwin’s concept of natural selection. Darwin’s greatest competitor, however, was the Englishman Alfred Wallace, who presented a very similar theory to Darwin’s to the prestigious Linnean Society in 1858 at the same time Darwin presented his. It was Darwin’s book, the Origin of the Species, however that made him world famous and is why to this very day it is Charles Darwin who gets all the credit (and, from some people’s perspective, all the blame) for the modern theory of evolution.

4 - JFK’s Assassination was Part of a Larger Conspiracy

Though the idea that President Kennedy’s assassination was part of a larger conspiracy is actually an urban legend, the fact that it is believed by such a large percentage of the population—by some estimates, as much as 70%–makes it to many people’s way of thinking, a cold and hard fact. The idea that a lone nut job like Lee Harvey Oswald could have pulled off what was effectively the murder of the century without help is too much for some to accept, leading to nearly fifty years of all manner of conspiracy theories. These theories are generally divided into two groups: one which believes that Oswald was “set up” by someone—the CIA and the Mafia being the main suspects—and the other being that while he was in on the killing, he had help (and, in fact, may have been just one of several gunmen that day). Oswald’s death at the hands of a Dallas nightclub owner named Jack Ruby a couple of days later—in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters no less—seals the deal for most people, making the JFK conspiracy one of the most successful and lucrative cottage industries in America to this very day. Of course, no amount of evidence demonstrating that Oswald indeed possessed the means, motive, and opportunity to carry out the most heinous crime of the twentieth century all by himself or the lack of even a shred of solid evidence to suggest otherwise does little to dissuade the truly convinced, meaning that the idea that JFK’s death was the product of some massive CIA/Cuban/Russian/Mafia/Vice President Johnson plot a “fact” for millions that is unlikely to ever die.

3 - We Only Use 10% of Our Brain

This “fact” has been so often repeated that most people don’t even question it anymore (thereby demonstrating that it may be true). However, even a moment’s consideration should demonstrate what a fallacy this idea is. The brain is a magnificent organ that does everything from making sure you don’t forget to blink once in a while to helping you remember where you put the car keys. To use only 10% of it, then, would render it little more than vestigial organ which, while making getting shot in the head more an annoyance than a catastrophe, is obviously nonsense. The fact is that despite evidence to the contrary, everyone uses 100% of their brain all the time; it’s just that different parts of it do different things. While it is possible that only 10% of the brain is used for the higher brain functions such as cognitive thought, reasoning, and memory, that doesn’t mean the rest of it is sitting idle. It’s just that those other parts are busy doing all sorts of other things like keeping your heart pumping and making sense of the millions of bits of data being sent to it by the bodies’ sensing organs. In reality, science is only just beginning to understand the complexities of the human brain and its capacity for doing all the stuff it does on a daily basis, making it more of a mystery than ever. The prospect that many of us don’t use our brain to its fullest capacity, however, may be worth considering, but that is a subject for another day.

2 - Roosevelt’s New Deal Ended the Depression

It has been taught for over seventy years that FDR was responsible for ending the Great Depression of the thirties by enacting a dearth of government spending programs collectively known as the “New Deal”. In fact, the success of FDR’s massive spending programs is often pointed to by advocates of big government today as evidence that massive infusions of federal spending is the best hope for the poor, and has been the impetus behind some of the largest federal entitlement programs in history, from Medicare and Medicaid to welfare and food stamps. The only problem is that the New Deal was, in many ways, the Big Bust in that it did little to help the country recover from the Great Depression and, in fact, may have even delayed the recovery by years by raising corporate tax rates to such a level that it flat-lined business hiring for years. It was the Second World War that finally put most Americans to work which, combined with a reduction in tax rates in 1946, led to one of this countries’ greatest boom periods. Don’t believe it? Then just compare how long it took the United States to recover from the Depression compared to the countries of Europe which also saw a huge downturn in the early 1930s; England, France, and even Germany had put the worst of the depression behind them by 1935 while America continued to lumber on for years with high unemployment rates and a sluggish GNP. While no one can fault FDR for his noble intentions in wanting to ease the suffering of many people in this country, the New Deal actually demonstrated that the government that does the least to “fix” the problem actually does the most good by simply letting economic and financial forces heal themselves.

1 - Thomas Edison Invented the Light Bulb

Like so many great inventions in history, this one too must fall into the “I wonder who really invented it first” category. Though Edison is given the credit, work on an incandescent light bulb had been going on long before ‘ol Tom wrapped his prodigious brain around the problem. As far back as 1802 a guy named Humphrey Davy passed an electrical current through a thin strip of platinum to create the first short-lived but impressive light show and after that the race was on to see who could be the first to find a filament that could last more than, say, five minutes. It wouldn’t be until 1841 when another Englishman, Frederick de Moleyns, would patent the first incandescent lamp using platinum wires in a vacuum as a filament. (However, the setup proved to be too expensive to be commercially viable, which is why no one speaks reverently today of de Moleyn’s remarkable invention.) After that, it was just a matter of time until someone stumbled upon a material that would be both economical and long-lasting, both of which would be required to make the light bulb useful. While Edison’s team did come up with a carbonized bamboo filament that could last over 1200 hours, thereby making the light bulb practical, another British physicist (clever folks, those Brits) by the name of Joseph Swan actually beat Edison when he came up with something that pretty closely resembled Edison’s later bulb by a couple of years. He had even begun installing the things in pubs around London while ‘ol Tom was still seeing if human hair would work as a filament. However, for some reason, history has not been kind to Mr. Swan and he remains largely forgotten (which probably explains why he could be frequently found afterwards drinking away his sorrows in one of London’s many well-lit pubs).
Honorable Mentions: General Custer (was not a General at Little Big Horn but a lowly Lieutenant Colonel. He had been a General during the Civil War but was reduced in rank afterwards, which is the reason for the confusion); George Washington’s Wooden Teeth (they were not wooden at all but made from gold, ivory, lead, and human and animal teeth!); George Washington and the Cherry Tree (Never happened); and The Emancipation Proclamation Ending Slavery (which did not end slavery in the North but applied only to those slaves living in Confederate States. There were thousands of slaves still residing in northern states at the time, though most were domestic servants or slaves by choice—usually for personal or economic reasons—at the time.)

• Reference/Source: Ourcuriousworld.com by Jeff Danelek
• Reference/Source: Toptenz.net by Jeff Danelek

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Top 10 Significant Presidential Elections in American History

Source: http://americanhistory.about.com |

Will the 2008 presidential election be considered one of the most significant presidential elections in US history? It is impossible to judge the importance of any presidential election until time has passed. However, the election is truly an historic one with the nomination of the first African-American candidate by a major political party. In order to be included in this list of the top ten presidential elections, a significant event had to impact the election's outcome or the election needed to result in a significant shift in party or policy.

1. Election of 1800

This presidential election is the most significant in US history because of its far reaching impact on electoral policies. The electoral college system from the Constitution broke down allowing Burr, the VP candidate to be in contention for the presidency against Thomas Jefferson. It was decided in the House after twenty-six ballots. Significance: The 12th Amendment was added changing the electoral process. Further, a peaceful exchange of political power occurred (Federalists out, Democratic-Republicans in.)

2. Election of 1860

The presidential election of 1860 demonstrated the necessity of taking a side on slavery. The newly formed Republican party adopted an anti-slavery platform that led to a narrow victory for Abraham Lincoln, arguably the greatest president in US history and also set the die for secession. Individuals who once associated with the Democratic or Whig parties yet who were anti-slavery realigned to join the Republicans. Those who were pro-slavery from the other noncommittal parties joined the Democrats. Significance: The election of Lincoln was the straw that broke the camel's back and led to the secession of eleven states.

3. Election of 1932

Another shift in political parties occurred with the presidential election of 1932. Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic Party came to power by forming the New Deal coalition that united groups that previously had not been associated with the same party. These included urban workers, northern African-Americans, Southern whites, and Jewish voters. Today's Democratic Party is still largely comprised of this coalition. Significance: A new coalition and realignment of political parties occurred that would help shape future policies and elections.

4. Election of 1896

The presidential election of 1896 demonstrated a sharp division in society between urban and rural interests. William Jennings Bryan (Democrat) was able to form a coalition that answered the call of progressive groups and rural interests including the indebted farmers and those arguing against the gold standard. William McKinley's victory was significant because it highlights the shift from America as an agrarian nation to one of urban interests. Significance: The election highlights the changes that were occurring in American society at the turn of the 19th century.

5. Election of 1828

The presidential election of 1828 is often pointed to as the 'rise of the common man'. It has been called the 'Revolution of 1828'. After the Corrupt Bargain of 1824 when Andrew Jackson was defeated, an upwelling of support arose against back room deals and candidates chosen by caucus. At this point in American history, the nominating of candidates became more democratic as conventions replaced caucuses. Significance: Andrew Jackson was the first president not born of privilege. The election was the first time that individuals began to fight against corruption in politics.

6. Election of 1876

This election ranks higher than other disputed elections because it is set against the backdrop of Reconstruction. Samuel Tilden led in popular and electoral votes but was one shy of the necessary votes to win. The existence of disputed electoral votes led to the Compromise of 1877. A commission was formed and voted along party lines, awarding Rutherford B. Hayes(Republican) the presidency. It is believed that Hayes agreed to end Reconstruction and recall all troops from the South in exchange for the presidency. Significance: The election of Hayes meant the end of Reconstruction.

7. Election of 1824

The Election of 1824 is known as the 'Corrupt Bargain'. The lack of an electoral majority resulted in the election being decided in the House. It is believed that a deal was made giving the office to John Quincy Adams in exchange for Henry Clay becoming Secretary of State. Significance: Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but lost because of this bargain. Significance: The election's backlash catapulted Jackson to the presidency in 1828. Further, the Democratic-Republican Party split in two.

8. Election of 1912

The reason why the presidential election of 1912 is included here is to show the impact that a third party can have on the outcome of an election. When Theodore Roosevelt broke from the Republicans to form the Bull Moose Party, he hoped to win back the presidency. His presence on the ballot split the Republican vote resulting in a win for the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson. This would be significant because Wilson led the nation during World War I and staunchly fought for the 'League of Nations'. Significance: Third parties cannot necessarily win American elections but they can spoil them.

9. Election of 2000

The Election of 2000 came down to the electoral college and specifically the vote in Florida. Because of the controversy over the recount in Florida, the Gore campaign sued to have a manual recount. This was significant because it was the first time the Supreme Court got involved in an electoral decision. It decided that the votes should stand as counted and the electoral votes for the state were awarded to George W. Bush. He won the presidency without winning the popular vote. Significance: The after-effects of the 2000 election can still be felt in everything from constantly evolving voting machines to greater scrutiny of elections themselves.

10. Election of 1796

After George Washington's retirement, there was no unanimous choice for president. The presidential election of 1796 demonstrated that the fledgling democracy could work. One man stepped aside, and a peaceful election occurred resulting in John Adams as president. One side effect of this election which would become more significant in 1800 was that due to the electoral process, arch-rival Thomas Jefferson became Adams' Vice President. Significance: The election proved that American electoral system worked.

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The 10 Top Dinosaur Discoveries of 2010

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Top 10 Most Important Ancient Discoveries in London

Source:http://heritage-key.com | Beneath the vast urban sprawl of London, there’s literally layer-upon-layer of rich archaeological history. It tells the story of a city with origins that stretch back as far as 47 AD – and the Roman occupation of Britain – and a site of human settlement that’s many thousands of years older still.
Because of the densely-packed architectural layout of central London – site of Roman Londinium and Anglo-Saxon Lundenwic – most archaeological digs have had to take place opportunistically during building or other engineering works. They’ve turned up some fascinating finds – such as the evidence of the warpath of Queen Boudicca in 60 AD, found during work on the Jubilee Underground line, and the remains of the old Anglo-Saxon city, unearthed ahead of the redevelopment of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden between 1996 and 1998.
We take a look ten of the most important ancient discoveries made in London to date. If you think there are any important finds that we’ve missed, as ever, leave us a comment at the bottom.

1. Roman Amphitheatre

The Roman Amphitheatre at the Museum of London

Location: Guildhall, City of London
Year of discovery: 1985
Description: The remains of a Roman amphitheatre were uncovered beneath London’s medieval Guildhall during ambitious archaeological excavations carried out between 1985 and 1999. The structure – in use from the 1st to the 4th century AD – was the largest of its kind in Roman Britain.

2. Tomb of an Anglo-Saxon King

Location: Prittlewell, Southend
Year of discovery: 2004
Description: The array of extraordinary goods found in this Anglo-Saxon grave – including bronze cauldrons, gold foil crosses, glass jars, copper buckles, a sword and a shield – have led archaeologists to conclude that it must have been the final resting place of a very important individual, possibly even a king. Two possible Anglo-Saxon monarchs have been suggested – King Saebert, who converted to Christianity in 604 AD and died in 616 AD, or King Sigeberht II, who converted in 653 AD.

An archaeologist getting good and mucky in the dig for London's oldest wooden structure. Picture - Archaeology South-East.

3. London’s Earliest Timber Structure

Location: Greenwich, South East London
Year of discovery: 2009
Description: A 6,000 year-old (that’s 500 years earlier than Stonehenge) wooden platform or trackway, found buried 4.7 metres deep in a peat bog adjacent to Belmarsh Prison. It would have used by prehistoric settlers to cross tricky boggy-patches when heading out into the Thames wetlands to hunt and gather food.

4. Anglo-Saxon London

Location: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Year of discovery: 1996-1998
Description: Ahead of a major renovation works of the Royal Opera House, archaeologists were given a unique opportunity to investigate part of the area of old (6-9th century AD) Anglo-Saxon London – or Lundenwic. They discovered evidence of a far more substantial, well laid-out, and densely populated city than previously had been considered, with a grid system of roads, a money economy and a population of 10-12,000.

5. First Foundation of Roman London

Location: No 1. Poultry, City of London
Year of discovery: 2000
Description: London’s most expensive archaeological dig – undertaken by the Museum of London Archeological Service (MOLAS) – took place during the construction of the controversial No 1. Poultry Building. It was worth every penny, since several significant discoveries – including a wooden drain along the main Roman road – were made. Dated to 47 AD using dendrochronology, it’s thought to give the date of the founding of Roman Londinium.

6. Boudicca’s Revenge Across the Thames

Location: Just south of London Bridge, Southwark
Year of discovery: 1995
Description: The extent of Queen of the Brittonic Iceni tribe Boudicca’s bloody revolt against the occupying Romans during in the 1st century AD was believed to have spread no further south than the Thames (see our video about Boudicca's bloody history here).

That was, until the discovery of a layer of burnt ash and timber along the route of a Roman road in Southwark (found during the tunneling of the Jubilee Underground line) dating from around 60 AD – the time of Boudicca’s rampage, which saw the slaughter of around 70 000 Romans and the burning of Londinium.

7. Anglo-Saxon Cemetery

Location: Covent Garden
Year of discovery: 2008
Description: The discovery of this Anglo-Saxon cemetery – in the area of Lundenwic (an area roughly approximate with the city's West End) – forced archaeologists to reassess the age of Anglo-Saxon London. Previously it was thought to have been founded in 650 AD, but radiocarbon dating of remains found in the graveyard forced that estimate back 100 years, to 550 AD. The quality of some artefacts discovered also suggested that the settlement was relatively wealthy and cosmopolitan from its first days.

8. Roman Cathedral

Location: Tower Hill, Tower Hamlets
Year of discovery: 1995
Description: Built out of masonry reused from other buildings in the late Roman period – between 350 AD and 400 AD – and burned down in the 5th century AD, this Roman cathedral must have been massive. Its remains suggest it was like a larger version of the church of St Thecla in Milan – the biggest church in the then-capital of the Roman Empire. It may have been erected by Magnus Maximus, western emperor between 383 AD and 388 AD.

The remains of a Roman bridge were found near London Bridge. Image credit - Wally Gobetz.

 

9. Roman Bridge

Location: Near London Bridge, City of London
Year of discovery: 1981
Description: This massive pier base of a Roman bridge, discovered in the Thames, is believed to be the remains of the original London Bridge. It would have been made from wood, and proven vital to supplying important settlements further north – such as Colchester – from landing points in southern England. Around this crossing point, Londinium began to spring-up.

10. The King’s Highway

Location: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Year of discovery: 1996-1998
Description: One of the key parts of Anglo-Saxon Lundenwic found during the excavation of the Royal Opera House was the so-called King’s Highway. This was a solid gravel road, a metre thick (far superior to its many side-roads) that would have been built and maintained at the public’s expense and function as the city’s main thoroughfare.

 

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Top 10: Remarkable Shipwreck Discoveries

Source: http://totallytop10.com |
What is lost at sea usually stays that way. But every now and then discoveries are made. Here are ten remarkable shipwrecks you might not have heard of. Most of them have become famous wreck diving spots so for all you divers and maritime history nuts; Enjoy!

10. RMS Rhone

The RMS Rhone was one of the first iron hulled ships and it was used to transport mail, cargo, and passengers between the Caribbean and England. In 1867, the ship wrecked during a hurricane of the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands. The wreck is now a very popular dive site; the hull is encrusted with coral and a variety of marine life inhabits the wreck.

9. SS Thistlegorm

In 1941, this British Merchant Navy ship was sunk by a German bomb in the Egyptian Red Sea. The wreck was discovered by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in the early 50s and later became a popular dive site. Trucks, motorcycles, rifles, and many other items can be found when exploring the ship’s holds.

8. SS Yongala

When this passenger ship got hit by a cyclone on March 23, 1911, it sank and all 122 passengers perished in the waters off the coast of Cape Bowling Green, Australia. This 110 meter long ship is one of the largest shipwrecks and is visited by over 10,000 divers every year due to the vast array of marine life.

7. Rainbow Warrior

This Greenpeace-owned ship was intended to lead a protest against French nuclear testing in French Polynesia. However, on July 10, 1985, French intelligence agents sabotaged these plans by detonating two bombs and sinking the ship. The wreck is now popular with divers, dolphins and manta rays are common sights.

6. SS President Coolidge

This 199 meter long luxury ocean liner sunk in 1941 when it hit a mine in the South Pacific, off the coast of Vanuatu. It is now a popular dive spot because the ship is mostly intact and lies in relatively shallow water.

5. Fujikawa Maru

Truk Lagoon in Micronesia is the home to many shipwrecks, including this Japanese freighter that was sunk in 1944 by a torpedo. Divers come to see the hold full of Zero fighter planes and the other assorted artifacts, including fossilized sake bottles.

4. USS Oriskany

In May 2006, this former US Navy aircraft carrier was deliberately sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, 37 km off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. At 275 meters long, it is the world’s largest artificial reef.

3. L.R. Doty

This wooden steamship disappeared near Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 25, 1898, during a violent storm on Lake Michigan. It was recently discovered, 112 years later, on June 25, 2010. Divers found the wreck, along with its cargo of corn, perfectly preserved by the cold fresh waters. In addition, at 90 meters below the surface, it is deep enough that the wreck is not disturbed by storms.

2. Skeleton Coast

This section of the Atlantic coast in Namibia is littered with the remains of thousands of ships that have wrecked due to the heavy surf and even heavier winds. Many of the wrecks are at least partially covered by sand and some are completely buried, with only the mast visible. While it was once a treacherous place, Skeleton Coast National Park is now a popular tourist area, due to the shipwrecks, as well as the variety of wildlife that can be found further inland.

1. Whydah Galley

This 31 meter long galley was the flagship of the pirate Sam “Black Sam” Bellamy. On April 26, 1717, the Whydah Galley was pummeled by a heavy storm and sunk off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The wreck was discovered in 1985, along with the thousands of artifacts on board. The ship’s inscription, “THE WHYDAH GALLEY 1716“, makes this wreck the only positively identified pirate shipwreck in history.

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