Haunted Scottish Castles

It is hardly surprising that many of Scotland's castles are associated with ghosts, apparitions and strange noises - they have histories in some cases stretching back over 600 years. Here is just a selection of twenty nine of them (from a list of 150 known to have a reputation!).

Culzean Castle, Ayrshire
There had been a castle here on the cliffs overlooking the Firth of Clyde long before Robert Adam designed his masterpiece for the Earl of Cassillis in the 18th century - incorporating some of the earlier castle which had been built by Sir Thomas Kennedy (who was murdered on the sands at Ayr in 1602). Whenever one of the Kennedy family is about to get married a ghostly piper is said to play in the grounds. He is also supposed to play on stormy nights - mixed in with the howling wind and crashing waves. There is also a a ghost of a young woman in a ballgown (reported as recently as 1972) but no-one seems to know who she is.

Ackergill Tower, Caithness
Ackergill Tower has had a stormy history over the last 600 years. At one time it was owned by the Keith family who had frequent fights with the Gunns and Sinclairs who came from the same part of the country. The castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of Helen Gunn who was kidnapped by one of the Keith family who brought her back to Ackergill Tower. She threw herself from the battlements of the tower rather than submit to her captors.

Balcomie Castle, Fife
Begun in the 16th century, the castle has had various owners and Mary of Guise stayed there on her way to marry King James V. At one time it had fine plaster ceilings but these were taken to Ayrshire to be incorporated into Dean Castle. The ghost in Balcomie Castle is reputed to be of a young man who was starved to death in the castle - because he would not stop whistling!

Baldoon Castle, Galloway
This castle is now a ruin but was owned by the Dunbars of Westfield from 1530 to 1800. Baldoon Castle's ghost became the subject of a novel by Sir Walter Scott - "The Bride of Lammermuir". Forced by her parents to abandon the man she loved, she married David Dunbar but became insane and stabbed him on her wedding night. Ever since those events in the 17th century, she is reputed to roam the castle dressed in white, blood-spattered clothes but is most often seen on the anniversary of her death.

Borthwick Castle, Lothian
Now advertised as a romantic place for a wedding, Borthwick Castle is a large, magnificent castle which was built in 1430. Mary Queen of Scots called at the castle after her marriage (at 4am on 15 May 1567) to the Earl of Bothwell. The castle was besieged and she only escaped by disguising herself as a man. Ever since then an apparition of Mary, dressed as a page boy, has been seen.

Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran
Much of the castle was created in the 19th century but incorporating parts which date back to the 13th century (though there may have been a Viking fort on the site even earlier than that). It was originally built by the Stewarts and was captured by the English during the Wars of Independence. In 1406 an English fleet sailed into the Clyde and destroyed much of the original castle. Considerable additions were made to the castle when Cromwell's forces occupied it in the middle of the 17th century. For much of its life the castle has been owned by members of the Hamilton family. The older part of the castle is said to be haunted by a "Grey Lady" who starved to death in the dungeons of the castle because she had the plague. A man has been reportedly seen sitting in the library and a White Deer is reputedly seen in the grounds of the castle whenever a chief of the Hamiltons is close to death.

Cawdor Castle
Regarded as one of the most magnificent castles in Scotland, parts of Cawdor date back to the 14th century. It is said to have been built where William Calder had been told in a dream to build a castle wherever his donkey stopped to rest. Although associated by Shakespeare with Macbeth, the castle is not quite old enough (King Duncan was not murdered at Cawdor but in battle at nearby Spynie). The castle became part of the Campbell "empire" when Muriel Calder, heiress to the castle, was kidnapped at the age of 12 and married to the Earl of Argyll's son, Sir John Campbell in 1511. A ghost wearing a blue velvet dress has been reported in the castle though no-one can say whether this is Muriel Calder.

Claypotts Castle, Angus
The oddly shaped Claypotts Castle (two of its round towers have projecting rectangular rooms at the top) dates from the 16th century. At one time the castle was owned by John Graham of Claverhouse, known as "Bonnie Dundee" or "Bloody Clavers" depending on which side you were on during the time of the Covenanters. The castle is said to be haunted by a "White Lady" who is seen at a window in the castle each 29 May. She is reputed to be the ghost of Marion Ogilvie who was the mistress of Cardinal Beaton who was murdered in St Andrews - on 29 May 1546. However the castle had not been built by 1546 and she lived at Melglund Castle.

Craigievar Castle, Aberdeenshire
Seven-storeys high, Craigievar Castle was owned initially by the Mortimer family and then the Forbes who completed the castle in 1626. It is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is said to be haunted by a member of the Gordon family who was murdered there by Sir John Forbes who forced him out of a high window at sword point. There is also said to be a fiddler - who is only ever seen by members of the Forbes family.

Craignethan Castle, Lanark
On an easily defensible position on a promontory overlooking the River Nethan, a tributary of the Clyde, Craignethan Castle had formidable defences - which were never put to the test. Originally owned by the Black Douglases it passed to the Hamiltons. Mary Queen of Scots is said to have spent the night there before the Battle of Langside and the castle is said to be haunted by her (minus her head, which was removed at her execution!). Other apparitions have been seen in the courtyard of the castle. In recent times, visitors to the castle have followed a a figure dressed in historical costume, thinking it was leading the way to a pageant - only to find the figure disappearing before their eyes....

Dean Castle, Ayrshire
This well preserved castle incorporates a keep which goes back to the 14th century. For much of its life it was occupied by the Boyd family. It was gutted by fire in 1735 but in 1905 it was restored - using material from Balcomie Castle (see above). It was subsequently given to the town of Kilmarnock in 1975 and the grounds are a public park. Prior to the Jacobite uprising, servants in the castle said they had seen a severed head rolling on the floor. The fourth Earl Boyd later joined the rising - and was beheaded in 1746.

Delgatie Castle, Turriff
Rising five storeys high, Delgatie Castle was the property of the Clan Hay who had a well-earned reputation for their fighting qualities. But the Clan supported the Jacobites in both 1715 and 1745 and forfeited the castle as a result. The castle is reputed to be haunted by a red haired woman and during the Second World War an entire detachment of troops who were billeted there fled from the castle in bare feet as they were confronted by the ghostly apparition.

Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland
The name Sutherland is derived from the Norse "south lands" and was adopted by a Fleming who arrived there before the 13th century. The masive and stately Dunrobin Castle, latterly made to look like a French chateau, was the home of the Sutherland family for centuries. The family became infamous for their part in the Highland Clearances during which many local crofters were forcibly evicted so that the land could be used more profitably rearing sheep. The ghost which haunts the upper floors of the castle is reputed to be the daughter of the 14th Earl of Sutherland who was imprisoned by her father to stop her from marrying someone he regarded as unsuitable. She tried to escape down a rope from an upstairs room but fell to her death.

Duns Castle, Berwickshire
Parts of this castle in the Scottish Borders go back to the 14th century. The castle has had many owners but its association with the Hay family has resulted in a ghost being reported. Alexander Hay was killed at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and is said to have returned to Duns Castle and makes a ghostly appearance every now and then.

Dunstaffnage Castle, Oban
According to legend there has been a fort on this promontory since the first century BC. As a Dalriada stronghold the Stone of Destiny was held there at one stage. The present castle dates from the 13th century and early in the 15th century it became one of the (many) strongholds of the Clan Campbell. Punitive raids against the MacDonalds and the Macleans were mounted from here and in the 16th century Cameron of Lochiel was beheaded there. Flora MacDonald was imprisoned in the castle for a short spell after she had helped Prince Charles Edward Stewart to escape back to France in 1746. The castle's ghost is said to wear a green dress and foretells major events, both good or bad, which are about to befall the Campbell nobility.

Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye
Dunvegan has been the home of the chiefs of the Clan MacLeod since 1270. It is also the home of the Fairy Flag which was given to a MacLeod chief by his fairy wife. It is used to give victory to the clan and achieved this at battles at Glendale and Trumpan and the faded flag is said to be available if required in the future!

Edinburgh Castle
On a prominent position on top of a former volcano, there has undoubtedly been a fortress there since long before recorded history. The castle has been at the centre of Scottish history for over 800 years and was captured and recaptured many times during the centuries of wars between Scotland and England. Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to the future King James VI in the castle in 1566. The castle withstood attack in both the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite Uprisings. The castle is said to have a ghost of a headless drummer (who was sighted as recently as 1960) and a piper playing on the battlements - and not just during the Edinburgh Military Tattoo...

Fernie Castle, Fife
Originally owned by the MacDuffs it passed to the Fernies in the 15th century but in recent times it has become a hotel. Its "Green Lady" ghost is said to have fallen to her death from the tower of the castle many centuries ago but she has kept up with the times and now shows that she is around by tampering with the lights and electrical appliances, giving a ready-made excuse for the hotel when the TV goes blank.

Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire
Held by the Frasers since the 15th century, the castle is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. While there are no reported ghosts in the castle, in the 19th century a young woman was murdered in the castle and her body dragged down the stairs. It was said that the stains on the stone stairs kept reappearing, despite strenuous efforts by the servants. The stair is now covered in wood.

Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire
Dating back to the 13th century, Fyvie Castle is highly decorated with towers and dormer windows. It has been owned by a number of wealthy families over the years - Lindsay, Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon, Leith, many of whom left their mark on the building. It is said to be haunted by several ghosts including a "Grey Lady". When building work was being carried out in the early part of this century a skeleton was found in a secret room. The Grey Lady was seen frequently thereafter - until the bones were returned to the room when things quietened down again. Another ghost, a "Green Lady" is said to be Dame Lillias Drummond who was starved to death by her husband, Sir Alexander Seton, who then remarried soon after. The ghost is said to have scratched her name on the window sill of the bedroom being used by the newlyweds - and the name can still be seen there.

Glamis Castle
Glamis has a reputation for being one of the most haunted castles in Scotland - and that is saying something! With its pointed turrets it looks more like a Disney creation than a Scottish castle. It was home to Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the present Queen. Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister was born in Glamis. Earlier in its history, however, the young and beautiful Lady Glamis was accused by King James V of being a witch and was burned at the stake in 1537. Her ghost is the "Grey Lady of Glamis". Another ghost is said to be the 4th Earl of Crawford who haunts a room where he played cards with the devil. The large bearded ghost of "Earl Beardie" is also said to have been seen on many occasions.

Castle Grant, Grantown-on-Spey
The stronghold of the Grants, a name which may have come from the Norman French "grand" meaning "great". The ghost is said to appear of Lady Barbara Grant, a daughter of a 16th century laird, who died while locked in a cupboard because she fell in love with someone deemed unsuitable by her father.

Castle Guthrie, Angus
Castle Guthrie is now a hotel and visitors can stay overnight in the "Ghost Suite". It obtained its reputation after a visit by the Bishop of St Andrews in 1620. While he was there a ghost of a former Lady Guthrie came back to make sure he was comfortable. Since then she has returned to look after whoever is sleeping there -and guests in the hotel say it has been the most peaceful sleep they have ever experienced.....

Hermitage Castle, Borders
Parts of Hermitage Castle go back to the 13th century when the castle was built for the Dacres family but eventually became one of the Douglas castles and then the Earl of Bothwell. The 4th Earl of Bothwell was visited at Hermitage by Mary Queen of Scots who later married him. Needless to say, Mary's ghost has been seen in the castle but the ghostly screams which are said to be heard from time to time are attributed to an earlier owner who dabbled in witchcraft.

Huntingtower Castle, Perthshire
The land here was held by the Ruthven family from the 12th century and Huntingtower Castle used to be called Ruthven Castle. Mary Queen of Scots visited the castle soon after her marriage to Lord Darnley and the 4th Lord Ruthven kidnapped the 15-year-old King James VI and held him in the castle for a year. The castle ghost is named "My Lady Greensleeves" and although she is sometimes seen in advance of a death, she is also said to have cured sick people, an unusual ocurence for a ghost.

Inveraray Castle
A Campbell stronghold, the original castle was burnt by the Marquis of Montrose in 1644. The present castle was built by the 3rd Duke of Argyle as he rebuilt not only the castle but the town of Inveraray as well. The castle is reputed to have a number of ghosts ranging from a harpist who was killed during the attack by Montrose, another which appears when a Campbell chief is close to death and a young woman who was murdered by Jacobites.

Lordscairnie Castle, Fife
Little remains of the original keep and tower of the 15/16th century building which was built for the Earls of Crawford. The loch which used to surround the castle has been drained and it is said that treasure is buried nearby. The 4th Earl of Crawford is said to be seen playing cards with the devil at midnight each New Year's Eve.

Neidpath Castle, Peebles
Parts of the castle date from the 14th century but there have been many additions and alterations over the centuries. Owned originally by the Hay family, Mary Queen of Scots stayed there in 1563 and her son, King Kames VI, visited in 1587. The castle was beseiged by Cromwell in 1650. In more recent times, the castle was used during filming of "The Bruce". The castle's ghost is yet another girl whose father would not allow her to marry her lover and she died of a broken heart.

Castle of Park, Banff
This castle incorporates a 16th century tower house and a green lady is said to appear from an upstairs window. The story goes that she is a servant who was dismissed from her post because she was expecing a child and subsequently committed suicide. Yet another ghost in the castle is a monk who was reputedly murdered by being walled up in the castle. Residents say they feel as though they are being watched - and objects mysteriously move from one room to another but it is the former servant, the green lady who is given the blame for this!

Dog fashion show..

A lady groomed her pet dog before a dog fashion show in Manila, Philippines, held on October 5. The fashion show was organised to promote animal wellness, welfare and responsibility during the saint Francis week of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

I will return to this blog after five days...

I am leaving for the airport for a five day business trip to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I will get back to this blog on my return.

International Non-Violence Day...

Today, the world celebrates International Non-Violence Day, on the occasion of the 138th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

His message: "I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

Transparent-skinned frog bred...

A transparent-skinned frog has been successfully bred by a team of Japanese scientists at the institute in Higashi Hiroshima, Japan. The frog can help scientific research because internal organs and blood vessels can be observed without dissection.

Something bothering you?

10 Crazy Inventions That Earned Patents

Patents are great things. Anyone with a brilliant idea should be entitled to reap the rewards of that idea, and the United States patent system protects the entrepreneur's right to fend off copycat attacks on his inventions. However, sometimes some goofy applications actually win patents. Here's ten inventions you won't believe are protected by real US patents:

1. Animal toy

"An apparatus for use as a toy by an animal, for example a dog, to either fetch carry or chew includes a main section with at least one protrusion extending therefrom that resembles a branch in appearance. The toy is formed of any of a number of materials including rubber, plastic, or wood including wood composites and is solid. It is either rigid or flexible."

2. Method of Swinging on a Swing

"A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two chains from a substantially horizontal tree branch induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one chain and then the other."

3. Electrogalvanic-powered diaper wetness sensor

"An electrical wetness sensor powered by the electrogalvanic action of an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte. In the preferred embodiment the electrolyte is urine and the device is used to warn of incontinence."

4. Burp gas filtering and deodorizing device

"The burp filtering device has the body of a writing pen, with an intake port at the upper end of the body, a plurality of exhaust ports adjacent the writing tip, and a filter disposed within the body. The filter may be made of activated charcoal or other media for filtering eructation odors. In use, the user holds the upper end of the pen body to his lips, releases the suppressed burp, and the filtered gas is exhausted through the ports at the writing tip."

5. User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocks

"An amusement apparatus including a user-operated and controlled apparatus for self-infliction of repetitive blows to the user's buttocks by a plurality of elongated arms bearing flexible extensions that rotate under the user's control. The apparatus includes a platform foldable at a mid-section, having first post and second upstanding posts detachably mounted thereon. The first post is provided with a crank positioned at a height thereon which requires the user to bend forward toward the first post while grasping the crank with both hands, to prominently present his buttocks toward the second post. The second post is provided with a plurality of rotating arms detachably mounted thereon, with a central axis of the rotating arms positioned at a height generally level with the user's buttocks."

6. Frameless glasses attaching to body piercings.

"A frameless glassware assembly attaching to body piercing studs. Design consisting of an elastomeric C-clip fixedly attached to one distal end of a metal arm, which is attached to a frameless glass lens assembly. Design allows for frameless eyeglass attachment to the eyebrow studs or to the nose studs of a user via the elastomeric C-clip. One embodiment allows the frameless glassware to attach to eyebrow studs and the second allows the frameless glassware to attach to a nose stud. Both designs are frameless and avoid side wire earpieces common to hold glassware to the face of a user."

7. Hijacker injector

"Passenger disabling apparatus mounted in and under an airplane seat and remotely actuated by a pilot or a crew member for disabling an airplane hijacker. The disabling apparatus comprises a solenoid actuated seat belt buckle lock in combination with an inflatable seat back and hypodermic injection apparatus arranged for driving the needle of a hypodermic syringe through the seat cushion into the passenger to instantly sedate or kill the passenger."

8. Kissing shield

"A kissing shield comprised of a thin, flexible membrane and a frame or holder. The membrane is closed on three sides, a fourth side remaining open so that the membrane can be stretched over the frame or holder.... The user then positions the kissing shield between his lips and the lips or cheek of the individual he plans to kiss and kisses the intended recipient of his affection."

9. Automated bathing facility

"An automated bathing system or facility for use in bathing large numbers of patients or persons in standing position by which the patients are suspended by means of a harness from an overhead rail and are moved along a conveyor belt floor past a wetting station, a soaping station, a rinsing station and finally into a drying station.... may be moved place to place to provide bathing facilities to persons in disaster areas or to cope with mass bathing requirements after an atomic bomb explosion."

10. Crispy cereal serving piece and method

"A serving piece for serving cereal and preventing its becoming soggy in milk includes a lower bowl configured to be supported in a food containing orientation upon a surface. An elongated sloped chute is mounted to and communicates at one end with the lower bowl and extends upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an upper bowl is mounted to and communicates with the other end of the sloped chute. In use, crispy cereal from the upper bowl is urged in successive measured portions down the chute and into milk contained in the lower bowl from where each portion of cereal can be consumed prior to its becoming soggy."

Happy Daughters' Day!

Today, India celebrates "Daughters' Day" for the first time. May their tribe increase!

Hello from China...

I will return to this blog after two weeks...

I am going to Thailand and China on a 17 day trip. I will resume updating this blog on my return.

BYU student attempts new world record for most hugs

Did you get a hug today?

Love flowed fast in Provo on Saturday (August 25) night when 765 people stood in line to hug 18-year-old Jordan Pearce in an attempt to break the world's record for most hugs given to one person in an hour. The event was part of the LDS Church's Edgemont North Stake Super Activity.

The previous record was 612 hugs in an hour, as recorded by Guinness World Records, said Charles Abbott, organizer of the stake event and grandfather to Pearce. The stake had hoped to make a new record of 1,000 people, but 30 minutes in, ran out of people at 765.

"I feel like I'm on cloud nine," Pearce said after being hugged for the last time.

Breaking the record turned out to require a lot of endurance as Pearce constantly knelt to hug hundreds of children in the line, and stretched to hug people taller than herself.

Standing under a canopy, facing the sun and a huge line of people, Pearce had worked up, well, a glisten.

"I was getting pretty glistening," she said.

Asked before the event what was the appropriate training for breaking a hugging record, Pearce said "I'm not entirely sure." She said she had no boyfriend to get jealous and added that the event would "be my allotment of hugs for the year."

A Hinckley scholar at BYU who will be a junior after her first semester because of advanced placement credits, Pearce said breaking a world record had been her idea. Abbott, her grandfather, had been a world record holder in his youth and Pearce said she thought it would be great to follow in his footsteps.

Abbott said that in 1973 at a church activity, he organized a group to flip the then-world's largest pancake.

"We had four or five flops before we had a flip," he said with a laugh, noting that while some parents felt breaking the record was frivolous, he wanted to teach the youth that "with perseverance they can accomplish anything they want to do."

Breaking the record on Saturday took months of planning. The family had to apply to Guinness World Records with detailed plans. Once those plans were approved, the event had to be overseen by two prominent members of the community, and media coverage was required.

On Saturday, 4th District Judge Lynn Davis and Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, (R-Provo) oversaw the competition, each holding a counter to tally the number of people who hugged Pearce. Pearce's neighbor, Theresa Welker, served as a third judge. The rules stipulate that each hug must be genuine, with arms and hands wrapped around the person.

In addition, each person was only allowed to hug once, and Pearce was required to stand in the same place during the event. To ensure no double-hugging, everyone who hugged Pearce was stamped on their right hand. The new record will not be final until approved by Guinness World Records, a process that requires photographs, film footage and signed witnesses.

Pulling it off was not easy. Bramble and Davis came up with different totals because Davis felt several little children whose arms did not wrap around Pearce should not count. The rules require the lowest count to be used.

Many people who came through the line holding things -- children, cotton candy, drinks. To make sure the hug counted, and to help the line go faster, Pearce's grandmother, Oranee Abbott, scooped babies, candy and sodas from those in line, passing them back after their hug was completed.

One man spilled a drink on Pearce. A little girl refused to let go of her blue sucker, and just as the event was ending, one little boy kicked and screamed, not wanting to hug a stranger.

But more difficult than those problems was encouraging people to let go of Pearce. With family, friends, cousins and neighbors in the line, many lingered too long.

"Faster, faster, come on, faster," said Oranee Abbott, repeating the mantra hundreds of times as she organized the line approaching her granddaughter.

"She's hugging everyone like she means it," said one woman with a laugh, while a man in line yelled out "Let's move, people, let's move!"

"This is exciting," said Morgan Coleman, who, as the 613th person hugged, officially broke the record.

"Now we can Google you," said his wife, Char.

Ryan Goodwin, as the 765th person in line, was the last person to hug Pearce. "I feel like a hug," he said when asked how he felt making the record books.

The woman standing next to him wrapped her arms around him.

Ancient Astronauts

Erich Von Daniken, starting with his popular Chariots of the Gods, sold over forty million books presenting his theories that the Earth was visited by extra-terrestrials some 10,000 to 40,000 years ago. While they were here, he suggests, they built the great pyramids in Egypt, laid down air fields that can still be seen today in Peru, and interbred with early humans to produce Homo sapiens. As evidence Von Daniken points to the countless legends seen in cultures around the world that tell of winged gods or flying machines. These were inspired, not by flights of fancy in the teller's mind, but by actual visits down through the ages of aliens with their advanced technology. For more tangible proof Von Daniken points to archaeological oddities found around the world. He suggests that Egyptians could not have built the great pyramid of Cheops without access to advanced technology and it is no coincidence that it's height, when multiplied by 1,000 million, is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. He also claims the famous mysterious lines in Peru's Nazca Plain are an alien airfield and that their unerring straight path for miles, even over mountains, could only be achieved if their building was directed from the air.

As intriguing as the idea of ancient astronauts might be, Von Daniken's "evidence" is less then convincing when examined closely. The great pyramid's height is not a 1,000 millionth the distance to the sun. Archaeologists have found evidence that simple techniques like barges and earth ramps were used to build the monuments of ancient Egypt. Straight lines, like those found at Nazca, can be made by simply planting two sticks in the earth, using them to line up a third, and then repeating the pattern for any distance needed.

As for his theories that the astronauts mated with human beings, it seems unlikely that visitors from space would be so biologically close to humans that they could interbreed. Also DNA evidence seems to suggest all human beings alive today can trace their ancestry back to a very small group of pre-humans living in Africa some 100 thousand years ago (It is fair to note this information was not available when Von Daniken wrote his books). If this is true any genes introduced by visiting aliens have not survived to modern man.

Of course these discrepancies don't prove that Earth wasn't visited by ancient astronauts, but it is unlikely such an astounding claim will be accepted without some equally astounding proof (Like a 23rd century watch found on the wrist of a recently unearthed mummy).

Strangely enough some scientists have speculated that we may indeed had ancient extraterrestrial visitors, but they didn't wear shiny suits or arrive in flying saucers.

Discovery of a meteorite from Mars that contains what looks like fossil microbes have led some experts to suggest that if Mars did have life some of it may have traveled here via a rock blasted out of that planet when the planet was struck by a large asteroid. While objects found in this Mars rock are definitely dead, there is speculation there maybe other microbes that could have survived the journey. If so, they could have influenced life on Earth.

Visitors sit on toilet seats to play with Playstation 3 at an exhibition stand of Japanese Sony Company at the Games Convention 2007 fair in Germany

Today in history - August 18th...

1227: Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who forged an empire stretching from the east coast of China west to the Aral Sea, died in camp during a campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia.

1920: The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land.

1960: The first commercially produced oral contraceptives went on the market.

1963: James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first African-American to attend the school and his enrollment touched off deadly riots, necessitating the use of armed guards.

1977: Comedian Julius Groucho Marx, leader of the wacky Marx Brothers, died at the age of 87.

1982: Lebanon and the Palestine Liberation Organization approved a plan for withdrawal of PLO fighters from besieged West Beirut. Israel approved it the following day.

1992: A convoy of 17 buses carrying 1,000 women and children left war-torn Sarajevo in the second such evacuation from Bosnia in a week.

1998: In the wake of his admission of an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, U.S. President Bill Clinton was urged to resign by several members of Congress and more than 100 daily newspapers.

2002: Abu Nidal, one of the most feared of the Palestinian terrorists, was found shot to death, an apparent suicide.

2003: Authorities estimated as many as 10,000 people had died in heat-related deaths in France during the ongoing European heat wave.

2005: Dennis Rader, the Kansas man who called himself the BTK killer -- for bind, torture, kill -- and confessed to slaying 10 people, was sentenced to 10 consecutive life-in-prison terms.

Cannibalism

Cannibalism (from Spanish caníbal, in connection with alleged cannibalism among the Caribs) is the act or practice of humans consuming other humans. In zoology, the term cannibalism is extended to refer to any species consuming members of its own kind.

Among humans it has been practiced by various tribal groups in the past in the Amazon Basin, North America, Africa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and New Guinea, usually in rituals connected to tribal warfare. Fiji was once known as the 'Cannibal Isles'. The Chaco Canyon ruins of the Anasazi culture have been interpreted by some archaeologists as containing evidence of ritual cannibalism.

The term originated from Christopher Colombus' interpretation of the word 'Carib', which was the name of the first indigenous people he found in the Americas, as he believed that they were man-eaters. Richard Hakluyt's "Voyages" introduced the word to English and Shakespeare transposed it, in an anagram-fashion, to name his monster servant in "The Tempest" as Caliban.

The Carib tribe acquired a longstanding reputation as cannibals following the recording of their legends by Fr. Breton in the 17th century. Some controversy exists over the accuracy of these legends and the prevalence of actual cannibalism in the culture.

According to a decree by Queen Isabella of Castile and also later under British colonial rule, slavery was considered to be illegal unless the people involved were so depraved that their conditions as slaves would be better than as free men. This legal requirement may have led to conquerors exaggerating the extent of cannibalistic practices, or inventing them altogether, as demonstrations of cannibalistic tendencies were considered evidence of such depravity.

The Korowai tribe of southeastern Papua could be one of the last surviving tribes in the world engaging in cannibalism.

Marvin Harris has analyzed cannibalism and other food taboos. He argued that it was common when humans lived in small bands, but disappeared in the transition to states, the Aztecs being an exception.

A well known case of mortuary cannibalism is that of the Fore tribe in New Guinea which resulted in the spread of the disease Kuru. It is often believed to be well-documented, although no eyewitnesses have ever been at hand. Some scholars argue that although post-mortem dismemberment was the practice during funeral rites, cannibalism was not. Marvin Harris theorizes that it happened during a famine period coincident with the arrival of Europeans and was rationalized as a religious rite.

Cannibalism was documented in Egypt during a famine caused by the failure of the Nile to flood for eight years (AD 1064-1073).

St. Jerome, in his letter "Against Jovinianus", tells of meeting members of a British tribe, the 'Atticoti', while traveling in Gaul. According to Jerome, the Britons claimed that they enjoyed eating "the buttocks of the shepherds and the breasts of their women" as a delicacy (ca. 360 AD). In 2001, archaeologists at the University of Bristol found evidence of Iron Age cannibalism in Gloucestershire.

Cannibalism was reported in Mexico, the "flower wars" of the Aztec Empire being considered as the most massive manifestation of cannibalism, but the Aztec accounts, written after the conquest, reported that human flesh was considered by itself to be of no value, and usually thrown away and replaced with turkey. There are only two Aztec accounts on this subject: one comes from the Ramirez codex, and the most elaborated account on this subject comes from Juan Bautista de Pomar, the grandson of Netzahualcoyot, "tlatoani" of Texcoco. The accounts differ little. Juan Bautista wrote that after the sacrifice, the Aztec warriors received the body of the victim, then they boiled it to separate the flesh from the bones, then they would cut the meat in very little pieces, and send them to important people, even from other towns; the recipient would rarely eat the meat, since they considered it an honour, but the meat had no value by itself. In exchange, the warrior would get jewels, decorated blankets, precious feathers and slaves; the purpose was to encourage successful warriors. There were only two ceremonies a year where war captives were sacrificed. Although the Aztec empire has been called "The Cannibal Kingdom", there is no evidence in support of its being a widespread custom.

Cannibalism features prominently in many mythologies; cannibal ogresses appear in folklore around the world, the witch in "Hansel and Gretel" being a popular example.

A number of stories in Greek mythology involve cannibalism, in particular cannibalism of close family members, for example the stories of Thyestes, Tereus and especially Cronus, who was Saturn in the Roman pantheon. The story of Tantalus also parallels this. These mythologies inspired Shakespeare's cannibalism scene in "Titus Andronicus".

In Hindu mythology, cannibals are usually forest-dwellers that refuse to join society and are known as "Rakshas".

Today in history - August 15th...

Today India celebrates 60 years of freedom. On August 15, 1947, India attained freedom from British colonial rule. This day is celebrated as Indian Independence Day.

Today in recent history - August 14th...

1784: Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian fur trader, founded the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island.

1900: Some 2,000 U.S. Marines joined with European forces to capture Beijing, ending the Boxer Rebellion against the Western presence in China.

1945: U.S. President Harry Truman announced that Japan had accepted terms for unconditional surrender, ending World War II.

1966: The unmanned U.S. Orbiter 1 spacecraft began orbiting the moon.

1994: The notorious international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal was captured in Sudan. He was extradited to France the next day.

2003: A massive power failure spread through Ohio, Michigan, the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, leaving 50 million people in eight states and the province of Ontario without electricity for as long as two days.

2003: The French health ministry said sweltering heat in Europe could be responsible for as many as 3,000 deaths in France.

2004: In the US, Hurricane Charley raked the coast of the Carolinas and moved back ashore at Georgetown, S.C., with 75 mph winds. Meanwhile, Florida, hard hit the day before, searched for more victims and assessed damage.

2004: At least 115 people were reported killed by Typhoon Rananim, the 14th typhoon to hit China this year.

2005: Authorities say the crash of a Helios Airways plane in Greece with 121 people aboard could have been caused by a sudden drop in cabin pressure. A report from the scene said there were no survivors.

Yesterday in recent history - August 13th...

1889: William Gray patented the coin-operated telephone.

1930: Capt. Frank Hawkes set an air speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 12 hours, 25 minutes.

1961: East Germany closed the Brandenburg Gate and prepared to start building the Berlin Wall.

1980: U.S. President Jimmy Carter was nominated for a second term by the Democratic National Convention in New York but lost in November to Ronald Reagan.

1990: Singer/songwriter Curtis Mayfield was left paralyzed when he was hit by a wind-blown lighting rig on an outdoor stage in New York. He died in 1999.

1992: A gunman dressed in military fatigues went on a shooting spree in a plant nursery in Watsonville, California, killing three and wounding four others before killing himself.

1993: Israel agreed for the first time to negotiate with a Palestinian delegation whose members belonged officially to the PLO.

1994: North Korea agreed to allow U.N. monitors to inspect a secret nuclear laboratory.

Today in recent history - August 12th...

2004 - The California Supreme Court invalidated more than 4,000 same-sex marriage licenses issued earlier in San Francisco.

2002 - Monsoons in Asia claimed more than 1,600 lives while floodwaters tore through central Europe and in southwestern Russia, killing 58.

1998 - The two largest Swiss banks and representatives of Holocaust survivors and their heirs agreed on a settlement of claims against the banks.

1997 - Hudson Foods, Inc., a meat processor in Rogers, Ark., announced it was recalling 20,000 lbs. of beef due to possible contamination by the E.coli bacterium. The recall ultimately was expanded to 25 million pounds of beef.

1996 - Delegates to the Republican National Convention passed a platform calling for a constitutional amendment against abortions.

Funny laws in Arizona, USA

• A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
• Any misdemeanor committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony (This goes back in the days of the Wild West).
• Cards may not be played in the street with a Native American.
• Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.
• Due to a typographical error in the Tempe, Ariz., code, a shooting range can be run by the "Amateur Crapshooting Association."
• Glendale: Cars may not be driven in reverse.
• Hayden: If you bother the cottontails or bullfrogs, you will be fined.
• In 1985, an Arizona legislator proposed that each candidate for the legislature take a reading and an I.Q. test three months before the election. The scores would have been posted on the ballot, had the bill passed. But a majority of legislators, for whatever reason, voted it down.
• In Arizona it is illegal to take naked photographs before noon on Sunday.
• It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling.
• It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.
• It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water.
• Maricopa County: No more than six girls may live in any house.
• Mesa: It is illegal to smoke cigarettes within 15 feet of a public place unless you have a Class 12 liqueur license.
• Mohave County: A decree declares that anyone caught stealing soap must wash himself with it until it is all used up.
• Nogales: An ordinance prohibits the wearing of suspenders.
• Prescott: No one is permitted to ride their horse up the stairs of the county court house.
• There is a possible 25 years in prison for cutting down a cactus.
• Tucson: Women may not wear pants.
• When being attacked by a criminal or burglar, you may only protect yourself with the same weapon that the other person posseses.

Paper launches Diana portrait competition

Top-selling German daily Bild invited its readers on Friday to take part in a competition to paint the best portrait of Princess Diana to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

"Ten years ago, on August 31, Lady Diana died in Paris," the paper said on its front page. "She lives on in millions of hearts ... Dear readers, paint Diana, how she was, how she is remembered."

Diana died in 1997 as she was being driven with her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed at high speed through a tunnel in Paris.

Editors will choose the three best paintings and announce the winner on the anniversary. The artists can win a trip to London and a helicopter flight over Diana's grave at Althorp Park north of the city.

A selection of portraits will be printed in the paper, Bild said.

You're fired! Worst sacking stories.

# "I went to a work function, drank too much, fell down the stairs, knocked myself unconscious, ambulance was called, taken to hospital. Woke up the next day in hospital with a roaring hangover/headache and a fractured skull. Got sacked Monday! Such is life."

# "My boss came to work wearing straight legged black jeans with RM Williams. Turns out he was going to some investment seminar. This is a man who was pushing 60. Anyway I sent an email to my friend telling her that my boss looked like he was entering a Johnny Cash line dancing competition. His daughter who was the receptionist intercepted the email, told her dad about it, I got called into his office the day after the seminar and was fired."

# "My boss was an insane Irish git who, after he heard me use the phrase ‘bang for your buck’, called me into his office and closed the mini vertical blinds (something he never did) and proceeded to tell me that he had no idea what that phrase meant only that it was surely offensive and that he was sick and tired of me using phrases designed to belittle him and that I was free to leave as soon as I could find another job."

# "I was fired for attending my grandfather’s funeral. I gave them four days notice of the funeral but they said I didn’t give them enough notice. How much notice did they expect? He passed away five days before the funeral."

# "I was sacked once for having an affair with the fiancee of my boss and once for having an affair with the wife of my boss … not bad for a tubby bald bloke."

Around the world in five minutes...

Huge lighthouse wave...this guy may want to go back inside...

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

You may, perhaps, already know that the word ‘honeymoon’ stems from the old Germanic custom of drinking hydromel or liquid honey for 30 days following the wedding feast. But would it ever have occurred to you that the unlikely source of the word ‘school’ is ‘schole’ – the Greek word for leisure? Or that the word ‘tee-total’ was literally spoused by a stammer? The stutterer being one Joseph Turner of Preston, who, at an anti-alcohol rally in 1833 vowed, with more conviction than coherence that “nothing but t-t-t-t-t-total abstinence will do…”

Some of the words and phrases we use originated in the oddest ways. Take, for example, the story of why a Hollywood Motion Picture Academy Award is called an Oscar. The term Oscar was coined by a secretary’s stray remark that the expression of the bronze-gilt statuette, annually awarded since 1927 for outstanding performance in the motion picture industry, reminded her of her uncle Oscar. Immortal words, these, and undoubtedly the stuff of which history is made.

The phrase “to steal someone’s thunder” is not meteorological in origin, but was coined from bitter experience by John Dennis, major 18th century critic, very minor playwright, and inventor of the theatrical thunder sheet. Dennis was understandably angry at the fact that while the theatres belittled his plays, “they steal my thunder”. And thereby hangs a phrase.

India has contributed a lot to the growth of the English language. There are numerous words and concepts in the language of Indian origin, adapted (primarily during the zenith of the British Raj) from the languages and customs of the country to expand and supplement everyday English speech. The word ‘pariah’, for instance, with its current implication of an outcast, is derived from the Tamil ‘pariyar’ or drummer, one of the hereditary callings of those beyond the pale of the Hindu social structure. The prevalent custom in British India of shunting wives and families off to the cool hills during the hot season engendered the epithet ‘grass widow’ for a woman temporarily separated from her spouse. The original juggernaut – a word now used to evoke images of some titanic, irresistible force, crushing everything in its path – was the Hindu God Vishnu (Jaggannath) whose image was installed in a chariot 45 feet high, borne aloft on 16 massive wheels, each nearly 7 feet in girth. And as this vast structure rumbled by, devotees would cast themselves beneath its wheels, in the belief that such a death would ensure their going to heaven.

The word ‘peccavi’ also has an Indian connection – though in a different way. ‘Peccavi’ is Latin for “I have sinned’. And when General Charles Napier seized the Indian state of Sind in 1843 and reported his victory in a terse communiqué, this unfortunate word became the subject of one of history’s most outrageous puns. The communiqué said: ‘Peccavi’ – ‘I have Sind.’

Beautiful picture...