December 12, 2025
The Battle of Nineveh (627 CE)
The Battle of Nineveh was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Dynasty, the last dynasty of native rulers to reign in Persia. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, was able to draw his Persian adversaries onto a favorable battlefield by feigning a retreat, thereby securing victory for his troops. The loss seriously damaged the Sassanids' power. Within decades, the weakened Sassanid dynasty would be toppled by the Arab Conquest. What fate did the Sassanid king suffer after Nineveh? Discuss
December 11, 2025
Last Manned Lunar Landing (1972)
With the Apollo program drawing to a close, the astronauts of Apollo 17 knew that it would be some time before anyone returned to the Moon. Hours after the mission's launch, the astronauts snapped the famous "Blue Marble" photograph of a fully illuminated Earth. Days later, they landed on the Moon. On their three moonwalks, they explored miles of the Taurus-Littrow region, collected rock samples, and set up equipment for remote data collection. Who was the last person to walk on the Moon?
December 10, 2025
The Brown Dog Affair: Rioting Peaks in London (1907)
In 1903, anti-vivisectionists enrolled as medical students at University College London and published an eyewitness account of a brown dog that had endured months of surgical experimentation while allegedly conscious. A professor named in the story sued for defamation and won. After the trial, anti-vivisectionists put up a statue of the dog as a monument in a park, but mobs of angry medical students rioted and tried to destroy it. In 1910, it was taken down by authorities. When was it replaced?
