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MAY 2010
NUGGETS
Anecdotes of the Great
 ON his final voyage while exploring the coast of Central America, Columbus was forced to abandon two of his ships (due to an epidemic of shipworms eating holes in the ships' planking) and beach two more on the coast of Jamaica in 1504. Initially, the natives welcomed the castaways, providing food and shelter, but as days dragged into weeks, tensions mounted. Half of Columbus' crew mutinied, robbing and murdering some of the natives. When the natives refused to sell any more food to them, Columbus formulated a desperate plan. Consulting his almanac, he noticed that a lunar eclipse was due a few days later. On the appointed day, he summoned the native leaders and warned them that he would blot out the moon that very evening if his demands were not met. They laughed at him - until later that night when the eclipse began. As the moon disappeared before their eyes, they went to Columbus in a state of terror, whereupon he agreed to stop his magic in exchange for food. The offer was accepted and the moon 'restored'.
[Christopher Columbus (1451 - May 20, 1506) Italian navigator and explorer noted for his discovery of America (while attempting to reach Asia by sailing west from Europe in 1492) and for his subsequent voyages to the Caribbean in his quest for a sea route to China]
FACTOID Coprolites are the fossilized remains of animal dung. The name is derived from the Greek words kopros meaning 'dung' and lithos meaning 'stone'. They are valued in paleontology as they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms. 
WHO AM I?
Born on May 7, 1861, I am a poet, novelist, musician and playwright. Author of Gitanjali, in 1913 I was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1919, I returned my knighthood in protest against the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. Answer: Rabindranath Tagore. Perhaps the only litterateur who penned anthems of two countries: Bangladesh (Amar Shonar Bangla) and India (Jana Gana Mana). He started a school in Shantiniketan which later expanded into a university. Indira Gandhi, Satyajit Ray and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen are among its more illustrious students. Funny Quote "Thousand thanks for the bad security!"
Note left by thieves who stole Norway's most famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch from a museum in Oslo in only 50 seconds. It was recovered on May 7, 1994. Compiled by Caroline C. D’Souza |
THIS MONTH INHISTORYMay 01, 1960
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May 06, 1937
May 10, 1994
May 13, 1648
May 13, 1967
May 20, 1570
May 20, 1932
