Part of a man's DNA. It is passed from father to son, and women don't have it. See 'Some Notes on Archaeology'.
Y Chromosome
Fact of the Day
The eighteenth-century evangelical preacher George Whitefield considered it a badge of honour that, along with rotten fruit, he might be pelted by 'pieces of dead cats'.
Quote of the Day
"A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
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~ Samuel Johnson's dictionary definition for 'oats'
On This Day
1152 The Duke of Normandy and future Henry II of England became Duke of Aquitaine when he married Eleanor, eight weeks after the annulment of her marriage to Louis VII of France.
1554 Former mentor to Edward VI, William Thomas, was executed following the failure of the Wyatt Rebellion against Mary I.
1804 Napoleon was proclaimed emperor by the French senate.
1812 The assassin of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, John Bellingham, was hanged. He had been held prisoner in Russia when working as an export agent, and the British government had refused to compensate him. A civil servant told him to take matters into his own hands, which he did. A plea for insanity failed, but the public ensured that his family were thereafter well supported.
1911 Composer Gustav Mahler died from a bacterial infection in the heart, aged 50. The last word he uttered was 'Mozart'.
1980 Mount St Helens erupted in what has been called the most disastrous volcanic eruption in United States history. Between 55 and 60 people were killed, and the direct cost was about $1.1 billion (in 1980).
1991 Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space when she participated in the Soviet Soyuz TM-12 mission.