This Week In History News, Jun. 7 – 13

Published June 12, 2020

Ancient Irish longboat uncovered, preserved dinosaur specimen's last meal examined, lost World War II plane wreckage revealed.

12-Year-Old Boy Finds 4,000-Year-Old Longboat While Swimming In The Lake Behind His House

Boy Posing With Longboat

Mick McCormack/Irish CentralCathal McDonagh poses with the ancient longboat he discovered while swimming in a lake near his home.

When 12-year-old Irish schoolboy Cathal McDonagh was bored recently and looking to avoid homework, he went out for a swim in the lake behind his house in Lisacul, Ireland. While still in the shallows, he literally tripped over an ancient longboat wedged right there in the mud.

Archaeologists believe the 17-foot boat may be up to 4,000 years old, but will soon investigate further.

Read more here.

Researchers Open The Stomach Of A Perfectly-Preserved Dinosaur ‘Mummy’ To Find Its Last Meal

Borealopelta Markmitchelli Illustration

Mark Mitchelli/Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology The armored nodosaur looked fierce but was actually an herbivore.

About 110 million years ago, a giant plant-eating nodosaur gobbled down its last meal on Earth — and its stomach was preserved so well over time that scientists have now been able to determine what exactly its last meal was.

The nodosaur was first found with its skin and guts intact and was altogether so well-preserved that it was referred to as a dinosaur “mummy.” Now, a researcher involved in the new study described the prehistoric specimen as having the best-preserved dinosaur stomach ever found to date.

Dig deeper in this report.

Couple Unexpectedly Finds Wreckage Of WWII Fighter Plane While Walking Their Dog

Bristol Beaufighter Wreckage

FacebookThe Bristol Beaufighter plane crash-landed mere moments after takeoff from the nearby North Coates Royal Air Force base.

The sands on Cleethorpes Beach in Lincolnshire, England just revealed the wreckage of a World War II fighter plane. The Royal Air Force plane crash-landed in April 1944 after taking off from a nearby town called North Coates.

For locals Debi Louise Hartley and her partner Graham Holden, the receding sands made their routine walk with the dog something to remember. The pair snapped photos of the 76-year-old wreck and posted them on Facebook — which caught the attention of professionals in the field.

Learn more here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.