This Week In History News, June 23 – 29

Published June 28, 2019

Mystery of Nazca Lines uncovered, former First Lady's lesbian love affair brought to light, WWII bomb detonated.

Japanese Scientists Crack Mystery Of The Nazca Lines

Nazca Lines

Masaki EdaIn a new study, researchers re-examined 16 of the geoglyphs formed by the Nazca lines.

Researchers have unlocked another piece of the puzzle related to Peru’s ancient Nazca lines — and no, they still don’t think they were made by aliens.

Using enhanced techniques from multiple disciplines, a group of Japanese animal scientists re-examined and re-identified 16 of the bird geoglyphs that stretch across Peru’s desert plains, and have determined that many of the birds depicted in the ancient designs were actually species foreign to Peru.

Which gets us one step closer to figuring out why these birds were carved into the Earth 2,000 years ago.

See more here.

The Great Lesbian Love Affair Of Rose Cleveland, The Former First Lady Of The United States

Rose Cleveland Former First Lady

Library of Congress/New Jersey State ArchivesRose Cleveland served as First Lady for 14 months until her brother, former president Grover Cleveland, finally married.

Rose Cleveland, the sister of U.S. President Grover Cleveland, became the First Lady in 1885 after her bachelor brother appointed her. Apparently, in the 1880s, the country’s chief executive required a woman by his side to serve as White House hostess.

Rose was the perfect choice: intelligent, well-educated, and a well-respected author.

She was also a lesbian.

Dig deeper in this report.

Buried WWII Bomb Self-Detonates And Creates Meteor-Sized Crater Outside German Village

Limburg Crater From WWII Bomb

Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty ImagesAccording to local experts, the aging bomb self-detonated.

At around 4 a.m. this past Sunday, residents of the central German town of Limburg awoke to what they thought was a meteor collision. Indeed, the following day they found a crater measuring 33-feet-wide and deep 13-feet-deep, but local officials were able to confirm that the crater was actually the result of a blast from an unexploded 550-pound bomb dating back to World War II.

The residents weren’t without merit to think that the bomb blast was a meteor, as drone images show, and the explosion itself was big enough to register as a minor tremor of 1.7 on the Richter scale. Fortunately, since the bomb had detonated in the middle of a cornfield nobody was hurt.

Read on here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
Established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together a dedicated staff of digital publishing veterans and subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science. From the lesser-known byways of human history to the uncharted corners of the world, we seek out stories that bring our past, present, and future to life. Privately-owned since its founding, All That's Interesting maintains a commitment to unbiased reporting while taking great care in fact-checking and research to ensure that we meet the highest standards of accuracy.
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.