Cast of a Livyatan skull

Livyatan melvillei is an extinct species of sperm whale that lived about 9.9 to 8.9 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch. The name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick. It was probably an apex predator, preying on whales and seals. The teeth, found in the Pisco Formation of Peru, measured 36.2 cm (14.3 in), the longest of any known animal, excluding tusks. The whale's length has been estimated at 13.5 to 17.5 m (44 to 57 ft), making it one of the largest predators ever. It is distinguished from the other raptorial sperm whales by the basin on the skull, and how it spans the entire length of the snout. The spermaceti organ, contained in the skull basin, is thought to have been used in echolocation and communication, or for ramming prey and other sperm whales. The whale may have competed with the giant extinct shark megalodon. Livyatan's extinction was probably caused by a cooling event at the end of the Miocene which resulted in a drop in food populations. (Full article...)

IBM Palm Top PC 110

• ... that IBM originally designed the Palm Top PC 110 (pictured) to be closer in shape to a VHS cassette but narrowed it when testers kept using their thumbs to type?
• ... that archaeologist Giuseppe Scarabelli made the only complete excavation of a Bronze Age village in Italy?
• ... that M. Night Shyamalan's Old is based on a Swiss graphic novel that the filmmaker received as a Father's Day gift?
• ... that two feet-one hand syndrome is the combination of two athlete's feet and fungus in one hand?
• ... that philosopher George Pitcher adopted a stray dog and her puppy that he took everywhere, including on a trip to France aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2?
• ... that the Steel River, in Northern Ontario, Canada, is one of the few rivers along Lake Superior's north shore never used for log drives?
• ... that the 1887 execution of George Flaxman may have inspired Rudyard Kipling's poem "Danny Deever"?
• ... that "every chapter" of the 1823 novel Seventy-Six is said to be "covered with blood, or heaving with the throes of lacerated flesh"?

Alexei Navalny

• Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny (pictured) is awarded the Sakharov Prize.
• PAICV candidate José Maria Neves is elected President of Cape Verde.
• British Member of Parliament Sir David Amess dies after being stabbed during a constituency meeting.
• Severe Tropical Storm Kompasu kills 40 people in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

October 24

George Washington Bridge

• 1648 – The second treaty of the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending both the Thirty Years' War and the Dutch Revolt, and officially recognising the Dutch Republic and the Swiss Confederation as independent states.
• 1795 – As a result of the Third Partition of Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist as an independent state, with its territory divided between Austria, Prussia, and Russia.
• 1889 – Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, gave a speech in which he called for the federation of the six Australian colonies.
• 1931 – The George Washington Bridge (pictured), connecting New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, and today the world's busiest motor-vehicle bridge, was dedicated.
• 1964 – Charges in a military court against generals Dương Văn Đức and Lâm Văn Phát of leading a coup attempt against South Vietnamese leader Nguyễn Khánh, were dropped..