Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Elena

Chief Master Sergeant Paul Wesley Airey


"Chief Airey was an Airman's Airman and one of the true pioneers for our service," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff. "He was a warrior, an innovator, and a leader with vision well ahead of his time. His legacy lives today in the truly professional enlisted force we have serving our nation, and for that we owe him a debt of gratitude."

Chief Airey was born in Quincy, Mass., on December 13, 1923. At age eighteen, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December, 7, 1941, Airey quit high school to enlist in the Army Air Forces on November 16, 1942. He later earned his high school equivalency certificate through off-duty study. During World War II he flew as a B-24 radio operator and additional duty aerial gunner. On his 28th mission, then-Technical Sergeant Airey and his fellow crewmen were shot down over Vienna, Austria, captured, and held prisoner by the German air force from July 1944 to May 1945. During his time as a prisoner of war he worked tirelessly to meet the basic needs of fellow prisoners, even through a 90-day forced march.

Chief Airey held the top enlisted from April 3, 1967 to July 31, 1969. During his tenure he worked to change loan establishments charging exorbitant rates outside the air base gates and to improve low retention during the Vietnam Conflict. Chief Airey also led a team that laid the foundation for the Weighted Airman Promotion System, a system that has stood the test of time and which is still in use today. He also advocated for an Air Force-level Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. His vision became reality when the academy opened in 1973, becoming the capstone in the development of Air Force Senior NCOs. Chief Airey retired August 1, 1970. He continued advocating for Airmen's rights by serving on the boards of numerous Air Force and enlisted professional military organizations throughout the years. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Airmen Memorial Museum, a member of the Air Force Memorial Foundation and the Air University Foundation.

On the north wall of the Air Force Memorial in Washington D.C., Chief Airey's thoughts on Airmen are immortalized, "When I think of the enlisted force, I see dedication, determination, loyalty and valor." The Air Force Association honored Airey with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

Chief Airey passed away on March 11, 2009 at his home in Panama City, Florida

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Remains of medieval vampire found?

This is interesting! Do read the whole story.

LiveScience: Medieval 'Vampire' Skull Found---

The remains of a medieval "vampire" have been discovered among the corpses of 16th century plague victims in Venice, according to an Italian archaeologist who led the dig.

The body of the woman was found in a mass grave on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Suspecting that she might be a vampire, a common folk belief at the time, gravediggers shoved a rock into her skull to prevent her from chewing through her shroud and infecting others with the plague, said anthropologist Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence.

In the absence of medical science, vampires were just one of many possible contemporary explanations for the spread of the Venetian plague in 1576, which ran rampant through the city and ultimately killed up to 50,000 people, some officials estimate.

Italy's famous canal city wasn't really overrun with medieval Draculas, however.

Right. As we Twilight fans know, the city really overrun with Vampires is Volterra (go read New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) if you don't understand.).

And the gross probable explanation:

A phenomenon that occurs early on in the process of decomposition - abdominal bloating - is what likely concerned the Venetian gravediggers, Borrini said. When humans die, the body releases a myriad of bacterial gases that cause a corpse to bloat with fluid, usually just a few days after death in the absence of any kind of preservation or protection from coffins.

"During this phase, the decay of the gastrointestinal tract contents and lining create a dark fluid called 'purge fluid'; it can flow freely from the nose and mouth...and it could easily be confused with the blood sucked by the vampire," said Borrini.

If the "vampire" woman was emitting blood from her mouth, the fluid likely moistened her burial shroud causing it to sink into her jaw cavity and be dissolved by the fluids, Borrini said, making it appear as though she was trying to bite through her shroud. When discovered in that state, a stone was jammed into her mouth as a kind of exorcism to prevent her from potentially spreading the disease further, the researchers think.

Medieval skeletons have been found in a similar state in other parts of Europe, Borrini said.

It is quite an fascinating article!

Items of Interest

AP: UK survivor of WWI trenches given French honor---

LONDON – The last British survivor of World War I's grinding trench warfare was made an officer of the French Legion of Honor on Monday.

French Ambassador Maurice Gourdault-Montagne awarded 110-year-old Harry Patch the medal at a ceremony in Patch's nursing home in Wells, 120 miles (190 kilometers) west of London, Britain's Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Patch, who served as a machine-gunner in the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele, told Gourdault-Montagne he was proud of the honor.

"Ambassador, I greatly appreciate the way your people respect the memory of those who fell, irrespective of the uniform they wore," he said in a raspy, deliberate voice. "I will wear this medal with great pride and when I eventually rejoin my mates it will be displayed in my regimental museum as a permanent reminder of the kindness of the people of France."

Patch is one of only two surviving British veterans of World War I, according to the Ministry of Defense. The second, 112-year-old Henry Allingham, served as an airman.

AP: Did a Bard contemporary brush up on Shakespeare?---

LONDON – The Bard, or not the Bard? That is the question posed by Monday's unveiling of a centuries-old portrait of a dark-eyed, handsome man in Elizabethan finery.

Experts say it is the only portrait of William Shakespeare painted during his lifetime — in effect, the sole source of our knowledge of what the great man looked like.

But they can't be certain. In the shifting sands of Shakespeare scholarship, where even the authorship of the plays is sometimes disputed, nothing is written in stone.

And also of interest in that article:

In separate discoveries that are solving other Shakespeare-related mysteries, Museum of London archaeologists said they had uncovered the foundations of the long-buried theater where Shakespeare wrote and performed as an actor.

Museum officials said the rudimentary playhouse, simply called The Theatre, was built in 1576 by actor and theater promoter James Burbage. The site, where Shakespeare performed from 1594 to 1597, now houses an abandoned warehouse.

Experts believe "Romeo and Juliet" was performed there.

The playhouse remains were found on the site of an unused warehouse in Hackney on the eastern outskirts of London. Scholars say the theater there was dismantled and moved to the site of the more famous Globe Theater after a dispute between Burbage and the landlord in 1597.

Searchers even found pottery shards decorated with the image of a man who resembled Shakespeare, but experts said this was only a passing coincidence, not an indication that the show business merchandising craze had already begun.

And an addition from 10 March 2009:

AP: Collector: Lincoln photo uncovered in Grant album---

WASHINGTON – A collector believes a photograph from a private album of Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant shows President Abraham Lincoln in front of the White House and could be the last image taken of him before he was assassinated in 1865.

If it is indeed Lincoln, it would be the only known photo of the 16th president in front of the executive mansion and a rare find, as only about 130 photos of him are known to exist. A copy of the image was provided to The Associated Press.

Grant's 38-year-old great-great-grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI, had seen the picture before, but didn't examine it closely until late January. A tall figure in the distance caught his eye, although the man's facial features are obscured.

He called Keya Morgan, a New York-based photography collector and Lincoln aficionado, who helped identify it as Lincoln.

And then:

AP: Museum reveals engraving hidden in Lincoln watch

Trafalgar Day!

Today, 21 October 2008, is the 203rd anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, where the British Fleet, under Admiral Lord Nelson, defeated the combined French-Spanish Fleet off Cape Trafalgar. It was a very important victory in the war against Napoleon. Admiral Nelson perished in the fight, aboard his flag ship HMS Victory.

I have a great passion for British history and British naval history, so I like to celebrate this day (It also happens to be my half-birthday, a coincidence which makes me very happy!).

England expects that every man will do his duty.

• Nelson's signal to his fleet,
  at Cape Trafalgar,
  21 October 1805

You will find more on Trafalgar, Nelson, and the British Navy here.

May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious Victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature in the British Fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.

• Nelson's Prayer, written in his diary before the Battle of Trafalgar commenced

And in related news, from the BBC, Hero's medal marks Trafalgar Day---

A rare medal awarded to a Royal Marine who lay wounded alongside Lord Nelson at Trafalgar has gone on display marking Trafalgar Day.

The Naval General Service Medal was awarded to Lt Lewis Buckle Reeve, who was on board the Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory in the battle in October 1805.

Lt Reeve, treated by Nelson's surgeon, survived to fight again, retiring in 1817. He died in 1861, aged 75.

Do read the rest!

To celebrate I'm having Roast Beef with Potatoes, Carrots, and Yorkshire Puddings I'm making myself. I'll round it out with a lovely cup or two of "English Evening" Tea and a viewing of one of my favorite Horatio Hornblower films.

Items of Interest

Back in June I posted about how scientists have determined the date of Odysseus' return from the Trojan War.

Now, scientists may have finally discovered the location of Ithaca, Odysseus' home island.

Editor's Note, Sept. 3, 2008: For more than 2,000 years, scholars have been mystified—and intrigued—by a question central to our understanding of the ancient world: where is the Ithaca described in Homer’s Odyssey? The descriptions in the epic poem do not coincide with the geography of the modern island of Ithaca, one of the Ionian islands off the western coast of Greece.

Since 2003, an interdisciplinary team of geologists, classicists and archaeologists has proposed a paradigm-shifting answer to that longstanding mystery. Their breakthrough thesis—that the peninsula of Paliki on the Ionian island of Cephalonia is the site of ancient Ithaca—was revealed in Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Ancient Ithaca, published to acclaim by Cambridge University Press in 2006.

Today, in the journal Geoscientist, the team of pioneering scholars releases detailed results and photographs from research conducted during the first year of sponsorship by FUGRO, the global geotechnical, survey and geoscientific service company. The wealth of new data provides dramatic support for the thesis that Paliki is indeed the site of ancient Ithaca.

According to the Odysseus Unbound project, “The new research shows that [Paliki], this 6 kilometre-long and up to 2 kilometre-wide isthmus contains no solid limestone down to at least 90 metres below today’s surface. The fill is loose material, some of which originated through catastrophic rockfall from the earthquake-prone mountain range to the east.”

The newly released data provide significant support for the theory that the peninsula of Paliki, today connected to the island of Cephalonia by an isthmus, was once separate, low-lying island of Homer’s Ithaca. As scholar Gregory Nagy of the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., told Smithsonian Magazine in 2006: “We’ll never read the Odyssey in the same way again."

Robert Bittlestone is standing above the village of Petrikata, looking over red-tile roofs down upon a narrow isthmus that connects the two parts of the island of Cephalonia, off Greece’s western coast. In the valley below, farmers in overalls are harvesting olives. A light breeze carries the scent of oregano and thyme. “This looks like solid ground that we’re standing on,” Bittlestone says. “But everything under us is rockfall. Across that valley was the ancient island of Ithaca.”

Bittlestone, a management consultant by profession, believes he has solved a mystery that has bedeviled scholars for more than 2,000 years. In Odysseus Unbound, published this past October by Cambridge University Press, he argues that a peninsula on the island of Cephalonia was once a separate island—Ithaca, the kingdom of Homer’s Odysseus some 3,000 years ago. He believes that the sea channel dividing the two islands was filled in by successive earthquakes and landslides, creating the peninsula of Paliki, as it is known today.

There is a lot more in the article. Do read it!

191 Years Ago

On this date, 18 July, 1817, the great Jane Austen died. She was only 41 years old. Celebrate her life by reading one of her brilliant novels!

Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park



More links about Jane's life, work, and the times:

The Jane Austen Centre in Bath
Jane Austen Society of North America
Austen.com
Jane Austen E-Texts
Bibliomania: Austen E-Texts
Jane Austen's House
Republic of Pemberley
Finding Jane Austen

Austen-tatious
Jane Austen's World
Jane Austen Today
Jane Austen Quote of the Day
AustenBlog

Items of Interest

LiveScience: Odysseus' return from Trojan War dated---

In the epic "Odyssey," one of the cornerstones of Western literature, the legendary Greek hero Odysseus returns to his queen Penelope after enduring 10 years of sailing the wine dark sea.

Now scientists have pinned down his return to April 16, 1178 B.C., close to noon local time, according to astronomical references in the epic poem that seem to pinpoint the total eclipse of the sun on the day that Odysseus supposedly returned on.

The "Odyssey" is a millennia-old epic said to be composed by the blind poet Homer. In modern times, the "Odyssey" is typically seen as fiction. Still, Homer's earlier epic, the "Iliad," was centered on the war against Troy, and scientists first uncovered physical evidence of Troy in the 19th century. This has long raised questions as to what other historical facts the epics might refer to.

Do read the rest of the article, as it details how they went about discovering this date! Very interesting!

And this, too.

Reuters: Titanic life jacket sells for $68,500

Horse Mystery Solved

When I was younger I was horse mad and one of the movies I loved, though it was sad, was Phar Lap, starring Tom Burlinson. I always wondered (as did everyone), what had happened to this champion race horse. The film speculated that he was poisoned with arsenic.

Now the truth has been discovered.

AP: Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning---

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Forensic scientists say champion Australian gelding Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning, solving a mystery that has intrigued the horse racing world for more than 75 years.

Phar Lap won 37 of his 51 starts before his death in mysterious circumstances at Menlo Park in California in April 1932. Days before his death, he won Mexico’s Agua Caliente Handicap, which was then the richest horse race in North America.

Arsenic poisoning has long been suspected as the cause of Phar Lap’s death, but confirmation had been lacking until Thursday when researchers Dr. Ivan Kempson of the University of South Australia and Dermot Henry, manager of Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria, released the findings of their forensic investigation.

But they have long thought it was probably an accidental overdose, as tonics and ointments contained things like arsenic.

Waterloo

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, where Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and ended the Little Tyrant's efforts to conquer Europe. We might all be speaking French (or German, as the French can't seem to beat the Germans!) if not for Wellington and his army.

Lots of links here.

Items of Interest: 1780 British Warship Found!

I tend to use this word a lot when I'm talking about these sorts of things, but they really are: fascinating! As an Anglophile and historian, I was quite excited to see this article (now if I could only see the ship!).

AP: Explorers find 1780 British warship in Lake Ontario---

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.

Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.

The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.

"To have a Revolutionary War vessel that's practically intact is unbelievable. It's an archaeological miracle," said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, "The Legend of the Lake."

The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty.

Wow!

Do read the rest of the story for more details on the condition of the show, how it was identified as HMS Ontario, and how she was lost.

Items of Interest: 1st Church Discovered?

AFP: Jordan archaeologists unearth 'world's first church'---

Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed what they claim is the world's first church, dating back almost 2,000 years, The Jordan Times reported on Tuesday.

"We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 AD to 70 AD," the head of Jordan's Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies, Abdul Qader al-Husan, said.

He said it was uncovered under Saint Georgeous Church, which itself dates back to 230 AD, in Rihab in northern Jordan near the Syrian border.

"We have evidence to believe this church sheltered the early Christians -- the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ," Husan said.

These Christians, who are described in a mosaic as "the 70 beloved by God and Divine," are said to have fled persecution in Jerusalem and founded churches in northern Jordan, Husan added.

I would love to visit someday!

Items of Interest

Wired: May 19, 1780: Darkness at Noon Enshrouds New England

Neurophilosophy: Prehistoric Inca neurosurgery

AP: El Nino may have helped Magellan cross the Pacific

AP: David McCullough urges BC grads to speak properly

Excavating Stonehenge

This is fascinating. I love English history and Stonehenge is really a must-see (which I will hopefully see in person someday!).

AP: Archaeologists start Stonehenge dig---

LONDON - Some of England's most sacred soil was disturbed Monday for the first time in more than four decades as archaeologists worked to solve the enduring riddle of Stonehenge: When and why was the prehistoric monument built?

The excavation project, set to last until April 11, is designed to unearth materials that can be used to establish a firm date for when the first mysterious set of bluestones was put in place at Stonehenge, one of Britain's best known and least understood landmarks.

The World Heritage site, a favorite with visitors the world over, has become popular with Druids, neo-Pagans and New Agers who attach mystical significance to the strangely shaped circle of stones, but there remains great debate about the actual purpose of the structure.

The dig will be led by Timothy Darvill, a leading Stonehenge scholar from Bournemouth University, and Geoffrey Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries. Both experts have worked to pinpoint the site in the Preseli Mountains in south Wales where the bluestones — the earliest of the large rocks erected at the site — came from. They will be able to compare the samples found in Wales to those at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain.

"The excavation will date the arrival of the bluestones following their 153-mile journey from Preseli to Salisbury Plain and contribute to our definition of the society which undertook such an ambitious project," Wainright said. "We will be able to say not only why, but when the first stone monument was built."

Do read the rest!

My Guilty Pleasure!

Recently I came across Showtime's The Tudors starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers on Comcast's "On Demand" and ended up watching all 10 (edited) episodes. I was hooked!

Tonight is the premiere of the second season. I don't get Showtime, so I will have to wait until the show is either on On Demand or comes out on dvd.

The Tudors isn't always historically accurate (JRM is younger than Henry VIII was supposed to be), but it is intriguing and interesting. While JRM doesn't look exactly like Henry, who was very handsome when he was younger, Jonathan has a certain sexy intensity that translates very well as royalty.


The rest of the cast---Henry Cavill, Callum Blue, Sam O'Neill, Jeremy Northam---are all fantastic, too. The costumes and sets are gorgeous.

You can create your own Tudors portrait and gallery here.

Do you watch The Tudors?

Found: Three Pots to Heat Sauce!

Interesting!

AP: Archaeologists unveil finds in Rome digs---

ROME - A sixth-century copper factory, medieval kitchens still stocked with pots and pans, and remains of Renaissance palaces are among the finds unveiled Friday by archaeologists digging up Rome in preparation for a new subway line. Archaeologists have been probing the depths of the Eternal City at 38 digs, many of which are near famous monuments or on key thoroughfares.

Over the last nine months, remains — including Roman taverns and 16th-century palace foundations — have turned up at the central Piazza Venezia and near the ancient Forum where works are paving the way for one of the 30 stations of Rome's third subway line.

"The medieval and Renaissance finds that were brought to light in Piazza Venezia are extremely important for their rarity," said archaeologist Mirella Serlorenzi, who is working on the site.

Serlorenzi said that among the most significant discoveries in a ninth-century kitchen were three pots that were used to heat sauce. Only two others had been found previously in Italy.

Item of Interest

AFP: Get ready for the eclipse that saved Columbus---

PARIS (AFP) - The Moon will turn an eerie shade of red for people in the western hemisphere late Wednesday and early Thursday, recreating the eclipse that saved Christopher Columbus more than five centuries ago.

In a lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon are directly aligned and the Moon swings into the cone of shadow cast by the Earth.

But the Moon does not become invisible, as there is still residual light that is deflected towards it by our atmosphere. Most of this refracted light is in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the Moon, seen from Earth, turns a coppery, orange or even brownish hue.

Lunar eclipses have long been associated with superstitions and signs of ill omen, especially in battle.

And more on the history:

The defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC was foretold by soothsayers when the Moon turned blood-red a few days earlier.

And an eclipse is credited with saving the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504.

Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies.

Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realised that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504.

He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.

The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon -- which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504.

Are you going to head outside to see the red moon? I would love to see it.

UPDATE: More interesting information. The eclipse is happening right now. :)

Items of Interest: The Black Death

This is interesting.

Reuters: Black Death did not kill indiscriminately, experts say---

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Black Death that decimated populations in Europe and elsewhere during the middle of the 14th century may not have been a blindly indiscriminate killer, as some experts have believed.

An analysis of 490 skeletons from a London for Black Death victims demonstrated that the infection did not affect everyone equally, two U.S. scientists said on Monday.

While many perfectly healthy people certainly were cut down, those already in poor health prior to the arrival of the plague were more likely to have perished, they found.

"A lot of people have assumed that the Black Death killed indiscriminately, just because it had such massive mortality," anthropologist Sharon DeWitte of the University at Albany in New York, said in a telephone interview.

People already in poor health often are more vulnerable in epidemics. "But there's been a tradition of thinking that the Black Death was this unique case where no one was safe and if you were exposed to the disease that was it. You had three to five days, and then you were dead," DeWitte said.

The plague epidemic of 1347 to 1351 was one of the deadliest recorded in human history, killing about 75 million people, according to some estimates, including more than a third of Europe's population.

DeWitte analyzed skeletons unearthed from the East Smithfield cemetery in London, dug especially for plague victims and excavated in the 1980s, for bone and teeth abnormalities that would show that people had health problems before they died of plague.

She found such abnormalities in many skeletons, suggesting these people had experienced malnutrition, iron deficiencies and infections well before succumbing to the Black Death.

Do read the rest of the article. It has more information.

Missing Wonders

The WSJ Online has a very intriguing article up about 7 Missing Wonders, including Amelia Earhart's Plane, The Holy Grail, the Tomb of Nefertitti, and The Amber Room. I've always been interested in these sorts of things, so I look forward to fully exploring the map provided and reading all the information.

Which of history's mysteries intrigues you most?

"The Face of the Golden Boy"

I have long been fascinated by the famous King Tut, so I couldn't help but be excited when I saw this story (and the accompanying photographs.

AP: Egypt puts King Tut on public display---

LUXOR, Egypt - King Tut's buck-toothed face was unveiled Sunday for the first time in public — more than 3,000 years after the youngest and most famous pharaoh to rule ancient Egypt was shrouded in linen and buried in his golden underground tomb.

Archeologists carefully lifted thae fragile mummy out of a quartz sarcophagus decorated with stone-carved protective goddesses, momentarily pulling aside a beige covering to reveal a leathery black body.

The linen was then replaced over Tut's narrow body so only his face and tiny feet were exposed, and the 19-year-old king, whose life and death has captivated people for nearly a century, was moved to a simple glass climate-controlled case to keep it from turning to dust.

"I can say for the first time that the mummy is safe and the mummy is well preserved, and at the same time, all the tourists who will enter this tomb will be able to see the face of Tutankhamun for the first time," Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said from inside the hot and sticky tomb.

"The face of the golden boy is amazing. It has magic and it has mystery," he added.

I wish I could go to see the tomb and the mummy.

Photos here.

To Nelson

To the immortal memory of Nelson
and all those who fell with him.

• This is the famous toast to Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson.