On this day in 1799, French troops in Egypt uncovered the Rosetta stone while digging the foundations of an addition to a fort near the town of el-Rashid (Rosetta).

The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with three ancient languages that allowed researchers over 20 years later to translate the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt.

The text on the stone was simply a decree by Ptolemy V.

New research is indicating that the secret of Stonehenge may have finally been solved. The mysterious circle of large stones in southern England was mainly a burial ground for about 500 years, and the site may hold more remains of a family that ruled the area for quite a while.

Based on radiocarbon dating of cremated bones up to 5,000 years old, researchers with the Stonehenge Riverside Project said they are convinced the area was built and then grew as a “domain of the ancestors.”

LA Times has the full story. So does BBC News, MSNBC and New York Times

Here’s a recreation of TRS-80 computer system. The simulator is based on TRS-80 Level I BASIC which debuted back in 1977. It is not an emulator but rather a recreation of Level I BASIC that runs entirely within a browser.

The author has included a library of programs for you to experiment with as well, like a variant of the Lunar Lander or Trek III.

Brings back fond memories, it has everything but the cassette tape drives and the keybounce problem.

Talking about this invention at PhotoBasement just couldn’t do it justice. Please go forth and admire the chutzpah of some twisted inventor.

It comes from this 1936 issue of Popular Mechanics hosted by Modern Mechanix.

New evidence confirms that the sunflower was domesticated in Mexico more than 4,600 years ago, contrary to the widely held belief that it was converted into a food crop only in the Mississippi Valley. Researchers use to believe Spanish conquistadors were responsible for bringing domesticated sunflowers to Mexico from the north. But genetic research on ancient seeds found at formerly inhabited sites indicate that indigenous people in different parts of Mexico were using sunflowers 1800 years before being conquered by the Spaniards.

LA Times has the story.