The Midnight Disease

Bison "bones were ground up into bone ash, used as fertilizer, and burned to make bone black, used both as a dye and a filter for cane sugar juice. Michigan Carbon’s “Homestead Guano,” for example, was famous on farms to the south and east; belying the name, it wasn’t bird excrement but ground-up bison bones. Meanwhile, remaining hides, skulls, and hoofs could be made into glue. A smaller amount of the bone was turned into buttons, knife handles, fans, and umbrella ribs, bone being a cheap substitute for ivory before the age of plastic." JSTOR

"Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar, opened his realm to young Poles who had been detained in Soviet labor camps as the children of the intelligentsia" …Allied "officials agreed to evacuate tens of thousands of Polish refugees, most of them women and children, to Allied-occupied Iran….Polish government-in-exile, then operating out of London, was hopeful that the United Kingdom would assist. But when the British Foreign Office proposed moving the refugees to British India, local officials shared reservations about accepting such a request." Smithsonian

"Adam Francis Plummer’s chronicle is believed to be the country’s sole known example of a multigenerational journal begun by an enslaved person. It’s now on view at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum." Smithsonian

"Health officials are still investigating the source—or sources—of the ongoing outbreak, according to the CDC. Past outbreaks across the globe have often been linked to contaminated fresh produce, primarily raspberries, basil, cilantro and salad mixes. "Because contamination usually occurs at the farm or irrigation level, traceback investigations are difficult," Smitsonian full article

"145 of the massive marine mammals have washed up dead or been stuck and died along the West Coast of North America, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries….If the trend continues, conservationists are concerned that 2026 could be one of the deadliest years on record for the large baleen whales. They also suspect this year’s true death toll is much higher, since many carcasses sink at sea." Smithsonian

July 13, 1863 - In New York, antidraft riots began. Order was not restored until Union soldiers returned from Gettysburg. The Union soldiers, tired as they were from the battlefields, were ordered to clear all the streets. After several gun fights, order was restored to the streets of New York City.

"the strange spheres are likely to be space debris, or space junk—human-made stuff in space that has stopped serving its original purpose, science journalist Dan Falk told Ari Daniel on an episode of Smithsonian magazine’s 'There’s More to That' podcast last year. Some examples include fragments shed by rockets as they jet from the Earth’s surface, broken bits of satellites and even entire decommissioned spacecraft,' Falk said." Smithsonian

July 1863 Rebel troops coalesced in Gettysburg. From eighty miles away Mary Morris Husband heard the roar of cannons and felt concussions jar the floor. The solid fabric of surrounding hills shook. She took the first train out. When she arrived on the bloody field of Gettysburg, firing had ended, but no one knew whether General Meade planned to renew the attack, or if Lee prepared for another assault.

Harriet Tubman, born into #slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, gained international acclaim as an Underground Railroad operator, abolitionist, Civil War spy and nurse, and suffragist. After escaping from enslavement in 1849, Tubman led countless slaves out of the South into free territories. Above is a photo of Tubman's personal book of hymns. Her favorite hymns are indicated by the book's use—when the book is gently opened, the pages fall open to the most frequently used pages of the 112-page book. Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture

"Researchers identified more than 64,000 square miles of #coral reefs across 71 countries and 100 territories with the potential to survive warming oceans, offering additional avenues for reef conservation. The findings were presented on June 16 at the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, and are available on the pre-print server EcoEvoRxiv. They are undergoing peer review for publication." Smithsonian

"ISLAMABAD (AP) — Key mediator Pakistan says technical-level talks between #Iran and the United States on their interim deal will begin on Sunday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with Qatari mediators also participating. …"Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland 'sometime the next couple of days' "First, Iran's joint military command said the strait had been closed, citing the Israeli attacks and U.S. 'bad faith'"

"By transporting water, nutrients and carbon throughout ecosystems, AM fungal networks support a significant amount of Earth’s life. They also help draw planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere." Smithsonian