The Mary Sue

Ancient Coin Proves China Was Into Dominating Foreign Markets Before It Was Cool

by Jeff LaSala Mar 13th

The Europeans get all the press. They've got all that history of old empires and discoverers and globe-spanning explorers. Columbus, Copernicus, Magellan. Ah, but who's writing the history? It may just be that Europe's got all the PR. There's two sides to every coin. What if the history books are wrong sometimes? What if, for example, China was out and about discovering stuff decades before Christopher Columbus even boarded a ship? Anthropologists have just unearthed a 600-year-old coin near Kenya that proves that China was hip to trading a long, long time ago.

Manhunt On For Utter Monsters Who Killed An Entire Family Of Elephants In Kenya

by Ian Chant Jan 8th

In news that would make for a solid first act of a Disney movie if it wasn't already the sad, horrible truth, Kenyan authorities are trying to find a team of poachers who killed an entire family of elephants in Kenya's Tsavo East National Park. In what's being described as the worst incident of poaching in Kenya's long history -- which isn't exactly short on horrific incidents of poaching -- a family of 11 elephants was slaughtered by what police believe to be a 10-person strong gang of poachers who escaped with the elephants' hacked off tusks, which will likely be shipped off to foreign markets to make trinkets, baubles, and pieces of jewelry from the ivory. Because human beings are terrible, that's why.

Man Gets Face Slashed by Machete Protecting Kenyan Orphanage, Reddit Raises $70,000 for the Children

by Max Eddy Jan 27th

A mere 19 hours ago, shocking photos of a man named Omari were posted to Reddit. Omari had just been released from the hospital after having his face slashed by roving thugs while single-handedly defending the Faraja Orphanage in Ngong, Kenya. The original post asked for $2,000 to help build a security wall around the orphanage. Since then, the collective power of the Internet has raised some $70,000. Wowie zowie, Internet!

Three Kenyan Men Snatch Meat From 15 Hungry Lions

by Robert Quigley Feb 22nd

In the video above, three Kenyan men armed with nothing but wooden ~~spears~~ bows manage to scare fifteen hungry lions away from a wildebeest carcass, butcher it on the spot as the lions watch, and walk away without conflict. How do they do it? Animal psychology. And nerves of steel. (BBC via Reddit)

Kenyan IT Guy Builds an Airplane from Scratch

by Robert Quigley Oct 14th

Kenyan IT professional Gabriel Nderitu has built an airplane from scratch using a 4,000 RPM Toyota NZE engine, aluminum-sheeted wings, and a 74-inch wooden propeller. All told, the project has cost Nderitu about $5,500. The aircraft isn't yet 100% flight-ready, but Nderitu hopes to take it for a spin next week -- assuming the Kenyan authorities let him fly it. Either way (although the scenario in which he flies it is admittedly more awesome), this is quite an impressive feat. (via AVWeb, Gizmodo)