No one knows precisely when or how the first humans set foot in the Americas, but archaeologists generally agree that the first Americans walked across a land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska during an ice age some 25,000 years ago. Not surprisingly, water factored strongly in where these paleo-Americans camped or settled. The oldest evidence of humans in Texas dates back to about 15,500 years ago at Buttermilk Creek near present-day Salado. It was not an accident that paleo-Americans settled there: perennial springflow provided a solid (actually liquid!) foundation upon which to establish a thriving community. (photo of Jacob's Well by Allen Rich)

Second event this year invites aspiring models, singers, dancers and actors ages 16+ to audition as part of the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center’s mission to help young people find success beyond the court. photos courtesy of Vision King Productions

New Friends New Life (NFNL) is proud to announce that acclaimed actress, director, producer, and artist Lucy Liu will headline its annual luncheon on Friday, September 12 at 11:30 a.m. at the OMNI Dallas Hotel. A tireless advocate for human rights, Liu is committed to raising awareness about this global crisis, especially its devastating impact on children. Liu’s distinguished career spans over three decades, during which she has starred in films that have collectively grossed more than $3.7 billion worldwide.

University staff admire the 1897 diploma. The 1897 diploma is one of the oldest in the university's archives. East Texas A&M Marketing and Communications

1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia. The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over the sparsely populated East Siberian taiga felled an estimated 80 million trees over an area of 830 square miles of forest, and eyewitness accounts suggest up to three people may have died. The explosion is attributed to a meteor air burst, the atmospheric explosion of a stony asteroid about 160–200 feet wide.  The asteroid approached from the east-south-east, probably with a relatively high speed of about 27 km/s; 98,004 km/h (Mach 80). Though the incident is classified as an impact event, the object is thought to have exploded at an altitude of 3 to 6 miles rather than hitting the Earth's surface, leaving no impact crater. The Tunguska event is the largest impact event on Earth in recorded history, though much larger impacts are believed to have occurred in prehistoric times. An explosion of this magnitude would be capable of destroying a large metropolitan area.