Re-extinction…
East Berlin’s Kulturpark Plänterwald had been the only amusement park in the German Democratic Republic (GDR)– a kind of Coney Island for socialists. There was no real coordination nor theme – it was a mix of attractions and rides. But when the GDR collapsed in 1989, Kulturpark Plänterwald– suddenly exposed to market forces– quickly followed. It had a brief renaissance (as “Spreepark”) in the early 90s– but promptly fell victim to a lack of available parking.
Since then, the park has been closed… and the dinosaurs that “roamed” its expanse have fallen victim to the German version of “cow tipping.”
See more derelict dinosaurs at Kuriositas. [TotH to Dangerous Minds]
As we keep watch for falling comets and asteroids, we might recall that it was on this date in 1916 that Robert Stroud stabbed and killed a prison guard at Leavenworth Penitentiary– resulting his being moved to “segregated” confinement for the balance of his sentence. While serving his solitary tme, Stroud– who’d been assessed by prison psychologists as “a psychopath with an IQ of 134”– began to work with birds (largely canaries). Ultimately his research, conducted entirely in his cell, resulted in two books, Diseases of Canaries, and a later edition, Stroud’s Digest on the Diseases of Birds, with updated specific information. He made several important contributions to avian pathology, most notably a cure for hemorrhagic septicemia.
In 1942, Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz, where policies against animals in cells meant an end to his research. Still, he is remembered as “The Birdman of Alcatraz.”
