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Responding to near-anarchy in the Republic of Haiti, the United States occupied the nation from 1915 to 1934. During this time, they installed puppet governments, ran the economy, military and police and for all intents and purposes were in absolute control of the country. Although this rule was relatively benign, it was unpopular with both the Haitians and the citizens of the United States and American troops and personnel were withdrawn in 1934. Haiti’s Troubled Background: Since gaining independence from France in a bloody rebellion in 1804, Haiti had gone through a succession of dictators. By the early twentieth century, the population was uneducated, poor and hungry. The only cash crop was coffee, grown on some sparse bushes in the mountains. In 1908, the country totally broke down. Regional warlords and militias known as cacos fought in the streets. Between 1908 and 1915 no less than seven men seized the presidency and most of them met some sort of gruesome end: one was hack...

Bacon is good (actually, it's great). Elements are good. What do you get when you put the two together? A pretty cool t-shirt, as seen over at Geekologie and for sale online at ThinkGeek. The t-shirt spells out Bacon as Ba Co N. Now, that's not the only way to spell out bacon using the elements. Who can tell me some other options?

February 27th could be considered aspirin's birthday. The process to make aspirin was patented in 1900 by Felix Hoffman on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company, Bayer. Hoffman's aspirin was a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid and named in three parts for this active ingredient. The 'A' was from acetyl, 'spir' was from the source of slaicin, the spirea plant, and 'in' was tacked on the end to give it a good pharmacological sounding name. Find out how to make your own aspirin and what else occurred on this day in science history.

Oxygen is one of those elements you simply can't live without. You find it in the air your breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. Here are some quick facts about this important element. You can find more detailed information about oxygen on the oxygen facts page. 1.Animals and plants require oxygen for respiration. 2.Oxygen gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. 3.Liquid and solid oxygen are pale blue. 4.Oxygen is a non-metal. 5.Oxygen gas normally is the divalent molecule O2. Ozone, O3, is another form of pure oxygen. 6.Oxygen supports combustion.

Alum is found in the 'spices' section of the grocery store. With a bit of time and effort, you can grow a big alum crystal. •coffee filter/paper towel Alum crystals are probably the easiest crystals to grow. The chemical is non-toxic and the crystals grow quickly and reliably. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Days to Weeks Here's How: 1.Pour 1/2 cup of hot tap water into a clean jar. 2.Slowly stir in alum, a little at a time, until it stops dissolving. Don't add the whole amount - just enough to saturate the water. 3.Loosely cover the jar with a coffee filter or paper towel (to keep dust out) and allow the jar to sit undisturbed overnight. 4.The next day, pour the alum solution from the first jar into the clean jar. You will see small alum crystals at the bottom of the jar. These are 'seed' crystals that you will use to grow a big crystal. 5.Tie nylon fishing line around the largest, best-shaped crystal. Tie the other end to a flat ob...