It happened This week!

● Rome, the capital of Italy, was founded in 753 B.C. “The Eternal City” is known for its many ancient ruins—as well as its love of cats! In fact, Roman lawmakers have declared the wild felines who live within the walls of the Coliseum and other monuments to be part of the city’s “bio-heritage” and so protects them by law!

● Television icon Lucille Ball died at the age of 77 in 1989. Best known for her role as eccentric, accident-prone Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy, Ball’s career had a bit of a rocky start. Accepted at age 15 to a prestigious New York City drama school, she was dismissed after just one month because she was too shy to perform in front of her classmates, one of whom was Bette Davis!

● The first Mcdonald’s in China—and at the time the world’s largest with 700 seats— opened in Beijing in 1992. It reportedly served 40,000 customers on its opening day, yet closed just four years later to make way for a shopping center. Today, the largest Mcdonald’s, in Orlando, Florida, features a supersize menu that includes custom pizzas, omelets and waffles!

● The first modern detective story— The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe—was published in 1841. While the tale is credited as being the father of modern detective fiction, it is not Poe’s most famous work. That honor belongs to a poem, The Raven, published in 1845, which was so revered that the city of Baltimore, where Poe died, named their football team after it!

● Disney’s largest theme park— Animal Kingdom— opened its gates in 1998. Home to more than 1,000 animals, the focal point of it all is a breathtaking 145foot tall, 160-foot wide, 14-story high Tree of Life. In addition to its sculpted base, the tree is decorated with 103,000 transparent leaves, each of which had to be individually placed onto 8,692 branches!