A DOUBLE LIFE

Brazilian woman gives birth to two-headed baby.

We usually approach the items in our Mondo Bizarro category with a certain amount of playfulness, but some events defy any attempts to be humorous. On Monday an actual two-headed, un-Photoshopped baby was born in Anajas, Brazil to 25-year-old Maria de Nazare (which would translate to Mary of Nazareth). The mother received no ultrasounds during her pregnancy, and only learned of the infant’s condition minutes before the birth.

Despite the surprise, the new arrival has been welcomed into the de Nazare family with an outpouring of joy. Named Emanoel and Jesus, the children cannot be separated and will live their lives conjoined. It’s difficult yet to predict how long those lives will be—another pair of Brazilian twins fused in exactly the same way died earlier this year due to lack of oxygen to one of the heads—but thus far doctors say these children are healthy, managing to functionally share heart, lungs, and digestive tract.

Whether one, both, or neither twin controls the body’s movements is a question for the future. And of course, beyond that, you have to wonder what happens when one twin hogs the Xbox 360 or one of them decides to go Vegan, but here’s hoping they actually get the chance to have those arguments. Because somewhere down the line we think maybe, just maybe, Emanoel and Jesus can teach the rest of us a little something about ourselves.

Update: The British television show Bodyshock reported that the twins died aged six months.

Brazil, Anajas

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

November 9

1921—Einstein Wins Nobel

German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize for his work with the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation. In practical terms, the phenomenon makes possible such devices as electroscopes, solar cells, and night vision goggles.

November 9

1938—Kristallnacht Begins

Nazi Germany’s first large scale act of anti-Jewish violence begins after the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, and in total the violent rampage destroys more than 250 synagogues, causes the deaths of nearly a hundred Jews, and results in 25,000 to 30,000 more being arrested and sent to concentration camps.

November 8

1923—Hitler Stages Revolt

In Munich, Germany, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in the Beer Hall Putsch, an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government. Also known as the Hitlerputsch or the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch, the attempted coup was inspired by Benito Mussolini’s successful takeover of the Italian government.

November 8

1932—Roosevelt Unveils CWA

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create temporary winter jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.

November 6

1935—Parker Brothers Buys Monopoly

The board game company Parker Brothers acquires the forerunner patents for Monopoly from Elizabeth Magie, who had designed the game (originally called The Landlord’s Game) to demonstrate the economic ill effects of land monopolism and the use of land value tax as a remedy for them. Parker Brothers quickly turns Monopoly into the biggest selling board game in America.

November 6

1991—Gene Tierney Passes Away

American actress Gene Tierney, one of the great beauties in Hollywood history and star of the seminal film noir Laura, dies in Houston, Texas of emphysema. Tierney had begun smoking while young as a way to help lower her high voice, and was hooked on cigarettes the rest of her life.