Ronnie🇿🇦

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@UlrichJvV Lovely photos!

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@EdwardthembaSa Beautiful animals!

[Allie_Saffa 🇿🇦 @Saffa_GenXer]

@RiseAgainstEvil @RRespawned

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@Havenlust A is gorgeous!

[Ricky Gervais @rickygervais]

This wasn't allowed in public incase it offended anyone. So please don't retweet it. Thanks 🙏https://t.co/1stbtsNZG1

[ArchaeoHistories @histories_arch]

Martha Ann Lillard, the last known American living in an iron lung, has died at 78 after long COVID and the failure of her aging machine.

She has lived in the machine since the 1940s.

Martha Ann Lillard of Shawnee, Oklahoma, who contracted polio in 1953 at just five years old, passed away on June 26, 2026, due to complications from long-haul COVID-19. Left paralyzed with only 25 percent lung capacity, Lillard relied on a negative-pressure ventilator—commonly known as an 'iron lung'—to survive for over seven decades.

While modern medical devices exist, none could safely replicate the precise respiratory support of her vintage machine, forcing her to rely on equipment with parts dating back to the 1940s. In her final years, finding repair parts and knowledgeable technicians became almost impossible, highlighting the daily struggles faced by those dependent on obsolete, life-sustaining technology.

Despite these profound physical limitations, Lillard built a vibrant, creative, and compassionate life. She painted, wrote poetry, composed music for the left-hand piano, and spent decades volunteering for animal rescue and crisis support networks. Her passing marks the loss of a historic figure who survived a devastating mid-century epidemic, yet ultimately succumbed to a modern pandemic.

Because she contracted polio just two years before Jonas Salk's landmark vaccine was declared safe and effective, her life remains a poignant testament to the critical role of immunization and public health advancement.

Source: D'Angelo, B. (2026, July 9). Martha Lillard, last American to use iron lung, dies at 78. Cox Media Group.

#archaeohistories

[Imtiaz Mahmood @ImtiazMadmood]

A brilliant 16-year-old South African girl named Bohlale Mphahlele has invented a groundbreaking safety device disguised as an earring.

The “Alerting Earpiece” looks like normal jewelry but hides a tiny camera, GPS tracker, and emergency alert system. With one discreet press, it can secretly photograph an attacker, send distress alerts with the wearer’s live location to trusted contacts and police — all without needing a phone or obvious movement.

She created it to help protect women and girls in dangerous situations, especially in response to high rates of gender-based violence in South Africa.

An inspiring story of innovation and courage from a young inventor.

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@happydoggothai Tina after Tina Turner snd she's tiny!

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@Mufasa0062 Happy Birthday! Hope it was great :-)

[Magatte Wade @magattew]

Elon Musk did not become a different person when he landed in America.

In South Africa, he may still have been brilliant, restless, and ambitious, but the environment would not have given him the same room to build SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and everything else.

Talent matters. The country you build in decides how much of that talent can become real.

[Gareth Cliff @GarethCliff]

The one thing you can say about everyone who’s unhappy about Elon Musk’s new trillionaire status is that they’re the same bitter and resentful people who would hate you if you had more than them.

They make terrible friends
You shouldn’t do business with them
Never lend them money
Never marry them
Never give them any responsibility

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@UlrichJvV Beautiful 😍

[Caroline @Carolinerathabe]

Being South African is a flex 😊

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@RoryPetzer

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@DrNeilStone 🤚

[Vivid.🇮🇱 @VividProwess]

The moment Eli Sharabi, who was held hostage in Gaza, told the UN the truth.

"NO ONE in Gaza helped me. I was treated worse than animal. The civilians saw us suffering and they cheered our kidnappers. They were definitely involved."

Share this. The mainstream media won't.

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@arealmofwonder Puckoon !!!

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@NiallHarbison That's the best thing I've read today. Thank you Niall :)

[Sana Ebrahimi Ledene @SanaELedene]

17-year-old swimmer and boxer Shayan Hadian is on death row in Iran, sentenced by the regime for “leading protests.”
A kid. An athlete. Facing execution any day.
Share his name. Be his voice.

[Ronnie🇿🇦 @ICAPOD]

@ChefReactions Happy Birthday!