On May 20, 1865, the Secondary Education in the Philippines was organized with schools divided into public and private.

The University of Santo Tomas was considered public school, while the Royal College of San Juan de Letran, the Ateneo Municipal, the College of Bacolor, and all other secondary schools were placed under two categories -- the first being those which offered the complete course leading to the bachelor of arts degree.

We all know physical activity is good for us, and now new research suggests regular exercise can also help the aging and those suffering from heart failure.

In fact, researchers say, maintaining a regular physical workout can offset the breakdown of muscle, increase strength, reduce inflammation and condition the body to handle even more exercise.

And, the good news is, it doesn’t matter how old the patient is.

“Many physicians – and insurance companies – still believe that cardiac rehabilitation does not really help in old age. This study clearly falsifies this belief,” said Stephan Gielen, M.D., the study’s lead co-author and deputy director of Cardiology at the University Hospital, Martin-Luther-University of Halle, Germany.

Heart failure, a potentially deadly condition, occurs when the heart can’t keep up with its workload. If the heart muscle cannot pump enough blood, it cannot meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.

As a result, those with heart-failure get tired easily and can have shortness of breath. Activities most of us take for granted, such as walking, climbing stairs or other actions that require even mild exertion, can become very difficult for those with this condition.

On May 19, 1893, the Maura Law which laid the basic foundations for municipal government in the Philippines, was promulgated.

Named after its author, Don Antonio Maura, the introduction of the Maura Law, changes the designation of the municipal corporation from tribunal del pueblo to tribunal municipal, and the title of the town executive from gobernadorcillo to capitan municipal.

Facebook, the world's biggest social media website, will begin its eagerly awaited first day as a publicly traded company on Friday.

Stock in the California-based company will sell for $38 a share when trading begins on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange at 1500 GMT. The initial public offering - the opening price at which investors can buy a share - is expected to raise about $16 billion, making it one of biggest stock debuts in U.S. corporate history, rivaled only by financial services company Visa and automaker General Motors.

The stock offering has driven Facebook's value to at least $104 billion, making it one of the most valuable U.S. companies

A woman uses the BrainGate system to mentally control a robotic arm and reach for a drink. (Photo: The BrainGate Collaboration)

As technology continues to meld man with machine, BrainGate – a multidisciplinary team of researchers – has spent years developing these human/robotic-type systems.

While the team’s innovations show significant promise for people with brain injuries and disorders, the technology is years away from practical use.

On May 18, 1662, Governor-General Manrique de Lara ordered the evacuation of Fort Zamboanga and other ports in Mindanao by the Spaniards to increase the concentration of their forces in Manila in preparation for the threatened invasion by Kue-Sing, a Chinese corsair from Formosa (now Taiwan).

Consequently, this made the Muslims in the south complete masters of land and sea.

Narrated by Francisco M. Africa of Lipa, Batangas.

God first created the earth. Then he took a rock from the earth and threw it on the terrestrial surface. When the rock was broken into many small pieces, he breathed into them the breath of life, and they became living creatures. At first these creatures, though differing in shapes and sizes, were not given different powers.

Among these creatures of God’s were the snake and the ant. One day the snake went to God to ask for power. It said, “I come to thee, O God! to ask for thy favor. The world thou hast just created is wild with confusion. I have come to ask thee to give me the special power to kill all those that are rebellious and troublesome.”

On May 17, 1843, General Pascual V. Ledesma, Visayan revolutionary leader and the first officer-in-command of the Philippine Navy, was born in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental.

Ledesma started as a captain in a merchant ship in 1863, then joined the Katipunan in 1894.

General Emilio Aguinaldo assigned him as the chief of the naval merchant and marine services with the rank of commanding general from 1899 to 1901.

China and the Philippines have announced temporary bans on fishing in areas of the South China Sea they both claim as sovereign territory. The bans may help cool tempers after ships from the two sides faced off in April. But, political analysts say a more permanent solution is needed to address a cycle of conflict partly caused by depleting fish stocks.

China every year imposes a ban on fishing for several weeks in a northern part of the South China Sea.

Beijing says the restriction, used for more than a decade, allows fish stocks to replenish.

While the Philippines and Vietnam complain it is just another way for China to assert its claims on maritime territories that they also dispute.

On May 16, 1899, La Democracia, the first Filipino newspaper to recognize the sovereignty of the United States in the country, started publication.

It urged the Filipino people to accept the new government and to help heal the wounds of war.

Edited by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, it was the official publication of the pro-American Partido Federalista, the first political party organized on December 23, 1900 by 125 Filipino illustrados.