Evidence of Unicorns Found in Cave Paintings?

For how long do you think humans have admired unicorns? 100 years? 500 years? Even longer?

If your answer was in the ballpark of "over 10,000 years" then you're right! Unicorns are no passing trend!

In fact, the Cueva de las Manos (known as Cave of the Hands for its paintings of hands), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Argentina, features rock art depictions of animals that are more than 10,000 years old.  Among these very old paintings of various animals is a UNICORN! It looks sort of like a very overweight goat, but it definitely has a single horn! For more information and photos, check out the UNESCO web site and the Patagonia Monsters blog, which has lots of information about depictions of unicorns in the Patagonia region.

"The Unicorn" at Lascaux Cave, France; Image credit: N. Aujoulat, MCC-CNP at www.lascaux.culture.fr

Our other unicorny cave painting is from Lascaux Cave in France and dates back to 15,000 to 10,000 BC. It might be a depiction of a unicorn or it might be a profile of a two-horned animal; only its artist knows for sure, and he or she is long gone by now. However, it is officially known as "The Unicorn," regardless of its apparent second horn. Find out more about the Lascaux Cave paintings on a virtual Lascaux Cave tour.

Do you know of any other unicorn-themed art, prehistoric or otherwise?  Send your story to The Unicorn Daily News (unicorns.blogspot[at]gmail.com), and it will be included in one of our daily feature stories!

Honorary Unicorn: The Marvelous Unicorn Fish

Today's post features an amazing honorary unicorn that comes from the tropical seas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans! The aptly-named unicorn fish has a spiky protrusion on its fishy forehead. Both male and female unicorn fish grow these horns, but it is not known whether these horns have any function. Find out more about the fascinating unicorn fish at Wikipedia and fishlore.com.

Image credit: Naso annulatus, by Jens Petersen, via Wikipedia.

"Younicorn" Makes Your Photos Unicornier

Check out this unicorn photo app for the iPhone.  Simply take a photo and the app helps you add a magical background and unicorn horn to your subject.  You can use it turn your friends, your dog, your family, or even random strangers into unicorns.  It's so much fun!

Here's a set of examples from mono, the app developer's, web page:

Get the app in the iTunes store, here!

Craft Project: Make Your Own Origami Unicorn

Here's a fun and easy craft project, and all you need is a square of paper. Make your own origami unicorn!

Image credit: photo by the author.

Here's a link to the instructions for the unicorn origami: http://dev.origami.com/images_pdf/unicorn.pdf
Have fun!

"Charlie the Unicorn," A Unicorn-Themed Viral Video

Charlie the Unicorn and his friends became popular when a flash video by the film company, FilmCow, featuring their trip to Candy Mountain went viral on YouTube in 2008.  Over the next two years, two sequels were created, and the videos have entertained tens of thousands of viewers.  More recently, FilmCow created a parody series called "Charlie teh Unicron," which has also been a hit on YouTube.

The films feature a reluctant Charlie the Unicorn and two other unicorns who encourage Charlie to join them in their (mis)adventures.

If you haven't seen Charlie the Unicorn yet, check out the original, below, or the whole series on the FilmCow YouTube channel.

Make Your Correspondence Magical With Unicorn Stationery

Image credit: photograph by the author.

With the holidays just around the corner, chances are you're planning to send cards or letters to friends and family.  

Rather than sending just any old paper and envelope, or reindeer-emblazoned card, send some cheer with unicorn-themed stationery!

We found this awesome Unicorn Wishes stationery, featuring illustrations by Stanley Martucci, at our local bookstore.  You can also find it online at Chronicle Books.

Unicorn Cake Toppers Make Special Occasions Positively Magical

We've all been there before: the unicorn enthusiast in your life has a birthday coming up, is graduating from kindergarten, or just received a job promotion, and you're worried about how to appropriately celebrate such a special occasion.

Well, worry no more, because the Unicorn Daily News has discovered a great product that will make any special occasion positively magical: the Unicorn Cake Topper!

Image credit: author's own photograph.

A Unicorn Cake Topper can instantly turn any run-of-the-mill cake into a beautiful unicorn masterpiece, and it's as easy as baking a cake (or purchasing one from your local bakery). You can purchase the unicorn cake toppers shown above, as well as lots of other unicorn-themed party supplies, from BirthdayExpress.com.

Do you have a favorite unicorn-themed product that should be featured on the Unicorn Daily News? Click on the "contact" tab and send us a description and photograph!