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Meteorites reveal secrets of Earth's history

The golf-ball-size chunk is among the oldest rocks you will ever see.

At 4.5 billion years old, it's part of a larger rock that spent years swirling in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

An impact with another asteroid tossed the chunk into an orbit that crossed the Earth's path. It eventually fell through the atmosphere and broke up above a Chicago suburb. One lump hit a firehouse near midnight March 26, 2003. Other pieces plowed into homes, with one landing near a sleeping 14-year-old boy.
Read entire article at Arizona Republic