On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco and the coast of Northern California. Fires across the city broke out, ravaging the city for several days. As a result, about 3,000 people died and 80% of San Francisco was destroyed. The earthquake and resulting fire are remembered as one of the worst…
In 1965 a local newspaper editorial was published discussing the destruction of the American Falls (one of three waterfalls that together make up the Niagara Falls). It was believed that the destruction was being caused by previous rock debris that had gone over the falls and that the continued erosion would eventually lead…
About 2.5 billion people use unsafe toilets or defecate in the open. Unsafe methods to capture and treat human waste result in serious health problems and death. Food and water tainted with fecal matter result in 1.5 million child deaths every year. Most of these deaths could be prevented with the introduction of…
The winners of the Sixth Annual Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year Contest were recently announced and the final round gallery is a sight to behold. Since 2006, the contest has featured the best photographs available on Wikimedia Commons. To be eligible, a photograph must first have been featured on the site in 2011.…
Photograph by Al McGlashan | (via Field & Stream) The original goal was simple. Tag the striped marlin for scientific research, and make an instructional video that demonstrates the proper way to release a marlin after tagging. Things were going smoothly. The marlin had been successfully tagged (1 of 2500 as part of…
Currently the top post on the front page of Reddit is this heart-warming lamp Redditor, justgrant2009, received from his mom on his wedding day. The lamp was filled with things his mom had found in his pockets whilst doing his laundry growing up. What a simple, sentimental and creative gift! I’m sure many may…
For the last thirty years, John Wardlaw, John Dickson, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney and John Molony (from left to right in photos below) have been reuniting at Copco Lake in California to recreate the original photograph taken in 1982. Back then they were high-school friends hanging out at Wardlaw’s family cabin. What you can’t…
Photograph via PlanetSolar.org On Septebmer 27, 2010, the MS Turanor PlanetSolar set sail from the port of Monaco. The goal? To become the first solar-powered ship to circumnavigate the globe. On May 6, 2012, 587 days, 28 countries, 3 oceans, 11 seas and 60,006 km later, the PlanetSolar team achieved just that. Below…
Photograph via fopnews.wordpress.com What you see above is a submarine communications cable. With a diameter of 69 millimeter (2.7 inches), it carries 99% of all international traffic (i.e., internet, telephony and private data) and connects every continent on Earth with the exception of Antarctica. These amazing fibre optic cables traverse oceans and span…
Used with permission from Microsoft Recognize this photo? It’s the default wallpaper for Microsoft Windows XP. Released in 2001, there were over 400 million copies in use as of January 2006 (not including pirated copies). Now imagine how many friends, family members, work colleagues and people using public workstations have no doubt used…
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