Tarantulas may live for years; most species take two to five years to reach adulthood, but some species may take up to ten years to reach full maturity. Upon reaching adulthood, males typically have but a 1 to 1.5 year period left to live and will immediately go in search of a female with which to mate. Male tarantulas rarely moult again once they reach adulthood. The oldest spider, according to Guinness World Records, lived to be 49 years old.
Females will continue to moult after reaching maturity. Female specimens have been known to reach 30 to 40 years of age, and have survived on water alone for up to 2 years. Grammostola rosea spiders are renowned for going for long periods without eating.
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Over 90% of poison exposures occur in homes
Throughout human history, intentional application of poison has been used as a method of murder, pest-control,suicide, and execution. As a method of execution, poison has been ingested, as the ancient Athenians did (see Socrates), inhaled, as with carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide (see gas chamber), or injected (see lethal injection). Many languages describe lethal injection with their corresponding words for “poison shot”. Poison’s lethal effect can be combined with its allegedly magical powers; an example is theChinese gu poison. Poison was also employed in gunpowder warfare. For example, the 14th century Chinese text of the Huolongjing written by Jiao Yu outlined the use of a poisonous gunpowder mixture to fill cast irongrenade bombs.
The term poison with regard to biology and chemistry is often misused due to lack of a universal definition. Biologically speaking, any substance, if given in large enough amounts, is poisonous and can cause death. For instance, while botulinum toxin is lethal on the level of nanograms, a person would have to ingest kilograms worth of water to receive a lethal dose. While there may be a large disparity in this example, there are many substances used as medications where the LD50 is only one order of magnitude greater than the ED50 such asfentanyl. A better definition would distinguish between lethal substances that provide a therapeutic value and those that do not. The lack of a mathematical definition for the term poison impedes a universal definition.
Annie Edson Taylor was the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Desiring to secure her later years financially, and avoid the poorhouse, she decided she would be the first person to ride over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Taylor used a custom-made barrel for her trip, constructed of oak and iron and padded with a mattress. Several delays occurred in the launching of the barrel, particularly because no one wanted to be part of a potential suicide. Two days before Taylor’s own attempt, a domestic cat was sent over the Horseshoe Falls in her barrel to test its strength. Contrary to rumors at the time, the cat survived the plunge and 17 minutes later, after she was found with a bleeding head, posed with Taylor in photographs.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, the barrel was put over the side of a rowboat, and Taylor climbed in, along with her lucky heart-shaped pillow. After screwing down the lid, friends used a bicycle tire pump to compress the air in the barrel. The hole used for this was plugged with a cork, and Taylor was set adrift near the American shore, south of Goat Island.
The Niagara River currents carried the barrel toward the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, which has since been the site for all daredevil stunting at Niagara Falls. Rescuers reached her barrel shortly after the plunge. Taylor was discovered to be alive and relatively uninjured, except for a small gash on her head. The trip itself took less than twenty minutes, but it was some time before the barrel was actually opened. After the journey, Annie Taylor told the press:
“If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat… I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Fall”.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, the barrel was put over the side of a rowboat, and Taylor climbed in, along with her lucky heart-shaped pillow. After screwing down the lid, friends used a bicycle tire pump to compress the air in the barrel. The hole used for this was plugged with a cork, and Taylor was set adrift near the American shore, south of Goat Island.
The Niagara River currents carried the barrel toward the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, which has since been the site for all daredevil stunting at Niagara Falls. Rescuers reached her barrel shortly after the plunge. Taylor was discovered to be alive and relatively uninjured, except for a small gash on her head. The trip itself took less than twenty minutes, but it was some time before the barrel was actually opened. After the journey, Annie Taylor told the press:
“If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat… I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Fall”.
The most frequent season for most suicides to occur is in the spring. The winter months have the lowest number of suicides
Research on seasonal effects on suicide rates suggests that the prevalence of suicide is greatest during the late spring and early summer months, despite the common belief that suicide rates peak during the cold and dark months of the winter season.
Many people believe that suicide rates peak during the winter months. Intuitively, this makes sense given the existence of seasonal affective disorder and the tendency to associate depression with winter. Harsh weather increases the prevalence of diseases such as pneumonia and hypothermia, which have mainly been from the minimal amount of sunlight in the winter time. In turn, this notion is indicative of the winter season having a general association with suicide rates. Some also believe that “holiday cheer amplifies loneliness and hopelessness in people who have lost loved ones, or who have high expectations of renewed happiness during the holiday season, only to be disappointed.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics report that suicide rates in the United States are lowest during the winter months and highest in the summer and spring. F. Stephen Bridges asserts that there is “a high incidence in early spring (April and May) and…also a low incidence in winter” of suicides rates. Bridges’s study focused on seasonal effects on suicide risk by examining the monthly distribution of suicides in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s via a “harmonic time series model” with six observable harmonic cycles within each consecutive year. The results show a consistent pattern of suicide risk with most suicides occurring in the spring/summer and the fewest during the winter months. Specifically, Bridges found that in the 1970s “about 47% of the total variances can be explained by the seasonal components” within that given decade (with more suicides in spring/summer). From 1980 to 1990, “the seasonal component of suicide incidence for the time period 1981 through 1990 is clearly significant and records about a 27.7% increase in seasonal contribution by comparison with the previous period”. For the 1990–2000 decade, “the significant seasonal rhythm were explained in 63% of the total variation.”
According to Bridges, recent research from industrialized countries (including Finland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, England, and Wales) has provided enough information to show a decrease in seasonal effects on suicide rates over the past few decades. In the case of Greece, seasonal variations in mortality from suicide are “more frequent during the spring and summer months…but [have] no regular annual rhythm”. The Greek researchers proposed that “the seasonal variation of suicide follows more closely to the seasonal variation of sunshine, rather than the corresponding variation of temperature”. Few scientific assessments have focused on seasonal suicide Epidemiology of suicide#Seasonal suicide variations in the southern hemisphere. Studies in Brazilhave shown that “the peak number of suicides occurred in spring (November) in men and women of Rio Grande do Sul state and in men of Parana and Santa Catarina states, and in early summer (January) for women of Parana state.”
Eleni Petridou, a professor of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology, led an international study on seasonal effects on suicide rates that involved twenty countries. The results showed an early summer peak in suicides. She concluded that “seasonal variation in suicide incidence could be explained by the increase in sunshine in summer months because of a relationship between sunshine, high temperatures and suicide rate.” Australian researchers J. Edwards and F. Whitlock found a “spring peak in the number of suicides committed in Brisbane, Australia, but the results were not statistically significant…and thatDublin reported the incidence of suicide varied according to seasons in the northern hemisphere.”
French sociologist Émile Durkheim had found similar results, reporting that more suicides occurred in the spring than in the summer. Rather than emphasizing the role of nature, Durkheim interpreted the seasonal variation in sociological terms; he wrote that most suicides took place in the spring because “everything begins to awake; activity is resumed, relations spring up, interchanges increase. In other words, it is the density of human interactions, and not the environment that caused higher incidence of suicide in spring or summer.”
Many people believe that suicide rates peak during the winter months. Intuitively, this makes sense given the existence of seasonal affective disorder and the tendency to associate depression with winter. Harsh weather increases the prevalence of diseases such as pneumonia and hypothermia, which have mainly been from the minimal amount of sunlight in the winter time. In turn, this notion is indicative of the winter season having a general association with suicide rates. Some also believe that “holiday cheer amplifies loneliness and hopelessness in people who have lost loved ones, or who have high expectations of renewed happiness during the holiday season, only to be disappointed.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics report that suicide rates in the United States are lowest during the winter months and highest in the summer and spring. F. Stephen Bridges asserts that there is “a high incidence in early spring (April and May) and…also a low incidence in winter” of suicides rates. Bridges’s study focused on seasonal effects on suicide risk by examining the monthly distribution of suicides in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s via a “harmonic time series model” with six observable harmonic cycles within each consecutive year. The results show a consistent pattern of suicide risk with most suicides occurring in the spring/summer and the fewest during the winter months. Specifically, Bridges found that in the 1970s “about 47% of the total variances can be explained by the seasonal components” within that given decade (with more suicides in spring/summer). From 1980 to 1990, “the seasonal component of suicide incidence for the time period 1981 through 1990 is clearly significant and records about a 27.7% increase in seasonal contribution by comparison with the previous period”. For the 1990–2000 decade, “the significant seasonal rhythm were explained in 63% of the total variation.”
According to Bridges, recent research from industrialized countries (including Finland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, England, and Wales) has provided enough information to show a decrease in seasonal effects on suicide rates over the past few decades. In the case of Greece, seasonal variations in mortality from suicide are “more frequent during the spring and summer months…but [have] no regular annual rhythm”. The Greek researchers proposed that “the seasonal variation of suicide follows more closely to the seasonal variation of sunshine, rather than the corresponding variation of temperature”. Few scientific assessments have focused on seasonal suicide Epidemiology of suicide#Seasonal suicide variations in the southern hemisphere. Studies in Brazilhave shown that “the peak number of suicides occurred in spring (November) in men and women of Rio Grande do Sul state and in men of Parana and Santa Catarina states, and in early summer (January) for women of Parana state.”
Eleni Petridou, a professor of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology, led an international study on seasonal effects on suicide rates that involved twenty countries. The results showed an early summer peak in suicides. She concluded that “seasonal variation in suicide incidence could be explained by the increase in sunshine in summer months because of a relationship between sunshine, high temperatures and suicide rate.” Australian researchers J. Edwards and F. Whitlock found a “spring peak in the number of suicides committed in Brisbane, Australia, but the results were not statistically significant…and thatDublin reported the incidence of suicide varied according to seasons in the northern hemisphere.”
French sociologist Émile Durkheim had found similar results, reporting that more suicides occurred in the spring than in the summer. Rather than emphasizing the role of nature, Durkheim interpreted the seasonal variation in sociological terms; he wrote that most suicides took place in the spring because “everything begins to awake; activity is resumed, relations spring up, interchanges increase. In other words, it is the density of human interactions, and not the environment that caused higher incidence of suicide in spring or summer.”
Within Leonardo Da Vinci's own lifetime his fame was such that the King of France carried him away like a trophy and was claimed to have supported him in his old age and held him in his arms as he died.
Interest in Leonardo has never diminished. The crowds still queue to see his most famous artworks, T-shirts bear his most famous drawing, and writers continue to marvel at his genius and speculate about his private life and, particularly, about what one so intelligent actually believed in.
Giorgio Vasari, in the enlarged edition of Lives of the Artists, 1568, introduced his chapter on Leonardo da Vinci with the following words:
In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.
Giorgio Vasari, in the enlarged edition of Lives of the Artists, 1568, introduced his chapter on Leonardo da Vinci with the following words:
In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.
Every day 2,700 people die of heart disease
Currently practiced measures to prevent cardiovascular disease include:
- A low-fat, high-fiber diet including whole grains and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (at least five portions a day)
- Tobacco cessation and avoidance of second-hand smoke;
- Limit alcohol consumption to the recommended daily limits; consumption of 1-2 standard alcoholic drinks per day may reduce risk by 30% However excessive alcohol intake increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Lower blood pressures, if elevated, through the use of antihypertensive medications;
- Decrease body fat (BMI) if overweight or obese;
- Increase daily activity to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per day at least five times per week;
- Decrease psychosocial stress. Stress however plays a relatively minor role in hypertension. Specific relaxation therapies are not supported by the evidence.
Routine counselling of adults to advise them to improve their diet and increase their physical activity has not been found to significantly alter behaviour, and thus is not recommended.
In the last 30 years, only seven people have been killed by a polar bear in Canada
In contrast, about 500 bears are killed per year by humans across Canada, a rate believed by scientists to be unsustainable for some areas, notably Baffin Bay. Canada has allowed sport hunters accompanied by local guides and dog-sled teams since 1970
Unlike grizzly bears, polar bears are not territorial. Although stereotyped as being voraciously aggressive, they are normally cautious in confrontations, and often choose to escape rather than fight. Satiated polar bears rarely attack humans unless severely provoked, whereas hungry polar bears are extremely unpredictable and are known to kill and sometimes eat humans. Polar bears are stealth hunters, and the victim is often unaware of the bear’s presence until the attack is underway. Whereas brown bears often maul a person and then leave, polar bear attacks are more likely to be predatory and are almost always fatal. However, due to the very small human population around the Arctic, such attacks are rare.
In general, adult polar bears live solitary lives. Yet, they have often been seen playing together for hours at a time and even sleeping in an embrace, and polar bear zoologist Nikita Ovsianikov has described adult males as having “well-developed friendships.” Cubs are especially playful as well. Among young males in particular, play-fighting may be a means of practicing for serious competition during mating seasons later in life. Polar bears have a wide range of vocalisations, including bellows, roars, growls, chuffs and purrs.
In 1992, a photographer near Churchill took a now widely circulated set of photographs of a polar bear playing with a Canadian Eskimo Dog a tenth of its size. The pair wrestled harmlessly together each afternoon for ten days in a row for no apparent reason, although the bear may have been trying to demonstrate its friendliness in the hope of sharing the kennel’s food. This kind of social interaction is uncommon; it is far more typical for polar bears to behave aggressively towards dogs.
Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise located in Paris is the most visited cemetery in the world. The cemetery opened in 1805 and has over one million people buried there, including rock star Jim Morrison
Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world’s most visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials.
The cemetery is on Boulevard de Ménilmontant (fr). The Paris Métro station Philippe Auguste on line 2 is next to the main entrance, while the station called Père Lachaise, on both lines 2 and 3, is 500 metres away near a side entrance. Many tourists prefer the Gambetta station on line 3, as it allows them to enter near the tomb of Oscar Wilde and then walk downhill to visit the rest of the cemetery.
Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
Duels were common in much of South America during the 20th century, although generally illegal.
- In Argentina, during the 18th and 19th century, it was common for gauchos—cowboys—to resolve their disputes in a fight using working knives calledfacones. After the turn of the 19th century, when repeating handguns became more widely available, use of the facón as a close-combat weapon declined. Among the gauchos, many continued to wear the knife, though mostly as a tool. However, it was occasionally still used to settle arguments “of honor”. In these situations two adversaries would attack with slashing attacks to the face, stopping when one could no longer see clearly through the blood.
- In Peru there were several high-profile duels by politicians in the early part of the 20th century including one in 1957 involving Fernando Belaúnde Terry, who went on to become President. In 2002 Peruvian independent congressman Eittel Ramos challenged Vice President David Waisman to a duel with pistols, saying the vice president had insulted him. Waisman declined.
- Uruguay decriminalised dueling in 1920, and in that year José Batlle y Ordóñez, a former President ofUruguay, killed Washington Beltran, editor of the newspaper El País, in a formal duel fought with pistols. In 1990 another editor was challenged to a duel by an assistant police chief. Although not forbidden by the government, the duel did not take place. Duelling was once again prohibited in 1992.
- 1952: Chile. Senator, and future President of Chile, Salvador Allende was challenged to a duel by his colleague Raúl Rettig (who later headed a commission investigating human rights violations committed during the 1973–1990 military rule in Chile). Both men agreed to fire one shot at each other, and both fired into the air. At that time, duelling was already illegal in Chile.
- There is a frequently quoted, (albeit dubious), claim that dueling is legal in Paraguay if both parties are blood donors.
The adult Luna Moth has no mouth and dies of starvation.
The Luna Moth wings are very small when they first emerge and they must enlarge them by pumping bodily fluids through them. During this time, their wings will be soft and they must climb somewhere safe to wait for their wings to harden before they can fly away. This process takes about 2 hours to complete. The Luna Moth typically has a wingspan of 8–11.5 cm (3.1–4.5 in), rarely exceeding 17.78 cm (7.00 in) with long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna Moths are considered common. As with allSaturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week. They are more commonly seen at night.
An Egyptian special forces unit got confused for terrorists while attempting to storm a hijacked plane, 15 were killed
In 1978, Egyptian Army Special Forces were dispatched to Larnaca International Airport, Larnaca, Cyprus in response to the hijacking of a Cyprus Air passenger aircraft by operatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine(PFLP). The operation was organized hastily, and Egyptian authorities failed to notify Cyprus of the arrival of the unit. As the Egyptian commandos approached the plane on the tarmac, they were mistaken by the Cyprus security forces as terrorist reinforcements. Cypriot security forces opened fire on the approaching Egyptian SF members, who were without nearby cover. The firefight cost the lives of 15 members of the 79 members of the Egyptian commando force sent, however there were no reported Cypriot fatalities. The aftermath of the failed incident resulted in the creation of Task Force 777.
Source
Frank Hayes was a jockey who died in the midst of a race, but won anyway
Frank Hayes (1888–1923) was a jockey who, in 1923, suffered a fatal heart attack in the midst of a race at Belmont Park in New York. His horse, a 20-1 outsider called Sweet Kiss, finished and won the race with his lifeless body still atop, making him the first, and thus far, only, jockey to win a race after death.
Source
The Galapagos Tortoise hunts birds by drawing them under its shell. Then uses its weight to crush the bird.
Tortoises share a mutualistic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch and mockingbirds. Small groups of finches initiate the process by hopping on the ground in an exaggerated fashion facing the tortoise. The tortoise signals it is ready by rising up and extending its neck and legs, enabling the birds to reach otherwise inaccessible spots on the tortoise’s body such as the neck, rear legs, cloacal opening, and skin between plastron and carapace. The birds benefit from the food source and the tortoises get rid of irritatingectoparasites.
Some tortoises have been observed to insidiously exploit this mutualistic relationship. After rising and extending its limbs, the bird may go beneath the tortoise to investigate, whereupon suddenly the tortoise withdraws its limbs to drop flat and kill the bird. It then steps back to eat the bird, presumably to supplement its diet with protein.
In 1793, the fattest man in the world fought a bear in England
Daniel Lambert (13 March 1770 – 21 June 1809) was a gaol keeper and animal breeder from Leicester, England, famous for his unusually large size. After serving four years as an apprentice at an engraving and die casting works in Birmingham, he returned to Leicester around 1788 and succeeded his father as keeper of Leicester’s gaol. He was a keen sportsman and extremely strong, on one occasion he fought a bear in the streets of Leicester. He was an expert in sporting animals, widely respected for his expertise with dogs, horses and fighting cocks.
Although by his own account Lambert did not eat unusually large amounts of food, at about the time of his return to Leicester his weight began to increase steadily, and by 1793, he weighed 32 stone (450 lb; 200 kg). Concerned for his fitness, in his spare time he devoted himself to exercise, building his strength to the point where he was able to easily carry five hundredweight (560 lb; 250 kg). On one occasion, while he was watching a dancing bear on display in Blue Boar Lane, his dog slipped loose and bit it. The bear knocked the dog to the ground, and Lambert asked its keeper to restrain it so he could retrieve his wounded animal; however, the keeper removed the bear’s muzzle so it could attack the dog. Lambert reportedly struck the bear with a pole and with his left hand, punched its head, knocking it to the ground to allow the dog to escape.
Despite his increasingly large girth, Lambert remained fit and active, once walking seven miles (11 km) from Woolwich to the City of London ”with much less apparent fatigue than several middle-sized men who were of the party”. Although not particularly agile, he was not significantly restricted by his bulk, and was able to stand on one leg and kick the other to a height of 7 feet (2.1 m). He continued to teach swimming in Leicester, and was able to stay afloat with two grown men sitting on his back. He disliked changing his clothes, and each morning habitually wore the clothes he had worn the day before, regardless of whether they were still wet; by Lambert’s own account he suffered no colds or other ill effects from this behaviour.
A Soviet fighter pilot who was downed over Germany, escaped execution by switching ID tags with a corpse
On 13 July 1944 the Soviet pilot Mikhail Devyataev was downed near Lwów over German-held territory and became a prisoner of war, held in the Łódźconcentration camp. He made an attempt to escape on 13 August but was caught and transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Devyataev soon realised that his situation was perilous-as a Soviet pilot, he could expect extreme brutality; therefore, he managed to exchange identities with a dead Soviet infantryman.
With his new identity, Devyataev was later transferred to a camp in Usedom to be a part of a forced labor crew working for the German missile program on the island of Peenemünde. Under hellish conditions, the prisoners were forced to repair runways and clear unexploded bombs by hand. Security was rigidly enforced with vicious guards and dogs, and there was little chance of escape. Even so, by February 1945, Devyataev concluded that, however remote, the chance of escape was preferable to certain death as a prisoner.
Devyataev managed to convince three other prisoners (Sokolov, Krivonogov and Nemchenko ) that he could fly them to freedom. They decided to run away in the dinnertime, when most of the guards were in the dining room. Sokolov and Nemchenko were able to create a work gang from Soviet citizens only.
At noon of 8 February 1945, as the ten Soviet POWs, including Devyataev, were at work on the runway, one of the work gang, Ivan Krivonogov picked up a crowbar and killed their guard. Another prisoner, Peter Kutergun, quickly stripped off the guard’s uniform and slipped it on. The work gang, led by the “guard”, managed to unobtrusively take over the camp commandant’s He 111 H22 bomber and fly from the island. Devyataev piloted the aircraft. The Germans tried to intercept the bomber but without success. The aircraft was damaged by the Soviet air defences but managed to land in Soviet-held territory. The escapees provided important information about the German missile program, especially about the V-1 and V-2.
The NKVD did not believe Devyataev’s story, arguing that it was impossible for the prisoners to take over an airplane without cooperation from the Germans. Thus, Devyataev was suspected of being a German spy and sent to a penal military unit along with the other nine men. Of the escapees, five died in action over the following months. Devyataev himself spent the remainder of the war in prison.
source
The Scottish bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep.
The player keeps the bag inflated by blowing air into it through a blowpipe or pumping air into it with a bellows. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials includingGore-Tex have become much more common. Though a drawback of the synthetic bag is the potential for fungal spores to colonise the bag because of reduction in necessary cleaning, with the associated danger of lung infection.
Bags cut from larger materials are usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over the seam and stitched (for skin bags) or glued (for synthetic bags) to reduce leaks. Holes are then cut to accommodate the stocks. In the case of bags made from largely intact animal skins the stocks are typically tied into the points where limbs and the head joined the body of the living animal, a construction technique common in Central and Eastern Europe.
A man was trapped under his dead 224 lbs wife for 3 days after she fell down the stairs on top of him
"In 1903, in Liverpool, England, an elderly man was following his 224-pound wife up some stairs in their house when she lost her balance and fell backward, hit her head on the floor and died instantly.
The husband lay trapped under his dead spouse for three days. When friends finally found the couple, he was dead, too."
The husband lay trapped under his dead spouse for three days. When friends finally found the couple, he was dead, too."
Centralia, in Pennsylvania is town that's been on fire since 1962.
Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is one of the least-populated municipalities in Pennsylvania.
Centralia is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area. The borough is completely surrounded by Conyngham Township.
All properties in the borough were claimed under eminent domain by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1992 (and all buildings therein were condemned), and Centralia's ZIP code was revoked by the Postal Service in 2002. A few residents continue to reside there in spite of the failure of a lawsuit to reverse the eminent domain claim.
Centralia is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area. The borough is completely surrounded by Conyngham Township.
All properties in the borough were claimed under eminent domain by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1992 (and all buildings therein were condemned), and Centralia's ZIP code was revoked by the Postal Service in 2002. A few residents continue to reside there in spite of the failure of a lawsuit to reverse the eminent domain claim.
The Bubbly Creek is the branch of the Chicago River that is so contaminated with blood from the Stock Yards that it bubbles to this day.
Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which runs entirely within the city of Chicago, Illinois, US. It marks the boundary between the Bridgeport and McKinley Park community areas of the city. The creek derives its name from the gases bubbling out of the riverbed from the decomposition of blood and entrails dumped into the river in the early 20th century by the local meatpacking businesses surrounding the Union Stock Yards directly south of the creek's endpoint at Pershing Road. It was brought to notoriety by Upton Sinclair in his exposé on the American meat packing industry entitled The Jungle.
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