CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-16 17:00:31 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 11 +1s)

Moving the Mona Lisa: The WWII Story ... Twister Sifter - "Beginning in 1938, the threat of war prompted a large-scale evacuation of France’s public art collections. The storage sites chosen for works of art were châteaux, tranquil locations in the heart of the French countryside, far from strategic targets, and thus escaping the imminent danger of bombing.

On August 28, 1939, the Mona Lisa left the Louvre and on September 3, as war had been declared, a decision was taken to ensure that all of the most precious works would leave the premises by the end of the day.

During the war, Leonardo da Vinci’s smiling maiden would move another five times ..."

see the story of the saving of other great works of art: http://bit.ly/YZ0g54

2013-05-16 15:08:24 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Read one of my science fiction stories free ... in the May issue of GALAXY'S EDGE:

http://www.galaxysedge.com/n8.htm

2013-05-16 15:07:40 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Read one of my science fiction stories free ... in the May issue of GALAXY'S EDGE:

http://www.galaxysedge.com/n8.htm

2013-05-16 15:07:05 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 6 +1s)

Read one of my science fiction stories free ... in the May issue of GALAXY'S EDGE:

http://www.galaxysedge.com/n8.htm

2013-05-16 15:03:58 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 6 +1s)

from Life Magazine's Hell on Wheels: Life with Mutant Bikes - "Chicago bicycle dealer Andy Koslow rides a tiny bike built by a former vaudevillian. "This helps limber up his left leg," LIFE wrote, "which, as a former motorcycle racer, he broke seven times."

Read more: http://life.time.com/curiosities/bizarre-bikes-built-by-chicagoans-in-the-1940s

2013-05-16 15:00:35 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 7 +1s)

from Life Magazine's Hell on Wheels: Life with Mutant Bikes - "Square-wheeled bike held by Bernard Steinlauf was built by son Dave after seeing a bicycle wreck."

Read more: http://life.time.com/curiosities/bizarre-bikes-built-by-chicagoans-in-the-1940s

2013-05-16 14:57:13 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

from Life Magazine's Hell on Wheels: Life with Mutant Bikes - "Uno-Wheel, if braked suddenly, has been known to spin its rider round and round inside the big main wheel."

Read more: http://life.time.com/curiosities/bizarre-bikes-built-by-chicagoans-in-the-1940s/

2013-05-16 14:51:13 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Gizmodo: Google and NASA Are Building the Future of AI With a Quantum Supercomputer. http://goo.gl/mag/V6KpGYG

2013-05-16 14:41:51 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

LulzBot TAZ claims largest build area for desktop 3D printers ... GizMag - "If you're in the market for a 3D printer, there are plenty of qualities to weigh. Price, ease of use, size, and print resolution are all factors that could influence the types of objects you're able to create. If you want a printer that fits on your desk and can print objects the size of a basketball though, you may want to consider the latest model from Aleph Objects, Inc. The LulzBot TAZ 3D printer boasts an open source hardware approach in design and claims to have the largest print volume for desktop printers in its price range.

Once assembled, the TAZ takes up a space of 680 x 520 x 515 mm (26.8 x 20.5 x 20.3 in), but it's actual printing area measures 298 x 275 x 250 mm (11.7 x 10.8 x 9.8 in). According to the developers, this gives it the largest print volume for 3D printers under US$5,000,... more »

2013-05-16 13:34:01 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-05-16 13:27:49 (50 comments, 0 reshares, 36 +1s)

too similar... a step backward in my opinion ... dumbs G+ down, not an improvement.

2013-05-16 13:15:40 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 12 +1s)

The little-known WWII bombing of Brookings, Oregon ... Dvice - "... off the coast of southern Oregon the morning of September 9, 1942. Sunlight glinted off the periscopes of Japanese I-25 submarines that peeked above the waves to survey the scene. Below decks, pilot Nobuo Fujita and his observer Shoji Okuda began to prepare. Their mission that morning was to attack America’s west coast with incendiary bombs to start what would hopefully turn into a devastating forest fire.

 ... Fujita’s bomb had far from the desired effect, prompting the Japanese to return for another try at the end of September. It also failed. Luckily for Oregonians, the Japanese hadn’t counted on Oregon’s forest being quite so damp and unable to support a forest fire in the fall. So instead of being a major battle widely remembered as the only time as enemy nation brought the war to U.S. soil, it’shardly kno... more »

2013-05-15 21:57:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Okay, here's what I HATE about the new G+ ... they took away some of our text space above the read more link! ... c'mon guys, for proper communications we need more space for text, not less. Let's not dumb G+ down.... please give the space back. Thanks.

2013-05-15 21:56:28 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

Okay, here's what I HATE about the new G+ ... they took away some of our text space above the read more link! ... c'mon guys, for proper communications we need more space for text, not less. Let's not dumb G+ down.... please give the space back. Thanks.

2013-05-15 21:53:03 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

Yep, this is a motorcycle with a plane engine ... Dvice - "Frank Ohle is an incredibly skilled DIYer who outfitted his motorcycle with a 150hp Rotec Radial R3600 engine. ...  a freakin' plane engine. ... Ohle figured out all of the... steps involved in this project ... and ended up with an absolutely gorgeous, incredibly noisy nine-cylinder superbike. ... This thing actually runs. See Ohle take his mutant Red Baron chopper for a spin in the video below. It's in German, but we're sure that you'll get the gist. ..." http://bit.ly/11FAsfM

2013-05-15 21:26:50 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

MINI-ME ... Twisted Sifter - "In this adorable capture, we see a Masai giraffe with their offspring. This is one of many beautiful captures of African Wildlife with their offspring by Graeme Guy, a retired biochemist who is now pursuing his passion for photography. ..." http://twistedsifter.com/2013/05/giraffe-with-baby-giraffe-mini-me/

2013-05-15 20:59:59 (2 comments, 8 reshares, 24 +1s)

Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand ... Amusing Planet - "The Waitomo Glowworm Caves, located just outside the main Waitomo township on the North Island of New Zealand, is a famous attraction because of a sizeable population of glowworms that live in the caves. Glowworms or Arachnocampa luminosa are tiny, bioluminescent creatures that produce a blue-green light and are found exclusively in New Zealand. ..." http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/05/waitomo-glowworm-caves-new-zealand.html

2013-05-15 18:33:35 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

May 15, 1928 – Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy ... Wikipedia - "Plane Crazy is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon ... was the first creation of the character Mickey Mouse. It was made as a silent film and given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, but failed to pick up a distributor. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which was an enormous success. Following this, Plane Crazy was released as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929. ... This leads to some ambiguity as to which is the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, as Plane Crazy was the first to be produced while Steamboat Willie was the first to be released. ..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_Crazy

2013-05-15 15:28:29 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

How a 3D printer works ... National Geographic - "Invented in the mid-1980s, it is a printer that uses plastic, wax, resin, paper, gold, titanium—a whole host of materials—instead of ink to create a solid, three-dimensional object. In much the same way that your desktop printer is directed to print the words in a document, the 3-D printer's jets, guided by computer-assisted design (CAD) software, create an object by spraying or squeezing one thin layer of material at a time onto the platform, then melding them into place ... As these microscopically thin layers build up, the desired three-dimensional object slowly takes shape. While 3-D printing is not a fast manufacturing process, it can be highly efficient because there is virtually no wastage. ..." more: http://bit.ly/15MRrya

2013-05-15 15:22:22 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

Have Dogs Fundamentally Changed Us? Human, Canine Genes Evolved in Unison, Study Says ... National Geographic - "The bond between dogs and humans is ancient and enduring. Dogs snuggle up to us at night, gambol by our side during daily walks, and flop adoringly at our feet when we crash on our couches. But new research shows that the connection runs deeper than you might think. It is embedded in our genes. Researchers from the University of Chicago and several international institutions found that several groups of genes in humans and dogs—including those related to diet and digestion, neurological processes, and disease—have been evolving in parallel for thousands of years. ..." more: http://bit.ly/104Owg2

2013-05-14 18:06:04 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 6 +1s)

April 1943. "Baltimore, Maryland. Students and workers returning home on a trolley at 5 p.m. Please leave by rear door! ... _Shorpy, Medium format nitrate negative by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. ... see full detail: http://www.shorpy.com/node/14560?size=_original#caption

2013-05-14 18:00:31 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 6 +1s)

The Glory Days of Air Travel ... Dark Roasted Blend - "Here is the cover of a 1937 Pan American’s Hawaiian Clipper brochure ..." see lots more: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2013/05/glory-of-early-aviation-1900s-1960s.html

2013-05-14 01:57:52 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

The Turf-Covered Houses of Norway

Oddity Central - "Norway, like all Scandinavian countries, has always taken pride in trying to live in harmony with nature, instead of conquering it, and its old turf roofs are a perfect example.Houses with their roofs looking like small meadows may seem a little strange in these modern times, but until the late 19th century, turf roofs were the most common type of roofs in rural Norway. Nowadays, inhabited turf-roof houses are very rare, as the Norwegians have turned most of them into museum exhibits. ..."

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-turf-covered-houses-of-norway.html

2013-05-14 01:56:50 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

World's fastest guitarist pumps out 600 beats per minute
man, oh man, does he play fast or what?

2013-05-14 01:55:28 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Spiral hot dogs always fit the buns!
from Instructables.com

You need:
dogs of your choosing
fave dog slicin' knife
long drill bit, (or round skewer if you have things like that)

Carefully push drill directly down the center of the hot dog.
Keep the knife at the same angle as you slice thru to the drill bit, and roll the hot dog away from you as you continue down the length of the dog. (pics 1 & 2) May or may not take you a couple trys to get method of nice tight coil.

See that I boil the dogs! (pic 3) Microwaving does not produce satisfactory results, IMHO. Slide the dog off the bit and into the water. Kinda tricky to fish 'em out, I used a spatula. Straining would be clever, if you have a colander.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Spiral-Cut-Hot-Dogs/

2013-05-14 01:55:07 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

First city in the Americas?
ancient Americans were building pyramids at the same time as the Egyptians!

Peru's Caral suggests civilization emerged in the Americas 1,000 years earlier than experts believed

Smithsonian - "... Research developed by Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís of San Marcos University suggests that Caral, as the 150-acre complex of pyramids, plazas and residential buildings is known, was a thriving metropolis as Egypt’s great pyramids were being built. The energetic archaeologist believes that Caral may also answer nagging questions about the long-mysterious origins of the Inca, the civilization that once stretched from modern-day Ecuador to central Chile and gave rise to such cities as Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Caral may even hold a key to the origins of civilizations everywhere. ..."

Read more:ht... more »

2013-05-14 01:54:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

The Strange History of the Sunflower

Kuriositas.com - "You may not think that there is much to know about the sunflower. After all, the plant is virtually everywhere. Yet it has a something more than a simple, straightforward history and is more of a globe trotter than you may imagine. Its story has the historical and continental sweep of a Hollywood epic, from the pre-European Americas to Tsarist Russia and back again. Here is the tale of the peripatetic sunflower, accompanied by some stunning photography. ..."

full article, LOTS of gorgeous photos: The Strange History of the Sunflower

2013-05-14 01:54:04 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

The World's Longest Lasting Lightbulb
has been burning for 110 years, in Guinness Book of World Records

Wikipedia - "The Centennial Light is the world's longest-lasting light bulb. It is at 4550 East Avenue, Livermore, California, and maintained by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department. The fire department says that the bulb is at least 110 years old and has been turned off only a handful of times. Due to its longevity, the bulb has been noted by The Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and General Electric. It is often cited as evidence for the existence of planned obsolescence in the later light bulbs. ..."

article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light

bulb's official site: http://www.centennialbulb.org

2013-05-14 01:53:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Candied Bacon Butter!

Butter and bacon taste good together !!!!!

Taste for Adventure - "...This recipe contains only three ingredients, but they are three of the best ingredients around! They come together to form a Candied Bacon Butter you can keep in your fridge and use to enhance almost anything you cook or eat in the next few days. I say only a few days because you will be lucky if it even lasts that long!

"Put it on toast, a bagel, English muffin, baked potato, corn, fry an egg in it, cook a burger or steak with it – you may even want to take a bath in it, it’s THAT good. ..."

Get recipe and more here: http://taste-for-adventure.tablespoon.com/2011/09/02/candied-bacon-butter/

2013-05-14 01:53:05 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Turkey's Incredible Lost Underground City

Environmental Graffiti - "Welcome to Derinkuyu Underground City, located in the Cappadocia region some 18 miles from Nevsehir in Turkey. Derinkuyu is actually one of over 200 underground cities discovered in the Cappadocia region, but it is notable for being the biggest and the deepest. Spanning eleven floors with a depth of 85m, this ancient city can accommodate anywhere between 3,000 and 50,000 people.

"...First excavated during the Hittite times, Derinkuyu was expanded over the subsequent centuries, connecting with other underground cities via miles of tunnels. The city was created as a hiding place from marauding armies seeking loot and slaves. ..."

more photos, full article: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/adventure/news-worlds-beneath-worlds-derinkuyu-underground-city

2013-05-14 01:52:55 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

The Mysterious Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

Oddity Central - "Spread all over Diquis Delta, and on the Isla de Cano, the mysterious stone spheres of Costa Rica have fascinated scientists ever since they were discovered, in 1930.Known as “Las Bolas”, by the locals, the spheres range from a few inches to meters, in diameter, and reach weights of up to 16 tons. Researchers believe they were sculpted before 200 BC and 1500 AD, but since the only way of establishing their age is stratography, and most of the balls are no longer in their original locations, it’s difficult to say for sure. ..."

full article: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-mysterious-stone-spheres-of-costa-rica.html

2013-05-14 01:52:12 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

one of my articles from years ago

http://ralphroberts.net/?p=287

2013-05-14 01:51:23 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

12 Most Unusual Bridges of the World

below: 1. Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany - The Germans took over 80 years to build this 918m bridge over Elbe river ... Canal engineers had first conceived of joining the two waterways as far back as 1919, and by 1938 the Rothensee boat lift and bridge anchors were in place, but construction was postponed during World War II. ... With the reunification of Germany and major establishment of water transport routes made the Water Bridge a priority again. Work started in 1997 ... The water bridge now connects Berlin’s inland harbour network with the ports along the Rhine river. more: http://www.theworldgeography.com/2011/02/12-most-unusual-bridges.html

2013-05-14 01:44:50 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

'24,' Kiefer Sutherland Returning to Fox, Will Jack Bauer Soften with the Times? ... breitbart.com - "Jack Bauer will be back to smash more terrorist cells, but will TV's toughest crime fighter still pull out all the stops to save innocent lives? Fox is expected to announce a new, limited series version of the popular terrorism drama 24 today, May 13, with showrunner Howard Gordon and star Kiefer Sutherland returning to the franchise. That's great news for fans of the show, which featured Sutherland's character doing anything and everything necessary to prevent terrorist attacks on the home front. ..." http://bit.ly/127iygX

2013-05-14 01:26:52 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

May 14, 1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton; he is the only player in history to have reached that plateau ... Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches. He holds the world records both for the most appearances made in first-class cricket (1,110 matches), and for the most wickets taken (4,204). ..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Rhodes ... have no idea what that means but sounds darn good!

2013-05-13 18:49:58 (5 comments, 10 reshares, 9 +1s)

Okay, NOW the Internet is EVERYWHERE: Huggies Tweetpee connects your baby's diaper to the Internet ... Dvice - "If you think that your parents showing people your baby pictures is embarrassing, imagine how mortifying it might be if they could show off Twitter messages detailing your first tinkle into a diaper. That's the goal of a new concept device being shown off by the Brazil division of Huggies. Called TweetPee, the concept device is a clip-on humidity sensor that would send an alert tweet to the parent when the baby's diaper needs changing. There's even a dedicated TweetPee website that shows off an interactive model of the device as well as a diagram of how it would work with smartphones. ..." more: http://bit.ly/15GkkMv

2013-05-13 18:39:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Samsung 5G development "several hundred times faster" than LTE ... GizMag - "LTE may only be wiping its feet on the proverbial doormat, and yet Samsung has already announced a significant breakthrough in the development of 5G mobile communications. The company says this will pave the way for next-generation mobile networks offering transmission speeds in the tens of gigabits per second, hundreds of times faster than LTE. ..." http://bit.ly/11z2KJ0  ... yes!!!!!! ... you go, Samsung!

2013-05-13 18:37:49 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Samsung 5G development "several hundred times faster" than LTE ... GizMag - "LTE may only be wiping its feet on the proverbial doormat, and yet Samsung has already announced a significant breakthrough in the development of 5G mobile communications. The company says this will pave the way for next-generation mobile networks offering transmission speeds in the tens of gigabits per second, hundreds of times faster than LTE. ..." http://bit.ly/11z2KJ0  ... yes!!!!!! ... you go, Samsung!

2013-05-13 18:33:14 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

Canadian police save a man's life, using a drone ... GizMag - "While we hear a lot about the ways in which hovering aerial drones can potentially be used to violate peoples’ privacy, it’s always nice to know that they can help us, too. That was the case last Friday (May 9th), when RCMP from the Canadian city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan used a remotely-operated quadcopter to locate the victim of a single-vehicle rollover, which occurred in the countryside at near-freezing temperatures. ..." http://bit.ly/100YJdm

2013-05-13 16:43:35 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Text messaging, 1942 ... Shorpy - "November 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. These pneumatic tubes in the Illinois Central Railroad yardmaster's office connect him with the general office." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information." see full detail: http://www.shorpy.com/node/15159?size=_original#caption

2013-05-13 15:54:13 (1 comments, 4 reshares, 9 +1s)

Exploring the Disused Streetcar Tunnels Beneath Dupont Circle ... Urban Ghosts - "Twenty-five feet beneath Dupont Circle, a bustling urban park in Washington, D.C., an abandoned streetcar station has remained eerily quiet and virtually forgotten since 1962. In the chilly, pitch-black space, disused tracks follow the crescent-shaped concrete tunnels of the former Dupont trolley station. According to the Washington Post, the 75,000 square feet of white-tiled tunnels had “the earthy smell of a cave”.  The station was built in 1949 along with the Connecticut Avenue traffic tunnel as part of an effort to reduce congestion around Dupont Circle. ..." http://bit.ly/10tSp9F

2013-05-12 18:48:18 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 5 +1s)

Car-top cargo box doubles as a boat ... GizMag - "... The UK-made Boatbox (sold in Australia as the BoatPack) is made mainly from UV-stable acrylic-capped ABS plastic, and consists of two basic parts. There’s a base, that stays attached to the car’s roof rack, and a detachable lid, which doubles as a boat. This does mean that whenever you want to use the Boatbox as a boat, you have to find another home for everything that’s being transported within it. Buyers can choose from two models. ..." more: http://bit.ly/12rVJFg ... well, I always thought it would be nice to have a lifeboat aboard my SUV.

2013-05-12 16:25:18 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Civil War era submarine in Panama

I had heard of the Confederate sub the _Hunley but this is new to me. A sub built in Brooklyn in 1863 and used in Panama? Fascinating._

UrbanGhostMedia.com "Abandoned submersibles are not uncommon in the world’s oceans, but one as old as the Sub Marine Explorer certainly is. Explorer was built between 1863 and 1866 in Brooklyn, New York for the Pacific Pearl Company. But problems with decompression sickness and overfishing of the pearl beds saw the vessel abandoned in Panama in 1869. Well known to locals but presumed to be a wartime wreck, Sub Marine Explorer was rediscovered by archaeologist James P. Delgado in 2001. It has since been the subject of two documentaries, one by National Geographic.

Read more:h... more »

2013-05-12 16:22:50 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Flying Submarines ... Dark Roasted Blend - "It all started with a ground-breaking research by B. P. Ushakov, conducted by the Russian military in utter secrecy, between 1934 and 1938. The design never achieved a prototype stage, but was seriously considered for military application: the plane could fly 800 km at the speed of 200 km/h and could dive to 50 meters, having underwater speed of 3 knots. ... Today, the "flying sub" concept is very much alive, and even being considered by such heavy-weights as Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works (developers of the U-2 and Blackbird spy planes). ..." very interesting two-part series here: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/08/flying-submarines.html

2013-05-12 16:18:16 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

700-year-old Church Could be World’s Most Beautiful Bookshop ... Urban Ghosts - "The stunning Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen - can be found in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Managed by the former Boekhandels Groep Nederland, this 700-year-old former church has featured prominently in round-ups and features of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. The original Dominican church was built in 1294, around eighty years after Saint Dominic formed the Order of Preachers. Its closure is generally credited to French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte. ... the 13th century structure now houses a three storey bookshelf complete with walkways, staircases and elevators. ..." more photos: http://bit.ly/16rVoYB

2013-05-12 16:08:39 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 10 +1s)

January 1943. "Chicago Union Station. Telegraph switchboard of the Pennsylvania Railroad" ... Shorpy - "Union Station. Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information." ... It's not that the technology of yesteryear was any less complex than today's -- if anything, it was often more complex, at least in operation. see full detail: http://www.shorpy.com/node/15153?size=_original#caption

2013-05-12 14:57:21 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Weird Sea Tales: Wreck of SS Mahratta Found Lying on Top of Another Sunken Ship – Also Called SS Mahratta ... Urban Ghosts - "Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent in southern England has its fair share of shipwrecks, including HMS Stirling Castle and SS Montrose. But its strangest nautical victims were both called SS Mahratta, and sank in 1909 and 1939 respectively. Both had been en route from Calcutta to London when they ran aground, and after the second Mahratta sank, it was found to have settled on the wreck of its older namesake. ..." MORE: http://bit.ly/13aQM2p

2013-05-12 14:49:27 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

Oops! ... Wikipedia - "The Montparnasse derailment occurred at 4 pm on 22 October 1895 when the Granville–Paris Express overran the buffer stop at its Gare Montparnasse terminus. With the train several minutes late and the driver trying to make up for lost time, it entered the station too fast and the train air brake failed. After running through the buffer stop, the train crossed the station concourse and crashed through the station wall before falling onto the Place de Rennes below, where it stood on its nose. A woman in the street below was killed by falling masonry. The driver was fined 50 francs and one of the guards 25 francs. The train was outside the station in this position for several days ..." http://bit.ly/15C5bM0

2013-05-12 13:58:45 (3 comments, 8 reshares, 11 +1s)

Secret Tunnel Behind Mount Rushmore! ... you saw it in the movie National Treasure but it REALLY is there ... Wikipedia - ".. Borglum [sculptor of Mt. Rushmore] conceived another grand addition ... the Hall of Records ... carved directly into the granite face of the small canyon behind Lincoln’s head. ... his team rushed to complete this work ... [but] Borglum unexpectedly died in March 1941 ...  ... it was not until 1998 that the National Park System, together with the Borglum Family, put “finishing touches” on the Hall of Records. A titanium vault was installed in the granite floor of the unfinished hall, and filled with sixteen porcelain enamel panels that include the United States Constitution and other important historical documents. ..." http://bit.ly/13quPzO

2013-05-12 12:08:47 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)