In his final moments, 8-year-old Tyler Doohan managed to rescue six people — including two younger children — from a burning mobile home in upstate New York, authorities said. A last-ditch effort, however, to save his disabled grandfather cost the boy his life. His body was found next to his grandfather, whom Tyler considered a … Читать далее
One man is helping kids find a little joy. Jason Haney, a construction foreman, hides a life-size cutout he made of Where’s Waldo on site every day for kids who are staying at a hospital next door to find. «It’s just for the kids to get their minds off of things,»Haney told The Huffington Post. … Читать далее
On the 6th of July, 2001, a young boy’s uncle came to the rescue in a way that captured headlines across America. 8-year old Jesse Arbogast, was having his final swim of the day after an enjoyable family trip to Langdon Beach, Florida. It was dusk, the light was slowly fading as the boy played … Читать далее
Harris Rosen went from a childhood in a rough New York City neighborhood to becoming a millionaire whose company owns seven hotels in Orlando, but his self-made success is not his proudest achievement. Twenty years ago, the Orlando, Fla. neighborhood of Tangelo Park was a crime-infested place where people were afraid to walk down the … Читать далее
Even if your building’s got an up-to-date elevator that runs with all the speed and precision of a Swiss watch (if that’s the case, no need to brag), you’ve likely found yourself waiting the maddening extra few seconds for the doors to finally close, furtively pushing the «close» button and wondering why isn’t anything happening. … Читать далее
«Unconscionable» is a legal term used to void contracts that are unfair to one party because of the other party’s superior bargaining power. By my reading, that makes end-user license agreements (EULAs) unenforceable. Ten years ago, when I was working at a different technology magazine, I wrote a column about the growing power of end … Читать далее
Auction house Sotheby’s announced Sept. 9 that it will sell a rare John James Audubon tome, Birds of America, and expect it to fetch between $6.2 million and $9.2 million — making it the world’s most expensive book. Only 119 copies of the bird book — most of which exist in museums and libraries — … Читать далее
Alexander Svanidze, an old school friend of Stalin’s and a fellow revolutionary, introduced the 28-year-old Joseph Stalin to his sister, Ekaterina Svanidze. Nicknamed Kato, Ekaterina was born in Georgia on 2 April 1885. Respecting her devoutness, Stalin put aside his atheism and the couple were married in an Orthodox church in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), capital … Читать далее
Siena Britt, 3, of Sippy Downs, is the proud owner of «Mr Fluffy Bum», a domestic rabbit that her magician father Nick Britt had to jump through hoops to keep. Queensland is the only state in Australia that strictly prohibits keeping domestic rabbits as pets. Offenders face fines of $45,500. Mr Britt is one of … Читать далее
You wouldn’t steal a movie, so why would you put stolen music on an anti-piracy ad? Dr Karl investigates a curious case of copyright theft. If you have bought or rented a movie on a DVD sometime in the last few years, you would have had to sit through the compulsory anti-piracy video at the … Читать далее
Orphans, whose parents died of AIDS, play a game at the Zhonghua Red Ribbon Home, an orphanage Sun Huixi collected bottles to help build. Despite the fact this heart-warming act took place a few years ago now, the then 12 year-old schoolboy Sun Huixi didn’t receive the recognition he deserved, so we want to highlight … Читать далее
EVERY year about a million Americans attempt suicide. More than 38,000 succeed. In addition, each year there are around 33,000 unintentional deaths by poisonings. Taken together, that’s more than twice the number of people who die annually in car accidents. The tragedy is that while motor vehicle deaths have been dropping, suicides and poisonings from … Читать далее
Meet the woman from Perth whose super sense of smell could change the way Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed. Joy Milne’s husband, Les, died in June, aged 65. He worked as a consultant anaesthetist before being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 45. Joy first detected the odour on her husband Les, who was diagnosed … Читать далее
Sales at CVS Health are getting «smoked.» Last September, CVS became the first major pharmacy chain in America to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in its stores. The drug store chain said it was the right thing to do — even though it would hurt sales. Now CVS (CVS) is detailing just how … Читать далее
NEW YORK — Two measly dollars stood between a New York City man and freedom, but he had no idea. Instead, a 41-year-old Queens man remained in a Rikers Island cell from November 2014 to April 2015, his new lawyers argued before a judge last week, according to the New York Daily News. Aitabdel Salem … Читать далее
Despite having little experience in commanding large, conventional military forces, Washington’s strong leadership presence and fortitude held the American military together long enough to secure victory at Yorktown and independence for his new nation. 1. Washington was appointed commander of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. He would not return to Mount Vernon until … Читать далее
‘Disturbing’ film, made in 1945 and withheld, was restored by the Imperial War Museum and will screen later this year and in 2015 An Alfred Hitchcock documentary about the Holocaust, which was suppressed for political reasons, is to be screened for the first time in the form its director intended after being restored by the … Читать далее
A woman who kept $1.3 million in lottery winnings secret from her estranged husband to avoid having to give him half in their divorce settlement will now have to turn over the whole pot to him, this district’s Court of Appeal ruled Friday. Denise Rossi must give up her entire lottery share under a Family … Читать далее
Randy escaped his male only enclosure at Hatton Adventure World in Warwick and broke into the female-only area. Staff at Hatton Country World in Warwickshire couldn’t understand why they suddenly had 100 pregnant guinea pigs on their hands — until they released one of the male rodents had managed to escape his enclosure and infiltrate … Читать далее
Christian Atheists, or non-realistic Christians, want to remove what they see as the fairy tale elements of Christianity. Non-realism (Christian Atheism) Christian Atheists want to remove what they see as the fairy tale elements of Christianity. They prefer to call this a non-realistic version of Christianity, rather than Christian atheism. They say that they do … Читать далее
A spate of shark attacks off Hawaii raises old fears about the predators of the oceans. But humans are much more dangerous. The media have something in common with sharks: feeding frenzies. On Dec. 2, a kayak fisherman died after being bitten by a shark off the Hawaiian island of Maui. It was the 13th … Читать далее
What it says about your friendship when you find yourself squished into a revolving-door with a companion. «Great works are often born on the street-corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door,» said Albert Camus, and a recent study shows that he was on to something. The revolving door is not just the accidental setting for … Читать далее
L/Cpl Matthew Croucher with his backpack, torn by the grenade A Royal Marine who threw himself on a grenade to save his comrades’ lives is to receive the George Cross. Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, 24, from Solihull, in the West Midlands triggered a trip wire in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in February. He immediately dropped to … Читать далее
MIT students figured out how to make winning the Massachusetts lottery a sure thing, and a recent investigation suggests that the lottery commission knew about it. Maybe Uncle Ben was right: With great power comes great responsibility. While most students at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology use their powers for good — for example, … Читать далее
Protection and responsible harvesting are the reasons behind the success story. The numbers are in. In the United States, which contains 8 percent of the world’s forests, there are more trees than there were 100 years ago. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), «Forest growth nationally has exceeded harvest since the 1940s. By … Читать далее
Plastic six-pack rings are the bane of conservationists — images of sea birds and turtles entangled in them serve as constant reminders that consumer culture and the environment don’t get along. But thanks to an innovation from a Florida-based brewery, we can feel a little better about enjoying a six-pack. Saltwater Brewery has partnered with … Читать далее
Headache and cold pills and painkillers may be safe well beyond their best before dates class action suit alleges. Three big drug multinationals are bilking billions of dollars from consumers by telling them to throw away still good but expired headache and cold pills, three class action lawsuits allege. The lawsuits target Bayer Healthcare for … Читать далее
NASA scientists have commanded one of Curiosity’s instruments to hum out the tune of «Happy Birthday» to commemorate the rover’s first year on the Martian surface. Curiosity is no stranger to «firsts.» The one-ton rover is the first to laser-blast a Mars rock; it was also the first to carry out X-ray diffraction analysis on … Читать далее
CLAIM: President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, «If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.» ORIGIN: As we’ve had occasion to point out previously, U. S. … Читать далее
After receiving coding lessons from a helpful Samaritan, a homeless man in New York launches Trees for Cars, a new carpooling app with a focus on saving the environment. Back in August, programmer Patrick McConlogue offered Leo Grand a choice: $100, or 16 coding lessons. Grand — homeless since 2011 after losing his job at … Читать далее
Holy hell! This is one of the funniest stories we’ve heard in a long time. Ask yourself, «how far are you willing to go for a joke?» Once you’ve determined that, realize that David Zucker is willing to take it even further. First some background. David Zucker and his brother Jerry Zucker are part of … Читать далее
In the world of heritage/reproduction products with a focus on quality and sustainability, leather is right up there as one of the most commonly seen materials. Brands like Tanner Goods and Corter Leather champion hand-made goods that should last years and years. However, anyone looking to buy should be aware of what they’re paying for … Читать далее
A student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for a homework assignment and solved them. EXAMPLE: A young college student was working hard in an upper-level math course, for fear that he would be unable to pass. On the night before the final, he studied so long that he overslept the morning of the test. … Читать далее
In South Africa, a carrier pigeon carrying a 4GB memory stick proved to be faster than the ADSL service from the country’s biggest web firm, Telkom. Winston the pigeon took one hour and eight minutes to carry the data across the 60-mile course, and it took another hour to upload the data. During the same … Читать далее
At the FDR Library, one exhibit holds the contents of Eleanor Roosevelt’s wallet. While many of the cards and slips of paper from the wallet are fascinating (a Met membership card, a scrap of a poem about the importance of good cooks), this pistol permit is perhaps the most surprising. Roosevelt was a peripatetic traveler, … Читать далее
Beneath the surface of Japan’s Tateyama Bay stands a shrine called a torii, sacred to the Shinto religion. But more than being a place of spiritual importance, the underwater site is host to something else that’s remarkable — a unique friendship between a man and a fish. For more than two decades, a local diver … Читать далее
«Franklin made only a few changes, some of which can be viewed written in his own hand on what Jefferson referred to as the’rough draft’ of the Declaration. (This remarkable document is at the Library of Congress and on its Web site.) The most important of his edits was small but resounding. He crossed out, … Читать далее
George Clooney is a well-known activist, but this takes things to the next level. At a Nespresso event in Paris on Wednesday, the Oscar winner revealed the curious way he spends the money he earns from starring in the coffee commercials. «Most of the money I make on the [Nespresso] commercials I spend keeping a … Читать далее
Mount Disappointment is an 800-metre (2,600 ft) mountain, located on the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) north of Whittlesea, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. It was named by explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824, and the mountain is now … Читать далее
Japan, a country not known for its overweight people, has undertaken one of the most ambitious campaigns ever by a nation to slim down its citizenry. Summoned by the city of Amagasaki one recent morning, Minoru Nogiri, 45, a flower shop owner, found himself lining up to have his waistline measured. With no visible paunch, … Читать далее
If you’ve ever slept in a hotel, gone camping, or even slept over at a friend’s pad, chances are you’ve woken up the next day feeling groggy and bleary-eyed. Even if you don’t remember tossing and turning, you probably felt pretty tired the next day. Well, that’s because nature dies hard. When we sleep in … Читать далее
They were ready to land in Australia, at the end of a 14-hour international flight, when the 270 passengers of an Air Canada flight were suddenly thrown into a high-seas search-and-rescue operation. Flight AC033 diverted after pilot Andrew Robertson got a call from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Tuesday to help search for a … Читать далее
This is Smoky, a female Yorkshire Terrier that served in World War II. Taken on Biak Island, Indonesia in Sept. 1944. About 5,000 enemy soldiers were trapped in caves two miles away. Smoky was found in a foxhole by an American solider during the war and later sold to Cpl. Bill Wynne. She became a … Читать далее
Temar Boggs is a 15-year-old student who lives in Lancaster, Pa. He loves playing sports, hanging out with friends, skateboarding and biking. Add «being a hero» to the list. Temar was having an average summer day on July 11: he helped a neighbor move her couch, and then settled in to hang out with some … Читать далее
During the latter part of the 1800s, travelers to Cape Town, South Africa, along the Port Elizabeth Mainline Railroad frequently saw a curious sight as they entered the train station. The signalman operating the levers that set the signals in the control tower was a baboon named Jack. As strange as it may seem, Jack … Читать далее
I look on the hieroglyph, weaving a dream… While the dark giant tortoise crept on ‘mid their stems, Never heeding the plash of the bright-dropping gems. Giant Tortoises Today In 2006, Adwaitya the Aldabra giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantes), personal pet of Clive of India (1725-74), died in Kolkata Zoo, aged 255. He was, as far … Читать далее
The events that led teams of helicopter-borne vets to pelt the Swiss countryside with vaccine-impregnated chicken heads began in 1939. Two things were then sweeping through Poland: the Nazis, and an epidemic of rabies carried by red foxes. Every year, the wavefront of disease advanced southward and westward by several dozen kilometers, hitting country after … Читать далее
Moose the dog, better known as Eddie in US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 16 in Los Angeles, his trainer has said. The Jack Russell terrier passed away of old age last week at trainer Mathilde Halberg’s home, she told People magazine and the Access Hollywood show. «He just had an incredible charisma and was … Читать далее
SATIRICAL NEWS SITE The Onion — known for headlines like’World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100 Percent’ — has been valued at half a billion dollars, more than most of the news outlets it exists to mock. The biggest Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, Univision Communications, announced it has taken a 40% and controlling stake … Читать далее
Cougars are great gardeners. You won’t see them carefully pruning bonsai trees with their claws or paging through a Burpee seed catalog, but scientists say that one of these bigs cats can plant around 94,000 seeds in a year. They do this by doing what cats seem to do best: eating and pooping. Ecologists have … Читать далее