Pope Boniface VIII was born Benedetto Caetani in 1235 in Anagni, c. 50 kilometres southeast of Rome. He was the younger son of a minor noble family, the Gaetani.
Benedetto took his first steps in the religious life when he was sent to the monastery of the Friars Minor in Velletri, where he was put under the care of his uncle Fra Leonardo Patrasso. He became a canon of the cathedral in Anagni in his teens.
Benedetto Gaetani was elected pope, taking the name Boniface VIII. The conclave began on December 23, 1294, ten days after Celestine V vacated the throne. Benedetto Gaetani was elected pope the next day, Christmas Eve.
Boniface VIII was known for his ambitious nature and strong desire to assert and expand the authority of the papacy. He believed in the supremacy of the Church over secular rulers, a viewpoint that put him into conflict with various monarchs and leaders of his time. He skilfully navigated the complex political landscape of his era and sought to consolidate papal power.
One of his first acts as pontiff was to imprison his predecessor, Celestine V, in the Castle of Fumone in Ferentino, Italy, in 1295. Celestine had resigned from the papacy just five months earlier, under pressure from Boniface and other cardinals. Boniface feared that Celestine would try to reclaim the papacy, so he had him imprisoned.
Celestine died in the castle the following year, on May 19, 1296. His death was never investigated, and there are some who believe that he was murdered by Boniface. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.
Pope Boniface VIII issued “Clericis Laicos” which threatened excommunication for any lay ruler who taxes the clergy and any clergyman who pays the taxes. Despite being pious himself, the king of England, Edward 1, retorted by decreeing if the clergy did not pay, they would be stripped of all legal protection and the King’s sheriff would seize their properties. The pope backed down.
Boniface proclaimed 1300 a "jubilee" year, the first in of many such jubilees take place in Rome. He had the churches of Rome restored for the Great Jubilee of 1300, particularly St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, and the Saint Mary Major Basilica.
Boniface may have proclaimed the Jubilee year to gather money from pilgrims to Rome as a substitute for the missing money from France. The event was a success; Rome had never received such crowds before.
Boniface VIII was the first pope to wear the zucchetto, a small skullcap that covers the tonsure. It has since been formally worn by the Pope and his cardinals and bishops down the centuries.
Pope Boniface asserted papal authority over all temporal rulers in his bull Unam Sanctam, which he issued on November 18, 1302. King Philip IV of France responded to the papal bull the following year with a counter attack and was behind the kidnapping of the pope by some Italian noblemen. Boniface was soon released but so roughly was he treated that he died shortly afterwards.
Boniface died of kidney stones, fever and humiliation on October 11, 1303. There were rumors he had died of suicide from "gnawing through his own arm" and bashing his skull into a wall. These rumors were likely spread by his enemies, who were eager to discredit him.
In 1713, Pope Clement XI opened a canonization inquiry into Boniface VIII's life, but the inquiry was never completed. There have been no further attempts to canonize Boniface VIII since then.
Today, he is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante Alighieri, who placed him in the Eighth Circle of Hell in his Inferno, Dante's Inferno is set in the year 1300, and Boniface VIII did not die until 1303. However, Dante was deeply opposed to Boniface's policies, and he believed that the pope was guilty of simony, which is the buying or selling of church offices. As a result, Dante placed Boniface in the eighth circle of hell, where the simoniacs are punished.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian, pastor, and anti-Nazi dissident known for his courageous opposition to the Nazi regime and his involvement in resistance efforts during World War II. He is also recognized for his significant contributions to Christian theology and ethics.
By Bundesarchiv, Bild Wikipedia
Bonhoeffer was born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). He came from a well-educated and prominent family. His parents were Karl Bonhoeffer, a prominent neurologist and psychiatrist, and Paula Bonhoeffer. He had several siblings, including his twin sister Sabine.
He showed early signs of theological interests and pursued theological studies at renowned universities, including the University of Tübingen and the University of Berlin.
Bonhoeffer's theological thinking evolved over time. He emphasized the importance of an active faith that engaged with the world and the challenges of contemporary society. His works, such as The Cost of Discipleship and Ethics, reflect his deep reflections on the nature of faith, grace, and the role of the Church in a changing world.
Bonhoeffer was not only a theologian but also a writer, musician, and artist. He enjoyed playing the piano and composing music. His creative pursuits were intertwined with his spiritual and intellectual journey.
In 1939, Bonhoeffer was teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He had spent time in the United States to escape the increasing oppression of the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer was opposed to the "German Christian Movement" which advocated the removal of all Jewish elements from the Christian faith and he challenged Christians to reject a complacent, immature and compliant faith. Instead he believed that the Christian walk requires a costly involvement in the modern secular society. Bonhoeffer made the dramatic decision to return from America to Nazi Germany to be with his people in the tragic times that he saw ahead.
Bonhoeffer was a part of the Confessing Church, a movement within German Protestantism that resisted the Nazi influence over the Church. He helped establish an underground seminary in Finkenwalde to train pastors who were committed to the Confessing Church's principles.
Bonhoeffer's opposition to the Nazi regime extended beyond theological arguments. He became involved in various resistance activities, including a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He believed that eliminating Hitler was necessary to end the atrocities committed by the regime. Unfortunately, the plot failed, and Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo on April 5, 1943.
While in prison, Bonhoeffer continued to be connected to resistance networks and discussions. He gathered information about the situation in Germany and the progress of the war through his interactions with guards and other inmates.
Bonhoeffer endured several interrogations by the Gestapo during his imprisonment. His captors sought to gather information about the resistance activities and the people involved. Despite the pressure, Bonhoeffer did not betray his principles or associates.
Bonhoeffer's private life included moments of romantic interest and companionship. He had a close friendship with Maria von Wedemeyer, a young woman he met while teaching at the Finkenwalde seminary. They corresponded during his imprisonment, and they were engaged shortly before his execution. Tragically, they never had the opportunity to marry.
On February 7, 1945, Bonhoeffer was transferred to the terrible Buchenwald Concentration Camp where many thousands of prisoners died, some under cruel medical experiments. He was then moved to the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Bavaria.
In Flossenbürg, Bonhoeffer was held in harsh conditions. He continued to inspire fellow inmates with his faith, resilience, and care for others. Despite the imminent defeat of the Nazis and the approaching end of the war, Bonhoeffer's fate remained uncertain.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed on April 9, 1945. He was hanged at the Flossenbürg concentration camp, just a few weeks before the camp was liberated by Allied forces.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and legacy continue to inspire individuals around the world who seek to integrate their faith with their commitment to social responsibility and justice.
Bongo drums are a pair of small, open-bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger hembra (female) and the smaller macho (male), which are joined by a wooden bridge. They are played with both hands and usually held between the legs, although in some cases, as in classical music, they may be played with sticks or mounted on stands.
Bongo drums are a popular instrument in Latin American music, and they are also used in a variety of other genres, such as jazz, blues, and rock.
Traditional bongo drums are often made from wood, with the drumheads crafted from animal hides, such as goat or cowskin. Modern versions might use synthetic materials for drumheads.
Bongo drums produce relatively high-pitched sounds compared to conga drums, and should be held behind the knees with the larger drum on the right when right-handed. It is most often played by hand and is especially associated in Cuban music with a steady pattern or ostinato of eighth-notes known as the martillo (hammer). They are traditionally played by striking the edge of the drumheads with the fingers and palms.
Playing the bongos involves a variety of hand techniques, including open tones, closed tones, slaps, mutes, and palm sounds. These techniques produce different pitches and tones.
Africa can lay claim to inventing the bongo drums, although no one can pinpoint exactly where on the continent and when in the late 1800s the history of bongo drums began.
During this time, the bringing of slaves from Africa to South America included the migration of bongo drums. Cuba was and is enamoured with the bongo drum, as evidenced in "Changui and Son," a well-known Cuban style of music. Changui and Son first came into existence in eastern Cuba in the late 1800s when slavery was abolished.
The first recorded use of the word "bongo" for a pair of Cuban drums held between the knees and played with the fingers was in 1920. The name "bongo" is thought to come from the Bantu words ngoma or mgombo, meaning drum.
Bongo drums gained popularity in the United States during the mid-20th century as part of the Latin music wave. They became associated with the vibrant and energetic sounds of salsa and other Latin genres.
Bongo drums are tuned by adjusting the tension of the drumheads. This is usually done by using metal tuning lugs that are tightened or loosened. The drumheads on the bongos were initially tacked and tuned with a heat source. But in the 1940s, metal tuning lugs were created to support faster, more efficient and easier tuning.
The term "bongocero" meant that a bongo player had mastered the instrument and had the ability to teach others. Top bongocerros have earned a name in the music business, most notably Chano Pozo, Ray Barretto, Willie Bobo, and Tito Puente. Jack Constanzo was a bongocero who became a teacher of several Hollywood movie stars including James Dean and Marlon Brando.
Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes night, is a British celebration whose origins go back to the early 17th century. On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered hiding in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament in close proximity to 20 or more barrels of gunpowder, a length of slow match and a lantern. He was taken to the Tower of London where he was agonizingly tortured on the rack until he named his co-conspirators. Since then the British have celebrated this escape from the Houses of Parliament being blown up. On November 5th every year, they light up bonfires, place effigies of Guy Fawkes on the fire and combine this with a firework display.
The fireworks display at South Street, during Lewes Bonfire 2013
November 5th is also celebrated by the National Association of Ted Heath Burners.
The traditional cake eaten on Bonfire Night is Parkin cake, made from oatmeal, ginger, treacle and syrup.
Though the gunpowder plot happened in 1605, the now traditional “searching of the cellars” before each new session of parliament didn’t start until 1678.
Until 1806, the effigy burnt in England on November 5 was that of Pope Paul V who, after 1605, refused to allow Catholics to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.
The word "bonfire" was originally "bone fire" - signifying the "bones" of the effigy burned.
November 5 is also known as "Ringing Night" (many torchlight processions held on the day feature bells being rung).
In the 1590s, Guy Fawkes served in the Spanish army.
Until 1959, it was illegal not to celebrate Bonfire Night in Britain. The British tradition of lighting bonfires on November 5th not only commemorates the failure of the Gunpowder plot but also perpetuates the Celtic festival of Samain when fires were lit to ensure the Sun's return after winter. Other traditions celebrate Bonfire Night on different days. Some of the most popular instances include Northern Ireland's Eleventh Night, a precursor to The Twelfth. Also a similar bonfire tradition survives in parts of Scandinavia and is known as Walpurgis Night.
Bones are rigid organs that make up the vertebrate skeletal system. They provide structural support, protect internal organs, facilitate movement, store minerals like calcium and phosphorus, and serve as sites for bloodcell formation in the bone marrow.
HUMAN BONES
A newborn baby has around 300 bones. Many of these fuse together to leave an adult's 206.
About 20 per cent of humanbody weight derives from the 206 bones that make up the skeleton.
The feet account for one quarter of all the bones in a human body.
The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes bone which is located in the middle ear. It is only 1/10 of an inch long.
The femur, or thigh-bone, is the longest bone in the human body. It is also the strongest bone in your body.
A cubic inch of bone is approximately four times as strong as concrete.
The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone.
Bones without enough calcium intake can self-destruct.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the bones in a skull and cross-bones are thigh-bones.
The world record for the most broken bones in a lifetime is held by Evel Knievel, the famous motorcycle stuntman. He sustained 433 fractures by the end of 1975, when he retired from major performances.
Knievel was known for his daredevil stunts, which often involved jumping over large objects or crashing into them. He suffered his first broken bone in 1967, when he crashed his motorcycle during a jump at the Snake River Canyon. He continued to break bones throughout his career, and by the time he retired, he had broken bones in almost every part of his body.
There is a mutation that causes bones to become eight times denser than normal that allow people to walk away from caraccidents without a single fracture but with a trade off of being unable to swim.
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is a rare genetic disease that gradually turns your entire body into bone. Surgical removal of the bone only causes more bone to grow in its place.
Bones aren't white, but are a creamy beige like color. The bones in museums are a solid white because they have been boiled and cleaned.
ANIMAL BONES
The longest pythons in the world have the most bones. They have 600 vertebrae, which equates to 1,800 bones.
The upper lip bone of a blue whale is the largest bone ever known. The art of carving on whale bones is called 'scrimshaw'.
The vertebrates with the fewest bones are Chondrichthyes, sharks, rays, skates and sawfish, which have skeletons made of cartilage.
The bearded vulture is the only known animal whose diet consists almost entirely of bone. The bird is capable of swallowing a sheep's vertebrae whole. Its stomach acid has been estimated to have a pH of 1, so even large bones are digested within 24 hours.
James Bond is a fictional British secret agent created by author Ian Fleming. He first appeared in the 1953 novelCasino Royale and has since become a cultural icon and the central character in a series of novels, short stories, and films.
Ian Fleming modeled the character of James Bond after Merlin Minshall, a man who worked for Mr. Fleming during World War II, as a spy.
Sir William Samuel Stephenson, Kt, CC, MC, DFC (January 23, 1897 – January 31, 1989) was a Canadian/British fighter pilot, entrepreneur and spymaster, who was the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. Many people believe he was the inspiration for James Bond. Ian Fleming himself once wrote, "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is ... William Stephenson."
It has been said that the fictional Goldfinger's raid on Fort Knox was inspired by a Stephenson plan (never carried out) to steal $2,883,000,000 in Vichy French gold reserves from the French Caribbean colony of Martinique,
Sir William Stephenson, passport photo
Fleming got the name 'James Bond' from a real-life ornithologist from Philadelphia who was named 'James Bond'. Fleming had a copy of his book: The Birds of the West Indies and took a liking for that name.
Fleming said that he wanted Bond to be a “dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened,” and James Bond was “the dullest name I ever heard”.
James Bond was originally going to be called James Secretan.
According to James Bond's authorized biography, James Bond was born on November 11, 1920.
But who really is "James Bond"? The son of Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix, James Bond’s father was Andrew Bond, a Scottish businessman. His mother was Monique Delacroix, from Switzerland.
James was raised in the highlands of Scotland near Glencoe, but spent much of his early youth living abroad because of his father’s job selling arms to private companies and foreign governments. Both of his parents were killed in a mountain climbing accident during a holiday in the French Alps when he was only 11, and he was returned to the United Kingdom to be raised by his aunt and complete his education.
The Bond family coat of arms has the motto Orbis Non Sufficit (The World Is Not Enough).
James Bond was educated at Eton, like Ian Fleming.
Ian Fleming's image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists.
007 drank as much as 92 units of alcohol each week, four times the recommended amount, according to research into Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.
James Bond originally used a Beretta 418 pocket pistol until a fan of the novels (and small arms expert) wrote to Ian Fleming criticizing it as "a woman's gun". When Fleming had Bond switch to his iconic Walther PPK in Dr. No, he wrote the fan into the scene as MI6's armorer.
In the 1950s, the Egyptian Secret Service had their spy in London buy all of the James Bond books so they could analyse British espionage methods believing it was based on reality.
The first actor to play Bond on screen was Barry Nelson in a 1954 US television adaptation of Casino Royale.
The first James Bond movie was Dr. No, which premiered at the London Pavilion on October 5, 1962. Based on the 1958 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, it not only debuted the successful series of Bond films, but it also launched a successful genre of "secret agent" films that flourished in the 1960s.
Wikipedia Commons
In Dr. No it's the villain, Dr. No, who first utters the iconic phrase "shaken, not stirred" when offering Bond a martini. It wasn't until the 1964 film Goldfinger that Bond himself said the line.
Sean Connery was the first movie James Bond. As a boy, Connery supported his impoverished family with a milk run in his hometown of Edinburgh. On his round the Scottish youngster delivered to Fettes School, which according to Ian Fleming, was the same school, which James Bond attended following his expulsion from Eton.
Richard Todd (1919-2009) best known for his role in The Dam Busters, was Ian Fleming’s personal choice to play 007 in the first James Bond film. From Russia With Love was the last film President John F Kennedy ever saw.
In Thunderball it was established that there was always a minimum of nine 00 agents — meaning those with a ‘licence to kill’.
David Niven and George Lazenby were the only two actors who played James Bond only once.
Both Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds turned down the role of James Bond, stating that it should always be played by a Brit.
A number of the early Bond Girls were not fluent English speakers, so their voices were dubbed in the films. Many of the actresses were dubbed by the same woman, Nikki van der Zyl.
Before the merger with MGM in 1981, eight of the top ten movies released by United Artists were James Bond films.
Pierce Brosnan was contractually forbidden from wearing a full tuxedo in any non-James Bond movie from 1995-2002.
The plot of the 2006 film Casino Royal centres on a game of poker but in the original Ian Fleming book of Casino Royal the card game was baccarat.
The title of the 19th Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, was taken from the 1658 motto of the wealthy financier Sir Thomas Bond, who gave his name to Bond Street, London. They appear on a dust cover of Ian Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, in which Bond comments that “it is an excellent motto which also certainly adopt.”
When Roger Moore returned to the role of Bond in A View To The Kill aged 57, he became the oldest actor to ever play 007.
The scene in Skyfall where Bond breaks into M’s house was filmed in a former home of John Barry, composer of the James Bond theme.
Spectre is the first Bond in which the entire cast was born after the 1962 release of Dr No.
At 50 years of age, Monica Belluci (who plays Lucia Sciarra in Spectre) is the the oldest Bond girl in history.
Spectre entered the Guinness World Recordbooks for featuring the largest film stunt explosion in cinema history. The 7.5 second scene was shot in Morocco and created by Oscar-winner Chris Corbould, who used 68,470 kg of TNT equivalent. It was the result of detonating 8,418 litres of kerosene with 33 kg of powder explosives.
For his time as James Bond, Daniel Craig had the privilege of taking any Aston Martin from the factory for the rest of his life.
The only Bond films to win Academy Awards are Goldfinger (sound effects), Thunderball (visual effects).and Skyfall (sound editing and original song),
The opening shot in the James Bond films was actually filmed through the barrel of a gun.
James Bond has killed 366 people in 25 films. Pierce Brosnan was the deadliest Bond (he killed 47 people in Golden Eye and 135 people in total — an average of 34 per movie.)
Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond used more gadgets per film than any of the other Bonds, an average of 14 per movie.
The Bond movie trope of James Bond scuba diving somewhere, surfacing, then removing the wetsuit to reveal an unblemished full tuxedo, was inspired by a World War II Dutch spy who used the technique to sneak into Nazi-controlled Netherlands.
In the films Bond has a drink every 10 minutes 53 seconds on average.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 1,007 people named James Bond.
Here's a link to some James Bond movie theme songs on Songfacts.com
The first dropping of a bomb from an aircraft in combat happened on November 1, 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War. During fighting between Italy and forces loyal to the Turkish, Ottoman Empire in Libya, Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti dropped four 1.5kg bombs on Ain Zara, a town just east of Tripoli, pulling the pins with his teeth.
Science fictionwriterH.G. Wells was the first person to use the phrase "atomic bomb" in his 1914 novelThe World Set Free. The book is based on a prediction of a more destructive and uncontrollable sort of weapon than the world has yet seen. He wrote:
"Never before in the history of warfare had there been a continuing explosive; indeed, up to the middle of the twentieth century the only explosives known were combustibles whose explosiveness was due entirely to their instantaneousness; and these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men who used them."
In 1919, posing for publicity shots, silent movie star Harold Lloyd lost a finger and thumb when the prop ‘bomb’ he was holding exploded. It had been thought the prop was designed just to emit smoke.
A rabbit was the only casualty of the first bomb in World War II to fall on British soil.
The term Molotov cocktail was coined by the Finns during the 1939-40 Winter War. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov claimed that bombs used on the Finnish was humanitarian aid, so Finns started calling them "Molotov breadbaskets". When using incendiaries to counter Soviet tanks, they called them "a drink to go with the food."
James Isbister was the first person killed in a German bombing raid on the United Kingdom during World War II. He died during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on March 16, 1940.
During World War II, the very first bomb dropped on Berlin by the Allies killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
A raid by the 8th Air Force on the Focke Wulf factory at Marienburg, Germany (1943).
A blockbuster was a bomb used in World War II in air raids in Germany. It could destroy buildings in one explosion. Now, thankfully, the most common blockbusters are films and novels so powerful that in slang terms they ‘blow your mind’.
Bat bombs were an experimental World War II weapon developed by the United States. The bomb consisted of large bomb casings that would open above cities and release bats with small, timed incendiary bombs. The bats would find somewhere to roost, and the Japanese city that was the intended target would burn down. Despite promising results, after $2 million dollars in research development was felt to be too slow and the Bat Bob was abandoned in favor of the atomic bomb.
Mary Babnik Brown donated her hair during World War II and later received a personal letter of thanks from Ronald Reagan (who had a clerical job with the military during the war). He explained that her hair had been the perfect fit for a complex device used by military aircraft to accurately drop bombs called a Norden sight. Both wire and spidersilk had been used beforehand, and neither worked as well.
Hitler addressed his Reichstag on May 4, 1941 in a 72-minute speech in which he referred to night bombing. "Churchill," he said, "is determined to continue this kind of warfare. We, also, are resolved to continue, and are prepared to drop 100 bombs for each British bomb until Britain gets rid of this criminal and his methods."
On September 9, 1942, a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y Glen floatplane, launched from a Japanese submarine, successfully dropped two incendiary bombs in Oregon hoping to start a forestfire. It was the first time the continental United States was bombed by an enemy aircraft.
Engineer Barnes Wallis developed the ‘bouncing bomb’ by skipping marbles across a water tub in his back garden. The bombs were used on May 16-17, 1943 in the Dambusters Raid - a mission to destroy three dams that were vital to German industry.
The first of more than 9,000 German V1 flying bombs, nicknamed doodlebugs, was fired on June 13, 1944. It struck London next to the railwaybridge on Grove Road, Mile End and eight civilians were killed in the blast. 9,000 doodlebugs were fired at Britain during the latter stages of World War II, killing more than 6,000 people and injuring more than 18,000.
A V-1 on display in Musée de l'Armée
The flammable liquid napalm was developed in 1942 in a secret laboratory at Harvard University, by a team led by chemist Louis Fieser. Napalm incendiary bombs were dropped on July 17, 1944 for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near Saint-Lô, France.
A military psychology tactic by the Nazis in late World War II was to attach whistles onto bombs. As the bombs fell, they made the terrifying decrescendo whistling sound we think of today. The same sound is often dubbed over every type of bomb in movies and cartoons, despite only being used on a few specific bombs.
Ukrainian Ivan Kharchenko personally defused more than 1,500 bombs weighing more than 500 kilograms (1,100 lbs) each and 25,000 other explosive objects during the battles of Stalingrad and Kiev. After World War II, he disarmed 16,000 more unexploded bombs.
The U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan, killing as many as 140,000 people.
The Hiroshima atom bomb explosion was generated by matter weighing no more than a paper clip.
The name of the B-29 Bomber that dropped the Atom Bomb on Nagasaki was Bock's Car.
The Nagasaki bomb was known as ‘Fat Man’.
Nagasaki wasn't the original target but Kokura, the first choice, was obscured by heavy cloud.
After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 13% of the US people were in favor of "killing off" all Japanese people. And after Japan surrendered, 22.7% of Americans wished more atomic bombs had been dropped.
The single most destructive bombing in human history was in Japan during World War II, but it wasn't the atomic bombings, it was Operation Meetinghouse. On March 10, 1945 United States bombers dropped incendiaries on Tokyo. It killed more than 100,000 people and destroyed 267,171 buildings.
Of central Tokyo 16 square miles (41 km2; 10,000 acres) were destroyed, leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead and over one million homeless.
The USA detonated the worlds first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific on November 1, 1952.
A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia in February 1958, It was never recovered.
The Soviet hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, was set off over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Ocean as a test on October 30, 1961. At 50 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise.
Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons, a force equivalent to 1,400 times the combined power of the two nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II—or approximately 1.4 percent of the power output of the Sun. The resulting seismic shock was measurable even on its third passage around the Earth.
The mushroom cloud that formed from the Tsar Momba was 64 kilometers (40 miles) high, 168 times higher than the Empire State Building.
Napalm-B, used in the Vietnam War, was synthesized with only three ingredients: polystyrene, gasoline, and benzene.
Laos is often referred to as the most heavily bombed nation in history, due to the intense bombing campaign that was conducted there during the Vietnam War. The campaign, which was known as Operation Rolling Thunder, was conducted by the United States between 1964 and 1973, with the goal of destroying the Ho Chi Minh trail, which was a key supply route for the North Vietnamese army.
In 2008, over 100 countries came together and agreed to ban the use of cluster bombs. Collateral damage to civilians was found to high (98% of victims were civilian, of that, 27% children).
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted on May 30, 2008, bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of these dangerous weapons. It aims to protect civilians from the devastating effects of cluster munitions and their unexploded remnants. Unfortunately, two countries refused to agree to this ban, Russia and the United States.
English fraudster James McCormick sold the ADE 651, a fake ‘bomb detector’, all over the world by purchasing novelty golf ball detectors for less than $20 and reselling it for $5000 each. He is thought to have made £50m from sales of more than 7,000 of the fake devices to countries, including Iraq. McCormick was jailed for ten years in 2013, but his scam has lives and the ‘bomb detectors’ are probably still in use today.
The United States dropped 26,171 bombs during 2016 - An average of three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day.
On April 13, 2017, the United States military dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, also known as the "Mother of All Bombs," on an ISIS-Khorasan target in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. This bomb is the most powerful conventional bomb ever used in combat, with an explosive yield of approximately 11 tons of TNT.
The MOAB bomb is a large, GPS-guided weapon that is dropped from an aircraft, and is designed to destroy underground facilities and caves. The strike was carried out as part of a joint operation between U.S. and Afghan forces, and was aimed at destroying a complex of tunnels and caves used by ISIS-Khorasan militants. The use of the MOAB was widely reported in the media and sparked a debate about the use of such weapons in warfare.
FUN BOMB FACTS
Despite what modern cartoons would have you believe, it’s been 150 years since bombs looked like black spheres with burning wicks.
An ordinary TNT bomb involves atomic reaction, and could be called an atomic bomb. What we call an A-bomb involves nuclear reactions and should be called a nuclear bomb.
Grenades take their name from the Frenchword for pomegranate, the fist-sized fruit that bursts forth with seeds when you open it.
Every Swiss citizen is required by law to have a bomb shelter or access to a bomb shelter.
There is a museum on the site of the first atomic bomb testing site in New Mexico. Due to radiation it’s only open 12 hours per year.
A suicide bomber planning on detonating in central Moscow on New Year's Eve 2011, used her phone as the trigger. When her mobile phone company sent her a spam message, wishing her a happy new year, the bomb detonated, killing only herself.
He was born on August 21, 1986, in the rural town of Sherwood Content in Trelawny parish, Cornwall county, Jamaica. His parents Jennifer and Wellesley ran the local grocery store. Usain spent much of his free time as a child playing soccer and cricket with his brother Sadeeki.
Usain attended the Waldensia Primary and All-Age School as a boy.
While competing at the 2002 World Junior Athletics Championships in Jamaica at the age of 15, Bolt became so nervous from the crowd's expectations that he put his shoes on the wrong feet. Nevertheless, he won the race, becoming the world's youngest junior gold medallist. Bolt was 6 feet 5 inches when he won his gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships.
Despite failing at the AthensOlympics in 2004 was offered track scholarships by several U.S.schools . He refused all offers, preferring to stay in Jamaica and train at Kingston's University of Technology despite its primitive facilities.
He was the first and only junior athlete to run a sub-20-second 200 metres.
Usain Bolt set a world record for the 100m in the men's final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. So, what did he eat before pulling off that athletic feat? It was chicken nuggets. Usain Bolt ate 1,000 Chicken McNuggets over 10 days during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This was because he was afraid to eat anything else in China.
That very same 100m race where Bolt set the world record on a stomach full of chicken nuggets, he ran into a slight headwind with his shoes untied the entire time.
Bolt’s nickname is “Lightening Bolt.” The nickname actually started during the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Before his first world record breaking run in New York City, there was a lightning storm leading the media to bestow Bolt with the aforementioned moniker.
Bolt set a new world record at the World Championships in Berlin on August 16, 2009. The Jamaican ran the 100 metres in 9.58 seconds, breaking his own record of 9.69 seconds set a year earlier – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing.
Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds for 100 metres equals an average speed of 23.35mph. His 200 metres speed is just slower at 23.31mph but his top speed has been measured at 27.44mph.
Bolt during the 200 m final at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.By Erik van Leeuwen,
After Usain Bolt broke the 100 m world record at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, the mayor of Berlin awarded him a 12 foot long, 6000 pound piece of the Berlin Wall. Bolt accepted and it is now housed at the Jamaica Military Museum.
When Bolt won the 100 meters in London in 2012, he became the first person since Carl Lewis to defend an Olympic sprint title. After winning the 200, Bolt became the first to defend two titles.
Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds for 100 metres equals an average speed of 23.35mph. His 200 metres speed is just slower at 23.31mph but his top speed has been measured at 27.44mph.
Bolt won three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games, also known as the "triple-triple", and has a 100% win record in finals.
At 6ft 5in tall, Usain Bolt is the tallest and heaviest Olympic 100m champion of all time.
Usain Bolt's running gait is asymmetrical due to scoliosis, which has resulted in his left leg being longer than his right leg. Scientists aren't sure if his record-breaking sprint speeds are because of this or in spite of this.
At his top speed of 27.44mph, Usain Bolt could run the distance to the Moon in just under a year.
A domestic cat can run faster than Usain Bolt but an elephant at top speed is slower.
Bolt covers 10 metres faster than an Olympic diver covers 10 metres.
Since retiring from athletics in 2017, Usain Bolt has launched a music career which began in 2020 with a remix of Ultimate Rejects’ track "Energy To Burn." The former sprinter released his debut albumCountry Yutes on September 3, 2021 via his own label 9.58 Records.
Usain Bolt was offered a position as wide receiver in the NFL, and rejected it due to the hits NFL players take.
Usain Bolt demands his ad shoots are filmed in Jamaica to bring money to his country
The Indian movie industry, Bollywood, is the largest film industry in the world. It produces over 800 movies a year, almost twice as many as Hollywood. Bollywood only refers to Indian films made in Hindi—there's also Tollywood and Kollywood, which make films in the Telugu and Tamil language.
Bollywood was born 11 years before Hollywood. Bollywood’s first production was an 1899 short film, whereas Hollywood’s first film came out in 1910.
Raja Harishchandra, the first full-length Indian feature film, was released on May 3, 1913. With a storyline based on the legend of Raja Harishchandra, it marked the beginning of the Indian film industry. As the film negatives used for Raja Harishchandra were of limited spectral sensitivity, the color red was avoided in sets, costumes, and make-up.
The naming scheme for "Bollywood" was inspired by "Tollywood", the name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal dating back to 1932.
Alam Ara, the first Indian film with sound, was released on March 14, 1931. The story was based on a very successful Parsi play of the same name.
Prior to the release of Alam Ara, Indian films were silent, and the actors would perform to live music played by a musician in the theater. With the introduction of synchronized sound, Indian cinema was able to create a more immersive experience for the audience.
Alam Ara was a commercial success and helped to establish the Indian film industry as a major player in the world of cinema.
Indra Sabha (1932) has a total of 72 songs, which is more than any other Bollywood film. The film is a musical about the court of Indra, the king of the gods in Hindu mythology.
India was not too quick in catching up to the colored film trend and seemed content with black and white movies. Kisan Kany, a 1937 film directed by Moti Gidwani was the first colored film in Bollywood.
The longest Bollywood song ever to be featured in a film is "Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo" from the the 2004 movie of the same name. It has a running time of 19 minutes and 53 seconds. The song is a patriotic anthem that pays tribute to the Indian soldiers who fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It was composed by Anu Malik and sung by Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, and Kailash Kher,
"Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo" is divided into three parts. The first part is a slow, somber melody that sets the tone for the song. The second part is a more upbeat tempo that builds up the excitement. The third part is a rousing finale that leaves the audience feeling inspired.
3 Idiots is a 2009 comedy-drama film, which follows the lives of three friends at an Indian engineering college and is a satire about the social pressures under the Indian education system. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over ₹2.4 billion (US$30 million) worldwide. It was the highest-grossing Indian film of 2009 and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time (at the time of release).
Dangal is a biographicalsports film about Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former wrestler who trains his daughters Geeta and Babita to become wrestlers. Dangal was released in India on December 23, 2016. It was a critical and commercial success, grossing over ₹973 crores (US$151 million) worldwide. It set several records at the box office. It is the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, both domestically and overseas. It also became the highest-grossing non-English film in China, and the highest-grossing Indian film in the United States.
Pathaan is a spy thriller film that follows the story of Pathaan, a RAW agent who is on a mission to stop a terrorist attack. The film was released on January 25, 2023, and it was a critical and commercial success. It set several box office records for a Hindi film, including the highest opening day, highest single day, highest opening weekend and highest opening week for a Hindi film in India. Pathaan grossed over ₹1350 crores (US$180 million) worldwide, including ₹57 crores (US$8 million) in the United States. As of August 20, 2023, Pathaan is the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in India.
.jpg)
.jpg)
