Sawney Bean
Sawney Bean was the legendary head of a 48-member clan in 15th- or 16th-century Scotland, reportedly executed for the mass murder and cannibalization of over 1,000 people.
Tokaji
Tokaji Aszú is the first of the great sweet wines, well established as such by the mid-17th century. The beneficial effects of botrytis were noted here almost a century before they were accidentally discovered in Germany. Moreover, the vineyards were the first ever to be classified: in 1700 Prince Rákóczi of Transylvania introduced 1st, 2nd and 3rd class (or growth) quality ratings. Tokaji was the most highly regarded and sought after wine particularly by Russian and Polish royalty and nobility. The vineyards, mostly owned by the Hungarian aristocracy, were the country’s most valuable assets.
Claus Bonderup
Designed by Danish architects Claus Bonderup and Thorsten Thorup in 1967, the Semi pendant has become a design classic. Known for its curved, enamelled metal design based on a quarter circle, the Semi hangs beautifully without dominating a space.
Codex Atlanticus
The Codex Atlanticus is a twelve-volume, bound set of drawings and writings by Leonardo da Vinci, the largest such set; its name indicates its atlas-like breadth. It comprises 1,119 pages dating from 1478 to 1519, the contents covering a great variety of subjects, from flight to weaponry to musical instruments and from mathematics to botany.
Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee
The Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee was a unique direct-lift rotor aircraft, using contra-rotating ducted fans for lift inside a platform upon which the single pilot shifted body weight for directional control. The platform was developed starting in 1953 and flew successfully beginning in 1955.
Deir el-Bahari
A complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor, Egypt.
Frillback pigeon
The Frillback is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding.
Rollie Free
Rollie Free was a motorcycle racer who broke the American motorcycle land speed record in 1948. He was prone to wearing a bathing suit.
Rondo Hatton
Rondo Hatton was an American actor who had a brief, but prolific career playing thuggish bit parts in many Hollywood B-movies. He was known for his brutish facial features which were the result of acromegaly.
Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher was a Jesuit priest and scholar, sometimes called the last Renaissance man, important for his prodigious activity in disseminating knowledge. To illustrate his belief in the magnetic relationship between the sun and the vegetable kingdom, Kircher designed this heliotropic sunflower clock by attaching a sunflower to a cork and floating it in a reservoir of water. As the blossom rotated to face the sun, a pointer through its center indicated the time on the inner side of a suspended ring.