Bibliothèque Mazarine
Originally created by Cardinal Mazarin as his personal library in the 17th century, it today has one of the richest collections of rare books and manuscripts in France, and is the oldest public library in the country.
Devil’s Island
Devil's Island was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953, in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana. Opened in 1852, the Devil's Island system received convicts from the Prison of St-Laurent-du-Maroni, who had been deported from all parts of the Second French Empire. It was notorious both for the staff's harsh treatment of detainees and the tropical climate and diseases that contributed to high mortality. The prison system had a death rate of 75 percent at its worst and was finally closed down in 1953. Devil's Island was also notorious for being used for the exile of French political prisoners, with the most famous being Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been accused of spying for Germany.
Iceberg towing
Iceberg towing, a concept proposed in the mid-20th century, involves harnessing massive icebergs from polar regions and towing them to regions facing water shortages. The idea aims to utilize the abundant freshwater reserves locked within icebergs to alleviate drought conditions and provide freshwater resources to areas in need. While theoretically promising, iceberg towing has faced numerous challenges and setbacks, leading to skepticism about its feasibility and effectiveness. Proponents of iceberg towing argue that it offers a potential solution to water scarcity issues by tapping into a vast and renewable freshwater source. The process involves identifying suitable icebergs, towing them using specialized vessels, and allowing them to melt gradually, releasing freshwater into the surrounding environment. However, the practical implementation of iceberg towing has proven to be far more complex and challenging than initially envisioned. One of the main challenges of iceberg towing is the sheer scale and weight of the icebergs involved, which can weigh millions of tons and span several kilometers in length. Towing such massive structures across vast stretches of open ocean requires significant investments in equipment, manpower, and infrastructure. Additionally, there are risks of accidents, collisions, and environmental damage associated with towing icebergs through sensitive marine ecosystems.
Parbuckle salvage
Parbuckle salvage is the righting of a sunken vessel using rotational leverage. A common operation with smaller watercraft, parbuckling is also employed to right large vessels. In 1943, the USS Oklahoma was rotated nearly 180 degrees to upright after being sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia was successfully parbuckled off the west coast of Italy in September 2013, the largest salvage operation of that kind to date.
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein was an American self-taught artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the course of fifty years, from the 1930s until his death in 1983, Von Bruenchenhein produced an expansive oeuvre of poetry, photography, painting, drawing and sculpture. His body of work includes over one thousand colorful, apocalyptic landscape paintings; hundreds of sculptures made from chicken bones, ceramic and cast cement; pin-up style photos of his wife, Marie; plus dozens of notebooks filled with poetic and scientific musings.
Stanley Tigerman
Stanley Tigerman was an American architect.
Spartathlon
Spartathlon is a 246-kilometre (153 mi) ultramarathon race held annually in Greece since 1983, between Athens and Sparti, the modern town on the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartathlon is based on the run of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta before the Battle of Marathon in a day and a half to seek aid against the Persians. Five Royal Air Force officers attempted the course in 1982 and the competition was started the next year. The race has 75 checkpoints where race officials disqualify runners who fail to meet time cutoffs or who are too tired to continue. In 2023, Camille Herron set a new women's course record of 22h 35min 31s, an improvement of 2h 12min 53s under the previous course record and the first woman under 24h.
Dynamic compaction
Dynamic compaction is a method that is used to increase the density of the soil when certain subsurface constraints make other methods inappropriate. It is a method that is used to increase the density of soil deposits. The process involves dropping a heavy weight repeatedly on the ground at regularly spaced intervals. The weight and the height determine the amount of compaction that would occur. The weight that is used, depends on the degree of compaction desired and is between 8 tonne to 36 tonne. The height varies from 1m to 30m. The impact of the free fall creates stress waves that help in the densification of the soil. These stress waves can penetrate up to 10m. In cohesionless soils, these waves create liquefaction that is followed by the compaction of the soil, and in cohesive soils, they create an increased amount of pore water pressure that is followed by the compaction of the soil.
Port tongs
Port tongs are a special set of tongs designed to open wine bottles that are sealed with a cork. The tongs are heated over an open flame and held against the neck of the wine bottle for 20–30 seconds. The heated section of bottle is then cooled with a damp cloth or ice water, causing the glass to fracture due to thermal expansion. The result is generally a clean, predictable break. Any possible shards of glass are strained out, along with any sediment, when pouring the wine into a decanter. The tongs are intended for use when the cork cannot be removed with a normal corkscrew, such as old corks that would break apart and crumble into the wine.[2]
Gee’s golden langur
Gee's golden langur is a rare and endangered primate species found in the lush forests of the eastern Himalayan foothills, spanning the border regions of India and Bhutan. Named in honor of the renowned Indian naturalist E.P. Gee, who first documented the species in the 1950s, Gee's golden langur is characterized by its vibrant golden-yellow coat, which sets it apart from other langur species found in the region. Adults typically have a sleek and slender build, with long tails and expressive faces adorned with dark, soulful eyes.