Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel.
Trouser Press was a New York-based rock music magazine that specialized in a number of genres — British Invasion history, new wave, progressive and independent-label releases — during its existence, which was from 1974 to 1984.
Lev Yashin was a Russian-Soviet football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his superior athleticism in goal, imposing stature, amazing reflex saves and inventing the idea of goalkeeper sweeping. One of his best performances was the 1963 FA Centenary match, when he appeared in the ‘Rest of the World XI’ against England at Wembley Stadium and made a number of breathtaking and almost unbelievable saves. Known all over the world as the “Black Spider” for his distinctive all-black outfit, and because it seemed like he had eight arms to save almost everything. But to his fans he was always the fearless “Black Panther”. He often played wearing a cloth cap of burnt-brick color. In 1971 in Moscow he played his last match for Dynamo Moscow. Lev Yashin’s FIFA testimonial match was held at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow with 100,000 fans attending, and a host of football stars, including Pelé, Eusébio and Franz Beckenbauer.
Maison Devambez was a fine printer's firm in Paris. At first the firm specialized in heraldic engraving, engraved letterheads and invitations. Devambez clients included the House of Orléans, the House of Bonaparte and the Élysée Palace. Long-established as a printer, Devambez only ventured into book publishing at the start of the twentieth century, printing books on Edgar Allan Poe, Laurence Sterne, and others. Today, they exclusively make...rolling papers.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first television, the Cook Islands issued this 39mm copper-nickel 1 Dollar coin in 2006. Pictured on the coin is a black and white picture of John L. Baird, the first successful inventor of electronic television, and a moving recreation of his first broadcast; a hand moving in front of a puppet.
After WW2, the new democratic government suffered from serious lack of money, so it ordered the national bank to manufacture banknotes quickly and cheaply. There was little time to design new notes, thus the plates of banknotes printed in 1926 were reused as well as portraits from other notes. Beginning with the 1000 pengő note, only denominations of integer powers of ten were used. The uncontrolled banknote issuing aggravated inflation. In 1946 Hungary issued a 100 Million B-Pengo, which was the the largest circulated banknote at the time, unfortunately it was worth only about $0.20 USD in 1946. Hungary also printed a 1 Milliard B-Pengo, but it was never released into circulation. The 1 Milliard B-Pengo translates into 1 trillion Pengos.
Elevator surfing is an activity involving moving around on top of elevators, or jumping between moving elevators where possible.
Spider fighting is a popular blood sport among rural Filipino children. The game begins by placing two spiders at opposite ends of a stick from a walis ting-ting (a broom made from the midribs of coconut leaves). The spiders are then led to one another until they wrestle. The first one to drop off the stick loses. Top fighters can fetch up to 100 pesos (US$2), making the sport lucrative for children.
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body whereby one attempts to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal.
Considered one of Australia's most profound murder mysteries, the case has been the subject of intense speculation over the years regarding the identity of the victim, the events leading up to his death and the cause of death.