Krazy

1 Milliard B-Pengo

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.

Sword swallowing

Originating in India before 2000 BC, the deadly art of sword swallowing has a long and varied history. The art takes about three to seven years to learn and approximately five more to master.

Phineas Gage

Phineas P. Gage was a railroad construction foreman now remembered for his incredible survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying one or both of his brain's frontal lobes.

Pfeilstorch

A Pfeilstorch (German for "arrow stork") is a stork which is injured by an arrow while wintering in Africa, and then returns to Europe with the arrow stuck in its body. This Pfeilstorch was crucial in understanding the migration of European birds. Before migration was understood, people had no other explanation for the sudden annual disappearance of birds like the White Stork and Barn Swallow. To date, around 25 Pfeilstörche have been documented.

Roy Gardner

Roy Gardner was once America's most infamous prison escapee and the most celebrated outlaw and escaped convict during the Roaring Twenties.

Red mercury

Red mercury is a mythical substance of uncertain composition purportedly used in the creation of nuclear bombs, as well as a variety of unrelated weapons systems.

Astor Place Riot

The Astor Place Riot in New York City and left at least 25 dead and more than 120 injured. Its genesis was a dispute between Edwin Forrest, the first great American star, and William Charles Macready, the greatest English actor of his generation, which largely revolved around which of them was better than the other at acting the major roles of Shakespeare.

Mir mine

The Mir mine is a diamond mine in Russia. The development of the mine started in 1957, in extremely harsh climate conditions. Seven months of winter per year froze the ground, making it hard to mine. During the brief summer months, the ground turned to slush. Buildings had to be raised on piles, so that they would not sink from the warmth of the building melting the permafrost. The main processing plant had to be built on better ground, found 20 km away from the mine. The winter temperatures were so low that car tires and steel would shatter and oil would freeze. During the winter, workers used jet engines to thaw and dig out the permafrost or blasted it with dynamite to get access to the underlying kimberlite. The entire mine had to be covered at night to prevent the machinery from freezing. The mine is 525 metres deep.

Opus

Encyclopædia of the sublime