Heavy lift ships
A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships.
Rafael Trujillo
Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. His 30 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era, is considered one of the bloodiest ever in the Americas, as well as a time of a classic personality cult, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. It has been estimated that Trujillo's rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 people. At the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral, Congress voted overwhelmingly in 1936 to rename the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo. The province of San Cristobal was created as "Trujillo," and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte, was renamed in his honor. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers now had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included the slogan "Viva Trujillo!" An electric sign was erected in Ciudad Trujillo so that "Dios y Trujillo" could be seen at night as well as in the day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan, "Dios en cielo, Trujillo en tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth). Trujillo was recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion. When he received (or summoned) a visitor, his four bodyguards would have submachine guns trained upon the "guest" during the meeting.
Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren was a Dutch painter and portraitist, and is considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century.
Guoliang Tunnel
The Guoliang Tunnel is carved along the side of and through a mountain in China. The tunnel links the village of Guoliang to the outside through the Taihang Mountains. The village was named after a fugitive rebel during the Han Dynasty, who had fought an overwhelming imperial force to a standstill utilizing the extreme local terrain. Before the tunnel was constructed, access to the nearby village of Guoliang was restricted to a difficult path carved into the mountainside. The village is nestled in a valley surrounded by towering mountains cut off from outside civilization.
Crazy Eddie
Crazy Eddie is the name of a consumer electronics retailer conducting business through the internet and by telephone. Almost from the beginning, Crazy Eddie's management was engaged in various forms of fraud. An essential part of Crazy Eddie's success was its advertising campaign. In 1972, WPIX-FM late-night disc jockey Jerry "Dr. Jerry" Carroll ended a live commercial with the now-famous slogan, "Crazy Eddie, his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!" Crazy Eddie called in and told Carroll to say the line the same way every time.
Penn & Teller’s Smoke & Mirrors
Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors is an unreleased video game that was planned for release initially on the Sega CD in April 1995. Desert Bus is the best known trick minigame in the package. The objective of the game is to drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time at a maximum speed of 45mph. The feat requires 8 hours of continuous play to complete, since the game cannot be paused. The bus contains no passengers, and there is no scenery or other traffic on the road. The road between Tucson and Las Vegas is without exception completely straight. The bus veers to the right slightly; as a result, it is impossible to tape down a button to go do something else and have the game end properly.
Antonov AN-225
Antonov AN-225 is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes.
L’enfer
L'enfer is an unfinished film by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Despite an unlimited budget from Columbia Pictures—Clouzot worked with three crews and 150 technicians—the shooting was beset by severe problems: everyone suffered from the record heat during July in the Cantal region; the main actor Serge Reggiani claimed to be ill; the artificial lake below the Garabit viaduct, an important part of the location, was about to be emptied by the local authorities; then Clouzot suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised in Saint-Flour. After three weeks, the film was abandoned.
The Cottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies are a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins living in Cottingley, near Bradford in England, depicting the two in various activities with supposed fairies. In 1917, when the first two photos were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10. In 1981 both women admitted that the photos were faked using cardboard cutouts. CGI has come a long way.
Father Divine
Father Divine was an African American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger". He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church. Controversially, Father Divine claimed to be God. Some contemporary critics also claimed he was a charlatan, and some suppose him to be one of the first modern cult leaders. However, Father Divine made numerous contributions toward his followers' economic independence and racial equality.