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Fortunes of War

Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC series following newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle as the Second World War drives them from Bucharest through Athens and onward to Cairo and Damascus. Travelling by train and refugee ship, they pass through grand hotels, borrowed apartments and fading British institutions, accompanied by penniless aristocrats, diplomats and assorted expatriates. It is a romantic portrait of travel at the end of an era, as Britain’s imperial world begins crumbling faster than its inhabitants can acknowledge. Countries fall, borders close and the British continue arranging lectures.

Fallstreak hole

Fallstreak holes are enormous circular openings that appear in otherwise unbroken sheets of cloud. They often form when an aircraft passes through a layer of supercooled water droplets, causing them to freeze into ice crystals and fall. The reaction spreads outward, enlarging the opening, while a feathery column of ice remains suspended at its centre. By the time the portal becomes visible, the aircraft that made it has usually disappeared.

Fulgurites

Fulgurites are hollow, branching tubes of natural glass formed when lightning strikes sand or soil. The discharge heats the ground so quickly that mineral grains melt and fuse around the path of the current, preserving it underground. Often called fossilized lightning, fulgurites can extend several metres beneath the surface while remaining thin and extremely fragile. Their colour and shape depend entirely on whatever the lightning happened to strike.

FLIP

FLIP was a 108-metre oceanographic platform designed to partially sink itself. Once towed into position, its stern filled with seawater and the entire vessel rotated 90 degrees, leaving only its bow above the surface. Doors became floors, walls became ceilings and specially mounted toilets worked in either orientation. Standing vertically, FLIP was largely unaffected by waves, giving scientists a remarkably stable place to study the ocean.

Fiat 500 Jolly

The Fiat 500 Jolly was a beach car created by Italian coachbuilder Ghia in the late 1950s. A standard Fiat arrived at the workshop and left without its doors, roof, side windows or conventional seats. In their place were wicker chairs and a striped fabric canopy, often finished with decorative fringe. Built for resorts, golf courses and wealthy yacht owners, the Jolly was small enough to be lifted aboard and unloaded at the next Mediterranean port.

Freies Leben

Freies Leben was a German naturist magazine devoted to what it called free living and life reform.

Fiat Tagliero Building

The Fiat Tagliero Building in Asmara, Eritrea, is a Futurist-style service station completed in 1938 and designed by the Italian engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi. Conceived as a simple petrol station, Pettazzi designed a building that resembles an aeroplane incorporating a central tower with office space, cashiers desk and shop — and supporting a pair of 15 meter cantilevered, reinforced concrete wings. The building remains structurally sound and has not been damaged during numerous conflicts affecting the Horn of Africa during the twentieth century.

FMR

FMR is a magazine published by the Renaissance man Franco Maria Ricci. First published in 1982, it acts as a model for perfection, presenting noteworthy art historical studies without being pedantic. Its past contributors include Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges.

Fire balloon

The fire balloon was a weapon launched by Japan during World War II. They were designed as a cheap weapon intended to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and wreak havoc on Canadian and American cities, forests, and farmland.

Fox tossing

Fox tossing was a popular competitive blood sport in parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, which involved throwing live foxes and other animals high into the air. Expert tossers could achieve throws of as high as 7.5 meters.

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