SilverSage
Resident Crone
Last year, my brother and his son climbed Mount Kilaminjaro, but they didn't try Mount Everest.
Last week my nephew climbed Huayna Potosi in South America.
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- Thread starter Johnny West
- Start date
Last week my nephew climbed Huayna Potosi in South America.
Johnny West
Well-known member
Luckytrim
Grill Master
On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Forces accidentally crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building in New York City while flying in thick fog. The crash killed fourteen people (three crewmen and eleven people in the building), and an estimated twenty-four others were injured. Damage caused by the crash was estimated at US$1 million (equivalent to about $17 million in 2024), but the building's structural integrity was not compromised.
The crash spurred the passage of the long-pending Federal Tort Claims Act, which was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in August 1946, initiating retroactive provisions into the law and allowing people to sue the government for the accident.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Empire_State_Building_B-25_crash#cite_note-NPR-7"><span>[</span></a>
In 2007, scientists made a stunning discovery off the coast of Alaska—a Bowhead whale was found with the tip of a 19th-century harpoon embedded deep in its neck. The harpoon fragment was identified as a bomb lance manufactured around 1890, revealing that the whale had survived a human hunting attempt over a century earlier. This extraordinary find provided rare, tangible evidence of the Bowhead whale’s incredible longevity. Known to be one of the longest-living mammals on Earth, Bowhead whales can live well over 100 years, with some estimates suggesting lifespans reaching up to 200 years. The embedded harpoon not only told a story of survival and resilience but also offered a glimpse into the past—an era of intense commercial whaling. Despite facing industrial-scale hunting, this whale managed to escape, heal, and continue its journey through Arctic waters for more than 100 years. The discovery serves as a powerful reminder of the deep history these majestic creatures carry within them, and the silent tales that swim beneath the surface of the sea.
