What I have been reading lately #17

I just finished reading Piers Paul Read's Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl.  (Pictured above: the ruins of reactor number 4 before it was encased in a concrete sarcophagus) 

Above: Author Piers Paul Read

Above: The abandoned city of Pripyat.

Pripyat was designed and built in the early 1970s to provide a home town for the workers at the power plant.  Apparently, Pripyat was a rather nice place to live - a brand-new, planned city with roses everywhere and surrounded by beautiful countryside.  It also had very clean air because there were no coal-burning power plants near by.  After the explosion and fire in 1986, Pripyat had to be permanently evacuated. For more information: http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/pripyat.htm

What I have been reading lately #16

I am currently reading Richard Overy and Andrew Wheatcroft's The Road to War: The Origins of World War II.  The book serves as an accompaniment to a BBC television series of the same name from the late 1980s.  Each chapter covers one of the major powers and explains how they came to take part in the war.

Of all the figures in the book, the one that I learned the most about was Neville Chamberlain.  The authors portray the British Prime Minister not as a mealy-mouthed appeaser desperate to avoid antagonizing Hitler, but as a pretty crafty leader who managed to manoeuvre Hitler into war at a time when the Germans did not consider themselves to be fully ready.

I also learned that at least one Japanese family celebrated their country's alliance with the German people by making a snowman of the German leader, Hitler.

Maradona Guarana

Milan Players Dared Gattuso To Eat A Live Snail

According to goal.com and La Gazzeta dello Sport, Gennaro Gattuso was bet 500 euros each by 24 team mates that he would not eat a live snail. Gattuso, of course ate it, because "Wouldn't you do it, if they offered you 25,000 euros?" 

Read the entire article:

here

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Contrast in Brazil

Ouro Preto

Manaus:

Brasilia:

Rio de Janeiro:

Sao Paulo:

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Hint for those of you who are unobservant: Look at the upper lip

Source: Kickette

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source: Futbolita

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What I have been reading lately #15

I just finished reading Michael Dobbs' One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War. I learned the following interesting facts about the Cuban Missile Crisis:

1. Premier Khrushchev was really short - only 5'3".

2. President Kennedy swam in the White House pool twice a day for exercise.

3. The Soviet ships carrying the missiles never were "eyeball to eyeball" with U.S. Navy vessels enforcing the quarantine. In fact, Khrushchev ordered them to turn around almost immediately after the U.S. announced the blockade.

4. Kennedy's greatest accomplishment was not facing down the Soviets but his own generals, almost all of whom wanted to launch a massive pre-emptive strike against Cuba.

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"Pato won all three games"

Interesting Brazil Facts

Interesting Facts

Unique Facts:

 Brazil is the only country in the New World to have been the seat of government for a European country.

First Place:

 The Amazon River is the mightiest on Earth – 17,500 liters of water empty out of it every day.  The Amazon is also the 2nd longest river in the world. 
 Alberto Santos Dummont was the first person ever to fly a heavier-than-air aircraft. 
 Brazil has won the World Cup 4 times – more times than any other country.

Second Place:

 Brazil has the 2nd highest Christian population in the world. 
 Brazil has the 2nd highest number of airports in the world. 
 The 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 10th largest sports stadiums on Earth are located in Brazil. 
 Ayrton Senna has the 2nd highest number of Grand Prix points and wins in history.  Mr. Senna also has the 3rd highest number of world titles.

Third Place:

 The rainforests comprise the 3rd largest area of forest on Earth. 
 Brazil has the 3rd largest road network on Earth. 
 The 3rd largest inland waterway networks are located in Brazil. 
 Nelson Piquet accumulated the 3rd most world titles and Grand Prix points in history.  He was also the 7th youngest and the 9th oldest man to win 1st place in formula one car racing.

Fourth Place:

 Brazil was the 4th country in the world to modernize its postal system by using stamps. 
 The 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th transatlantic flights were to Brazil. 
 Brazil was the 4th country in the world to abolish capital punishment. 
 The country that issues the 4th most daily newspapers is Brazil. 
 Emerson Fittipaldi set the record for the 4th highest winning speed in the Indianapolis 500.

Fifth Place:

 The 5th largest country on Earth is Brazil. 
 Brazil has the 5th highest number of visits from the Pope in the world. 
 Brazil was the 5th country in the world to have television. 
 The 5th country in the world to make seatbelts compulsory was Brazil.

Eighth Place:

 Cristo Redentor, the 8th tallest free-standing statue in the world is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
 Portuguese is the 8th most widely spoken language in the world, mainly because of Brazil’s large population.

Ninth Place:

 Brazil has the 9th highest number of billionaires in the world.

Tenth Place:

 Brazil has the 10th largest railroad network on Earth. 
 Brazil has the 10th highest number of vehicle owners in the world.

source- http://library.thinkquest.org/C005537/facts.html

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