Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground; around 2,000 people are struck by lightning every year in the world and about 200 people died from the event;
in the U.S. approximately 270 people are struck per year or 1 in 15,300 people.
When customers began sending money to FTX company that operated a cryptocurrency exchange
and crypto hedge fund, to open accounts on the exchange, those funds were being directed into bank accounts that were controlled by
Alameda Research, a cryptocurrencytrading firm co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, who treated the funds as his own to buy luxury homes, private jet rides and make political donations.
The relationship between FTX and Alameda, a framework for fraud, made the crypto exchange’s collapse into bankruptcy,
causing the loss of untold billions to the company’s customers all over the world in 12/2022; FTX’s crypto scam is one of the biggest financial scandals in the US.
OneCoin is a Ponzi scheme
promoted as a cryptocoin with a private blockchain, by offshore companiesOneCoin Ltd (Dubai) and OneLife Network Ltd (Belize),
both companies founded by Ruja Ignatova in concert with Sebastian Greenwood has been dealing with the US court since 2019. OneCoin is considered a Ponzi scheme due to its organizational structure and because of the previous involvement of many of those central to OneCoin in similar schemes.
On April 26th, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster, a nuclear accident
that occurred at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city
of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union.
The accident destroyed the Chernobyl 4 reactor, killing 30 operators and firemen within three months and several further deaths later. Acute radiation syndrome (ARS)
was originally diagnosed in 237 people onsite and involved with the clean-up and it was later confirmed in 134 cases. Of these, 28 people died as a result of ARS within a few weeks of the accident. Nobody offsite suffered from acute radiation effects although a significant,
but uncertain, fraction of the thyroid cancers diagnosed since the accident in patients who were children at the time are likely to be due to intake of radioactive iodine fallout. According to an UNSCEAR report in 2018, about 20,000 cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed 1991-2015
in patients who were 18 and under at the time of the accident, and a quarter of the cases (5000 cases) were "probably" due to high doses of radiation.
On October 8, 2018 an engineering consultant raised concerns about structural damage to the concrete slab below the pool deck and "cracking and spalling" located in the parking of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, a few miles north of Miami Beach,
Florida, US. The report alarmed "The waterproofing below the pool deck and Entrance Drive as well as all of the planter waterproofing is beyond its useful life
and therefore must all be completely removed and replaced". However, the building management seemed not to take this evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls
of the parking garage under the 13-story building seriously. About 55 of the 136 units at the building crumbled to the ground at
around 1:30 a.m., June 24, 2021, killing many people, leaving huge piles of rubble on the ground and materials dangling from what remained of the structure, most residents have been asleep when the collapse happened.
Espionage activities continued from early thirties and all the way through today. While several spy organizations such as the
CIA and KGB became synonymous with Cold Warespionage, many major spy rings played key roles in the collection and protection of the section concerning detection of spying, and analysis of a wide host
of intelligence disciplines:
Since 1964 there have been 3,842 natural disasters in Texas; 1,221 natural disasters in New York; and 1,028 in California. In Texas, the most commonly occurring emergency situations have involved hurricanes (1,151), fires (1,120),
and severe storms (758) — nearly four times the national average. In California, the biggest concerns are severe storms (257) and fires - for 2017 alone, the state had around 9,000 wildfires, which burned through 1.2 million acres of land.
In the New York area, the winter emergency situations accounted for 221 total disasters and severe storms(350). (Source: ADT LLC)
There are around 4 million of workers 16 years and over, are walking to work daily in the U.S. Boston residents are the most likely Americans to walk to work; by comparison, less than 1% of workers in Gilbert, Arizona and Plano, Texas commuted on foot.
Boston, MA; Washington, DC; Pittsburgh, PA; New York City, N.Y.; San Francisco, CA; Madison, WI.; Seattle, WA; Honolulu, HI; Philadelphia, PA; and Jersey City, N.J. are the top 10 cities where the most people walk to work.
Richard Noble reflects on his journey of being the first “out” gay man to walk across the country, covering 10 states and more than 2,700 miles in 15 months.
The youngest popes were Pope Benedict IX (who became pope at an unknown age between 11 and 20) Pope John XII (who was 18 at the beginning of his papacy) Pope John XI (who was 20 at the beginning of his papacy).
About 36% of Americans say that God has spoken to them.
The world's youngest mother is a 5 years 7 months old girl lived in Peru in 1939.
Cow, the nickname for cattle and the name of adult female cattle, can go upstairs but not downstairs.
Mark Twain claimed in his autobiography that he was the first important writer to present a publisher with a typewritten manuscript,
for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Research showed that Twain's memory was incorrect and that the first book submitted in typed form was
Life on the Mississippi (1883, also by Twain.
After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, on January 24, 1972 local farmers discovered Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who was unaware that World War II had ended..
Thanksgiving is not just an American holiday. Canada declared their Thanksgiving holiday in 1879. It is observed on the 2nd Monday in October.
The word Christmas is derived from Middle English Christemasse and from Old English Cristes mæsse. It is a contraction meaning "Christ's mass".
Boxing Day (December 26) - In England it is customary to give gift "boxes" to mailmen and servants on this day. Today, in Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, it is a day of rest.
National Arbor Day (April's last Friday) - When J. Sterling Morton moved to the Nebraska Territory in 1854, he planted many trees on the land. Many other people did too, and Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1872. Plant a tree!
Handsel Monday (the first Monday of the year) - In Scotland in the 14th to 19th centuries, children and servants received a small gift, or Handsel.
There are approximately 1,175 malls in the U.S., which had around $308 billion in annual sales in 2010; of which $10.7 billion is generated by Black Friday sales.
The American Mafia, which rose to power in the 1920s, is a separate entity from the Mafia in Italy, although they share such traditions as omerta, a code of conduct and loyalty.
Ranks of the Mafia: Capo Crimini: Super Boss; Capo di Tutti Capi: Boss of Bosses; Cupola: Commission; Don: Boss; Consigliere: Trusted Advisor;
Counselor; "In-house lawyer"; Sotto Capo/Capo Bastone: Underboss (number 2 in a family); Contabile: Financial Advisor; Capo/Capodecina/Caporegime: Captain of ten; Sgarrista: High Ranking Soldier; Picciotto: Low Ranking Soldier; "Button man";
Giovane D'Honore: Mafia Associates (non-made members).
