Archive for October, 2010

Sixty-nine days after the collapse of the San Jose gold and copper mine, the first of 33 trapped Chilean miners were pulled up from a hole more than 2,000 feet underground. Lets look back at other amazing rescues. #10 NASA Saves the Hubble Nineteen years is a long time for a machine. The Hubble Space Telescope began its outer-space adventures in April 1990, but by the early 2000s its batteries were [...]

A shimmering new skyscraper in Abu Dhabi claims to be the “World’s Furthest Leaning Manmade Tower.” Lets look at some other structures also living on the edge. #1 Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy The Leaning Tower was supposed to stand straight and plumb, an imperious monument to the trading power of 12th century Pisa. Built on soft clay, however, the tower began to list only a few years [...]

Cee-Lo Green’s viral hit single “F___ You,” which went from nowhere to everywhere within days, is more musically pleasant than its name suggests. Still, he ain’t happy about a love gone bad. Lets looks at angry tunes about sour relationships. #10 ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,’ by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s [...]

There really is no such thing as an unimpressive astronaut. At the outset of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, both countries began with a group of talented, courageous, unflappable men, many of whom were decorated test pilots and, by definition, had made careers out of cheating death. Some, however, achieved milestones so important to the planet as a whole, or survived [...]

On Sept. 29, 2010, Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi’s celebrated his 74th birthday. To mark the occasion, lets take a look at some of the world’s other aging potentates. Starting from #10; #10 Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud Position: King of Saudi Arabia Age: 86 Time in Power: 5 years Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud is head of the House of Saud, the dynasty that gave their name to [...]

The rebirth of war movies — there’s another big one, Green Zone, coming out next week — set us to thinking about some important examples of the genre from the whole span of film history, from The Birth of a Nation in 1915 to Black Hawk Down in 2001. We picked 10; you have others. Shall we fight over it? #10 Black Hawk Down (2001, Ridley Scott) — Somalian mission 123 elite U.S. soldiers [...]