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Rare sighting of Female Yakuza members in Tokyo📍Sanja Matsuri Festival, Asakusa Tokyo 2024

Hoba meteorite, the largest intact meteorite, weighing about 60 tons, that has been found on Earth. It was discovered in 1920 on a farm called Hoba West, located 19 km (12 miles) west of Grootfontein in northern Namibia. The Hoba meteorite dropped from the sky less than 80,000 years ago and has never been moved.Category: Also called: Hoba West meteoriteThe meteorite was discovered by farmer Jacobus Hermanus Brits, who noticed a strange black rock surrounded by white limestone. Brits chiseled off a piece of the rock and took it to the South West Africa Company office in Grootfontein, where it was identified as a meteorite. Digging around the rock showed that only a small part of it had been aboveground. As more soil was removed, the huge size of the rock was revealed. Because of the meteorite’s remote location, knowledge of its existence did not become widespread until 1929, when Dutch American astronomer Willem Luyten wrote an article about it for a South African newspaper.The Hoba meteorite is roughly rectangular in shape with a flat top. It measures about 2.7 meters (9 feet) across. Because so much of it survived its impact, it is likely that the Hoba meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere at a shallow angle and hit the ground at the relatively low speed of less than several hundred meters per second. The impact likely formed only a small crater, about 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter and about 5 meters (16 feet) deep, that quickly eroded away. The Hoba meteorite is considered to be the largest natural piece of iron on Earth. Its composition is actually about 82.3 percent iron, 16.4 percent nickel, and 0.8 percent cobalt. The meteorite once weighed as much as 66 tons, but scientists and souvenir hunters have chipped away bits of it over the years.In 1955 the Hoba meteorite was declared a national monument. Namibia, then known as South West Africa, was ruled by South Africa. The South African government wanted to protect the meteorite from vandalism. In 1987 the owner of the farm donated the site of the meteorite to the government. A stone amphitheater was constructed around the meteorite, and a visitors’ center was built nearby. Thousands of people visit the site each year. Courtesy: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Sharing a cigarette during the Tour de France, 1920.

In The Godfather (1972), Francis Coppola hired former wrestler Lenny Montana to play the role of Luca Brasi, one of Don Corleone's henchmen, a particularly ruthless killer.Lenny Montana is not Coppola's first choice. Another actor has already been hired, but his unexpected death forces the director to recast the role.Lenny Montana has the physique to play Luca Brasi, but not quite the skills. That's not a professional actor.During the filming of his first scene opposite Marlon Brando in the role of Don Corleone, Montana completely loses his temper.In this sequence, Luca Brasi appears in front of the godfather to thank him for inviting him to his daughter's wedding. He is very honored by the attention that Don Corleone gives him, because he reveres him, and wants to thank him in person by offering him a large sum of money, as is the custom.However, the filming of this scene did not go at all as planned. Very impressed to find himself facing Brando, cinema legend, Lenny Montana does not succeed in saying his text in a natural way. He has memory lapses and makes mistakes in every take.Coppola understands that he won't be able to get a better performance from the former wrestler and decides to completely rethink the scene between Corleone and Luca Brasi.Instead of presenting Brasi as an imperturbable killer, the director chose to retain the clumsiness of Lenny Montana and use his vulnerability to emphasize the power and aura of Don Corleone, the godfather who makes even the worst killers shudder. of the mafia.But for Luca Brasi's reaction to be understandable, Coppola had a genius idea: he decided to film Lenny Montanta rehearsing his lines before filming his face to face with Brando. And he will use this short sequence as if it were Luca Brasi's character rehearsing what he is going to say to the godfather.Luka Brasi Practicing His SpeechThis little scene not only helps convey the fact that Lenny Montana cannot act, but it also enriches the dynamic between the two characters.Bright.

Photograph of an outsized carving knife and fork made by Beaver Falls Cutlery Works. The knife measured 9 feet, 7 inches long. The handles were each made from a whole elephant's tusk and were carved. Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, Philadelphia.

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard [1788-1899]: the last known man alive who fought for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Photo taken in 1888.

On Broadway New York City 1912

“Morrison had an almost un-American attitude toward possessions. He never owned a house. While he owned a car for a time, he was often without one and most of the things he did own would have fit into a carryall bag. In his pockets one could find a key to the Doors' office, a credit card, and his folded and torn California driver's license. He was forever giving something away—money, books, clothes—with a natural generosity. No matter how successful he became, Morrison was always taking shelter from the "stumbling neon groves" of Hollywood in cheap motels because he felt their starkness was more real than the lavish suites his wealth could have commanded. No doubt their low profile was also an attraction. No one could find Jim Morrison when he didn't want to be found. He enjoyed hanging around pool halls and cheap bars, listening to the jukebox and having a few beers.Frank Lisciandro recalls: Jim didn't seem to have any sense of ownership about anything. As an example, I said to him one day that I had to go buy some new boots; he said he probably needed some new boots too and he'd come along. So we went to a Western-wear store and both shopped for what we needed. Later I found Jim coming out of a dressing room. He had bought a completely new outfit right down to underwear and then he went over and bought a new pair of boots. It looked like he had changed his skin. And being more reptilian, he left his old clothes behind... didn't take them... said to the guy at the store, 'Burn 'em or throw 'em away or give 'em to somebody.' We walked outside and I looked at him in the sunlight in front of the store and I realized at that instant that he could really live like a snake if he wanted to... shed his skin, have a new set of skin underneath, and walk away.” from “Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison” by James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky

Talisman of Charlemagne; a valuable and precious pendant from 9th Century AD, in filigreed gold, an oval sapphire cut into a cabochon, through which a relic can be seen and with 53 precious stones including pearls, garnets, amethysts and emeralds, is not just any jewel but Talisman of Charlemagne, given to him by Caliph of Baghdad Harun al-Rashid (d. 809 AD), which he always wore on his chest and with whom he wanted to be buried.In 1000 AD, Otto III (980-1002 AD), Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, had tomb opened and took possession of talisman.Then for centuries, it remained in cathedral of Aachen until in 1804, bishop donated it to Josephine Beauarnhais, wife of Napoleon I.Josephine, upon her death, left it to her daughter Ortensia who gave it to her son Napoleon III, whose wife Eugenia kept it, finally donating it to Cathedral of Reims where it is still exhibited in Tau Palace, France.

El Aguador de Sevilla circa 1620. Diego Velázquez. Wellington Museum. Palacio Apsley House. London UK