10 Things You Ought To Know

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These are 10 of the most interesting facts hand picked from ‘The Book of General Ignorance’, written by John Lloyd, and forwarded by English broadcaster and entertainer, Stephen Fry. The human brain is, by far, the most complex single object in the cosmos, having more neurological connections within it than there are positively charged particles in the entire universe. With this astonishing level of computing power, there’s only one thing to do with it; use it.

 

10. Henry VIII

How many wives did Henry VIII have?
The answer? Two, not six. Henry’s fourth marriage to Anne was annulled, as the marriage was never consummated, in other words it was seen to that the marriage technically never took place, also Anne happened to be betrothed to Francis, Duke of Lorraine. At the time ‘betrothal’ would bar the individual from marriage. So that leaves 5 wives. Henry’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn was declared illegal by the pope, because the king was still married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry, as the head of the church of England, declared himself that his first marriage was invalid on the grounds that a man cannot sleep with his brother’s widow. He did the same with his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, bringing us down to two wives.

 

9. Huge!

What’s the largest living organism?
The elephant? The blue whale? The T-Rex? No. The largest ever living organism is a mushroom. And not even a particularly rare one. The Armillaria ostoyae or ‘Honey fungus’ is very common, and is probably in your garden as we speak. However, lets hope it doesn’t grow as large as the largest ever recorded specimen, in Malheur National forest, in Oregon. It covers 2,200 acres (890 hectares)!! And is between 2,000 and 8,000 years old!! The majority of the organism is under ground, in the form of a massive mat of tentacle-like mycelia (the mushroom’s equivalent of roots). The giant honey fungus was originally thought to grow in different clusters around the forest, but researches have confirmed it is in fact one very, very large single organism!

 

8. Chameleons

Why do chameleons change their skin color?
Not to blend into their background, never have, never will. They change their color depending on a number of emotional states, they change often, and so it’s no wonder that eventually they will match their backgrounds, but only until the next change. They change color when frightened, when mating, when fighting another chameleon etc. A chameleon would have little use for blending in, their main prey, insects, tend to have eyesight unfit to spot them when they are still anyway, and being an apex predator, chameleons don’t tend to have any natural predators.

 

7. Matter

How many states of matter are there?
Three surely? Solid, liquid and Gas? Actually, it’s more like fifteen. Although the list grows almost daily, some examples are: Solid, amorphous solid, liquid, gas, plasma, super-fluid, supersolid, degenerate matter, neutronium, strongly symmetric matter, weakly symmetric matter, quark-gluon plasma fermionic condensate (pictured above), Bose-Einstein condensate and ‘strange matter’. The most interesting is possibly Bose-Einstein condensate, or ‘bec’. which occurs when you cool a specific substance down to a fraction below absolute zero (-273 degrees), at this point, things get peculiar. For example if you put a ‘bec’ in a beaker, and keep the beaker at the correct temperature, the bec will actually climb the sides of the beaker. If you don’t believe me: YouTube. This happens because behavior only before observed at atomic levels are observed at greater levels. Some scientists believe the behavior is a result of the bec trying to “reduce it’s own energy”.

 

6. Number of the Beast

What is the number of the Devil?
616. For 2000 years, 666 has been the number of the dreaded anti-Christ. An unlucky number for many, even the European parliament leaves seat number 666 vacant. The number is from the book of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible. However, in 2005, a translation of the very earliest known copy of the book of revelation clearly shows it to be 616, not 666! The 1,700 year old copy was recovered from the city of Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt, and deciphered by a palaeographical research team from the University Of Birmingham, UK. The team was led by Professor David Parker.

 
5. Golden Skies

What color was the sky in ancient Greece?
Bronze! There was no word for blue in the ancient Greek language. The nearest words to blue – glaukos and kyanos are more like expressions of relative light intensity than descriptions of color. So when the Greek referred to the sky as ‘bronze’, they meant that it was dazzlingly bright, like the sheen of a bronze shield, rather than actually bronze-colored. It seems the ancient Greeks described things based on other qualities, so when a word is used that, to us, seems to indicate ‘yellow’ or ‘light green’ really just means fluid, living and fresh, and was therefore used to describe flowers, blood, the sea and sheep. It would appear to us that the Greeks were referring to all of these things as yellow colored, but that’s because of the way we describe things. Interestingly, in Russia, there are two words for blue: goluboi and sinii, one word referring to light blue, the other dark, which to Russians are two different, distinct colors, not shades of the same color, much like other cultures perceive pink to be a shade of red, rather than a color in it’s own right.

 

4. Senses

How many senses do you have?
At least nine. The five we all know about: Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, were first proposed by Aristotle, but there are now four more which are agreed among scientists to be official senses, these are:
1. Thermoception – the sense of heat (or it’s absence) on our skin,
2. Equilibrioception – our sense of balance, which is determined by the fluid filled cavities in our inner ear.
3. Nociception – Pain.
4. Proprioception – or ‘body awareness’. This is the conscious knowledge of where our body parts are without having to look, for example, close your eyes and waggle your big toe, you still know where it is in relation to the rest of you.
Some neurologists also argue that there are even more than 9. What about hunger? Or thirst? It’s certainly a grey area.

 

3. Over the Edge

What shape did medieval people believe the earth was?
Wrong again. Since around the fourth century BC, almost no-one, anywhere has believed the earth to be flat. This misconception that people where ignorant of the shape of the earth comes from the partially fictional text ‘The Life And Voyages Of Christopher Columbus’ (1828), which incorrectly stated that Columbus set out to prove the earth was round. Truth is, nobody would have disputed the theory. Evidence shows that almost all cultures of the world worked out, through mathematics or just observation, the spherical nature of the Earth.

 

2. Moth to a Flame

How does a moth react to a light?
They are not attracted to them, but disorientated by them. The reason being that moths use natural light sources, i.e. the sun and moon, to navigate. The insects use the location of the light source from the Sun or moon to determine what direction they should be facing (i.e. what direction is up!) and how to fly in a straight line. When people come along with artificial suns and moons in their bedrooms, it confuses the insect, making it think it’s somehow moving in a curved path, because the direction of the light source has suddenly changed, to rectify this, moths try to straighten their trajectory, but the light source being so close, the only way to do this is to fly around in circles. And moths don’t eat cloths, their caterpillars do.

 

1. Arid Land

Where is the driest place on earth?
The Sahara desert? Nevada? Actually, it’s Antarctica. Some parts of the continent hasn’t seen any rain for two million years! A desert is technically defined as an area of land that receives less than 254mm (10 inches) of rain a year. The Sahara gets 25 mm, Antarctica gets around the same amount, but some areas of Antarctica never get rain, and haven’t for millennia. Making Antarctica the driest place on earth. Also, Antarctica can claim to be the windiest place on earth, with wind speeds of up to 200mph, the fastest ever recorded.

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10 Tragic Cases of Missing Children

Children are precious. A parent’s love for their children is unparalleled, so when a child goes missing it destroys the lives of those parents who loved and cherished their offspring so dearly, and often captures the undivided attention of a whole country, or even the world. This list takes a look at 10 tragic cases of missing children. For obvious reasons, the word ‘top’ has not been included in the title as each one of these is as heartbreaking and catastrophic as the next.

 

10. Steven Stayner

Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 – September 16, 1989) was an American kidnap victim. Stayner was abducted from the Central California city and county of Merced, at the age of seven and held until he was 14, when he escaped and rescued another victim, Timothy White, in 1980. Stayner died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident while driving home from work. On the afternoon of December 4, 1972, Steven Stayner was approached on his way home from school by a man named Ervin Edward Murphy, an acquaintance of Kenneth Parnell. Murphy, described by those who knew him as a trusting, naïve and simple-minded man, had been enlisted by convicted child rapist Parnell (who had passed himself off as an aspiring minister to Murphy) into helping him abduct a young boy so that Parnell could “raise him in a religious-type deal,” as Murphy later stated. For years Parnell abused Steven and told him that he had legally adopted him. As Steven entered puberty, Parnell began to look for a younger child to kidnap. On February 14, 1980, Parnell and a teenage friend of Steven’s, named Sean Poolman, kidnapped five-year-old Timmy White in Ukiah, California. Motivated in part by the young boy’s distress, Steven decided to escape with him, intending to return the boy to his parents and then escape himself. The two boys were picked up by the police and Steven told them the whole story. Steven’s life was the basis of the 1989 miniseries “I know my first name is Steven”.

 

9. Fusako Sano

Fusako Sano is a Japanese woman who was kidnapped at age nine by Nobuyuki Satō, and held in captivity for nine years and two months from November 13, 1990 to January 28, 2000. In Japan, the case is also known as the Niigata girl confinement incident. Fusako Sano, then a fourth grade elementary school girl, disappeared on November 13, 1990, at age nine, after watching a school baseball game in her home town of Sanjō, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. A huge police search failed to find the missing girl. Police even considered the possibility that she had been kidnapped by North Korean intelligence operatives. She had been kidnapped by Nobuyuki Satō, then a 28-year-old mentally disturbed unemployed Japanese man, who forced her into his car, and subsequently held her in the upstairs floor of his apartment in a residential area of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, for 9 years and two months. The house is only 200 meters from a kōban (police substation), and 55 kilometers from the location where she was kidnapped.
While Sano was initially scared, according to her own statements she eventually just gave up and accepted her fate. Allegedly, the kidnapper kept her tied up for several months, and used a stun gun for punishments if she did not videotape the horse racing on TV. Sano was also threatened with a knife and beaten. Her kidnapper shared his men’s clothes with her and gave her food three times per day, either instant food or meals cooked by his mother, who lived downstairs in the apartment. He also cut Sano’s hair. Since there was no bath or toilet upstairs where Sano was confined, she was only able to take a bath infrequently, when permitted by her captor. She spent most of her time in captivity listening to radio, and reportedly was allowed to watch TV only in the last year of her ordeal. While the door was never locked, Sano did not take a step outside for nine years. She later told the police: “I was too scared to escape and eventually lost the energy to escape.”
The mother of Nobuyuki Satō, then 73 years old, consulted the Kashiwazaki public health center in January 1996, because her son had been acting strangely and was violent to her. She called again on January 12, 2000, and again on January 19, requesting a visit to her home. Officials finally visited the home on Friday, January 28, 2000. Subsequently, Satō caused a disturbance that resulted in police being called to the scene. On this occasion, Sano, by then 19 years old, approached the officers and identified herself.

 

8. The Beaumont Children

Jane (aged 9), Arnna (aged 7) and Grant Beaumont lived in Adelaide, Australia in the 1960s. Their house on Harding Street was minutes away from the popular beach resort of Glenelg, a tourist hotspot home to numerous attractions, hotels and restaurants. Like many other Adelaide residents, the children were fond of the beach at Glenelg and, perhaps due to the innocence of the period and the maturity of Jane, their parents had no qualms about them visiting on their own, as long as they took the 5 minute bus ride from their house to the resort. On 26th of January, 1966, the children left the house at 10am and were never seen by their parents again.
Eye witness statements confirmed that the children at least arrived at their destination as they were spotted at the beach with a tall blonde man. The children appeared to be in no distress and were reportedly enjoying themselves in his company. The eldest child, Jane, was also seen buying a meat pie from a beachside shop with a £1 note. This seemed odd, however, as not only had the children never bought such an item in any of their previous trips, their parents had not given them this amount of money upon departing the house earlier on in the day. The final confirmed sighting of the children was by a postman at 3pm that day. The postman knew the children well and stopped to talk to them. He reported that although they were heading in the general direction of their house, they did not seem to be in any sort of hurry or concerned that they were already 3 hours late. A creepy footnote in the case is the fact that, prior to their disappearance, Arnna had told her mother that Jane had gotten a ‘boyfriend’ down at the beach. The mother, understandably, assumed this to be a young playmate, but in hindsight it supported the theory that the children had encountered their abductor at least once before.
There are numerous suspects for the murder of the Beaumont children, although none have ever been proven guilty. The strongest of these suspects is Bevan Spencer von Einem, an apparent member of a high society gentlemen’s club, who kidnapped and murdered numerous Australian children in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Von Einem is currently serving a life-sentence for the murder of an Adelaide teenager in 1984, and a credible witness (known only as ‘B’ to conceal his identity in the 1984 trial) told the police that he had also admitted to the murders of the Beaumont children. Police have been unable to prove this but von Einem would have fit the eyewitness descriptions in 1966, and was also known to frequent Glenelg.

 

7. Eloise Worledge

Eloise Worledge was 8 years old when she vanished from her own bedroom on January 12, 1976, in Beaumaris, Victoria, Australia. On that day, at 8.30pm, Eloise’s mother Patsy left the house for her regular ballet class and left the children (Eloise, along with her brother and sister) with their father, Lindsay. Patsy returned home at 10.30pm and went to see each of the children individually before retiring to bed herself, at 11pm. Lindsay had spent the night drinking in the house and watching television (the couple were currently going through a separation). He went to bed at 11.40pm, not realizing that the front door to the house had been left open. Patsy woke up at 07.30am to find the flywire in the window of her daughter’s bedroom had been cut and their daughter was nowhere to be seen. In a panic, Patsy ran across the road to her neighbors’ house while Lindsay called the police. The police later revealed that Lindsay’s phone call seemed strangely unemotional.
A team of 250 police officers searched for the missing child for 3 weeks but found nothing. Under further investigation it seemed that the flywire cut was not big enough for the child or an abductor to fit through, and so the most likely scenario was that Eloise had been removed through the front door. However, had the flywire cut been an intentional red-herring caused by the perpetrator?
In total, over 200 suspicious incidents were logged on the night that Eloise went missing. These ranged from noises in the neighboring area late at night, to sounds of a car door slamming and a crying child.
The case was reopened more than 20 years after the events but no clues have yet been found to indicate what happened to Eloise Worledge. The father did agree on the day of her disappearance to take a lie-detector test but this was not done until 25 years later. The results were inconclusive.

 

6. Megumi Yokota

The story of Megumi Yokota is fascinating for several reasons. It begins with the disappearance of a young girl from Japan in 1977, and develops into a story of international espionage. It was a November day in 1977, when Sachi Yokota said goodbye to her daughter as she left for school and never returned. In the years following, both Sachi and her husband searched tirelessly for clues as to the whereabouts of their daughter, but uncovered absolutely nothing. A couple of years after the disappearance, Sachi and her husband Shigeru learned that Japanese residents had begun disappearing off the coast facing North Korea, and the Koreans were the prime suspects in the abductions. However, it took until 1997 for a North Korean defector to give the Yokota’s the information they had been searching for. The defector stated that Megumi had, in fact, been taken by abductors working for the North Korean government, and taken across the seas to aid in the training of North Korean spies intent on being able to blend in with the Japanese culture. However, Megumi had been taken by mistake, her real age not being realized until she was already long gone.
The story would seem like the work of someone with a very overactive imagination if it were not for the fact that North Korea admitted, in 2002, to the abduction of 12 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s, Megumi being one of them. They stated that she had committed suicide at the age of 29, and returned what they said were her ashes to Japan, where DNA testing was claimed to prove the remains were not Megumi’s
The missing girl would now be in her 40s and the Yokotas continue to search for the truth of what happened to their daughter, clinging on to the belief that she is still alive, somewhere.

5. Etan Patz

The case of Etan Patz is famous, not only for the events surrounding his disappearance, but also as he was the first missing child to have his photograph placed on the front of milk cartons across America in the hope of finding him.
On the morning of May 25, 1979, Etan Patz was sent to make his way to school from his parents’ loft apartment in the Soho district of Manhattan. Etan was well behaved, and the neighborhood was considered a safe place where everyone looked out for everyone else, so it was assumed that Patz’ journey to the school bus pick-up point would be an uneventful one. Two eye-witnesses were the last known people to see Etan as he waited at a near-by intersection to cross the road.
The police were informed when Etan did not return home, and over 100 officers scoured the area. Pictures of the boy were posted all over the city and the media jumped on the case and began reporting sightings from all over the country. One of the more credible witnesses was a person who reported seeing Etan talking to a suspicious looking blonde man near where he was last seen heading towards the bus stop.
Three years after the disappearance police got their first solid suspect in Jose Antonio Ramos. Ramos was a known pedophile who had been caught trying to lure children in to a tunnel in New York where they found child pornography containing young boys with light colored hair similar to Etan’s. Although Ramos admitted having seen Etan traveling to school before, there was not enough evidence to charge him with the crime and he was released.
Ramos was, however, rearrested in 1985, when a new prosecutor was assigned to the case. In a new round of interviews, he began to admit more and eventually admitted to attempting to take a boy fitting Etan’s description back to his apartment for sex, but eventually giving up before sending him on a subway train to visit his aunt. Ramos said that he was 90% certain that the boy was Etan after seeing his face on the news following the disappearance the following day.
Ramos is currently still in Jail on unrelated charges, and each year on Patz’ birthday, his father sends Ramos a copy of his son’s original ‘missing child’ poster with a message written on the back: “What did you do with my little boy?”

 

4. Johnny Gosch

Johnny Gosch was doing his usual paper-round on Sunday, September 5, 1982, when he and his friend were approached by a man in a Ford Fairlane with Iowa plates, who asked them both for directions. Johnny later commented to his friend that the man made him feel uneasy, before heading home, apparently being followed by a different man. The parents John (or Leonard depending on which source you read) and Noreen were first alerted to something amiss when they began receiving phone-calls from disgruntled customers pertaining to their missing newspapers. After a search of the local area, John Gosch found his son’s paper-wagon two blocks from their home. Over the next couple of years, Johnny’s mother and a private investigator uncovered apparent evidence that Johnny had been sold in to a pedophile ring, something of which police were unsure, but did not immediately dismiss.
In 1997, the case took a strange twist when Noreen was apparently visited at her home by a 27 year old Johnny Gosch, who told her mother about his kidnapping but made her promise that she would not repeat this information as he was still living under danger from his abductors. Johnny’s father, however, is doubtful of the visit.
Again, in 2006, the case took another twist when photographs of a bound boy who Noreen believes to be Johnny began appearing on her doorstep. She is certain of his identity, but unidentified witnesses have come forward to say that the person in the photos is not Johnny.
The case has sparked huge conspiracy theories involving even the White House, and new information is still coming out at the time of writing.

 

3. Been Needham

On July 24, 1991, Ben Needham was in the care of his grandparents, while his mum Kerry and her boyfriend Simon went shopping. The family were on holiday from Sheffield, England, to the Greek Island of Kos to visit Kerry’s parents who had emigrated there. According to his grandmother, Ben was playing by the front door of their recently renovated farmhouse, when she took her eyes off him for just a brief moment. However, in that time, Ben had vanished.
Ben’s family frantically searched for the child but to no avail. His mother has stated that she believes he was taken by a pedophile ring, and has criticized the Greek authorities for not working quickly enough to man airports and borders in the hope of stopping someone escaping the island with Ben. In both 2003 and 2007, photographs have been released to the public showing how Ben may look using age-progressing computer technology. However, the efforts have produced nothing of substance.
There have been over 300 reported sightings of Ben over the years, but the family seem no closer to finding him 20 years after he was last seen.

 

2. Edward and Austin Bryant

Most missing children are reported as soon as they are thought to be missing by anguished parents. However, in 2011, authorities in Colorado were notified of the disappearance of Austin Bryant. Upon further investigation, they found that Austin had actually gone missing some time between 2003 and 2005 when he would have been between 5 and 7 years old. To make things worse, his brother had also gone missing in 2001, at the age of 9 but his disappearance had also gone unreported.
Edward and Austin (biological siblings) were fostered, and later adopted, by Edward and Linda Bryant in 1999. The children had adopted 9 children in total, and as Edward and Austin were considered to have ‘special needs’, $1700 a month was awarded to the Bryants for their care. It was one of the other adoptees of the Bryants who came forward with information on the missing children in 2011, adding that they had been physically abused throughout their stay.
The Bryants are currently awaiting trial for continuing to collect the money for the care of the children, but not in connection with their disappearance. Edward and Austin remain missing.

 

1. Madeline McCann

3 year old Madeline McCann went missing from the Algarve holiday resort of Praia da Luz, on 3 May, 2007, and stands as one of the most famous cases of missing children ever in Britain.
McCann’s parents, Kate and Gerry, were enjoying a meal with a group of friends while Madeline and her twin siblings were sleeping in the unlocked apartment approximately 100 meters away. The McCanns reported that the group took turns at checking on the children, and each time nothing untoward was noted, although at the last at 21:30, only the twins were seen through the door. At 22:00, Kate and Gerry McCann returned to their apartment to find the twins safe in bed but Madeline missing, and the window in her bedroom open. A huge manhunt was launched with the initial suspects being a British/Portuguese national, Robert Murat, and the McCann’s themselves, all of which were given arguido (suspect) status by the police. The investigations of the initial suspects however led to nothing.
The police initially worked under the assumption that McCann had either been kidnapped by a pedophile ring or an adoption ring, and attracted criticism, particularly from the McCann’s, for the way they handled the case. The amount of people allowed in to the apartment from which Madeline went missing, for example, was so uncontrolled as to taint the possibility of finding forensic or DNA evidence leading to the identification of the abductor.
Developments in the McCann case, no matter how small, still garner widespread media coverage.

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10 Pirates of the North Sea

Pirates are usually associated with the Caribbean Sea. Men like Henry Morgan and William Kidd left behind a legacy of adventure and great battles; but piracy is something that’s been going on for as long as men have traveled the seas. And it happened (and still does) all over the globe. The pirates of the North Sea were not much different from the ones we are used to hearing about. They mostly lived by a set of codes, they were just as brutal, and they had little to no respect for the government. The Scandinavian countries Norway and Denmark became a union at the end of the 1300’s, and a wave of lawlessness arose from the wars between this new union and the monarchs of the neighboring nations, among them: England, Germany and Sweden. These pirates remain almost forgotten in history, despite their fascinating lives. Here are some of their tales.

10. Kristoffer Trondsson & Otto Stigsson

In 1523, Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, lost his throne to Fredrik I. At that time, the most feared pirates were those who stood by Christian II to help him gain back his throne. Their job was to raid the sea and abduct as many ships as they possibly could, so that the former king could use these riches to stand against Fredrik I. It took him eight years, but it finally worked. However, the pirates who had been his allies now became outlaws fighting against him.
His solution was Kristoffer Trondsson and Otto Stigsson. They were both given the position as pirate hunters, and led their men into battle against the pirates. Even though they were widely feared, they were not successful in their job. Only one single ship was recorded to have been taken back by the pirate hunters. In the end, they both became bored with finding nothing, and became pirates themselves! They mostly abducted trade ships from Holland and Scotland on their way to Norway. Later on, Trondsson was actually hired as an admiral, in Norway.

9. Erlend Eindridesson

In the fall of 1445, a German sailor named Steffen Smit and his crew, were caught in bad weather, and had no other option but to steer towards the port of Jæren, in Rogaland, Norway. They waited for weeks, without the weather giving any sign of calming down. But one day, they had some unexpected visitors. Erlend Eindridesson was one of the most respected men in Norway, and with him he had two ships and sixty men. He was known for his dislike of Germans.
The Norwegian pirates threatened to steal their cargo. Smit, on the other hand, knew it would look bad for Eindridesson’s reputation if he stole from a German ship. The two countries were at peace at the time, and he had papers to prove his rights as a trader. Eindridesson let them be, but Smit knew it wasn’t over.
At night, while no one noticed, Eindridesson and his men cut the ropes attaching the ship to the docks, and the ship was crushed toward it by the waves. At once, they insisted on helping the Germans, saving the cargo and bringing it to shore. Smit never saw the cargo again.

8. Martin Pechlin

Martin Pechlin was one of the most notorious pirates in the 1500’s. He was brutal and without mercy, and it is said that he once hijacked twelve ships in one day! But, in 1526, he met his match. Three ships coming from Germany were caught in a storm and ended up somewhere by the Norwegian coastline. There they docked in a fjord, hoping to trade with the farmers living nearby. But because of the heavy mist, neither they, nor the pirates, could see each other as they docked on each their side of the fjord.
The next day, the Germans were visited by two young boys coming to trade with them. They were spies, sent by the pirates to find out more about the crew they were about to attack. Captain Thode saw through their lies, and prevented them from delivering the information. Nothing happened before the next morning, when Pechlin and his pirate crew opened fire.
The sailors proved to be good fighters, and Pechlin’s ship was, in the end, caught between the enemies, and the Germans ended it with a bullet to his head. Only fourteen pirates managed to escape, six were taken alive, and the remaining sixty men of Pechlin’s former crew had been killed in battle.

7. Klaus Størtebecker

In the 13 and 1400’s, the sea was ruled by “Fataljebrødrene”; a band of pirates coming from all of the Northern countries. These pirates lived by a strict code, and they were known as “Likedelere”, which means “Those who share equally”. Over the years they had many leaders, or pirate kings. Klaus Størtebecker was one of them. He is maybe one of the most legendary pirates of Northern Europe. It is said he sailed a ship with a mast of gold, and that he once buried an enormous treasure somewhere in Germany, which has yet to be found. To people of that time, he was like a Robin Hood at sea; stealing from the rich traders, and being generous to the poor. Also he was a fearless warrior in battle. In the end he was hanged in a gold rope long enough to reach around the city of Hamburg, and his dying wish was for the executioners to grant pardon to all those of his men he could walk past – after his execution! It is said five men were pardoned.

6. Bartholomeus Voet

Voet was the next leader of “Fataljebrødrene”, after Størtebecker. He was his equal in fighting skills, but this guy didn’t show any mercy as to whether people were poor or rich. At one point, he went to the Norwegian city of Bergen, and, after robbing it of everything worth taking, he burnt the whole city down. The citizens fought back, but even though they outnumbered the pirates, they were defeated. Voet escaped from Bergen with all of the stolen goods he could carry with him.

 
5. Rinaldini

In 1808, a Swedish pirate ship by the name “Rinaldini”, set sail to the North Sea to abduct one last Danish-Norwegian trade ship before winter. At the same time, the Norwegian ships “Fortuna”, and “Elisabeth Maria Tønder”, both trade ships, too started their journey; and apparently faith wanted them all to meet in open sea. The Swedish pirates quickly took command of the “Fortuna”, before turning on the “Elisabeth Maria Tønder”. It all went smoothly, without much resistance, and the pirates started on their way back to Sweden with the new ships and their crew. The problem was: their safe docking place was far ahead, and it would take a long time to get back. They were caught in a storm, and it seemed almost impossible to get back, and even more so when they saw the Norwegian coastline in the distance.
The captain turned to the Norwegian captains of the “Fortuna” and the “Elisabeth”, ordering them to tell him where they were. But they told him they didn’t know. At that time, the Norwegians decided to take action, before the Swedish chose to turn toward England, instead (which they were about to). Illness, the cold, and a huge portion of bad luck, meant the Swedish pirates could do almost nothing, when the Norwegian captain Liung stepped forward, and ordered them to set sail toward the nearest dock. The pirates neither said nor did anything to stop him.

4. Tønnes Kaade Samuelsen

In 1808, the Norwegian pirate captain, Tønnes Kaade Samuelsen, and his crew set sail for the sea, to do what pirates do best. But it was in the middle of the winter, and no tradeships dared sail the North Sea at this time of year. So, Samuelsen got bored, and decided to do something about it. He and his men set sail for England, disguised themselves as fishermen coming home, and once in the dock, cut the ropes of the biggest ship they could find, and just sailed it back to Norway. He continued with this tactic for most of his career; before his ship sunk in a storm, and took him and the entire crew with it.

3. Captain Johannes Jacobsen Røscher

If there was one thing a pirate roaming around in the North Sea would want to avoid at all costs, it was being arrested outside the coastline of England. If that was to happen, they would be imprisoned for years. Captain Røscher, an old Danish-Norwegian pirate, almost met this fate. It happened in 1810; Captain Røscher and the crew of his ship “Tak for sidst” were in a poor state due to the fatal weather of the season. But despite this setback they managed to take the command of an English ship, led by Captain William Dimond. The crew of the ship claimed to be Americans, but Røscher knew better. He split the captured crew so that they could be organized in two smaller groups on each of the ships, and left his first mate in command of his old ship.
Then, the Englishmen decided to act. Aboard the “Tak for Sidst”, the first mate, Erik Fries, who was a highly skilled pirate, personally took care of the riot, and proceeded sailing towards Norway. Røscher, on the other hand, was not as lucky. The pirates were locked up, and Captain Dimond set sail back to Scotland, where the pirates would be taken directly to England. Røscher was furious and plotted revenge with his crew whenever he had the chance. And finally he found the solution. One of the crew members of the English ship was a young Swedish man, who in the end was talked into helping them. He let them out just when Captain Dimond and his crew were inside eating, and the pirates just locked them inside the ship and regained control. The Englishmen made no further attempts to escape, and soon Captain Røscer could see the coastline of Norway, just days after “Tak for Sidst” had found its way home.

2. Knut Ellingsen

Knut Ellingsen was a highly skilled Norwegian pirate, and the captain of the ship “Den Veivisende Paquet”(Paquet the Pathfinder). The same day the event happened, the year of 1810, he had already hijacked a ship, and he and the crew were on their lookout for more, when a much bigger English ship came in sight. It soon became clear Ellingsen had been caught in the act, with a clearly stolen ship. The Englishmen told them to surrender peacefully, and it seemed they had no other choice. Now, whether it was a direct order from Ellingsen, or just a miscalculation by the man behind the wheel, is uncertain; but just when the Englishmen thought they had them, and were about to jump aboard, the Norwegians set full sail, and escaped by just sailing away. The Englishmen were shocked by the rude maneuver, which resulted in a brutal chase after the pirates. The pirate ship was much faster, but the English were better armed, and soon it was hailing bullets over the pirate ship. Ellingsen shouted at his crew to get out of the way, as the master sail came falling down at them, tip first.
Standing up was impossible, because of the bullets, so Ellingsen did something that would later earn him the Order of Dannebrog. He lay down on his back, avoiding the bullets, and steered the ship using his feet! Because of his skills as a sailor, and even with the master sail down, he managed to lose the Englishmen, and steer the ship into a safe fjord, saving himself and his crew.

 

1. Jan Mendoza and Captain Daa

Jan Mendoza was a Spanish pirate, whose career in the North Sea was making the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV frustrated, because of all the economical damages he inflicted. So, to make an end to it, he sent two pirate hunters after him; Admiral Jørgen Daa, and the Norwegian explorer and adventurer Jens Munk. They chased Mendoza from England to the coast of northern Russia, and back, with the two battleships “Victor”, and “Jupiter”. They finally caught up with him, but Captain Daa became too eager in his hunt, and hoisted too many sails to catch up with Mendoza, so the entire ship almost ended up side down. But Jens Munk chased Mendoza into a small fjord, where all three ships anchored to repair the damages. Captain Mendoza’s ship was taking in water, and for such a heavy ship, there was no way they could just set sail. They had no other choice but to fight.
Captain Daa on the other hand, wanted to solve matters peacefully, and suggested a meeting where they would discuss surrender. But Mendoza rejected his invitation, unless Captain Daa was willing to offer Jens Munk as insurance. Munk didn’t mind, but the same second he set foot on Mendoza’s ship, he was bound and treated like a prisoner. Of course, Mendoza never kept his promise to Captain Daa, but remained on the ship. Jens Munk stayed the night, because he knew Captain Daa would signal him with a cannon shot when they came to help him. But because he had seen their every defense, he wanted to find a better strategy than what they had already planned. So he threatened Mendoza, with such calm firmness, that the Spanish pirate sat him free. Munk and Captain Daa attacked the pirates shortly after, coming from three sides: the “Victor, “Jupiter”, and from the beach. After a long fight, where one third of Mendoza’s crew were killed, and all three ships were almost blown to pieces, Captain Mendoza finally admitted defeat. The remaining crew were executed by drowning, and Captain Mendoza and his first mate were sent to Copenhagen to be hanged. Captain Daa and Jens Munk found in Mendoza’s ship, riches worthy of a great pirate: ten chests of gold, all so heavy it took ten men to carry just one of them.

 

+The Vikings

Although the Vikings were not known for battles in open waters, they did attack from the seas, often targeting islands. They were the terror of the sea in their time, and many of them probably ventured into piracy every now and then, in addition to pillaging churches and villages.

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Top 10 Myths About Metal

For over 40 years people across the world have explored Metal and it’s many subgenres. So many misjudgements popped up over time that I believe it is important to let people know how misunderstood the music really is. Here are my top ten myths about Metal and the truth that comes with them. Please note that these are not my personal opinions.

10. Heavy Metal

Myth: The music is called “Heavy Metal”
So I thought I’d start you off with an easy one. Most people believe that the name of the harsh-sounding screams and heavily distorted guitars is “Heavy Metal”. In actuality, Metal has hundreds of subgenres and “Heavy Metal” is barely even one of them. Bands such as Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath paved the way for metal bands by creating a unique sound. But while these bands can be called heavy metal, an alarming majority of non-metalheads, especially elderly people and teenage girls, refer to all rock music as heavy metal. Simply because they know nothing of the diversity in the genre.

9. Barbarian

Myth: Metal musicians are uneducated freaks who can’t form sentences
Another common one. Most people view metal lyrics and music as simple and stupid. In reality, most metal musicians are highly intelligent, highly focused people who are capable of writing deep, meaningful lyrics and music. For example, the black metal band Bathory derived much of their music from classical composers. And most metal lyrics are surprisingly literate.

8. Anti-Religion

Myth: All metal is against religion
In most non-metalhead opinions, metal bands religion deserves to be hated, but such is not the case in metal. In most cases, metal is not anti-religious in general, but it is often against Christianity or forms of Christianity. However, many artists are religious, like the American Metalcore band As I Lay Dying, or David Dramian of Disturbed. It is safe to say that Religion is not well liked in metal, but it’s not exactly hated. Although there are exceptions to all rules…

7. Satanic

Myth: Metal promotes Satanism
The genre of music that does feature lots of satanic themes and imagery is called Black Metal, derived from Venom’s thrash album; Black Metal. Although some death and thrash metal, like Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, and Morbid Angel features Satanism. However, very few black metal musicians actually have satanic beliefs, and the ones that do tend to try not to promote it.

6. Crime

Myth: Metal promotes criminal activity, like murder
While a few people in the metal community have been tied into crime and murder, only one predominant case; that of Varg Vikernes, is relevant. Most metal bands that do have violent or disturbing lyrics and imagery have stated that their content is not to be taken seriously. Most notably Cannibal Corpse, who are infamous for their lyrics, which often elaborate on the more gruesome depictions of murder, death, and sexual fetishism.

5. Sexism

Myth: Metal is sexist
While it seems that much of metal, especially in the late 80’s, was designed to trivialize sex and women, now the issue is much less common. And many bands, especially of the Black, Grind, and Doom metal genres avoid the topic of sex completely.

4. Fascist

Myth: Metal musicians have fascist, racist, or neo-Nazi beliefs
While many musicians say they believe certain races or ethnic groups are better or worse than others, and while some have legitimate beliefs, it is most common that it is part of a stage presence. A good example of this is former Gorgoroth vocalist Gaahl, who is not only homosexual, but has stated that he has racist views, but that he is not serious about them and tries not to express them openly.

3. Children

Myth: Metal is bad for children
Much of metal is oriented towards children and teens as a less serious way to cope with stress than other means available. Although people may tell you that metal poisons the minds of our children, keep in mind that those people are generally very closed-minded and don’t understand.

2. Talentless

Myth: Metal takes no skill to play
Any professional will tell you that metal and jazz are the two most difficult genres of music to play. And while it seems that metal musicians just thrash around while hiding behind distortion, the fast riffs and extreme percussion are almost always 100% real, without any synthesized material. The subgenres of music that tend to edit their music digitally are metalcore, industrial, and grind. Most everything else is legitimate.

1. Screamo

Myth: Metal vocals is just screaming
If you like metal, you’ve probably heard someone say, “Wow, can’t he actually sing?” This really annoys metalheads as it is a fact that metal vocals are extremely difficult. And while it seems like it’s effortless, metal vocals range greatly, from growling, to screaming, to shrieking, and everything in between. Next time someone says metal vocals are not singing, simple reply; “It’s just different.” So that concludes my list, and to all those who believe these stereotypes and think metal is dumb. We’ve had a great 40 years, and were getting along just fine without you.

source : http://listverse.com/2011/07/09/top-10-myths-about-metal/
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Top 10 Heavyweight Mosques

People know mosques to be the place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith, i.e. Muslims. There are thousands of mosques around the world. A lot of these structures are really famous for their architectural, historical, and aesthetic significance. With a special emphasis on vastness, this list makes it a point to pick out the most brilliant Muslim houses of prayer, the crème de la crème.

10. Sultan Ahmet Mosque

Our journey to find the most awe inducing mosques begins in Turkey. Istanbul is a fascinating city for so many reasons, serving as the capital of so many empires. It was during the Ottoman Empire, that Sultan Ahmet I decided to build an imperial mosque over the site of the bygone hippodrome which was the social center of Constantinople (Istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
The Blue mosque is unique for having 6 minarets, only a few mosques can lay claim to having more. A series of smaller domes seem to cascade from the main dome going down each level and the complex has a huge courtyard almost as big as the mosque itself. Although at certain times in the evening the tops of the minarets and domes can seem to have a bluish hue, the mosque actually derives its name from the exquisite blue tiles its interior is adorned with. Like many other mosques of the world, the Blue Mosque contains the tomb of its patron. The incipiently named Sultan Ahmet I mosque has been a mainstay in Istanbul’s main square for a long time, and this majestic structure makes the historical site that much more special.

9. Istiqlal Mosque

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, so if it’s any country that deserves a national mosque, it’s Indonesia. In 1978 this idea became a reality as the Istiqlal Mosque was inaugurated by President Suharto. Istiqlal means independence in Arabic and the mosque was named so as it served the purpose of celebrating and commemorating Indonesia’s independence from their colonial rulers.
The Istiqlal mosque is nothing like the traditional Javanese themed mosques found in Indonesia. This prayer house is a huge concrete block and resembles those old soviet styled public buildings. The main prayer hall is rectangular and has 12 huge columns standing at the center which supports the central dome of 45m diametric length. Piers support the balconies which make up each of the five levels of floors with the main prayer hall in the middle. There is another smaller edifice which acts as the entrance to the larger prayer hall but also is flanked by two wings of arcades which runs around the mosque’s courtyard, defining its shape. The steely minaret in the corner features a spire. The Istiqlal mosque is hugely appreciated in Jakarta, Indonesia; and it’s a truly a site to behold.

8. Badshahi Mosque

Aurangazeb was the last great Mughal emperor and he didn’t want to be left behind when it came to constructing glorious Mughal architecture. His father, Emperor Shah Jahan, had built the Taj Mahal which is a mausoleum but not a mosque. Modeled after the Jama Masjid, a mosque his father had built in Delhi, Aurangazeb built an even bigger and more impressive mosque in Lahore.
The Badshahi mosque would be translated the king’s mosque in english and it certainly lives up to its name while serving as an epitome of Mughal architecture. Its exterior is made entirely out of red sandstone except the three massive bulbous domes and the cupolas of the octagonal minarets, which are made of marble. The mosque boasts the largest courtyard of any mosque in the world and the whole complex is actually raised on a platform which can be entered through a double storied main gate. The main prayer chambers can be entered through a fabulous iwan, a common theme in Islamic architecture. This marvelous center has inspired the designs of many other eminent mosques. The greatness of the Badshahi mosque is a worthy remembrance of the greatness of Mughal times.

7. The Faisal Mosque

Staying in Pakistan, we come to number 6 on our list. The Faisal Mosque lies at the northernmost end of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. The base of the Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas provide a beautiful backdrop to this tabernacle. The Mosque was named in the honor of King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz who funded the project and is widely accepted as the national mosque of Pakistan.
The mosque, unlike most other Asian mosques is without any domes or arches. The inspiration for its unusual shape came from an Arab Bedouin’s tent. Its prayer hall is in the shape of one massive triangle and its minarets are pencil like in their structure, probably influenced from Turkish designs. The Faisal Mosque is one of the finest examples of contemporary Islamic architecture.

6. Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

If you travel to Brunei anytime soon, you will be bereft of any true essence of this monarchy without educating yourself about its two famous mosques. Or better still, experience them. The Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque was built by the Sultan of Brunei in 1958. It’s constitutes the focal point of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. The mosque featured in this list wishes it had the enviable locality of the Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque but it gets the nod over its older counterpart because of its superior luxuriancy, appearance and size.
The Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque was commissioned by the current reigning Sultan of Brunei, Hassanil Bolkiah, and opened in 1994 to mark the silver jubilee of the Sultan’s rule. The mosque’s surroundings are lush with many beautiful gardens and fountains which sets contrasting tones for its brazen beauty. The conspicuous central dome along with all the other domes and cupolas of the minarets are plated with 24 carat gold. The minarets are especially thick and the interior is heavily ornamented .The roof is turquoise in color. A trip to this sultanate isn’t complete without the spectacle that is the Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque.

5. The Imam Mosque

Shah Abbas I is hailed as the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. It was during his era that the capital of the Persian Empire was relocated to Isfahan. The glorious Naqsh-e Jahan Square was constructed and the square’s southern façade today has arguably the best view, as it accommodates the portal of the Imam Mosque.
From this main gate, the rest of the mosque is connected via a bent alleyway to align the mosque’s court with the Mecca. The mosque is surrounded by the four iwans each at the center of its four arcades. The iwan facing the qibla, (the direction to Mecca), is the largest and most impressive which also contains an exalted blue tiled, double layered dome. The mosque’s walls are coated with a 7 color mosaic and calligraphic inscriptions which seem to be the signature of the dazzling complex. The remarkable acoustic properties and reflections underneath the grand dome should be noted. The exact completion date of the Imam mosque is disputed, but the construction is known to have begun in 1611. One thing is certain however, that the Imam mosque is Persian architecture at its best.

4. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque

Dubai has been known for some time as a megacity filled with marvelous skyscrapers rivaling the most riveting skylines out there in the world. More impressive is the amount of time the city was conjured up in. Or from where it was forged, which was basically barren desert land. So in the midst of all the construction going on in a pre dominantly Muslim UAE, you would expect a grand mosque to be to be built by the ruling Sheikhs. In fact, the Grand Mosque is just what the locals call the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, an imposing 82 domed superstructure initiated in Abu Dhabi by the father of UAE himself, and opened in 2007.The mosque’s main dome has a diameter and height of 32.8 meters and 85 meters respectively, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The main prayer hall holds two world records, one for featuring the largest handmade carpet in the world and the other for having the largest chandelier in the world. Sheikh Zayed passed away in 2004 and his mausoleum is in the mosque’s courtyard. What a magnificent modern marvel his eponymous mosque continues to be.

3. Hassan II Mosque

Our no.3 item of the list brings us to the port city of Casablanca, Morocco. King Hassan II of Morocco wished to endow a praiseworthy monument to his people and so with the huge cost of $800 million, this grandeur piece of Moorish influenced architecture was completed in 1993. The mosque comes with many features; it has heated floors, electric doors, a retractable roof and a laser on top of its minaret which beams towards the direction of the holy Mecca. This minaret stands the tallest in the world with a height of 210 meters, making the mosque the tallest religious structure ever built.The most remarkable attribute of the mosque has to be its location. It’s built on a promontory overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and a part of the mosque has glass floors meaning the worshippers when prostrating, can look directly at the waters of the ocean below. Unfortunately, this feature is reserved for royal use. However, the Hassan II mosque remains a huge source of pride for Moroccans.

 

2. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi

Approaching the last two mosques in the list, sanctity has become the major point of contention in the selection criterion. At no.2, I give you Al- Masjid al-Nabawi (The prophet’s mosque), the final resting place of Muhammad. Islam’s last and greatest prophet had built this tabernacle himself. The site of the mosque was originally his house, the place he settled in after his emigration from Mecca to Medina. Hence, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, as both of these places are associated heavily with Islam and Muhammad. This mosque has been renovated many times since the age of the prophet and today it’s the second biggest mosque in the world. The second holiest as well, as evident from its position on this list. It has 10 minarets each with a height of 105m and the central green dome is the mosque’s most prominent feature, where Muhammad’s tomb is located. At the heart of the mosque is a small, special area named ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah (The garden of the Prophet), extending from the sepulcher of the prophet to his pulpit. The Saudi Arabian king is the custodian of this holy mosque along with no.1.

1. Al-Masjid al-Harām

Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia; Al-Masjid al-Harām is the biggest and holiest mosque in the world. The fact that it hosts the Kabba in its courtyard, the most sacred site in Islam, is reason enough to place it at the top of our list. It’s this very mosque that a million plus pilgrims visit every year to perform the Hajj, the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. It’s Islamic belief that the Kabba was the first building to be built on Earth by Adam and later rebuilt by Abraham and finally captured by Muhammad. Muslims around the world face towards the Kabba’s direction during prayer times. So when praying in Al-Masjid al-Harām, the people simply line up around the Kabba to pray in an encircling fashion, while in any other mosque worldwide, the people line up in neat rows all facing towards the direction of the Kabba. This huge mosque has 9 minarets and has been the subject of many refurbishments and extensions conducted by the mosque’s authorities over the years. Visually Al-Masjid al-Harām may not match up to some of the other mosques mentioned here, but its paramount importance to the Muslim faith grants it chief status.

source http://listverse.com/2011/07/06/top-10-heavyweight-mosques/
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