Dogs in Chinese mythology

The immortal Zhang shooting at the Tiangou

Pyrocumulonimbus cloud formed by the firestorm following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima , 1945. Nuclear winter effects are triggered by at least a hundred such city firestorms.

01The paper coined the term 'nuclear winter'; Sagan published it simultaneously in Science and in Parade magazine, reaching 17 million readers at once.
02Soviet climatologist Vladimir Alexandrov independently produced near-identical temperature-drop models in Moscow the same year.
03The 35°C cooling estimate meant most temperate-zone crops would fail within weeks of a detonation, before fallout reached them.

Fritz Haber , 1918

A map of Belgic Gaul in the first century BC, showing the relative position of the Nervii

01The Nervii reportedly forbade wine and merchants among themselves to keep their warriors undiluted by Roman goods or influence.
02Caesar describes grabbing a shield from an anonymous soldier and entering the front rank personally — he did not know the man's name.
03The Nervii, once 60,000 warriors strong by Caesar's count, were reduced to 500 fighting men and three chieftains after the battle at the Sabis.

Dogs in Chinese mythology

In Chinese myth, the celestial dog Tiangou stole fire from heaven and delivered it to humanity, arriving with his tail scorched permanently black. He also devours the sun and moon during eclipses — drums must be beaten to make him spit them out.

Endless Ocean

Endless Ocean has no enemies, no fail state, and no score. A manta ray glides past. A whale appears in the deep distance and keeps swimming. Players have reported sitting still underwater for twenty minutes, just watching.

Col de Portet d'Aspet

One descent on the Col de Portet d'Aspet killed Casartelli and a stone memorial marks the exact concrete block that ended him. Riders cross it every Tour, sometimes placing a hand on the monument.

Nuclear winter

Carl Sagan and four co-authors published calculations in 1983 showing that even a 'limited' nuclear exchange of 100 warheads could throw enough soot into the stratosphere to drop global temperatures by 35°C — killing more people than the bombs.

The hand of God

Maradona punched the ball into England's net with his left fist in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal, then told reporters God's hand had done it. Argentina won 2–1 and went on to lift the trophy.

Dai Andrews

Dai Andrews tilted his head back and fed 27 swords down his throat at once — a world record achieved with blades fanned like a steel bouquet. Each one is real.

Haber process

Fritz Haber synthesized nitrogen from air in 1909, feeding a billion people who could not otherwise exist. He then personally supervised the first chlorine gas attack at Ypres in 1915, killing thousands.

Nervii

The Nervii attacked so fast that Roman soldiers were still tying their helmet straps when the spears hit. Caesar snatched a shield from a passing soldier and stood in the front line himself — without a helmet.

Gustav Landauer

Gustav Landauer, Germany's foremost anarchist philosopher, was stomped and shot by soldiers in a Munich prison courtyard on May 2, 1919. His last book on Shakespeare was still unfinished. Philosophy ended with a boot.