TOP 10

10. First Special Effects Epic ( The Lost World , 1925) While portions of  this 1925 silent film  have been lost, it nevertheless stands as a monumental achievement in special effects for the time. Famed stop-motion effects artist Willis O’Brien created the dinosaurs in this film as a sort of test run for his 1933 masterpiece  King Kong , and though of course the effects are beyond primitive by today’s standards, it’s hard to overstate how stunned contemporary audiences were by them. A screening of test footage took place in 1922, arranged by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who told nobody where the film had come from.) Footage of an attacking Allosaurus was screened for the American Society of Magicians (of which Harry  Houdini  was a member) resulting in a front page story in the New York Times the following day: “(The) monsters of the ancient world, or of the new world which (Doyle) has discovered in the ether, were extraordinarily lifelike. If fakes, they we...

10. Charles De Gaulle President of France, 1962 (re-enactment in video starting 4:50) While the controversial French President and  World War Two leader  of the Free French had several close calls with assassins throughout his long political career, none came as close to success as that of August, 1962. Riding in his car down the Avenue de la Liberation, De Gaulle’s vehicle was suddenly sprayed with machine gun fire as it sped through the streets of Paris at 70 miles per hour. (The attack was carried out by a maverick French Air Force officer infuriated with DeGaulle’s decision to grant Algeria its independence.) Though the attack killed two policemen, shattered the rear window of his Citroen, and took all out all four tires, his driver managed to get away with the President and his wife unharmed. Had he not, it’s interesting to consider what direction France might have gone without the larger-than-life De Gaulle at the helm for the next seven years. 9. Gamal Nass...

10.  Kalachakra World Peace Stupa A rare and sacred Buddhist monument is taking shape at the Crystal Castle complex in Australia .  Building a stupa is an incredibly sophisticated and complex process.  According to specialists, the stupa is the earliest form of Buddhist architectural expression.  There are eight types of Tibetan stupas. The Kalachakra World Peace Stupa is the first of its kind south of the equator (7 th in the world), and is meant to protect people against negative energy flows and restore balance in times of crisis. Combining ancient design principles with advanced technology, the time capsule blessed by the Dalai Lama is built to last 1,000 years. The stupa should be finished before the end of 2012, and will be filled with relics, holy objects, and scriptures. Source 9.  Prince William’s Tribute To Diana In 2008, Prince William became a Royal Knight Companion of the Order Garter. The Queen made William the 1,000 th knight to...

10.  The Train      We often fail to appreciate just how timeless an invention the locomotive was, nor are many people aware of how much it still operates as it did in olden days. Of course, steam has been replaced by safer, cleaner, and more economical diesel engines, but the fact remains that trains are still doing the same thing they’ve been doing since the mid-nineteenth century, and doing it in much the same way. Even the steel rails they ride on today are indistinguishable from those of a century ago. The one big change has been in payload; a century ago, trains mainly transported people; today, 90 percent of their load is ore or produce. Yet they keep on chuggin’ along. 9.  Landline Telephones    Obviously the advent of the cell phone is radically changing the way people contact each other, but the old landline is still alive and well, and hard to match in terms of clarity and reliability (when’s the last time you lost a...

10. Norman Rockwell –  The Little Model Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator.  For many years Rockwell created cover illustrations for  The Saturday Evening Post .  He is noted for using a visual reflection of America and has become one of the most popular artists of the 20th century.  In 1963, Rockwell published his last painting for the  Post.   It marked the end of a publishing relationship that included 321 cover works.  During his career, Rockwell was commissioned to paint the portraits for U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.  He produced over 4,000 original artworks in his lifetime.  Most of his paintings are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes. The Discovery On June 4, 2011, the popular television program  Antiques Roadshow  was in Eugene, Oregon when they discovered a genuine Norman Rockwell painting...