Things I learned Last Year

2024 Things

• Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is called "The Lightning Capital of the World". Annually, it has about 260 lightning storms a year with around 233 lightning flashes per square km. No one is sure why this happens, it seems to relate to topography. Residents report that the lightning is so bright and consistent at times, that they can read a newspaper at night.
• Shalom Nagar worked in the Israeli Prison Service 60 years ago and was nicknamed The Hangman. In 1962 he was assigned to guard Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann who was executed after 6 months imprisonment. During that time, Nagar brought every meal to Eichmann in a locked box. The authorities wanted to prevent members of the prison staff from poisoning the prisoner.
• There are nearly eight tons of unexploded bombs in 2 Swiss lakes. Switzerland believed that the military could safely dump unused munitions in them, and now realize this was a bad idea. The government is offering about $50k for ideas on how to safely remove the stuff (which will cost billions to do).