While not in flood, the main stretches (i.e. not its tidal reaches where an estuary/delta can be much wider) of the Amazon river in South America can reach widths of up to 11 km (7 miles) at its widest points.

Appearing on 11 computer platforms and consoles, the original Myst is the most widely released graphic adventure of all time. The game has been ported across generations, made available on the Mac, PC, Amiga, CDi, 3DO, Jaguar, Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, Pocket PC and Nintendo DS.

Also known as water bears, tardigrades are microscopic eight-limbed invertebrates inhabiting moist environments. The world´s largest tardigrade is Echiniscoides sigismundi, a marine Eurasian species, which can attain a total length of 1.5 mm as a mature adult (unlike most other species, which remain microscopic throughout their lives). However, it can be smaller than 0.05 mm as a freshly-hatched larva.

A fire at the Hotel Daeyungak, Seoul, South Korea killed 162 people on 25 Dec 1971.

Hurricane Mitch, which struck Central America (Honduras and Nicaragua) between 26 Oct – 4 Nov 1998, left approximately 2.5million people dependent on international aid efforts when it destroyed 93,690 dwellings. An estimated 1,120,000 people were rendered homeless when Typhoon Ike, packing winds of up to 137 mph struck the Philippines on September 2 1984 killing 1363 and injuring a further 300.

The US Gemini 8 mission was flown by Neil Armstrong and David Scott (both USA) on 16–17 March 1968. It achieved the first docking in space, between Gemini 8 and an unmanned Agena booster. While docked, the combined spacecraft began an uncontrolled roll. After an emergency undocking, Gemini 8 began to roll faster, approaching one revolution per second, and the crew were dangerously close to g-forces that would have impaired their vision or caused them to black out. Armstrong was able to stop the roll Continue reading →

A total of 500 people died in a monumental winter storm that was called by one meteorologist a storm with the heart of a blizzard and the soul of a hurricane. US$1.2 billion (£825.14 million) worth of damage was caused by a storm that traversed the entire east coast of the USA on March 12-13, 1993.

Some 1,400 people died in riots following the arrest of a woman for selling contraband cigarettes in Taiwan in March 1947.

The pneumonic form of plague (bacterial infection), also known as the Black Death (1347-51), killed around a quarter of the population of Europe, and some 75 million worldwide.   Estimates based on local archives suggest that between one-eighth and two-thirds of the affected population died of the disease.  Contemporary French historian Jean Froissart (1333-1419) believed that about one-third of the population of Europe-some 25 million people-succumbed in the first epidemic, an estimate which is now widely accepted by scientists and historians.   The disease still Continue reading →

The largest offshore oil disaster occurred when a fire started on the Piper Alpha oil production platform in the North Sea on 6 Jul 1988, with 167 people killed out of a crew of 225. Most of the rig melted in the intense heat and dropped off into the sea.