You may have heard of the movies ‘Bwana Devil’ (first American 3-D Color movie) and ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ (starring Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas and our very own Om Puri) that were based on real life incidents connected to the Tsavo man-eaters of Kenya.

The Ghost, and the Darkness. Source: Wikipedia

New research suggests that the number of victims may have been much lesser than previously thought.

Over nine months the two voracious hunters claimed 35 lives _ no small figure, but much less than some accounts of as many as 135 victims.

It was 1898, when laborers from India and local natives building the Uganda Railroad across Kenya became the prey for the pair, a case that has been the subject of numerous accounts and at least three movies. Link.

Also, the scientific technique takes into account only the number of victims eaten by the beasts, and obviously not the victims that were killed but not eaten.

Researchers led by anthropologist Nathaniel J. Dominy and Justin D. Yeakel of the University of California, Santa Cruz, report in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They noted that estimates of the death toll reported at the time ranged from 28 reported by the Ugandan Railway Company, to 135, claimed by Lt. Col. John H. Patterson, a British officer who killed the lions in December, 1898.

The researchers did note that their study covers only the number of people eaten, while the number killed may have been higher. They said the death toll may have been as high as 75.

More than a century and 10 years later, science can figure out how many people two lions ate. Isn’t science amazing?

And not to forget, regional Indian cinema had their own versions of the historical account, not necessarily set in east Africa, but same rail road in forests of Andhra Pradesh. Ladies and gentlemen, watch Chiranjeevi  below  (at least the part that has jay jay – j j j , can anyone suggest the original American movie/song  name?)

Sir Edmund Hillary passed away at the age of 88 on Jan 11th 2008 of heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital. [link]

“A few more whacks of the ice axe in the firm snow, and we stood on top.”
Sir Edmund & Sherpa Tenzing on the final steps to the summit of Mt. Everest
img: via www.cureblindness.org

Not content with his conquest of the top of the world, Sir Edmund also:
rode to the South Pole in a tractor, [link] ………

Sir Edmund Hillary has reached the South Pole – the first overland explorer to do so since Captain Robert F Scott’s expedition in 1912. The New Zealander and his team arrived safely after travelling 70 miles (113km) through mist and poor weather conditions. They described seeing the round tower of the South Pole for the first time as a “black blob” on the horizon. Sir Edmund and his colleagues had only one drum of petrol left when they sighted the Polar base. This would have been enough for the “tractor train” to travel 20 miles (32km).

rode a jetboat from the mouth of the Ganges river to its source in his now legendary “Ocean to Sky” expedition, [link] ……

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The automatic assault rifle whose initials stand for “Avtomat Kalashnikov” was invented 60 years ago by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Kalashnikov, whose invention is the weapon of choice for seperatists, rebels, terrorists and gangsters the world over apparently does not lose sleep over the number of lives his creation has claimed over the last 60 or so years.

Sixty years after the AK-47 went into production, Mikhail Kalashnikov says he does not stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed wrought by the world’s most popular assault rifle.

“I sleep well. It’s the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence,” Kalashnikov said Friday at a ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for “Avtomat Kalashnikov.”

Try telling that to the families of the thousands killed by your invention.

The high priestess of politics and corruption in India, Indira Gandhi, was found guilty of corrupt electoral practices by the Allahabad High court.

When members of the opposition, admittedly not any less corrupt, took to the streets to protest, she declared a state of emergency and clamped down on civil liberties including freedom of press and freedom of expression. Later, she got legislative laws passed that would result in charges against her being dropped. She was ousted in the 1977 elections but thanks to weak opposition and an apathetic Indian populace was back in power 3 years later.

This dark moment in Indian history brought to you by UberDesi.com.

I took this picture on 28th May 2007, Memorial Day, in St. Augustine, Florida. The reason I took this picture was because there was something in this picture that bothered me. At this stage I’m opening up the comments section and my email for our readers to spot what’s wrong with this picture. Please feel free to comment or email me and give me your thoughts and opinions if any. I will post a follow-up on this picture tomorrow. You can click on the image to get a full sized image. Feel free to download and reproduce.

Clues:
1. Something related to desis.
2. Something to do with Memorial Day a.k.a patriotism.