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?)

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“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] ……

became ambassador to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, [link] ……..

That same year, Hillary was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner (Ambassador) to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and spent four and a half years based in New Delhi. On June 19, 1995, Hillary received the Noble Order of the Garter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

had his face printed on the national currency of New Zealand (pictured left), ………

was involved in philanthropy work as the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation and Honorary Chairperson of the Himalayan Cataract Project, among others.

Just for good, he also accompanied that guy named Neil Armstrong to the North Pole, thus becoming the only man to conquer both poles and the Everest. [link]

In 1985, Hillary accompanied Neil Armstrong in a small, twin-engine ski plane over the Arctic Ocean and landed at the North Pole. He thus became the first man to stand at both poles as well as the summit of Everest.

A little tidbit on the Everest conquest and about Sir Edmund’s relationship with his Everest hike buddy, Tenzing Norgay: [link] ……..

Once there, “I put out my hand, in sort of stuffy old Anglo-Saxon fashion, to shake his hand, but that wasn’t enough for him,” Hillary later said of Norgay. “He threw his arms around my shoulders, and I threw my arms around him.”

Hillary left a cross in the snow, at the urging of a priest he had met, and Norgay left some candy as an offering to the gods.

In later years, a debate emerged about whether Hillary or Norgay, who died in 1986, was the first to reach the summit.

Hillary told People magazine in 1999: “We agreed we would say we reached it ‘almost together,’ when in fact I reached it a few paces ahead of him. I’ve decided now I’m going to tell it like it was and not worry about whether it’s going to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Hats off to Sir Edmund as he finally rejoins his buddy Sherpa Tenzing to continue this never ending feud on who reached Everest first.

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Post tags: achievements, death, life, sir edmund hillary

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.

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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.

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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.

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