The elections in 2008 were a landmark event in U.S. history, seeing Democratic candidate Barack Obama defeat the Republican candidate for the presidency. With the win, Barack Obama became the first African American United States president and one of the youngest ever to take office. In 1961, Robert F. Kennedy correctly predicted that the U.S. would have a black president within 40 years.
The first version of The Kalevala (called The Old Kalevala) was published in 1835. The version most commonly known today was first published in 1849 and consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty songs (Finnish: runot). The title can be interpreted as "The Land of Kaleva" or "Kalevia".
The story
The Kalevala begins with the traditional Finnish creation myth, leading into stories of the creation of the earth, plants, creatures and the sky. Creation, healing, combat and internal story telling are often accomplished by the character(s) involved singing of their exploits or desires. Many parts of the stories involve a character hunting or requesting lyrics (spells) to acquire some skill, such as boat-building or the mastery of iron making.
As well as magical spell casting and singing, there are many stories of lust, romance, kidnapping and seduction. The protagonists of the stories often have to accomplish feats that are unreasonable or impossible which they often fail to achieve leading to tragedy and humiliation.
The Sampo is a pivotal element of the whole work. Many actions and their consequences are caused by the Sampo itself or a character's interaction with the Sampo. It is described as a magical talisman or device that brings its possessor great fortune and prosperity, but its precise nature has been the subject of debate to the present day.
There are also similarities with mythology and folklore from other cultures, for example the Kullervo character and his story bearing some likeness to the Greek Oedipus. The similarity of the virginal maiden Marjatta to the Christian Virgin Mary is also striking. The arrival of Marjatta's son in the final song spelling the end of Väinämöinen's reign over Kalevala is similar to the arrival of Christianity bringing about the end of Paganism in Finland and Europe at large.
Nicaragua is seen by many in the world as a Central American tropical paradise, but there’s a little more to this country than meets the eye. Nicaragua is home to the oldest city in Central America, the Ruins of Leon Viejo. Amazingly, the city is still inhabited, just as it was 1500 years ago. In more modern accomplishments, Nicaragua was the first Central American country to elect a female president.
Ruins of León Viejo
León Viejo is one of the oldest Spanish colonial settlements in the Americas. It did not develop and so its ruins are outstanding testimony to the social and economic structures of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Moreover, the site has immense archaeological potential.
Settled by Spanish colonists, León Viejo originally had a native population of about 15,000 and it is located on the southwestern banks of Lago de Xolotlán or Lago de Managua (Lake Xolotlán or Managua), south of volcano Momotombo. The area suffered frequent volcanic activity, culminating in the earthquakes of 1594 and 1610.
The city was not destroyed by the 1610 quake, however due to the damage caused to the infrastructure and the seismic activity, the settlers held a referendum and decided to relocate the city to its present location, about 20 miles to the west. Nevertheless, the old city was gradually buried by the continuous expulsions of ash and volcanic stone coming from Momotombo, and by lake sediments.
The ruins of León Viejo were discovered in 1967 and excavations begun the following year revealing that the city had a similar layout to other cities in America at that time, laid out on a grid system with a main square located at its center. León Viejo occupies an approximate area of 800 m x 500 m. Around the Plaza Mayor and on the surrounding streets, 16 ruins have been partially restored.
The city had three monasteries: "La Merced", "San Pedro", and "San Francisco", which remained active until October, 1559. The ruins of La Merced and San Pedro have been identified, however they have been damaged by natural disasters over the years. In May, 1982 tropical storm Alleta wasted the walls of the city. In October, 1988 Hurricane Joan caused new damages to the ruins, and in October, 1998 Hurricane Mitch affected an estimated 40% of the site, damaging several houses, La Merced convent, and La Fortaleza.
León Viejo is the only 16th-century, colonial city in America that has never suffered city-planning alterations during its history. This fact was the main argument in the request to the UNESCO when it was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000.
The Queens borough of New York City is the biggest in terms of area. It covers 109 sq miles (283 sq km). The demographics too are very diverse. Almost half of the population of Queens were born outside of the United States. The number 7 Flushing line of the subway system is often referred to as “The International Express” because of the varying different ethnic neighborhoods that it passes through and serves.
Amazon began as an online source for buying books. The very first sale was from the founder Jeff Bezos’ garage near Seattle, Washington. The book was entitled: Fluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. Amazon founder Jess Bezos is also known for being particularly frugal, a fact which many consider to be a defining reason the company survived hardships in the past.
There have been Le Mans racers, and there have been ambitious, potentially zany Le Mans racers, fantastical bouts of engineering and bizarre pseudo-innovation that its builders intended would lead
to something greater. Why else would they showcase their cars at the greatest endurance race in the world? Probably because it was there. (Jalopnik has a great rundown of the truly weird that ran down Mulsanne, including the car you see above.)
But perhaps the weirdest race car to ever enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans—the weirdest race car ever, one of the weirdest cars ever—may just be a missile-shaped, twin-boom race car with an oval steering wheel and a strange, brilliant, fantastical combination of catamaran, airplane, and motorcycle influences. It's a 1950s belly lake dragster, doubled. Born from jets? Baby, this thing is born from torpedo tubes.
Nardi, known today for wooden steering wheels and shift knobs, began life as a race car builder. Enrico Nardi was an accomplished mechanic and driver with Lancia, and he began building bizarre, Fiat-based sports cars powered by BMW motorcycle engines. There was the Nardi-Monaco Chichibio, named after co-creator Augusto Monaco's dog; a front-drive, V2-powered spindly little thing that could reach 80 kilometers per hour. Look at the 750 Nardi-Danese: exposed cylinder heads, one single headlight. Or the full-bodied Barchetta version, named the "Boby Sport" with a goofy grin for a grille and a bulging proboscis that makes various mid-2000s Mercedes-Benz sports cars look subtle. Laugh you will, and you just might, but these cars dominated local hillclimbs, whooping MG Midgets the whole way up.
Unsurprisingly, Nardi's most ambitious project carried on a proud tradition of the Strange.
Asymmetry is a highly underrated quality in design. It messes with our brains. Humans seek out symmetrical shapes in nearly everything we see: art and architecture, leaves on the ground, even our own faces (which are not at all symmetrical). And certainly in cars, where any bold dash of asymmetry is relegated mostly to hood scoops and ephemera: the Ford SVO, the Mazda RX-7, the hood bulge on a Mitsubishi Eclipse, the rear door on a Nissan Cube, the driver's head fin on a Jaguar D-Type.
Not for Enrico and his associates. Here was Nardi's ultimate project, the Nardi-Danese 750 Bisiluro. What's in a name, asked another famous Italian, and while this car has had a few, its formal name was Damolnar, combining the last names of chief engineers Mario Dalmonte, Carlo Mollino and Enrico Nardi. And in Italian, "bisiluro" means, rather appropriately, "twin torpedo."
In this article we'll focus on exotic Soviet military snow vehicles, and some civilian and scientific applications of these machines.
"Kharkovchanka" helped Soviet expeditions to reach the South Pole multiple times, and according to some sources, still remains in use at Russian polar stations. They praise the vehicle as the best ice/snow transportation ever made.
This page details Russian South Pole Traverse, using five tractors and ten towed sledges:
It's a Cold, Cold, Cold War
Any war on Russian territory always comes down to who has the best ability to cope with extreme winter conditions and the absence of any kind of roads. Add to it the huge distances to cover and no infrastructure to help you out if anything breaks down. Well, with these "aero-sled" prototypes (and a bottle of vodka) you can get anywhere, even in seemingly infinite Siberia.
The first aero-sled divisions were supplied to Russian Army in 1941 and battled against Nazis in the winter of 1942. The Germans were amazed to see such winter mobility, being hopelessly mired in snow & mud covered Russian countryside themselves. RF-8 model was especially successful, being the result of many 1932-1941 prototypes, designed by engineer M. Veselovski.
One nice feature of these models was the use of a normal automotive engine, not the custom airplane one. It was easy to repair and had a propeller, made from steel, not wood - increasing its ability to break through dense snow-covered forest.
The elections in 2008 were a landmark event in U.S. history, seeing Democratic candidate Barack Obama defeat the Republican candidate for the presidency. With the win, Barack Obama became the first African American United States president and one of the youngest ever to take office. 
The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology.
Nicaragua is seen by many in the world as a Central American tropical paradise, but there’s a little more to this country than meets the eye. Nicaragua is home to the oldest city in Central America, the Ruins of Leon Viejo. Amazingly, the city is still inhabited, just as it was 1500 years ago. In more modern accomplishments, Nicaragua was the first Central American country to elect a female president.
The Queens borough of New York City is the biggest in terms of area. 
