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Picture Of The Day

Picture of the Day

nyc taxi medallion

NYC Taxi Medallion

A taxi medallion, also known as a CPNC (Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience), is a transferable permit in the United States allowing a taxi driver to operate. A number of major cities in the US use these in their taxi licensing systems, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Medallions may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The New York medallions are the most valuable, once peaking at over one million dollars. With the introduction of peer-to-peer ridesharing services, the taxi industry has faced competition, and the price of medallions has dropped substantially (~$120,000).

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Picture of the Day

Nike had conditions before giving rookie Michael Jordan a record contract: Either be rookie of the year, or average 20 ppg, or be an all star, or sell $4 mill worth shoes in a year. Jordan was rookie of the year, scored 28.2 ppg, named all star, and Nike sold $100 mill of shoes in 1984-85.

Nike offered Jordan $500,000 a year in cash for five years, which was a ridiculous number at the time. The previous highest contract was James Worthy’s deal with New Balance, an eight-year deal worth $150,000 a year. Adding stock options and other parts of the deal, Falk said Jordan would earn $7 million over those five years, as long as Nike didn’t sever the contract.

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Picture of the Day

night soil man

A night soil man who used to take away human waste to be used in fertilizer. Dunston, Lincolnshire, England 1872

The bathroom was not always the clean welcoming place it is today. Before the time of sewers, flushing toilets and urinals was a simple hole dug deep into the ground.

People would do their business in them, and because there was no outlet, the holes would fill up.

Enter the “night soil men” or “gong farmers.”

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Picture of the Day

Rosemary Kennedy, sister of John F Kennedy, pictured in 1938. In 1941, aged 23, her father forced her to undergo a lobotomy, due to her mood swings, seizures and intellectual disability. This procedure rendered her permanently incapacitated and unable to speak, and the truth was kept secret for decades.

In her early young adult years, Rosemary Kennedy experienced seizures and violent mood swings. In response to these issues, her father arranged a prefrontal lobotomy for her in 1941 when she was 23 years of age; the procedure left her permanently incapacitated and rendered her unable to speak intelligibly.

Joseph Kennedy decided that Rosemary should have a lobotomy; however, he did not inform his wife of this decision until after the procedure was completed. The procedure took place in November 1941. James W. Watts, who carried out the procedure with Walter Freeman (both of George Washington University School of Medicine), described the procedure to author Ronald Kessler as follows:

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Picture of the Day

child of rage

Beth Thomas’ appearance on 1992 documentary Child of Rage featured shocking footage of her telling her psychiatrist she wanted to kill her parents and brother in the dead of night. She suffered from a rare psychological condition, RDA, that stemmed from extreme childhood neglect and sexual abuse – but she beat the odds to overcome her horrific early life to help others like her.

In the footage, Beth – then aged 6 – explains that parents Tim and Julie lock her in her room at night to stop her from stabbing them to death.

She also admits to sexually abusing her younger brother, Jonathan, torturing the family dog and killing a nest of baby birds.

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Picture of the Day

frank cullotta

The hitman at the end of Casino is played by Frank Cullotta, a real-life mobster whose career in the Chicago/Las Vegas mob gave inspiration to the film.

Frank Culotta, though not a Las Vegan, was a technical consultant on the film, since he knew Tony Spilotro since they were children and was the Ant’s right-hand man in Vegas.

In the scene where the hitman is chasing the target through his Las Vegas house, the actor playing the shooter just couldn’t get it right. Scorcese said to Frank, “Show him how you did it.” (Yes, Cullotta himself had assassinated Jerry Lisner, who’d provided information to the police about crimes that Cullotta and Spilotro had committed.)

Frank acted it out so realistically that Scorcese put him in the movie to film that scene.

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Picture of the Day

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Photo credit: Margaret Burin

This proud Aboriginal elder travelled1864 miles just to be at his grand daughter’s graduation

An Aboriginal elder traveled 2,000 miles from a remote island in north-east Arnhem Land to Healesville, Australia, to perform a special dance with his granddaughter at her college graduation.

Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi flew from Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island to Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, north-east of Melbourne, where his granddaughter Sasha has been boarding for the past two and a half years.

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Picture of the Day

gorilla selfie

Park ranger takes a selfie with the orphaned gorillas Nkakazi and Ndeze

The image was taken at a gorilla orphanage in Virunga National Park, DR Congo, where the animals were raised after poachers killed their parents.

The gorillas were just two and four months old at the time.

Because they’ve grown up with the rangers who rescued them, Mr Mburanumwe added, “they are imitating the humans” – and standing on two legs is their way of “learning to be human beings”.

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Picture of the Day

Geronimo and Lozen

Geronimo’s final band pictured in front of the train car taking them to prison in Florida. Geronimo is in the front row, third from the right. Immediately to his left is Chief Naiche. In the back row, third from the right is Lozen, the famous woman warrior. This is the only known photograph of her

Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Apache tribe. He was born in 1829 in what is now Arizona, USA, and he became one of the most renowned and fierce Apache warriors in history.

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Picture of the Day

On June 6, 1944, 79 years ago to the day at 06:30 French time, soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy.

The unique amphibious landing craft, known as the Land Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) ship, played a vital role in numerous military operations during World War II. Surprisingly, its original design was inspired by the challenges faced by Andrew Higgins, a lumber businessman and former Nebraska National Guard Infantry Officer. While extracting hardwood trees from Louisiana swamps, Higgins encountered difficulties with his conventional boats repeatedly running aground in shallow waters.

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