Day: June 8, 2020

Der Trauerautomat: the vending machine designed to support mourners during funerals.

Anya016

The frieze inscription on the Krematorium Sihlfeld, one of the oldest crematories in Switzerland, reads: “Flamme, löse das Vergängliche auf. Befreit ist das Unsterbliche”, translated as “Flame, dissolve the ephemeral. Be the immortal released”. With its neoclassicist elements the crematory, surrounded by a scenic chestnut lined alley, monumentalizes the process of incineration, and it sculpts into stone a, if not the, transcendental resolution to terrestrial human death. As a consequence, the symbolisms and institutional practices concerning human loss, and eventually grief, tend to be equally parochial, at odds with our…

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The mystery of WWII bomber plane that still lies in North Carolina’s Badin Lake

Leo S

Apparently some North Carolina lakes of considerable depth generate as many legendary tales, expecially fish tales, but not only. Badin Lake, just outside the town of Albemarle, is not an exception. Created in 1917 by the damming of the Yadkin river, the 5300-acre lake reaches depths of over 60 meters and holds in its belly the remains of farmhouses and entire forests, as well as, according to a legend, the mysterious wreckage of a World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber. As story goes, Mary Elizabeth McDaniel hurried through an early…

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“Without weapons, violence or hate”: France’s biggest-ever bank robbery

Robin

In Belgium exists an old saying that say people who are willing to get their hands dirty can often make money. It was certainly the case for Albert Spaggiari, the mastermind behind the biggest-ever bank robbery in France. He died on this day, June 8, 1989, leaving no clue as to the whereabouts of the stolen millions.Albert, born in 1932, was a recidivist, constantly in trouble for stealing. His father died when he was three and his mother, who ran a lingerie shop, quickly remarried with another man, but it…

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#TodayInHistory – June 8

randomcollabs

June 8 – Some important events on this day. 452 👉🏼 Italy invaded by Attila the Hun 793 👉🏼 Vikings in long ships from modern-day Norway plunder St Cuthbert’s monastery on Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England 1191 👉🏼 King Richard I of England arrives at Acre in modern day Israel to join the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade 1783 👉🏼 Laki volcano in southern Iceland begins 8-month eruption, killing 10,000 and causing widespread famines throughout Asia and Europe 🌋 1789 👉🏼 James Madison introduces a…

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