Random Articles (Page 53)
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π Isetta
The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles.
In 1955, the BMW Isetta became the world's first mass-production car to achieve a fuel consumption of 3Β L/100Β km (94Β mpgβimp; 78Β mpgβUS). It was the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold.
Initially manufactured by the Italian firm Iso SpA, the name Isetta is the Italian diminutive form of Iso, meaning "little Iso".
Discussed on
- "Isetta" | 2020-07-05 | 72 Upvotes 66 Comments
π Punjabi Mexican Americans
The Punjabi Mexican American community, the majority of which is localized to Yuba City, California, is a distinctive ethnicity holding its roots in a migration pattern that occurred almost a century ago. The first meeting of these cultures occurred in the Imperial and Central Valleys in 1907, near the largest irrigation system in the Western Hemisphere.
Discussed on
- "Punjabi Mexican Americans" | 2023-09-07 | 44 Upvotes 10 Comments
π Synsepalum Dulcificum (Miracle Berry)
Synsepalum dulcificum is a plant in the Sapotaceae family, native to tropical Africa. It is known for its berry that, when eaten, causes sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet. This effect is due to miraculin. Common names for this species and its berry include miracle fruit, miracle berry, miraculous berry, sweet berry, and in West Africa, where the species originates, agbayun (in Yoruba), taami, asaa, and ledidi.
The berry itself has a low sugar content and a mildly sweet tang. It contains a glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin. When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. At neutral pH, miraculin binds and blocks the receptors, but at low pH (resulting from ingestion of sour foods) miraculin binds proteins and becomes able to activate the sweet receptors, resulting in the perception of sweet taste. This effect lasts until the protein is washed away by saliva (up to about 30 minutes).
The names miracle fruit and miracle berry are shared by Gymnema sylvestre and Thaumatococcus daniellii, which are two other species used to alter the perceived sweetness of foods.
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- "Synsepalum Dulcificum (Miracle Berry)" | 2023-10-18 | 21 Upvotes 11 Comments
- "Synsepalum Dulcificum (Miracle Berry)" | 2023-10-15 | 17 Upvotes 5 Comments
π Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The PAVN, under the command of General VΔn TiαΊΏn DΕ©ng, began their final attack on Saigon on 29 April 1975, with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces commanded by General Nguyα» n VΔn ToΓ n suffering a heavy artillery bombardment. By the afternoon of the next day, the PAVN had occupied the important points of the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace. The city was renamed Hα» ChΓ Minh City, after the late North Vietnamese President Hα» ChΓ Minh.
The capture of the city was preceded by Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of almost all American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who had been associated with the Republic of Vietnam. A few Americans chose not to be evacuated. United States ground combat units had left South Vietnam more than two years prior to the fall of Saigon and were not available to assist with either the defense of Saigon or the evacuation. The evacuation was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. In addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war and the institution of new rules by the communists contributed to a decline in the city's population.
Discussed on
- "Fall of Saigon" | 2021-08-16 | 64 Upvotes 75 Comments
π Cincinnati Subway
The Cincinnati Subway is a set of incomplete, derelict tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. Although it is only a little over 2 miles in length, it is the largest abandoned subway tunnel system in the United States. Construction began in the early 1900s as an upgrade to the Cincinnati streetcar system, but was abandoned due to escalating costs, the collapse of funding amidst political bickering, and the Great Depression during the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1928, the construction of the subway system in Cincinnati was indefinitely canceled. There are no plans to revive the project.
Discussed on
- "Cincinnati Subway" | 2015-07-14 | 94 Upvotes 33 Comments
π Steve Jackson Games, Inc. vs. United States Secret Service (1993)
Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service, 816 F. Supp. 432 (W.D. Tex. 1993), was a lawsuit arising from a 1990 raid by the United States Secret Service on the headquarters of Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in Austin, Texas. The raid, along with the Secret Service's unrelated Operation Sundevil, was influential in the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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- "Steve Jackson Games, Inc. vs. United States Secret Service (1993)" | 2024-06-09 | 26 Upvotes 3 Comments
π Dogecoin
Dogecoin ( DOHJ-koyn, code: DOGE, symbol: Γ) is a cryptocurrency featuring a likeness of the Shiba Inu dog from the "Doge" Internet meme as its logo. Introduced as a "joke currency" on 6 December 2013, Dogecoin quickly developed its own online community and reached a capitalization of US$60 million in January 2014.
Compared with other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin had a fast initial coin production schedule: 100 billion coins were in circulation by mid-2015, with an additional 5.256 billion coins every year thereafter. As of 30Β JuneΒ 2015, the 100 billionth Dogecoin had been mined. While there are few mainstream commercial applications, the currency has gained traction as an Internet tipping system, in which social media users grant Dogecoin tips to other users for providing interesting or noteworthy content. Dogecoin is referred to as an altcoin.
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- "Dogecoin" | 2013-12-14 | 11 Upvotes 4 Comments
π Rocket Mail
Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile. The rocket lands by deploying an internal parachute upon arrival. It has been attempted by various organizations in many different countries, with varying levels of success. It has never become widely seen as being a viable option for delivering mail, due to the cost of the schemes and numerous failures.
The collection of philatelic material ("stamps") used for (and depicting) rocket mail is part of a specialist branch of aerophilately known as astrophilately.
Discussed on
- "Wikipedia: Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile" | 2022-02-03 | 10 Upvotes 2 Comments
- "Rocket Mail" | 2019-09-25 | 128 Upvotes 40 Comments
π Iridogorgia Chewbacca
Iridogorgia chewbacca is a species of deep-sea bamboo coral in the family Chrysogorgiidae. Named after the Star Wars character Chewbacca due to its long, flexible, "hairy" branches that evoke the Wookiee's fur, the species was formally described in 2025. It inhabits rocky seafloors in the tropical western Pacific Ocean at depths exceeding 400 meters, where it forms solitary colonies up to 1.2 meters tall.
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- "Iridogorgia Chewbacca" | 2025-10-06 | 10 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Since the 1970's, several deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have formed gangs in which membership is exclusive to certain sheriff's deputies, often along ethnic lines, and requires certain acts, such as police violence (particularly against people of color), in order to be initiated into said gang. Members are often tattooed and are expected to maintain the blue wall of silence (i.e. not snitch or report misconduct on or about other officers), fabricate evidence, engage in police corruption, and engage in criminal activity such as vandalism and homicide, among other things. Historically, almost all instances of deputy gang violence has either been ignored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office or the office has stood by the members of the deputy gangs, alongside the tolerance or assistance of the county sheriff. Although not unique to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, it suffers from the most prolific case of the existence of law enforcement gangs in the state.
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- "Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department" | 2024-08-07 | 103 Upvotes 31 Comments