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May 20, 2024 9 tweets 6 min read Read on X
8 of history's biggest man-made disasters:

1. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: In 2010, a surge of methane gas traveled through the Deepwater Horizon’s drill pipe. A blowout preventer was in place meant to stop this type of accident should it occur but the preventer failed, allowing the gas to reach the platform, where it exploded and led to the rig catching fire before it sank. Eleven workers were killed at the time.

The largest marine oil spill in history, 134 million gallons of oil were released off the coast of Louisiana before being contained almost three months later. The spill killed marine wildlife, damaged ecosystems, destroyed Gulf Coast jobs dependent on tourism and induced negative health effects on residents. Further complicating matter, the oil dispersant used in the cleanup also caused damage by permeating the food chain. 14 years later, the effects of this blunder are still being seen, particularly in wildlife.Image
2. Chernobyl: The day of the incident started innocently enough, with engineers performing a routine experiment that was supposed to find out if the plant’s emergency water cooling would work during a power outage. The test had been carried out previously, but on this occasion, there was a power surge and engineers couldn’t shut down Chernobyl’s nuclear reactors. Steam built up in one reactor, the roof was blown off, the nuclear core was exposed, and radioactive material was released into the atmosphere. Some of these materials were 400 times more radioactive than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Workers and firefighters were hospitalised and 28 people quickly passed away from acute radiation exposure. It took nearly two weeks, and military intervention, to extinguish the fires. Crucially, it took more than a day for the 50,000 residents of nearby Pripyat to be evacuated.

Following this, the government established a 19-mile (30km) "exclusion zone" and built a containment dome over the top of the site. In the years following the incident, studies estimate that thousands of people have succumbed to cancer because of the radiation. It’s one of the most expensive disasters in history, too, and it’s estimated that containment and clean-up efforts will continue until 2065.Image
3. Bhopal Gas Disaster: In India in 1984, a chemical plant released about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate which is a colorless gas for pesticides. The leak was caused by malfunctioning safety systems. More than 600,000 people were exposed to the deadly cloud.

The people living around the plant were not informed quickly, and hospital staff were given conflicting information about the situation. Innocent people suffered from coughing, eye irritation, burns, breathlessness and vomiting, and thousands of people died within hours. Countless animals passed away, too.

Longer-term studies since the accident have confirmed that many thousands of people are still affected by eye, lung, and psychological damage – and, even today, it’s hard to say exactly how many people have suffered.Image
4. The Seveso Disaster: In Italy in 1976, a factory producing a chemical called 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol, which has been used as a chemical weapon and in weedkillers, had a rupture that released 6 tonnes of the toxic chemical into the atmosphere. The poisonous chemical cloud settled over 6 square miles (18 square kilometers) of the surrounding area, including the town of Seveso.

Children were hospitalized with skin inflammations, hundreds of residents suffered from skin conditions, and huge areas of land were evacuated. Thousands of animals died or had to be slaughtered to prevent toxins entering the food chain.

The Seveso disaster has had a long-term impact, too. Since 1976, studies have found that more local residents died from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and certain types of cancer increased in frequency in the affected areas.Image
5. Love Canal: From 1942 to 1953, the Hooker Chemical Co. used a canal in Love Canal, New York, to dispose of 21,000 tons of toxic chemical waste. In 1978, The New York Times reported that chemicals from the canal had leaked into people's homes, yards, and school playgrounds after years of heavy rainy seasons created toxic puddles.

President Jimmy Carter declared a state of emergency that same year, relocated 239 families, and declared a second state of emergency in 1981 to evacuate the rest of Love Canal's residents, who had been experiencing high rates of miscarriage, birth defects, and diseases such as epilepsy, asthma, migraines, and nephrosis.Image
6. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea. Ocean currents mean that much of this trash has converged. The patch’s size varies: estimates range that it sits between around 270,000 and 5.8 million square miles (700,000 and 15,000,000km2) depending on sea movement.

Some of the items in the patch are over 50 years old, because plastics just aren’t biodegradable. Scientists reckon that it’s becoming ten times bigger with every passing decade. Unsurprisingly, the patch has a terrible effect on wildlife. Marine animals can get caught in bits of plastic or in abandoned fishing nets, which can quickly lead to death. Animals can die when they mistake plastic items for food.

The patch also has a huge and harmful impact on the ocean’s ecosystems and food chains, because plastic on the surface of the water can block sunlight from algae and plankton and pollutants can leak from different types of plastics.Image
7. Minamata Mercury Poisoning: Between 1932 and 1968, the Chisso chemical factory in Minamata, Japan, released methylmercury into wastewater. This toxic water tainted the fish that were consumed daily by residents. The contamination caused people to suffer from mercury poisoning, which resulted in neurological damage and later became known as Minamata disease.

Symptoms included muscle weakness, loss of coordination, damage to speech and hearing loss. It’s believed that more than 900 deaths were caused by Minamata disease. Almost 2,300 victims were identified as having Minamata disease, with more than 10,000 people receiving compensation from the Chisso corporation. American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith spent several years in Japan documenting the victims of Minamata — culminating in a book about the disaster.Image
8. The Dust Bowl: The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the greatest man-made ecological disaster in the history of the United States. It encompassed a region 150,000 square miles long, across Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandles, and parts of Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico.

In addition to drought, contributing factors that led to the Dust Bowl included economic depression, overly aggressive and poor farming techniques, hot temperatures and high winds. It’s estimated that the Dust Bowl killed 7,000 people by causing lung disease.

The soil, land, and air quality were critically damaged. Countless livestock died from starvation, thirst and disease, and millions lost their farms, homes and livelihoods.

Over 2 million people moved out of the Plains states — creating the largest migration in U.S. history.Image
What are some more that I missed?

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More from @timecaptales

Jun 20
Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th U.S. President from 1901 to 1909

While his presidency is perhaps best known for his conservation legacy, Roosevelt was one of the most face-smashing, rough-riding, badass dudes to grace the Oval Office

These are his "greatest hits" (thread 🧵) Image
1. Teddy Roosevelt suffered from severe asthma & nearsightedness but didn't let that hold him back. He spoke French & German fluently, studied in Europe, wrote numerous literary works & attended Harvard & Columbia Law School. Image
2. Roosevelt formed a volunteer cavalry regiment known as the Rough Riders. He pulled together a wild mix of cowboys, miners, Ivy League athletes, & anyone ready to fight, regardless of background. They shipped off to Cuba, and at the Battle of San Juan Hill, Roosevelt led the charge on horseback, earning fame for his bravery.

While he didn’t receive the Medal of Honor until 2001 (long after his death), his leadership in the battle was critical to the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War. He was later promoted to Colonel.Image
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Apr 21
A day in the life of Pope Francis

a thread 🧵 Image
1. His day started at 4:30 a.m.

The Pope was a very early riser. He was always up before 5 a.m., and then spent the next two hours praying, studying scripture, and getting the morning's homily prepared.

His digs were surprisingly modest, too. Traditionally, the Pope resides in the grand papal apartment at the top of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, but Pope Francis felt he would be more comfortable in a two-room home in the Domus Santa Marta, a hotel-style building located behind a gas station, of all places.

His neighbors included the cardinals who selected him during the conclave.Image
2. At 7 a.m., Pope Francis would head down to celebrate mass in Santa Martha's chapel, usually dressed down in a simple liturgical cloth. Rather than make a grand entrance with an entourage of alter boys, he chose to slip in from the side. 

Sébastien Maillard, the Vatican correspondent for Rome's La Croix, described this semi-public event as "the most privileged way to watch and get close to him."

The Pope always framed his message with a "thought of the day," and when he was finished, he moved silently to the back of the chapel to pray among the select attendees. 

As the Pope left, he made sure to personally greet every person gathered outside the chapel in the atrium.Image
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Apr 13
Historical origins of popular English phrases - a thread 🧵

1. "Close But No Cigar"

Meaning: Said to someone who falls slightly short of a successful outcome

Historical Context: The phrase originated from traveling fairs & carnivals during the 1800s, when cigars were given out as prizes to games. As many carnival games seem designed to feel winnable, but then are nearly impossible to actually win, people were often said to be, "close, but no cigar."Image
2. "Rule of Thumb"

Meaning: A general guide or principle, based on experience or estimation rather than exact science.

Historical Context: The phrase is thought to be derived from an old English law that said a husband could beat his wife, so long as the stick he used was no thicker than his thumb. Judge Sir Francis Buller supposedly made the ruling in 1782 and became known as "Judge Thumb."

Another theory is that the phrase came about from the many ways a thumb can be used to estimate or measure things. Whether a seamstress roughly estimating an inch of fabric or a brewmaster dipping their thumb into the beer to get the temperature, there are plenty of old-school ways that a "rule of thumb" was likely used.

The phrase is found in Sir William Hope's The Compleat Fencing Master (1692): "What he doth, he doth by rule of Thumb, and not by Art."

James Kelly's 'The Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs' (1721) includes: "No Rule so good as Rule of Thumb, if it hit", meaning a practical approximation.Image
3. "Pushing the Envelope"

Meaning: To surpass normal limits; to try something daring or risky.

Historical Context: While it might sound like a saying that originated in an office, "pushing the envelope" originally referred to aeronautics. In space flight, the "envelope" refers to performance limits that can't be surpassed safely.

The phrase made its way into the everyday vernacular when it appeared in Tom Wolfe's 1979 nonfiction book The Right Stuff, which discussed the pilots of experimental rocket-propelled aircraft. The phrase used is "pushing the outside of the envelope."Image
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Apr 3
Summertime in the 1970s - a thread

1. At the beach in the late '70s
2. Dancing at the Disco in the late 1970s
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Mar 30
The true size of countries - a thread 🧵

The Mercator Projection distorts the true size of many landmasses - here's how big they really are

1. Greenland on the Equator shows its actual size Image
2. California moved onto the UK Image
3. The size of Brazil over the continental United States Image
Read 10 tweets
Feb 25
10 things you didn't know about Fort Knox

(a thread 🧵)

1. Fort Knox Was Named For The First US Secretary Of War

The first fortifications at the future location of Fort Knox were established during the American Civil War. Located in Kentucky, the site served as a military outpost from the late 19th century until the first World War.

In 1918, the government set up an artillery training facility on 40,000 acres of land in Kentucky and named it Camp Henry Knox, after the first Secretary of War.

After World War I ended, the number of troops at the camp was reduced, with part of the land briefly becoming a national forest.

In 1931, Camp Knox became permanent home to the Mechanized Cavalry, and in 1932, the name changed to Fort Knox.Image
2. Very Few People Have Seen The Gold At Fort Knox

In August 2017, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin visited the gold vault at Fort Knox and, along with a few other politicians, surveyed the site. Kentucky congressman Brett Guthrie also made the trip, and issued the following statement:

"It was an honor to join Secretary Mnuchin, Governor Bevin, and Senator McConnell to visit the depository yesterday - the first time visitors have been allowed at the facility since members of Congress inspected the depository in 1974... I am glad to report that everything at the depository looked to be secure and in order."

The last Congressional visit prior to this occurred in 1974. To date, only one US president has been inside the vault - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who served as president when the US Bullion Depository within Fort Knox was established.Image
3. The Gold Vault Has A Door That Weighs 22 Tons

The gold vault at Fort Knox is "encased in 16,000 cubic feet of granite and 4,200 cubic yards of cement." The door weighs 22 tons and is 21 inches thick, and the roof is bomb proof.

The vault can withstand guns, blowtorches, and other incendiary devices.Image
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