From today's featured article
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Hurricane Iris of 2001 was the most destructive tropical cyclone in Belize since Hurricane Hattie in 1961. Iris was the second-strongest storm of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season, behind Hurricane Michelle. While passing south of the Dominican Republic, Iris dropped heavy rainfall that caused landslides, killing eight people. Later, the hurricane passed south of Jamaica, where it destroyed two houses. On reaching the western Caribbean Sea, it rapidly intensified to Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. A small hurricane with an eye of only 7 miles (11 km) in diameter, it reached peak winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) before making landfall in Belize. The storm killed 24 people there, including 20 who died when a scuba diving boat capsized near Big Creek. It also killed eight people and damaged about 2,500 homes in neighboring Guatemala, and later dropped heavy rainfall in southern Mexico, where two people died. Destruction in Belize totaled US$250 million. Because Iris was compact, the damage was confined to 72% of the houses in the Toledo district and 50% of the houses in the Stann Creek district. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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Fossilised human footprints at Ciampate del Diavolo
- ... that the oldest known human footprints in continental Europe (pictured) are called "devil's trails" by locals?
- ... that Edward Iacobucci has followed in his father Frank Iacobucci's footsteps as dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law?
- ... that Chinese Ding ware of the 11th century has been described both as porcelain and as stoneware?
- ... that Ingmar Bergman based his script for the Palme d'Or-winning film The Best Intentions on the life of his father Erik Bergman, salvaged from scattered notes, stories, and conversations?
- ... that the Wrecking Crew supplied the instrumental tracks on dozens of hits recorded in Los Angeles during the 1960s, including "California Dreamin'", "Mr. Tambourine Man", "He's a Rebel", and "Good Vibrations"?
- ... that Laurence Fishburne played Josh Hall, a member of "daytime television's first African American family," on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live?
- ... that when Talbieh Refugee Camp first opened, most of its inhabitants were displaced persons, as opposed to refugees?
- ... that syndicated cartoonist Mark Tatulli received a note from a former teacher saying "I can't believe you're still doing the same crap you were doing in junior high, and now getting paid for it"?
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In the news
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Artist's rendering of Rosetta
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On this day...
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