In 1977 the Soviets began construction of a fleet of nuclear submarines that were to hold the title of “World’s Largest Submarine” for nearly 30 years (and counting!) – the Typhoon class.

The fictional “Red October” that was hunted in the movie was a Typhoon class sub but in reality there were only six completed (construction of a seventh was aborted half way through).

Despite their age we can see three Typhoon Submarines in reserve service at Zapadnaya Litsa Naval Base. However, it was reported in 2004 that these last three were to be decommissioned, so they may have since been finally dismantled.

If you scroll further up the river you’ll also find Oscar-II & Victor-III class submarines and there’s a ton more info on the Typhoons at Global Security.

Thanks: Eddie

Yesterday was the 20 year anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and Google has marked the occasion by providing high-resolution imagery of the whole area. In our thumbnail you can see the concrete sarcophagus which was built to attempt to contain the worst of the radiation within the destroyed reactor room.

We previously posted Chernobyl in June last year, but this new image update really gives you an idea of just how desolate this area has become.

Or has it? According to this article at the bbc the area surrounding Chernobyl has become an unexpected haven for all manner of wildlife, with hardly a Blinky in sight! In fact, even the sarcophagus itself has become a nesting ground for birds. Just to the north west is the deserted town of Prypyat where you can see the woods are slowly taking over from the abandoned tower blocks.

See Wikipedia for the full history of the Chernobyl Disaster.

Thanks to Juras Michiod, biseptol, Randall Berg, Eddie, Joshua Szentpaly, Yuri, Marco Olivo, Anton Matt Clark and Andrew Barrett.

This is a crop maze in Dingle, Ireland which celebrates the local hero, Fungi the Dolphin (it’s supposed to be a picture of a dolphin, and the text reads “Fungi 20 years in Dingle”). Apparently, Fungi is a bottlenose dolphin who took up residence in Dingle Harbour in 1984 and has been entertaining locals and tourists ever since. The Do Dingle Website says:

He is a curious and friendly animal, and has been photographed bringing gifts to divers of still living fish, clasped gently within his jaws

Make of this story what you will

Thanks to Tom.

1918, the height of the first world war and German forces have pushed far into France, coming dangerously close to the French capital. The Battle of Belleau Wood occurred near the Marne River between June 1st and June 26th. The battle was fought between a mainly US Allied force and a hodgepodge of German units. The battle is remembered because of both its extremely bloody nature and its close proximity to Paris. The Allies attempted to take the woods but were repeatedly forced back by artillery and machine gun fire. After retreating and re-taking the woods a total of six times the US Marines finally manged to force the German forces out. They’d fought off more than four divisions of Germans, often reduced to using only their bayonets or fists in close quarters combat. In order to rally his Marines, Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly used the now famous phrase:

“Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”

The battle is now remembered by a cemetery on the edge of the woods which has 2,289 graves, 250 for unknown service members, and the names of 1,060 missing men on the wall of a memorial chapel. There is also a nearby German cemetery where 8,625 men are buried; 4,321 of them rest in a common grave in which 3,847 are unknown.

Hopefully memorials like these will stop such wastes of human life from happening in the future.

Thanks: NoJhan

Hoping that it might just put their small town on the map, the people of Houten have built the world’s first specialist UFO landing strip. Honestly, I’m not making this up!

The tower at the centre of the western roundabout will change colour when the traffic intensity on the roads is low, signalling to alien craft that now is a good time to land (presumably one or two cars getting squished by a spacecraft is a worthwhile sacrifice).

Blue lights will then illuminate the 300m stretch of road to the eastern roundabout, where the landing pad is clearly marked with a big “U” (for UFO of course).

More information on this crazy ‘art’ on the English language website.

Thanks: Bram Zondag