Browsing: Travel

A Brief History On August 8, 2023, the island of Maui, Hawaii, became other than a tropical Eden when wildfires broke out and burned over 17,000 acres, killing over 100 people. Digging Deeper Oddly enough, Hawaii is the rainiest of the 50 United States, with an annual rainfall of almost 64 inches, more than 3.5 inches more than runner up Louisiana. Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, and has uneven rainfall, with 17 to 20 inches falling on the Southwestern coast compared to as much as 300 inches in the area of Haleakalā National Park near Hana.…

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A Brief History On July 28, 2018, Australian yacht skipper Wendy Tuck made sailing history by becoming the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.  Held every two years, this epic boat race is run by Clipper Ventures that supplies 11 identical yachts to skippers and crews to compete in since 1996, with only 2004 skipped. Digging Deeper A real test of skill and endurance, all participants are required to undergo a four-week training program before the race.  The same year that Wendy Tuck made sailing history, British skipper Nikki Henderson became the youngest person…

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A Brief History On July 26, 2016, engineer André Borschberg and psychiatrist and balloonist Bertrand Piccard, both from Switzerland, made history with their solar powered airplane, Solar Impulse, when they completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth by a solar powered fixed wing aircraft. Digging Deeper Solar Impulse was the second plane of that name, sometimes called Solar Impulse 2. A single seat monoplane with four electric motors each powering a propeller fed by electricity from photovoltaic cells on the wings, the plane is capable of cruising at 56 mph, slowing to 37 mph at night, with a max speed…

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A Brief History On June 19, 2005, the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, Indiana, suffered a mass exodus when 14 cars running on Michelin tires withdrew from the race due to tire failures by the French tire giant.  Only six cars remained to race on Bridgestone tires. Digging Deeper Michelin and Bridgestone combine with Goodyear to make up more than half of all tire sales in the world each year.  Each tire company pours millions of dollars into research to make their tires with the best wet and dry traction, best heat resistance, best gas mileage, least noise, longest…

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A Brief History On June 18, 2023, the deep-sea submarine Titan imploded 3,500 meters beneath the surface of the Atlantic, killing the crewman and the four tourists aboard.  The Titan was a commercial sub designed to take tourists to visit the resting place of the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912 Digging Deeper If you think ticket prices at Disney World are expensive, try the regular price of a seat in the Titan at $250,000, or the discount price of $150,000! Regardless of price, sometimes tourism goes bad, such as when a tourist airliner or helicopter crashes, a cruise ship…

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