Interesting Wikipedia articles?

[Krikkit]

glazbagun said:

The Trident thread has me looking up Railguns again. Such an awesome idea that will probably never get there. I particularly like the specifications required for any proposed self-guided railgun projectile:

US-NAVY said:

"The package must fit within the mass (< 2 kg), diameter (< 40 mm outer diameter), and volume (200 cm3) constraints of the projectile and do so without altering the center of gravity. It should also be able to survive accelerations of at least 20,000 g (threshold) / 40,000 g (objective) in all axes, high electromagnetic fields (E > 5,000 V/m, B > 2 T), and surface temperatures of > 800 deg C. The package should be able to operate in the presence of any plasma that may form in the bore or at the muzzle exit and must also be radiation hardened due to exo-atmospheric flight. Total power consumption must be less than 8 watts (threshold) / 5 watts (objective) and the battery life must be at least 5 minutes (from initial launch) to enable operation during the entire engagement. In order to be affordable, the production cost per projectile must be as low as possible, with a goal of less than $1,000 per unit."

Righto, boys, to the shed!

Yep, not much of an ask is it? Hah.

[cirian75]

Skii said:

What happened to 4 deep sea divers in 1983.

Not for the faint hearted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin

Yeew Gawds, thats gruesome, and I mean Hollywood over the top gruesome, but this really happened!

[Hooli]

Krikkit said:

glazbagun said:

The Trident thread has me looking up Railguns again. Such an awesome idea that will probably never get there. I particularly like the specifications required for any proposed self-guided railgun projectile:

US-NAVY said:

"The package must fit within the mass (< 2 kg), diameter (< 40 mm outer diameter), and volume (200 cm3) constraints of the projectile and do so without altering the center of gravity. It should also be able to survive accelerations of at least 20,000 g (threshold) / 40,000 g (objective) in all axes, high electromagnetic fields (E > 5,000 V/m, B > 2 T), and surface temperatures of > 800 deg C. The package should be able to operate in the presence of any plasma that may form in the bore or at the muzzle exit and must also be radiation hardened due to exo-atmospheric flight. Total power consumption must be less than 8 watts (threshold) / 5 watts (objective) and the battery life must be at least 5 minutes (from initial launch) to enable operation during the entire engagement. In order to be affordable, the production cost per projectile must be as low as possible, with a goal of less than $1,000 per unit."

Righto, boys, to the shed!

Yep, not much of an ask is it? Hah.

Sounds easy enough, one question - what does it need to do?

[Brother D]

"Wow! that wax work over there looks really realistic"

Erm...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_McCurdy

[Rostfritt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Motorist_G...

During the Jim Crow era in America, African Americans had their own magazine listing what rest stops, motels and petrol stations wouldn't refuse to serve them. Also listed 'Sundown Towns' where you had to get out before sunset.

[GOG440]

African "currency" used a lot in the slave trade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manilla_(money)

[Sway]

London Steam Main. Never knew such a thing existed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Hydraulic_P...

800psi across most of Central London is pretty impressive!

[glazbagun]

Something I read every so often- HMS Dreadought, a ship which made all others obsolete overnight and started an arms race.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(190...

Amazingly, she only served for sixteen years. The first 50 years of the 20th century must really have been a terrible time to live in Europe.

[Hooli]

Sway said:

London Steam Main. Never knew such a thing existed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Hydraulic_P...

800psi across most of Central London is pretty impressive!

I'd never heard of that either.

[Gilhooligan]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1

America's first nuclear reactor accident.

"Meanwhile, the third man was discovered around 11pm., impailed to the ceiling."

Edited by Gilhooligan on Saturday 30th January 10:21

[llewop]

Gilhooligan said:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1

America's first nuclear reactor accident.

"Meanwhile, the third man was discovered around 11pm., impaired to the ceiling."

and one of the theories for the cause... (2) a suicide-murder involving an affair with the wife of one of the other operators

I've always wondered how much truth there was in that theory! (first heard of it on a course a very very long time ago!)

[Gilhooligan]

llewop said:

Gilhooligan said:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1

America's first nuclear reactor accident.

"Meanwhile, the third man was discovered around 11pm., impaired to the ceiling."

and one of the theories for the cause... (2) a suicide-murder involving an affair with the wife of one of the other operators

I've always wondered how much truth there was in that theory! (first heard of it on a course a very very long time ago!)

It's the fact that they estimated the main control rod was removed 26 inches. When it only needed to be moved by 4 inches.
Crazy to think that such a potentially dangerous design was allowed to happen.
A fascinating story, even if it is pretty morbid.

[llewop]

Gilhooligan said:

It's the fact that they estimated the main control rod was removed 26 inches. When it only needed to be moved by 4 inches.
Crazy to think that such a potentially dangerous design was allowed to happen.
A fascinating story, even if it is pretty morbid.

indeed - but then sometimes the morbid stories help to understand how things can go wrong and to expect the unexpected leading to better controls and dumping the dumb ideas that are easy to fall over into disaster - the 'demon core' stories are in the same vein (I won't link, I'm certain it's been in this thread before)

[thatsprettyshady]

Jeremy Beadle turned up to 11:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranknet

In February 2009, "Dex" called a KFC restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Posing as a manager from the corporate office, he persuaded employees to douse the building with fire suppression chemicals and to then proceed outside, remove all of their clothing and urinate on each other. He claimed the chemicals were caustic and this would render them inert.[10] When "Dex" posted the audio to YouTube he described it as "Epic KFC Prank Call (greatest ever)...dex successfully convinces the 3 female employees to undress fully nude outside and urinate on each other." Many months later "Dex", posing this time as an insurance adjuster called the same KFC and had the victims describe their experiences while Pranknet members listened.[6]

[glazbagun]

What scumbags. Yet more malevolent and a great example of our submission to authority figures:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_search_phone...

wiki said:

The strip search phone call scam is a series of incidents that extended over a period of about ten years before an arrest was made in 2004. The incidents involved a man calling a restaurant or grocery store, claiming to be a police officer and then convincing managers to conduct strip searches of female employees.

[Hooli]

thatsprettyshady said:

Jeremy Beadle turned up to 11:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranknet

In February 2009, "Dex" called a KFC restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Posing as a manager from the corporate office, he persuaded employees to douse the building with fire suppression chemicals and to then proceed outside, remove all of their clothing and urinate on each other. He claimed the chemicals were caustic and this would render them inert.[10] When "Dex" posted the audio to YouTube he described it as "Epic KFC Prank Call (greatest ever)...dex successfully convinces the 3 female employees to undress fully nude outside and urinate on each other." Many months later "Dex", posing this time as an insurance adjuster called the same KFC and had the victims describe their experiences while Pranknet members listened.[6]

[robmarshh]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_(band)

On 8 April 1991, Dead committed suicide in the house owned by the band. He was found by Euronymous with slit wrists and a shotgun wound to the head. Dead's suicide note notably read "Excuse all the blood, cheers." and included an apology for firing the weapon indoors. Instead of calling the police, Euronymous went to a nearby store and bought a disposable camera to photograph the corpse, after re-arranging some items.[17] One of these photographs was later stolen and used as the cover of a bootleg live album Dawn of the Black Hearts.[18]

[xRIEx]

robmarshh said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_(band)

On 8 April 1991, Dead committed suicide in the house owned by the band. He was found by Euronymous with slit wrists and a shotgun wound to the head. Dead's suicide note notably read "Excuse all the blood, cheers." and included an apology for firing the weapon indoors. Instead of calling the police, Euronymous went to a nearby store and bought a disposable camera to photograph the corpse, after re-arranging some items.[17] One of these photographs was later stolen and used as the cover of a bootleg live album Dawn of the Black Hearts.[18]

IIRC, he purportedly cooked up some of Dead's brain, and used a piece of his skull as a pendant. Not sure how much was fact and how much was rumour. The book Lords of Chaos documents the events of the early '90s Norwegian black metal scene. Interesting read.

[LiquidGnome]

Not sure if this has been done already...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_inciden...

The Dyatlov Pass incident was an event that took the lives of nine hikers in mysterious circumstances on the night of February 2, 1959 in the northern Ural Mountains. The name Dyatlov Pass refers to the name of the group's leader, Igor Dyatlov.

[glazbagun]

Robert Smalls, born a slave in Confederate America and hired out by his master, stole a ship and piloted it to the Union. He helped persuade Lincoln to let blacks fight for the union, was given a share of the price for the ship he comandeered and, after serving as a captain in the Union navy, bought his former masters house post-war. Then he ran for congress and won a seat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls