The top of the Empire State Building was originally intended as a mooring place for dirigibles. (Although it has never been used for that purpose.)

There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit. Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles high. Cities are clearly distinct from surrounding countryside, and that's true even from the higher perch of the International Space Station, which circles the planet at about 250 miles up." Yahoo news.

BBC GETS LOST RECORDINGS                
The British Broadcasting Corp. had some holes in its radio archives so it put out a call for the pubic to submit home recordings of BBC broadcasts. The public responded and the BBC received a treasure trove of radio recordings, including an original broadcast of the Beatles heard only once, the London Telegraph reports. Also submitted was a 30-year-old concert by the Rolling Stones, a comedy sketch starring Monty Python actor Eric Idle and a piano recital by Hollywood actor Gregory Peck. A significant number of the home recordings, many on reel-to-reel tape, are being transferred to CD and will be rebroadcast on the BBC in the coming year.

Frank Wright, 36, was additionally ordered to undergo three years of supervision after his release, to undergo therapy and to pay $14,000 in restitution to two of his victims, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanford Cohen.

Wright pleaded guilty in April to charges that he violated the women's civil rights by forcing them to remove their clothes after he pulled them over for traffic violations. In one case, prosecutors said, he forced a woman to walk home wearing only her underwear.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas C. Platt imposed the maximum sentence on Wright, who could have received a minimum term of four years and three months, Cohen said.

Wright opted to plead guilty rather than face a trial that could have led to a longer prison term.

Court documents filed by federal prosecutors in February accused Wright of mistreating an additional nine women between March 1998 and December 2000.

Eight of the women have said they were driven out to isolated locations, sometimes in handcuffs, after they were stopped by Wright. The women in those instances were allegedly released without being forced to strip.

The ninth alleged victim, the documents said, was a teenager working at a fast-food restaurant whom Wright accosted by commenting "on the size of her breasts and on his desire to take her home and engage in sex with her."

The word, tattoo originates from the Tahitian word tattau, which means "to mark" and was first mentioned in explorer James Cook's records from his 1769 expedition to the South Pacific. However, some scientists believe that the earliest known evidence of tattooing dates back to markings found on the skin of the Iceman, a mummified human body that dates as far back as 3300 B.C.
More widely recognized are tattoos found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies dating from about 2000 B.C. Classical authors mention the use of tattoos in connection with Greeks, ancient Germans, Gauls, Thracians and ancient Britons.
Tattooing was rediscovered by Europeans when they came into contact with Polynesians and American Indians through their explorations. Because tattoos were considered so exotic in European and U.S. societies, tattooed Indians and Polynesians amazed crowds at circuses and fairs during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In some cultures, tattoos served as identification of the wearer's rank or status within a group. For instance, the early Romans tattooed slaves and criminals. Tahitian tattoos served as rites of passage, telling the history of
the wearer's life.