Derinkuyu - the underground city

Derinkuyu - the underground city

The achievements of ancient cultures tend to be woefully unappreciated -- we think of the people as loincloth-wearing savages, and when we're proven wrong by some impressive feat of engineering, we just make a bunch of documentaries about aliens. But the engineers of times past were nothing to sneer at, and some of their accomplishments make ours seem slightly embarrassing.

Derinkuyu's underground city was discovered in the 1960s in Turkey, when a modern house above ground was being renovated. Much to the relief of everyone present, the 18-story underground city was abandoned and not swarming with mole people.

Hidden for centuries right under everyone's noses, Derinkuyu is just the largest of hundreds of underground complexes built around the eighth century B.C. To understand just what's so phenomenal about this feat of engineering, imagine someone handing you a hammer and chisel and telling you to go dig out a system of underground chambers capable of sustaining 20,000 people. And not one of those fancy modern chisels, either -- we're talking about something dug with whatever excavating tools they had 2,800 years ago.

The city was probably used as a giant bunker to protect its inhabitants from either war or natural disaster, but its architects were clearly determined to make it the most comfortable doomsday bunker ever. It had access to fresh flowing water -- the wells were not connected with the surface to prevent poisoning by crafty land dwellers. It also has individual quarters, shops, communal rooms, tombs, arsenals, livestock, and escape routes. There's even a school, complete with a study room.

It was opened to visitors in 1969 and till date about half of the underground city is accessible to tourists.

The Conjuring (2013) Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston based on the case files of Ed & Lorraine Warren

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Vera Farmiga Born: August 6, 1973 Birthplace: Passaic County, New Jersey, USA	Lorraine Warren Born: January 31, 1927 Birthplace: Connecticut, USA
Patrick Wilson Born: July 3, 1973 Birthplace: Norfolk, Virginia, USA	Ed Warren (born Warren Edward Miney) Born: September 7, 1926 Birthplace: Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA Death: August 23, 2006 (complications from a stroke)
Lili Taylor Born: February 20, 1967 Birthplace: Glencoe, Illinois, USA	Carolyn Perron Born: August 1939
Ron Livingston Born: June 5, 1967 Birthplace: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA	Roger Perron Born: August 27, 1935 Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Shanley Caswell Born: December 1991 Birthplace: Sarasota, Florida, USA	Andrea Perron Born: October 10, 1958 Birthplace: Rhode Island, USA
Hayley McFarland Born: March 29, 1991 Birthplace: Oklahoma, USA	Nancy Perron Born: February 8, 1960 Birthplace: Willimantic, Connecticut, USA
Joey King Born: July 30, 1999 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA	Christine Perron Born: January 30, 1961 Birthplace: Willimantic, Connecticut, USA
Mackenzie Foy Born: November 10, 2000 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA	Cindy Perron Birthplace: Willimantic, Connecticut, USA
Kyla Deaver Born: March 25, 2003	April Perron Birthplace: Willimantic, Connecticut, USA

The Moses Bridge (The Netherlands)

"The Moses Bridge" (The Netherlands) as it appears to have divided the moat's waters. This design allows people to cross virtually undetected from water level except for a few bobbing heads. Its construction is made entirely of wood and waterproofed with foil.

A man broke into Buckingham Palace spending half hour eating cheddar cheese and wandering around.

Michael Fagan incident

A man broke into Buckingham Palace spending half hour eating cheddar cheese and wandering around. He tripped several alarms, but they were faulty. He viewed the royal portraits and rested on the throne for a while. He drank half a bottle of wine before becoming tired and leaving.

Break-ins: It was the 31-year-old's second attempt to break into Buckingham Palace that was successful. On his first attempt he scaled a drainpipe, briefly startling a housemaid who called security. But upon returning to the scene, Fagan had disappeared, leading security to believe the housemaid was mistaken. Fagan entered through an unlocked window on the roof and spent the next half hour eating cheddar cheese and crackers and wandering around. He tripped several alarms, but they were faulty. He viewed the royal portraits and rested on the throne for a while. He then entered the postroom, where Diana, Princess of Wales had hidden presents for her first son, William. Fagan drank half a bottle of white wine before becoming tired and leaving.

On the second attempt, an alarm sensor detected him. A member of the palace staff thought the alarm was faulty, and silenced it. En route to see the Queen, Fagan broke a glass ashtray, lacerating his hand.

The Queen woke when he disturbed a curtain, and initial reports had Fagan sitting on the edge of her bed talking to her for about ten minutes. But in a 2012 interview, he clarified that she in fact left the room immediately, seeking security. She phoned twice for police but none came. Fagan then asked for some cigarettes, which were brought by a maid. When the maid did not return to base for some time, footman Paul Whybrew appeared. The incident happened as the armed police officer outside the royal bedroom came off duty before his replacement arrived. He had been out walking the Queen's Corgis.

Arrest: Since it was then a civil wrong rather than a criminal offence, Michael Fagan was not charged for trespassing in the Queen's bedroom. He was charged with theft (of the half bottle of wine), but the charges were dropped when he was committed for psychiatric evaluation. He spent the next six months in a mental hospital before being released on 21 January 1983. It was not until 2007, when Buckingham Palace became a "designated site" for the purposes of section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, that what he did became criminal. Fagan's mother later said, "He thinks so much of the Queen. I can imagine him just wanting to simply talk and say hello and discuss his problems.

B377PG - NASA's Super Guppy Turbine cargo plane

B377PG - NASA's Super Guppy Turbine cargo plane, first flew in its outsized form in 1980. Photo: NASA/DFRC

Alexander Lippisch's Aerodyne, a wingless experimental aircraft

Alexander Lippisch's Aerodyne, a wingless experimental aircraft. The propulsion was generated by two co-axial shrouded propellers (1968). Photo: Flying Magazine, Apr 1960

The Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano was a nine-wing flying boat

The Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano was a nine-wing flying boat intended to be a prototype for a 100-passenger trans-atlantic airliner. It featured eight engines and three sets of triple wings. Two pontoons, mounted on each side, were intended to give the aircraft stability. Only one example of this aircraft was built by Caproni. The prototype only made one short flight on 4 March 1921 over Lake Maggiore in Italy. The aircraft attained an altitude of only 18 m (60 ft), then dived and crashed, breaking up on impact. The pilot escaped unscathed. Caproni had the wrecked airplane towed to shore, and announced that he would rebuild it, but that night it burned to ashes.