Japanese Bomb Explosion

In November 1944, fifty years before Predator drones swept on the scene, the Japanese military devised a low-tech method of dropping bombs on foreign soil that didn’t require pilots. All it took was balloons—specifically, 9,000 33-foot-diameter “balloon bombs,” or Fu-Gos, each carrying 35 pounds of explosives.

Released from Japanese shores, these balloons were designed to rise to 30,000 feet then ride the jet stream east, making their way toward the U.S. in about three days. At that point, an altimeter would trigger a reaction that would jettison the bombs, which would explode once they landed, whipping up fires and panic across the country.

That, at least, was the plan. The Japanese would soon learn that you should never place your hopes of winning a war in the hands of the wind. Only a few hundred of these balloons made it to the States, and even fewer exploded. Plus, apparently the Japanese hadn’t checked the weather: The balloons landed during a cold, damp winter, sparking only a few brush fires that didn’t do much damage. One balloon landing in Nevada was picked up by cowboys and turned into a hay tarp. In Montana, two lumberjacks stumbled across a balloon with Japanese markings and the undetonated bomb still attached. Seven fire balloons in total were turned in to the Army, and as sightings continued to pop up everywhere from Alaska to Texas to Iowa, Americans started wondering what was up.

In January 1945, Newsweek ran an article titled "Balloon Mystery." At that point, the U.S. Office of Censorship stepped in, asking that media outlets refrain from mentioning the balloons, lest this give the Japanese the impression their attack had been a success, which might encourage them to send more. So the media kept their mouths shut. The Japanese, figuring there was no way Americans could keep this big a secret, were forced to conclude that their balloons had failed, and discontinued their use. Nonetheless, Japanese propaganda broadcasts boasted that their balloons had caused huge fires, widespread mayhem, and death counts as high as 10,000.

Only one balloon bomb claimed any American lives, and it was more of a sad tragedy than a military triumph: Five kids and their pregnant Sunday school teacher, Elyse Mitchell, came across the balloon in Oregon during a picnic in the woods. As Mitchell’s husband explained, "[One of the kids] came over and told us that there was a white object near by. We went to investigate. It blew up and killed them all." Mrs. Mitchell, Joan Patzke (11), Dick Patzke (13), Eddie Engen (13), Jay Gifford (12), and Sherman Shoemaker (12) became the only World War II casualties in the continental U.S., although they were hardly the sort of PR coup that would buoy Japanese spirits.

After their death, the media blackout was lifted to make Americans aware of the threat. Parks were filled with posters depicting what the balloons looked like, and warnings to not mess with them.

At the end of the day, Japan’s balloon bombs boasted a kill rate of only .067 percent. It was a flop as far as secret weapons go, although the Japanese get points for creativity. And remnants of these balloon bombs still exist, with parts being found as recently as 1992. So if you spot a balloon in the woods, steer clear—and take a moment to appreciate the fact that you may be witnessing one of the best-kept secrets of World War II.

Sources:-

Japanese Balloon Bomb attack on the US

Source from wikipedia

Lotto Rules Probe Key To Payoff In Virginia

Representatives of an Australian syndicate came to Virginia lottery headquarters to claim their $27 million jackpot, but lottery officials told them they might not be paid.

The International Lotto Fund, which includes more than 2,500 investors from Australia, confirmed that it held the winning ticket from the Feb. 15 Lotto drawing, ending a two-week mystery that has attracted national attention.

The fund also confirmed that it used another Australian firm to work out the logistics of buying the millions of lottery tickets and hired a Richmond accounting firm as a courier to purchase them.

Lottery officials say it is the first time a foriegn corporation has tried to corner an American lottery, and the first time any corporation has claimed a prize in Virginia.

The Lotto Fund reportedly spent about $5 million on lottery tickets. Its winning ticket would entitle it to $1 million a year for the next 20 years.

The Australians also claim to have a substantial number of smaller winners from the same lottery drawing-tickets with three to five correct numbers. Lottery  Director Kenneth Thorson said the payoff for those could exceed $500,000.

But before it pays anything, the lottery and the  attorney general`s office will investigate whether the syndicate broke lottery regulations, Thorson said. They will decide in a few days whether the Australians will be paid.

The investigation will be separate from other probes into the bulk sales launched by Virginia State Police, the FBI and Australian authorities.

Thorson suggested that if the ticket was declared invalid, the lottery could refund the Australians as little as $1, the cost of a ticket. No winning ticket in Virginia has ever been declared invalid.

Two representatives of the Australian firms, Joseph Franck and Robert Hans Roos, and two Richmond attorneys showed up at lottery headquarters Thursday to meet with lottery officials and representatives of the attorney general.

Stefan Mandel, a reputed numbers wiz who once cornered a $1.1 million Australian lottery and who Thorson said was affiliated with the syndicate, could not be reached for comment. An aide from Mandel`s Melbourne office, who would not give her name, said, ``The meeting went very well. We`re looking forward to payment.``

At a press conference, Thorson described the meeting as ``quite cordial.`` He said the men provided information about how they had tried to buy enough tickets to cover all 7.1 million possible six-number Lotto combinations. But it was still unclear, he said, whether the purchase of the winning ticket violated any lottery rules.

``The regulations have always been applied to the letter`` of the law, Thorson said. ``And the question here is what . . . does that letter require. ``It is just as likely that we will honor the claim as that we won`t,``

he said. ``The lottery is not reneging on anything. If the person has a valid ticket they get the prize.``

The lottery requires that tickets be bought at a licensed location. But the Australian firm, using cashiers` checks, paid for $2.4 million worth of lottery tickets at the Farm Fresh supermarket chain`s central headquarters in Norfolk, which Thorson said was not licensed to sell tickets.

The winning ticket was picked up at one of the chain`s Chesapeake stores, which was licensed to sell the ticket.

Thorson acknowledged the lottery was uncertain where the winning ticket itself was paid for and might never determine the location. The lottery knows some tickets were paid for at the headquarters. In other instances, tickets were purchased at the stores, he said.

One gambling law expert said Friday that the Australians were likely to receive the prize money, even if rules were broken when the group bought the ticket.

``If they`ve got a winning ticket, I`m assuming they`re going to get the money,`` said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles.

Rose said if the ticket holders purchased the ticket and followed what they thought were proper procedures, it would be difficult for the Virginia Lottery to invalidate the ticket.

Reference:

Virginia Lottery

Lotteries Virginia

Candle clock

A candle clock is a thin candle with consistently spaced markings (usually with numbers), that when burned, indicate the passage of periods of time. While no longer used today, candle clocks provided an effective way to tell time indoors, at night, or on a cloudy day. A candle clock could be easily transformed into a timer by sticking a heavy nail into the candle at the mark indicating the desired interval. When the wax surrounding the nail melts, the nail clatters onto a plate below.

It is unknown where and when candle clocks were first used. The earliest reference to their use occurs in a Chinese poem by You Jiangu (520 CE). Here, the graduated candle supplied a means of determining time at night. Similar candles were used in Japan until the early 10th century.

You Jiangu's device consisted of six candles made from 72 pennyweights of wax, each being 12 inches high, of uniform thickness, and divided into 12 sections each of one inch. Each candle burned away completely in four hours, making each marking 20 minutes. The candles were placed for protection inside cases made of a wooden frame with transparent horn panels in the sides. Similar methods of measuring time were used in medieval churches and earlier, famously by King Alfred the Great of England, first by counting the number of candles of a specific size burnt, and later by use of a graduated candle.

Al-Jazari

The most sophisticated candle clocks known to date, however, were those of Al-Jazari in 1206.^[1] It included a dial to display the time and, for the first time, employed a bayonet fitting, a fastening mechanism still used in modern times.^[2] Donald Routledge Hill described one of al-Jazari's candle clocks as follows:

The candle, whose rate of burning was known, bore against the underside of the cap, and its wick passed through the hole. Wax collected in the indentation and could be removed periodically so that it did not interfere with steady burning. The bottom of the candle rested in a shallow dish that had a ring on its side connected through pulleys to a counterweight. As the candle burned away, the weight pushed it upward at a constant speed. The automata were operated from the dish at the bottom of the candle.^[1]

References

Turner, Anthony J. The Time Museum, Volume I, Time Measuring Instruments; Part 3, Water-clocks, Sand-glasses, Fire-clocks

1. Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", Scientific American, May 1991, pp. 64-9 (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)
2. Ancient Discoveries, Episode 12: Machines of the East, History Channel, retrieved 2008-09-07