Watching figure skater Adam Rippon compete, it’s easy to forget that he’s on skates. His dramatic, sharp movements – and facial expressions to match–emulate those of a professional dancer, at once complementing and contradicting his smooth, unfettered movement along the ice. He hides the technical difficulty of every jump and spin with head-flips and a commanding gaze, a performer as well as an athlete. But there’s one thing Rippon won’t be hiding – this year, he and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy will become the first openly gay American men to ever compete in the Winter Olympics.
The world is a very different place right now. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many countries around the world have restricted travel and implemented quarantine measures; others have entered into complete lockdown. Restaurants, bars, and tourist attractions have closed their doors. People are working from home instead of driving to the office. As a result, cities that usually teem with people have turned empty and quiet. (Remember those early scenes of deserted London in 28 Days Later? Things are eerily similar to that right now.) To give you a glimpse of what a world practicing social distancing looks like, we've rounded up photos of streets, highways, and bridges around the world—sites that usually include bumper-to-bumper traffic and tourists crammed together like sardines—sitting empty.
Alan Turing (June 23, 1912 - June 7, 1954) was once a hero in England. He helped the government crack German Codes during World War II and developed the Turning Machine, establishing the framework for today's modern computers and was generally regarded as one of the nation's brightest stars. Then, in 1952, Turing was outed, leading to a very public trial, conviction and chemically castrated for "gross indecency." He killed himself two years later. Now, 60+ years on, the British government is honoring Turing by including him in a series of twelve new "Britons of Distinction" stamps set to be released to coincide with the year of the 100 anniversary of his birth. George Broadhead, secretary of the Humanist group the Pink Triangle Trust, celebrated Turing's inclusion in a press release. "This is richly deserved," he wrote. "It is well known that Turing was gay, but perhaps not so well known that he was a staunch atheist.
The Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944 marked the beginning of the liberation of occupied Western Europe. The Security Service made a significant contribution to the success of D-Day through its double agent Juan Pujol, codenamed GARBO, who has been described as the greatest double agent of the Second World War. This is the remarkable story of GARBO and how he deceived the German High Command. The Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944 marked the beginning of the liberation of occupied Western Europe. The Security Service made a significant contribution to the success of D-Day through its double agent Juan Pujol, codenamed GARBO, who has been described as the greatest double agent of the Second World War. This page relates the remarkable story of GARBO and how he deceived the German High Command.
