Showing results by narrator "Giovannie Cruz" in All Categories

Tax refunds are tantamount to loans to the government, repaid a few weeks or months late. But many people treat their tax refunds as a windfall—found money, to be spent on whatever extra-budgetary items they desire, much like an unexpected Christmas bonus or a winning lottery ticket. Easy come, easy go.

Yves Rossy is a pilot. Like most other pilots, he flies things. But unlike any other pilot, the thing he flies is himself.

Take out a loan and you may have to offer up something as collateral – an item of value that, if you fail to pay back the money owed, your creditor gets to take from you.

The USS O'Bannon was a warship used by the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. The destroyer's armament was impressive by any measure – depth charges for submarines, 17 anti-aircraft guns, torpedo tubes for ships and subs alike, and five 5"/38 caliber guns for surface targets.

In 2011, a total of 81,000 people were adopted by Japanese families. If you think that's a lot of babies changing families, though, you're wrong – but not because 81,000 is a small number.

The name Edward Martin is hardly a household one. At the pinnacle of his career – at least, the part that's relevant to this story – he competed in his hobby's world tournament three times.

Money does not grow on trees. Neither do pineapples, for that matter. Spaghetti? Nope, that doesn't grow on trees either. …Or does it?

On March 9, 2014, Neil Moore was in Wandsworth Prison, a maximum security prison in London, England, awaiting trial. Moore, whose modus operandi was fraud, had been charged with orchestrating a series of bank heists – pretending to be a bank official and, via a bit of social engineering, he had managed to convince (real) staffers at other financial institutions to wire him some cash.

The 1970 FIFA World Cup has a few unique claims it can make: it was the first and only time that Israel qualified for the final stage; it was also the only time that Argentina failed to qualify; and it was, to date, the only time that the qualification rounds helped spark a war.

If you've been to a major theme park, such as Disneyland, then you are likely aware of what the industry calls "costume characters." Those life-size, huggable, familiar faces, such as Mickey, Minnie and Winnie the Pooh, are some of the park's main attractions.

In September 2013, a New York City man named Antonio Ciccarello died as a result of a stab wound. About five days prior to his death, Ciccarello was commuting to work like he normally did, traveling from Manhattan's Lower East Side to Times Square. But this trip was different.

Paninis with ham and Colby cheese; Moroccan roast chicken breast; lentil, quinoa and eggplant salads; a make-your-own-gourmet-burger bar; chipotle pulled pork over brown rice; poached pears; porridge; and balsamic strawberry craft sodas – according to various news reports, those are some of the items on the menu at The Corner, a cafe in Sydney, Australia.

When you place a telephone call, magic happens. You hit some buttons, the phone makes some noises, and then the machines take over.

In 1983, a woman named Rita Quintero was found in a small Kansas town, wearing eccentric clothing and rummaging through trash cans for her next meal. Officials approached her, aiming to take stock of the situation, but Quintero appeared uncooperative.

As of this writing, the Gobi Desert in northern China/southern Mongolia encompasses about half a million square miles (about 1.3 million square kilometers) – and that's "as of this writing" because the Gobi Desert is growing.

At a few hundred dollars a ton, scrap metal is decently valuable – and it's most certainly a good source of extra revenue for those who run body shops, construction sites, junkyards and the like. And if you're a thief, it's also a pretty good thing to steal – not only is the demand for scrap metal rather robust (therefore making it pretty easy to find a willing buyer), but scrap metal also looks like any other metal, making tracing it back to its true owner very difficult.

As haircuts go, few in the mid-1980s were more famous than Brian Bosworth's. A mix of mullets and mohawks and lines, it really didn't matter.

Question: What was the first song ever played on the planet? Fair warning: the answer may surprise you.

If you're a dog owner, the first rule is – or, should be – to pick up after your dog. If you don't, bad things can happen, especially to the under soles of your neighbors' shoes – and, if they're neither observant nor careful, to their carpeting.

The Kiss Cam is a time-honored tradition of American sporting events. During time outs and other stoppages of play, the stadium events team – having already scoured the crowd for a target – focuses the cameras on a couple and puts their picture on the scoreboard.