“Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur. The earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584) where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Portrait of the dwarf, Tom Thumb standing on the hand of a Guardsman. Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838 – 1883) was nicknamed General Tom Thumb by P T Barnum, the circus owner. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images). Circa 1875

A new species of monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and identified as Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is seen in this undated photograph from an article published September 12, 2012 in the science journal PLOS One. The monkey was first seen in 2007 by researchers John and Terese Hart of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Research Project. The finding of C. lomamiensis represents only the second new species of African monkey to be discovered in the past 28 years, according to the research article. (Photo by Hart J. A., Detwiler K. M., Gilbert C. C./Reuters)

The truth can never be seen right away. Only by looking from a certain angle can we view the true nature of things. At other times, only with the help of some special object can we discern order in chaos. Anamorphosis is a form of art that allows us to see an object only by viewing it from a certain angle or by using cylindrical or conical mirror. Unsurprisingly, the first person in history to ever use this type of technique was the Leonardo Da Vinci. During late Renaissance period this technique was popularized as a children’s toy. Now, however, few people use this form of imagery due to its intricacy. Istvan Orosz, born in 1951, is one of the few people who specialize in anamorphosis. In our opinion, his most stunning piece of art is the one where a shipwreck scene turns into a portrait when viewed through a cylindrical mirror. (Photo by Jonty Hurwitz)

Flames quickly grow as firefighters set a backfire on the eastern front of the Park Fire, which has grown to 360,141 acres and is 12 percent contained, on July 28, 2024 near Chico, California. Strong winds and dried vegetation fueled the fire that exploded 70,000 acres in the first 24 hours after a man allegedly pushed a burning car into a ravine to intentionally set the blaze. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)”. – Wikipedia (Photos by Alexandr Strannik, August 1986; Source: LiveJournal)

“A skydiver has made history by smashing the world record for the highest skydive after leaping from 128,097ft (39,044m). Daredevil Felix Baumgartner ascended to the edge of space in a pressurised capsule suspended beneath a giant helium balloon. He then jumped out, freefalling for four minutes and 19 seconds before opening his parachute”.

Photo: Baumgartner celebrates after successfully completing the jump. (Photo by Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Stratos)

A member of the Acorda Capoeira (Awaken Capoeira) group performs on a rooftop in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 24, 2016. In a favela with a history of violence between police and drug gangs, or armed battles between traffickers themselves, capoeira is an outlet that gives kids a sense of community – its practice a collective exercise blending characteristics of drum circles, sparring and tag-team gymnastics. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

A set of pictures taken by Kellie Netherwood on the northern-most island located in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland perfectly captures the spirit of the Scots: wild, free, and majestic. It is no wonder that Scottish people fought tooth and nail to gain their independence all throughout their history. The green fields, rocky hills, and the beautiful waterfalls all sing to the spirits of the Scots, instilling pride into everyone who considers this place to be their motherland. However, no matter what your origin may be, you cannot help being fascinated by the beauty of these landscapes, drawn to them as if by a powerful force. (Photo by Kellie Netherwood)