Feb 27, 2013

The 10 Longest Reigning Popes in History

The pope is the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle. Saint Peter, who was the first Bishop of Rome and the first pope, is thought to have reigned for over 30 years (AD 29 - 64?/67?), but the exact length is not reliably known.

pope-benedict-xviThe current office-holder is Pope Benedict XVI [image left], who was elected in a papal conclave on 19 April 2005 and is expected to hold office until today, 28 February 2013, the date on which he has said he will resign.

He will become the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Pope Celestine V in 1294.

The average length of the 265 papacies, prior to that of Benedict XVI, is about 7.2 years. Who are the 10 longest reigning popes? The following list gives the answer:

 

1. Pius IX (1846-1878): 31 years, 7 months and 23 days (11,560 days)

Pope-pius-iximage source

Pope Pius IX (May 13, 1792 – February 7, 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal infallibility. The Pope defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, meaning that Mary was conceived without original sin. Pius IX also granted the Marian title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorist priests. In addition to this, Pius IX was also the last Pope to rule as the Sovereign of the Papal States, which fell completely to Italian nationalist armies by 1870 and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. After this, he voluntarily became the first "Prisoner of the Vatican". He was beatified in 2000. [link]

 

2. John Paul II (1978-2005): 26 years, 5 months and 18 days (9,665 days)

John-Paul-IIimage source

Pope John Paul II (18 May, 1920 - 2 April, 2005), born Karol Józef Wojtyła, reigned as Head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the second-longest serving Pope in history and the first non-Italian since 1523.

A very charismatic figure, John Paul II was acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He is credited with helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. Though criticised by progressives for upholding the Church's teachings against artificial contraception and the ordination of women, and by traditionalists for his support of the Church's Second Vatican Council and its reform, he was also widely praised for his firm, orthodox Catholic stances.

He was one of the most-travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, he beatified 1,340 people and canonised 483 saints, more than the combined tally of his predecessors during the preceding five centuries. He named most of the present College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated a large number of the world's past and current bishops, and ordained many priests. A key goal of his papacy was to transform and reposition the Catholic Church. His wish was "to place his Church at the heart of a new religious alliance that would bring together Jews, Muslims and Christians in a great [religious] armada". On 19 December 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified on 1 May 2011. [link]

 

3. Leo XIII (1878-1903): 25 years, 5 months and 1 day (9,281 days)

Leo-XIIIimage source

Pope Leo XIII (March 2, 1810 - July 20, 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate.

He is known for intellectualism, the development of social teachings with his encyclical Rerum Novarum and his attempts to define the position of the Church with regard to modern thinking. He influenced Roman Catholic Mariology and promoted both the rosary and the scapular. He issued a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary, approved two new Marian scapulars and was the first Pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix. [link]

 

4. Pius VI (1775-1799): 24 years, 6 months and 15 days (8,962 days)

Pius-VIimage source

Pope Pius VI (December 27, 1717 – August 29, 1799), born Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 251st Pope from 1775 to 1799.

Pope Clement XIII named him treasurer of the Roman Church in 1766. [link]

 

5. Adrian I (772-795): 23 years, 10 months and 25 days (8,729 days)

Pope_Adrian_Iimage source

Pope Adrian I (c. 700 – December 25, 795) was pope from 1 February 772 to 25 December 795. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. [link]

 

6. Pius VII (1800-1823): 23 years, 5 months and 7 days (8,560 days)

Pope_Pius_VIIimage source

Pope Pius VII (August 14, 1742 – August 20, 1823), born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 252nd Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823. [link]

 

7. Alexander III (1159-1181): 21 years, 11 months and 24 days (8,029 days)

Pope-Alexander_IIIimage source

Pope Alexander III (c. 1100 – August 30, 1181), born Orlando Bandinelli, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 171st Pope was Pope from 1159 to 1181. [link]

 

8. St. Sylvester I (314-335): 21 years, 11 months and 1 day (8,005 days)

Pope-Sylvester-Iimage source

Pope Sylvester I (unknown – December 31, 335) served as pope from 31 January 314 to 31 December 335, succeeding Pope Miltiades. He filled the See of Rome at an important era in the history of the Catholic Church, yet very little is known of him. The accounts of his papacy preserved in the Liber Pontificalis (7th or 8th century) contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the Church by Constantine I, but it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus. [link]

 

9. St. Leo I (440-461): 21 years, 1 month, and 13 days. (7,713 days)

Pope-Leo-Iimage source

Pope Leo I, also known as Leo the Great (c. 391 or 400 – 10 November 461) was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 to 10 November 461.

He was an Italian aristocrat, and was the first pope to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452 and persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a Doctor of the Church, most remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo, a document which was foundational to the debates of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. The Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, dealt primarily with Christology, and elucidated the orthodox definition of Christ's being as the hypostatic union of two natures—divine and human—united in one person, "with neither confusion nor division". It was followed by a major schism associated with Monophysitism, Miaphysitism and Dyophysitism. [link]

 

10. Urban VIII (1623-1644): 20 years, 11 months and 24 days (7,664 days)

Urban_VIIIimage source

Pope Urban VIII (baptised April 5, 1568 – July 29, 1644), born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions. However, the massive debts incurred during his papacy greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence in Europe. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign. [link]

Feb 23, 2013

Awaiting the Oscars: The ‘Big Five’ Academy Award Winners ever

Three films have received the so-called ‘Big Five’ Academy Awards. The ‘Big Five’ Awards are those for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and screenplay — either Best Adapted Screenplay or Best Original Screenplay. This list is current as of the 85th Academy Awards nomination ceremony held on 24 February 2013.

This three winners were:

 

It Happened One Night (1934)

It-Happened-One-Night-1934image source

It Happened One Night is a 1934 American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable). The plot was based on the August 1933 short story Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which provided the shooting title. It Happened One Night was one of the last romantic comedies created before the MPAA began enforcing the 1930 production code in 1934. In spite of its title the movie takes place over several nights.

At the 7th Academy Awards for 1934, It Happened One Night became the first film ever to win the "Big Five" Academy Awards. Also, It Happened One Night was the last film to win both lead acting Academy Awards, until 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest also won both lead acting awards. [link] [imdb]

Award Winner
Best Picture Columbia Pictures (Frank Capra and Harry Cohn)
Best Director Frank Capra
Best Actor Clark Gable
Bes Actress Claudette Colbert
Best Screenplay Robert Riskin

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nestimage source

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

The film was the second to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay) following It Happened One Night in 1934, an accomplishment not repeated until 1991 by The Silence of the Lambs. [link] [imdb]

Award Winner
Best Picture Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz
Best Director Miloš Forman
Best Actor Jack Nicholson
Bes Actress Louise Fletcher
Best Screenplay Laurence Hauben and Bo Goldman

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The-Silence-Of-The-Lambsimage source

The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed over $272 million. It was the third film to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories. It is also the first Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film, and only the second such film to be nominated in the category, after The Exorcist in 1973. The film is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011. [link] [imdb]

Award Winner
Best Picture Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt, Ronald M. Bozman
Best Director Jonathan Demme
Best Actor Anthony Hopkins
Bes Actress Jodie Foster
Best Screenplay Ted Tally

See also:

Feb 18, 2013

Top 10 Largest Meteor Craters on Earth

impactA meteorite unexpectedly pierced through the atmosphere over the Urals Region in Russia on Friday morning and exploded about 12 to 15 miles above ground, creating a shockwave that damaged houses, shattered windows and injured more than 1,200 people.

According to NASA, the celestial body, which measures 17 meters in diameter and 10,000 tons in weight, crossed the atmosphere at the supersonic speed of 44,000 miles per hour and released a force of 500 kilotons at the time of its explosion, 30 times that of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Scientists in Russia are still searching Chelyabinsk for leftover debris.

Usually, a meteor crater will be formed when a meteor impacts another celestial body. A number of meteor craters can be found across the Earth, but few have diameters of 20 kilometers or above. Statistics show that on average the Earth experiences only one to three meteorite falls powerful enough to leave a 20 km diameter crater per million years.

Following are the top 10 largest meteor craters ever recorded in our planet’s 4.6 billion-year-long history. [via: China.org.cn]

 

10. Puchezh-Katunki Crater

Location: Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia

Diameter (km): 80

Age (mln years): 167

Coordinates: 56°58′N 43°43′E

Puchezh-Katunki_crater_Russia_lansatimage source

Puchezh-Katunki is a meteor crater in the Chkalovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in Volga Federal District, Russia. It is 80 km (50 mi) in diameter and is estimated to be 167 ± 3 million years old, placing it in the Middle Jurassic. The crater is not exposed to the surface, but appears as variation in the vegetation.

The central dome, ring depression, and ring terrace of the 80 km (50 mi) wide impact structure are nearly completely buried under Neogene and Quaternary sediments, with the only exposed impactites found on the banks of the Volga River. [link]

 

9. Chesapeake Bay Crater

Location: Virginia, United States

Diameter (km): 85

Age (mln years): 35.5

Coordinates: 37°17′N 76°1′W

Chesapeake_Crater_locationLocation of the crater in North America [image source]

The Chesapeake Bay impact crater was formed by a bolide that impacted the eastern shore of North America about 35 million years ago, in the late Eocene epoch. It is one of the best-preserved "wet-target" or marine impact craters, and the largest known impact crater in the U.S. Continued slumping of sediments over the rubble of the crater has helped shape Chesapeake Bay. [link]

 

8. Acraman Crater

Location: South Australia, Australia

Diameter (km): 85-90

Age (mln years): 580

Coordinates: 32°1′S 135°27′E

AcramanLake Acraman (impact crater) in South Australia [image source]

Acraman crater is a deeply eroded impact crater in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. Its location is marked by Lake Acraman, a circular ephemeral playa lake about 20 km in diameter.

The discovery of the crater and independent discovery of its ejecta were first reported in the journal Science in 1986. The evidence for impact includes the presence of shatter cones and shocked quartz in shattered bedrock on islands within Lake Acraman. [link]

 

7. Popigai Crater

Location: Siberia, Russia

Diameter (km): 100

Age (mln years): 35.7

Coordinates: 71°39′N 111°11′E

Popigai_crater_russiaimage source

The Popigai crater (or astrobleme) in Siberia, Russia is tied with Manicouagan Crater as the seventh largest verified impact crater on Earth. A large bolide impact created the 100 kilometres (62 mi) diameter crater 35.7 ± 0.2 (2σ) million years ago during the late Eocene (Priabonian stage). The crater is 300 km east from the outpost of Khatanga and 880 km (550 mi) NE of the city of Norilsk. It is designated by UNESCO as a Geopark, a site of special geological heritage. [link]

 

6. Manicouagan Crater

Location: Quebec, Canada

Diameter (km): 100

Age (mln years): 215

Coordinates: 51°23′N 68°42′W

Manicouaganimage source

The Manicouagan Crater is one of the oldest known impact craters on Earth and is located primarily in Manicouagan Regional County Municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Québec, Canada, about 300 km (190 mi) north of the city of Baie-Comeau. At roughly 213-215 million years old, Manicouagan is one of the youngest large astroblemes visible on the surface. Its northernmost part is located in Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality. It is thought to have been caused by the impact of a 5 km (3 mi) diameter asteroid about 215.5 million years ago (Triassic Period). It was once thought to be associated with the end-Carnian extinction event.

The crater is a multiple-ring structure about 100 km (60 mi) across, with its 70 km (40 mi) diameter inner ring its most prominent feature; it contains a 70 km (40 mi) diameter annular lake, the Manicouagan Reservoir, surrounding an inner island plateau, René-Levasseur Island. It is the earth's sixth largest confirmed impact crater according to rim-to-rim diameter. [link]

 

5. Kara Crater

Location: Nenetsia, Russia

Diameter (km): 120

Age (mln years): 70.3

Coordinates: 69°6′N 64°9′E

Kara_crateri_crater_Russia_lansatimage source

Kara is a meteor crater in the Yugorsky Peninsula, Nenetsia, Russia.

It is 65 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be 70.3 ± 2.2 million years old (Upper Cretaceous). Impactite outcrops located on the Baydarata Gulf shore north-east of the crater imply that the original size of the crater, now greatly eroded, was 120 km in diameter, making it the 4th largest on earth. The crater is not exposed to the surface. [link]

 

4. Woodleigh Crater

Location: Western Australia, Australia

Diameter (km): 60-160

Age (mln years): 364

Coordinates: 26°3′S 114°40′E

Woodleigh_gravityimage source

Woodleigh is a large meteorite impact crater (astrobleme) in Western Australia, centred on Woodleigh Station east of Shark Bay. A team of four scientists at the Geological Survey of Western Australia and the Australian National University, led by Arthur J. Mory, announced the discovery in the 15 April 2000 issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The crater is not exposed at the surface and therefore its size is uncertain. The original discovery team believe it may be up to 120 km (75 mi) in diameter, but others argue it may be much smaller, with one study suggesting a diameter closer to 60 km (37 mi). The larger estimate of 120 km, if correct, would make this crater tied for the fourth largest confirmed impact structure in the world, and imply a bolide (asteroid or comet) about 5–6 km (3.1–3.7 mi) in diameter. A more recent study suggest the crater could be between 60 to 160 km or more, and was produced by a comet or asteroid 6 to 12 km wide. [link]

 

3. Chicxulub Crater

Location: Yucatán, Mexico

Diameter (km): 180

Age (mln years): 65

Coordinates: 21°20′N 89°30′W

Yucatan_chix_craterimage source

The Chicxulub crater is a prehistoric impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named. The age of Chicxulub asteroid impact and the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg boundary) coincide precisely, leading to the conclusion that the cause of the crater was the same cause resulting in the demise of nonavian dinosaurs on Earth. The crater is more than 180 km (110 mi) in diameter, making the feature one of the largest confirmed impact structures on Earth; the impacting bolide that formed the crater was at least 10 km (6 mi) in diameter. [link]

 

2. Sudbury Basin

Location: Ontario, Canada

Diameter (km): 250

Age (mln years): 1849

Coordinates: 46°36′N 81°11′W

Sudbury_Wanapitei_WorldWindimage source

The Sudbury Basin, also known as Sudbury Structure or the Sudbury Nickel Irruptive, is a major geologic structure in Ontario, Canada. It is the second-largest known impact crater or astrobleme on Earth, as well as one of the oldest.

The basin is located on the Canadian Shield in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The former municipalities of Rayside-Balfour and Valley East lie within the Sudbury Basin, which is referred to locally as "The Valley". The urban core of the former city of Sudbury lies on the southern outskirts of the basin.

The Sudbury Basin is located near a number of other geological structures, including the Temagami Magnetic Anomaly, the Lake Wanapitei impact crater, the western end of the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, and the eastern end of the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone although none of the structures are directly related to each other in the sense of resulting from the same geophysical processes. [link]

 

1. Vredefort Crater

Location: Free State, South Africa

Diameter (km): 300

Age (mln years): 2023

Coordinates: 27°0′S 27°30′E

Vredefort_Dome_STS51I-33-56AAimage source

Vredefort crater is the largest verified impact crater to have existed on Earth, more than 300 km across. It was located in the present-day Free State Province of South Africa and named after the town of Vredefort, which is situated near its centre. While the crater itself has long since eroded away, remaining geological structures at its centre are known as the Vredefort Dome or Vredefort impact structure. In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest. [link]

Feb 6, 2013

Cell phone & Web: The Perfect Valentine’s Day Cupids! [INFOGRAPHIC]

Love and luck don’t always go hand in hand! Especially on Valentine’s Day, if you don’t play your cards right, before you know it you may be single and without a love. Many people take this lightly but women surely don’t as research suggests that more than half the women who are unhappy on Valentine’s Day end up breaking up with their partner. In situations like these, things can get tricky and luck won’t always be there to help you keep the fire of romance burning. But what will help you in this day and age is technology rather than any twist of fate! No matter how big your sweetheart’s expectations are, how little time you have, or how restricted your budget is technology will help you find the solutions to all your Valentine problems.

Read the full infographic below and find out how you can make the best of tech this Feb 14th too.

Cell Phone and Web: perfect Valentine Cupids
Source: MobiStealth

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