On learning that weather erodes granite one inch every 100,000 years, sculptor Gutzon Borglum added an extra three inches to each president’s features on Mount Rushmore.
“Three inches would require 300,000 years to bring the work down to the point that I would like to finish it,” he said. “In other words, the work will not be done for another 300,000 years, as it should be.”
The Ryugyong Hotel is a 105-story skyscraper under construction in Pyongyang, North Korea. Construction began in 1987 with planned completion in 1989. However, after several delays, construction was eventually halted in 1992; due to widespread economic disruptions in North Korea and shortages of raw materials. The massive concrete shell stood topped out but without windows or interior fittings for the next sixteen years.
The building rises to a height of 330 meters (1,080 ft), making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang’s skyline and by far the largest structure in North Korea. Construction of the Ryugyong was intended to be completed in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989; had this been achieved, it would have held the title of world’s tallest hotel.
In 2008 construction resumed, and the exterior was completed in 2011. It was planned to open the hotel in 2012, the centenary of Kim Il-sung's birth. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was canceled. As of 2018, the building remains unopened and has been called the tallest unfinished building in the world.
The expression “riding shotgun” is derived from the days of stagecoach travel when a special armed employee of stage would sit beside the driver, carrying a shotgun to provide an armed response in case of a threat to the cargo, which was usually a strongbox.
Absence of an armed person in that position often signaled that the stage was not carrying a strongbox, but only passengers. However, apparently the phrase “riding shotgun” was not coined until 1919. It was later used in print and especially film depictions of stagecoaches and wagons in the Old West in danger of being robbed or attacked by bandits.
If you want to keep something safe, build a mountain fortress above the Arctic Circle. That’s the thinking behind the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Almost every nation keeps collections of native seeds so local crops can be replanted in case of an agricultural disaster. The Global Seed Vault, opened in 2008 on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed as many as half the seed banks in developing countries are at risk from natural disasters or general instability. The vault can hold up to 4.5 million samples, which will be kept dry at about 0°F (-18°C). Even if the facility loses power, the Arctic climate should keep the seeds viable for thousands of years.
Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. To the present date, all the American military casualties of the sixty years following the end of World War II—including the Korean and Vietnam Wars—have not exceeded that number. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock. There are so many in surplus that combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan were able to keep Purple Hearts on-hand for immediate award to wounded soldiers on the field.