13 Things NOT To Put In The Microwave

Microwave ovens—you will find them in almost every residence whether house, condominium, apartment, or college dorm room.  They are also in many places of business, both for use by employees only and for use by the public.  Those for consumer use come in various sizes and power from the small .7 cu. ft. 700 watt dorm room size to those large enough to hold a turkey with a power rating of 1250 watts or higher.  They can be counter top models, installed under a cupboard, or above/part of the stove.

The first microwave oven was invented after World War II from radar technology developed during the war. The Radarange, as it was called, was first sold in 1946 but was prohibitively large and much too expensive for all but the largest of commercial applications.  The home-use microwave oven was introduced in 1955, but was still too large and expensive for general home use. The practical countertop home-use microwave oven was introduced in 1967. For those of us older folks, we quickly adapted to their use.  The younger among us grew up with them.

This list of 13 items relates to specific dangers from trying to heat certain items in your microwave.  I imagine we've all learned the hard way (no pun intended) what happens when we try to microwave bread-type products rather than heating them some other way.  That one is not dangerous, but it dries out the food and when the items start to cool they become too hard to eat. This can be somewhat circumvented by wrapping the food item (i.e. sandwich or whatever includes a bread type food) in a slightly damp paper towel.

1)  Aluminum Foil—we all know that one, it literally catches on fire.

2)  Stainless Steel—we all know not to put our metal pots and pans in the microwave.  That also includes our stainless steel travel coffee mugs.  In addition to possible harm to the microwave, the metal blocks the waves so it won't heat your cold coffee anyway.

3)  Plastic Storage Containers—these contain chemicals that could be toxic, or at the least alter the taste of the food you are reheating. Now there are plastic containers listed as being microwave safe. Verify this before you put it in the microwave.

4)  Chinese Take-Out Cartons—the metal handles on the carton are dangerous and the cartons themselves contain plastic.

5)  Styrofoam—this is plastic.

6)  Raisins—these smoke when heated in a microwave.

7)  Grapes—if raisins are bad, it follows that the fruit that gives us raisins are also a microwave no-no.  The grapes will catch fire.

8)  Plastic Bags—the type the store uses to bag your purchases in addition to the more heavy-duty storage type.  These are toxic and can catch fire.

9)  Brown Paper Bags—these are as dangerous in the microwave as the plastic bags the stores use.

10)  Eggs—if in the shell, they will explode.

11)  Dried Hot Peppers—chemicals are released.

12)  Sauce—without a lid, it will splatter all over the inside of the oven and create a messy cleanup.

13)  Nothing—to run an empty microwave can harm the appliance as there's nothing there containing water molecules for it to absorb.

7 Bizarre Predictions That Actually Came True

Prophecy…Making predictions…Seeing into the future—The province of charlatan fortune tellers or a reality to be taken seriously? And those predictions that do turn out to be true—lucky guesses or someone who has the gift?

Michel de Nostredame, better known today as Nostradamus, is probably the most famous prognosticator of all time. He lived in 16th century France and in 1555 published a book of his predictions written as quatrains (a poem or stanza using 4 lines). He seemed to write in some sort of code, not saying exactly what he meant. This has allowed people down through the ages to attach interpretations of his predictions to all kinds of happenings and always after-the-fact rather than prior to the event. Prediction is supposed to relate to something that has not yet happened. Is it valid to take an event that has already happened then back track it to a prediction?

Here are 4 of his predictions that, many centuries later, were applied to specific historical events. And after these, I have 3 more bizarre predictions that apparently came true.

PROPHECY:  "The blood of the just will be demanded of London, Burnt by the fire in the year 66."

EVENT:  1666 is the year of the Great Fire of London. It is estimated to have burned the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants. Yet there were few deaths reported.

PROPHECY:  "From the enslaved people, songs, chants and demands. The princes and lords are held captive in prisons: In the future by such headless idiots. These will be taken as divine utterances…before the war comes the great wall will fall. The king will be executed; his death, coming too soon, will be lamented. [The guards] will swim in blood. Near the River Seine the soil will be bloodied."

EVENT:  The French Revolution, a bloody rebellion in 1789, resulted in aristocrats and royalty being arrested and beheaded. The Bastille (a great walled fortress) was demolished and LouisXVI was executed in 1793.

PROPHECY:  "From the depths of the West of Europe a young child will be born of poor people. He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop; his fame will increase towards the realm of the East."

EVENT:  The person referred to in this prophecy is invariably taken to be Adolph Hitler, chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and the person responsible for World War II and the Holocaust.

PROPHECY:  "Volcanic fire from the centre of the earth will cause trembling around the new city: Two great rocks will make war for a long time. Then Arethusa will redden a new river…"

EVENT:  Dedicated Nostradamus followers interpret this prophecy as being a prediction of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. These avid believers in Nostradamus' predictive powers claim 'centre of the earth' as the trade center and 'new city' as New York and the 'two great rocks' as either the WTC towers or the religions of Christianity and Islam.

PROPHECY:  Spanish conquistadors in Mexico.

EVENT:  The power of prophecy definitely worked in favor of the Spanish. In 1519 Hernan Cortes was sent to conquer and claim Mexico for the Spanish crown. Luckily for Cortes, his arrival coincided with the Mayan calendar that said a man-god named Quetzalcoatl was due to return in order to reclaim the city of Tenochtitlan. The general consensus is that the Aztecs believed Cortes was that god—a mistake that aided Cortes in capturing Mexico with relative ease. However, there are many who dispute this and claim Cortes had the help of many smaller tribes in defeating the Aztecs.

PROPHECY:  Lincoln's assassination.

EVENT:  Three days before his death, Lincoln had an eerily prophetic nightmare. To quote his own words about this experience, "There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers. 'The President,' was his answer; 'He was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream."

PROPHECY:  Kennedy's assassination.

EVENT:  The morning of November 22, 1963, Jackie Kennedy saw a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News. It unnerved her…more for its appearance than its content. The ad accused Kennedy of being a communist sympathizer. The part that concerned her was the black border around the ad which she thought resembled a death notice. JFK tried to calm her by saying if someone wanted to shoot him from a window with a rifle that no one could stop it so there wasn't any reason to worry about it. The fact that Kennedy made such a comment on the day he was assassinated is coincidence enough but his mention of the precise method of his death is truly bizarre.

Most Protected Places On Earth

 

Last week I blogged about top secret sites around the world. This week I'm blogging about the most protected places on Earth. These two topics are not the same. Secret Sites asks the question 'what goes on there' where protected places simply refer to the value of contents that need to be protected whether people or valuable objects.

Criminals will go to any lengths to get a hold of high-value assets. Powerful institutions, meanwhile, have secrets to guard and V.I.P.s to protect. Over the centuries, that's created a kind of arms race between the bad guys and the security experts. Whether it's Fort Knox, Buckingham Palace, or the White House, protective measures seem to get stricter each year.

The White House (protecting the President of the United States)

Things have progressed a great deal since 1812 when President James Madison ordered 100 volunteer militiamen to guard the White House from imminent attack by the invading British. At that time, the volunteer army retreated from the advancing British forces. Today, the Secret Service provides the strict security that keeps the President and his family safe.

Needless to say, the Secret Service is tight-lipped about the details of guarding the White House. We do know that armed emergency response teams patrol the grounds and snipers are stationed on the White House roof. Other security measures include the steel perimeter fence, an array of sensors to detect intruders and bulletproof windows.

Lascaux Cave (protecting millenniums old art)

The Lascaux Cave is a complex of underground caverns in southwestern France's Dordogne region. It's home to some of the most extraordinary cave art anywhere in the world. Stunning images of bison, ibexes and horses dating back as much as 20,000 years cover the walls. It's no surprise that these priceless artworks, first discovered in 1940, are well protected.

Steel doors and security cameras keep guard. Unfortunately, these paintings—some of humans earliest artworks—have been under threat from unwanted microbes causing mold formation. These were introduced to the cave in the time when as many as 2,000 people visited each day. The caves were closed to the public in 1963, and now human visits are strictly limited for conservation and academic purposes.

Fort Knox (protecting the nation's gold)

Although the building looks something like a massive mausoleum, Kentucky's Fort Knox contains gold bullion rather than bodies. According to the MoneyWise website, the value of all the gold bars (27.5 pounds each) stashed there is around $190 billion. That calls for serious guarding including a vault door that weighs in at 20 tons.

The walls are made from granite with a concrete inner layer and overall the building includes 1,420 tons of steel. Guard posts overlook the entrance gate to the vault grounds which, are surrounded by a steel fence, and the building itself has sentry points at each of its corners. When it opened for business in 1936, the authorities imposed a strict rule, still in force today. In the words of the U.S. Mint's website, "No visitors are permitted in the facility." Fort Knox is actually the name of the army base that surrounds the United States Gold Depository. Being in the middle of an army base certainly provides increased security.

Houses of Parliament London, U.K. (protecting the United Kingdom's government)

The House of Lords and the House of Commons sit in separate chambers in this magnificent Gothic edifice completed in 1860. It's set on the River Thames and is watched over from the land side by a statue of Sir Winston Churchill. It has had its share of attacks over the years, although it was a different building that was nearly blown up in the Gunpowder Plot led by Guy Fawkes in 1605. He and his co-conspirators were apprehended and put to death.

The chances of anyone managing to smuggle explosives into Parliament's basement today as Fawkes did are pretty much nil. Tight security surrounds the building and although visitors are allowed they have to go through strict checks. If you visit, you'll pass through a scanner to confirm that you don't have any weapons. Once inside the building, you'll be covered by cameras at all times and will notice armed police patrolling.

Bank Of England Gold Vault, London (protecting England's gold)

Bank of England Gold Vault sits beneath the institution's imposing headquarters on London's Threadneedle Street, where it's been since 1734. The current vaults were constructed in the 1930s, and today there are some 400,000 gold bars stored there worth about $280 billion.

A tempting target for any bank robber, but the chances of any criminal making off with any of the Bank of England's gold are slim and growing slimmer. The vault's walls are eight feet thick. The doors require keys that are a foot long and only open when accompanied by voice-activated software.

Granite Mountain Records Vault, Utah (protecting the records of the Mormon Church)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church as it's better known, has its main temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Granite Mountain Records Vault, opened in 1965, is much less well known and set in the mountains near Salt Lake. This vault is carved some 700 feet into the heart of a mountain, has 14-ton doors and is said to be nuclear-bombproof.

But the Mormon secure vault doesn't store worldly wealth. It houses the Church's archives which include extensive genealogical records. There are 3.5 billion images recorded on microfilm which is in the process of being digitized.

ADX Florence Supermax Prison, Colorado (protecting the public from the most dangerous criminals)

The ADX Florence Prison in Colorado hosts some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. The Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui and Mexican cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are some of those incarcerated in America's highest security prison. Called by some The Alcatraz of the Rockies, the institution includes 12 gun towers, which are supplemented by armed patrols on the ground.

Once you're locked up in ADX Florence, you'll be spending up to 23 hours each day in a cell measuring 7 ft by 12 ft with solid concrete furnishings. When you leave your cell, you'll be wearing leg irons and handcuffs with waist chains. The prison includes 1,400 electronically operated doors and is surrounded by a 12 ft razor-wire fence. Even for notorious prison escapee El Chapo, ADX Florence is the end of the line.

Buckingham Palace, London (protecting the UK's reigning monarch)

Buckingham Palace is the principal residence of the United Kingdom's reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. It's a major draw for tourists who flock there to see the pageantry of the changing of the guard. But as the residence of the monarch, the palace is also one of the most closely guarded locations in the U.K. High walls topped by barbed wire and security cameras surround the palace grounds. Senior members of the royal family are protected round the clock by security personnel specially trained by the SAS.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway (protecting crop seeds and the food chain)

It's easy enough to understand the impulse to protect gold bullion, important data and national leaders, but what about seeds? It turns out that one of the world’s most secure locations is expressly designed to preserve seeds. The Global Seed Vault is on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, which lies about 650 miles from the North Pole. It's literally a giant secure refrigerator filled with seeds.

The Svalbard Vault contains some 930,000 varieties of crop seeds, stored at the end of a tunnel that runs for 430 feet into a mountain. Much of modern agriculture depends on a very few plant strains. So this massive seed bank is a kind of insurance policy against catastrophic crop failure. As one of the vault's managers said, "Inside this building is 13,000 years of agricultural history."

The Kremlin, Moscow (protecting Russia's president)

The Kremlin, the Russian president's official residence in central Moscow, is actually a whole estate with some 15 different buildings. The complex includes gardens, museums, and churches. Overlooking the Russian capital's Red Square, the Kremlin covers 68 acres and is surrounded by a 1.5-mile long wall. In some places this formidable barrier is 21 ft thick.

A special unit of elite troops guards the Kremlin. An unusual qualification each of them must reportedly have is the ability to hear a whisper from a distance of 20 ft. There are said to be around 500 soldiers attached to the Kremlin's dedicated guard unit with special forces, tanks, and armored vehicles on call near by.

Iron Mountain, Boyers, Pennsylvania (protecting mushrooms then data)

The large hole in Iron Mountain, which looms over Boyers, Pennsylvania, was originally an iron ore mine. In 1936, Herman Knaust procured the defunct mine which extended 220 feet below ground. He started a mushroom farm which was a success at first. In the1950s, the mushroom business began to fade. Knaust needed to find another use for his ex-mine. He hit upon the idea of storing documents and valuable items such as historic photos. However, now that we've moved into the era of digital data, the mine is being brought up to date with the installation of secure servers.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York Gold Vault (protecting more of the U.S. gold)

The United States Gold Depository at Fort Knox may be the best-known U.S. gold storage facility, but the vault at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York actually contains more gold. It's stored deep beneath the Federal Reserve Bank's downtown New York headquarters. The vault lies some 30 feet below the city's subway system.

Not all of the 6,190 tons of gold stored there belong to the U.S. government. Much of it belongs to foreign powers and international organizations, which obviously believe New York is a safe place for their bullion. According to the Fed's own website, the vault entrance is protected by "a 90-ton steel cylinder…set within a 140-ton steel-and-concrete frame." Motion sensors, armed guards and cameras monitor around the clock.

Surtsey Island, Iceland (protecting a preserved scientific UNESCO site)

A three-and-a-half-year eruption in the volcanic waters around Iceland was dramatic enough to form a whole new island when it ended 1967. Located roughly 20 miles off country's south coast, scientists took an early interest in the island's appearance even as the mass had barely cooled.

Researchers commandeered the island in 1964. Their aim was to study how animals and plants became established on newly-formed land. The 348-acre rock eventually attracted more than 330 species of invertebrates and various other bird, fungi and lichen species. To preserve the study area, the island is accessible to only a handful of scientists and was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2008.

Tomb of the Qin Shi Huang, China (protecting a priceless terracotta army)

In 1974, farmers in China's Shaanxi region unearthed a sizeable army of terracotta sculptures representing the military personnel of the country's first serving emperor, Qin Shi Huang. The detailed figurines, numbering in the thousands, date back to around 200B.C. The find filled the ruler's subterranean burial network and is considered among the most significant in history.

The grounds where the terracotta soldiers stand are among the most notable tourist attractions in China. The actual tomb is shrouded in secrecy. There are rumors of extreme security measures protecting the crypt from trespassers, and deadly levels of mercury have been recorded in the compound. About 2,000 of the incredible sculptures are visible to visitors. But several thousand more, along with other valuables, could still be concealed in the burial chamber.

Pluto’s Gate, Turkey (protecting ancient ruins)

Pamukkale, which translates from Turkish as "cotton castle," may sound like a slice of heaven on Earth. The city's tourism industry was founded on its thermal spas thousands of years ago, and today relies on its impressive collection of Roman ruins. There's a deadly enigma nestled among the ancient relics, and it's known as the Pluto's Gate.

Also known as the Gate to Hell, archaeologists first discovered Pluto's Gate in 2013, when they followed the path of a thermal spring. However, clouds of natural gases that emanate from the site have rendered the historic spot unsafe for people to visit. The same volcanic activity that formed the hot springs is also responsible for levels of carbon dioxide deadly enough to suffocate a human in under 30 minutes.

Niihau, U.S.A. (protecting a sacred site)

Hawaii is made up of multiple islands, each with inviting names, where visitors can lose themselves. Some tourists opt to hop from Maui (the "Valley Isle") to Oahu (the "Gathering Place"), Kauai (the "Garden Island") and beyond. But even if they think they've taken in all the country's highlights, they'll never see Niihau, the "Forbidden Island."

The historic Niihau lies 17 miles from Kauai's coastline, and is only visible when the epic sunsets seen from Kekaha Beach intensifies the Forbidden Island's silhouette. The 70-square-mile idyll has been privately owned since 1864, and is prohibited for anyone outside of the inhabitants' direct descendants. It was the Hawaiian king's wish to preserve the place as he had known it.

Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican City (protecting the church's secrets)

In March 2020, historians were granted rare access to files stored in the Vatican secret archives. German researchers there found documents dating to World War II indicating that the Catholic Church was aware of the Holocaust some time before they acknowledged it. The damning papers suggesting a cover-up are among centuries of closely-guarded records including letters, state papers, and accounts kept in the vault.

Some say the archives contain proof of aliens and demons. It's also alleged that documents show the Church was involved in fascist activities in the mid-1900s. However, only the most learned of educators and scholars are granted access to the Vatican's files after a rigorous vetting process. Casual visitors will never know what secrets live there.

Ise Grand Shrine, Japan (protecting a sacred shrine)

Japan is a nation with a rich culture of temples and shrines. It is thought there are more than 80,000 shrines sprinkled across its islands. Perhaps most notable is the Ise Grand Shrine. It's a complex building, believed to be the most expensive in the country due to its intricate architecture. It's renovated every two decades, an undertaking that costs around one million dollars. The process represents death and rebirth, a pillar of the Shinto religion. Only members of Japan's imperial family are allowed to enter this sacred building. Tourists may only admire its beauty from afar.

12 Top Secret Sites From Around The World

Just the words Top Secret conjure up images of intrigue, conspiracies, and clandestine operations.  These off-limits sites exist all over the world with the various governments keeping activities hidden from public knowledge…safely ensconced behind those closed doors and security fences.  It's a given that most of the secrets probably have to do with research for new weapons and defense systems.

A while back, I came across an article listing 12 top secret locations, certainly not the total number of these sites…not even close…but an interesting list.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

This bunker near Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a relic from the days of the Cold War.  Located literally inside Cheyenne Mountain, it was originally designed as a combat operations center with its own water, electricity, air filtration system and built to withstand a nuclear blast [a 1960s size nuclear blast].  This facility has been given new vitality as a result of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  It currently participates guarding against ballistic attack, supports space operations, and assists in keeping American and Canadian airspace safe.  The U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Space Command, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and Missile Defense Agency all maintain a presence at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex…and that's a lot of organizations devoted to secrecy.  But the secrecy of the location?  Well…there is a picture of it on NORAD's website and I recall seeing a kind of mini-tour several years ago on a television documentary.  But, with that many secrecy organizations involved, there's probably a lot more going on there than meets the eye.

And an usual function the NORAD facility at Cheyenne Mountain performs? Every year at Christmas the facility uses its radar to track Santa's sleigh as it makes its annual toy delivery to children everywhere. This started as the result of a typographical error in a newspaper ad that listed a phone number children could call to talk to Santa. The number printed in the newspaper was only off by one digit…but a very important digit. The phone number printed turned out to be the direct line to the commander of the Cheyenne Mountain facility.

Area 51

Undoubtedly the most famous…or infamous…secret facility in the world.  Even though its location in the Nevada desert was known far and wide and a topic of much speculation, the government refused to even acknowledge its existence until 1995.  And anything that secret is ripe for all kinds of conspiracy theories, some going back to Roswell, New Mexico, 1947 and the alleged alien spacecraft crash with the alien bodies supposedly taken to Area 51.  With many of the stealth technology aircraft tested there in secret, it must have looked like strange alien craft flying overhead.  And now you can see Area 51 via Google Earth.  Sort of takes away some of that mystique.

Site R

It's official name is Raven Rock Mountain Complex and it's an underground relocation facility for the Department of Defense, sometimes referred to as the underground Pentagon.  It's located in Pennsylvania about 6 miles from the Camp David presidential retreat.  There's speculation that a tunnel connects Camp David and Site R.  Like Cheyenne Mountain, this was a cold war era bunker given new purpose and life following 9-11.

The Capitol Visitor Center

Located on the east side of the Capitol, as the name implies its purpose is to welcome visitors to Washington, D.C.  But there is a theory that within or beneath the 580,000 square-foot building is a top-secret area for Congress to use in emergencies.  Giving credence to this theory are four bomb-proof skylights, a tunnel system large enough for vehicles to move around and a sophisticated IT infrastructure with thousands of feet of fiber-optic cable.

National Security Agency/Stellar Wind

According to Wired Magazine, the NSA is building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah.  This is where the NSA will intercept and inspect billions of calls, email, Google searches, travel itineraries, book purchases, and other miscellaneous digital information.  Stellar Wind is the codename for this surveillance program.  The NSA created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes.  While the CIA is better known as an intelligence gathering agency, the NSA is three times its size and costs more.  The NSA is considered the most powerful intelligence agency in the world today.

This program resulted in public disclosure by whistle blower William Binney in 2002 and more recently Edward Snowden in 2013.

Pine Gap, Australia

This is considered by many to be the Australian Area 51, the ground station for a network that intercepts telephone, radio, and data links from around the world.

Camp Peary

Located near Williamsburg, Virginia, Camp Peary (known as The Farm) is an area of 10,000 acres said to be where CIA agents receive covert training.

Mount Yamantau

Located in the Ural Mountains, the U.S. suspects this Russian site of being a large secret nuclear facility.  It's near one of Russia's last remaining nuclear labs and is part of their Dead Hand nuclear retaliatory command structure.

Liberty Crossing

Based in a complex in McLean, Virginia, this is home to the National Counterterrorism Center.  It utilizes experts from the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, and other agencies, to avoid large scale terror plots.  Each office is essentially a vault.

RAF Menwith Hill

This Royal Air Force station located near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, is said to be the largest electronic monitoring station in the world.  It is operated by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and is part of ECHELON, created during the Cold War.

Negev Nuclear Research Center

Located in Israel's Negev Desert, the facility was built in 1958 and is widely assumed to be a manufacturing site for nuclear weapons.

Porton Down

This is a government and military science park located near Wiltshire, England.  Although the term science park makes it sound more like a children's learning-can-be-fun type of place, that's not even close.  In World War I, it studied chemical warfare.  With the passing decades, studies changed from mustard gas to nerve agents in the 1940s.  It continued to study biological warfare.

Planet Earth might be a global society out of necessity, but we obviously are not a harmonious global society.  And if the headlines on the daily news are any indication, we're a long way from achieving that goal.

19 Things That Kill More People Than Sharks

And by things that kill, I'm not referring to crime or war. Some are bizarre and others more common place. A recent survey provided a list of cause-of-death statistics that I found interesting and thought I would share with you. I actually found two lists, one a list of 10 Incredibly Bizarre Death Statistics and the other a list of 20 (all the 10 items from the first list are on the list of 20 plus 10 more, not necessarily in the same order).

Sharks reportedly kill an average of 5 people annually in unprovoked attacks. 2020 was an unusually deadly year with sharks killing 10 people around the world in unprovoked attacks. This number does not include provoked attacks and shark bites that were not fatal. But that's a small number compared to other bizarre causes of death.

Roller Coasters are responsible for an average of 6 accidental deaths annually. Overall, the risk factor for injury while riding a roller coaster is very low. In the U.S., people take about 900 million roller coaster rides a year.

Vending Machines kill 13 people a year. What? A crazed vending machine out on a killing spree? Nope, the deaths are a result of the vending machine toppling over and crushing the unfortunate person who happened to be in the way.

High School Football is responsible for 20 tragic deaths annually.

Ants kill 30 people annually. There are over 280 different species of ants that can kill with the fire ant and siafu ant, both found in Africa, among the most deadly. Ants live in colonies that can reach 20 million ants (yes, millions) in a single colony. Once an attack begins, ants can easily overpower their prey.

Dogs kill 30 people annually in the U.S. There are approximately 4.7 million dog bite victims in the U.S. alone with 1000 of those treated in emergency rooms. Most of those victims are children who were bitten in the face.

Jelly Fish are responsible for 40 deaths annually. Most jelly fish are not deadly, but some can cause anaphylaxis which can be fatal.

Tornadoes kill an average of 60 people annually, with some years having more tornado outbreaks than other years as attested to by the outbreaks of extreme weather the last couple of years.

Hot Dogs are responsible for 70 deaths annually, primarily from choking.

Icicles kill 100 people a year in Russia. This happens when sharp icicles fall from snowy rooftops and land on unsuspecting victims on the sidewalks below.

Deer are responsible for 130 annual deaths (I, personally, was attacked by a deer as a child but the injuries were very minor).

Bathtubs account for 340 annual deaths, primarily from people slipping and falling. They die either from a fatal blow to the head or knocking themselves out and drowning.

Falling Out of Bed results in a surprising 450 deaths a year. According to the Center for Disease Control, falling out of bed produces 1.8 million emergency room visits and over 400,000 hospital admissions each year. The very young and very old are most at risk with people over 65 faring the worst.

Shopping On Black Friday gives us 550 annual deaths. A U.S. phenomenon, that mad scramble for bargains the day after Thanksgiving which has traditionally been the busiest shopping day on the year. The name Black Friday referring to a financially good economic situation, the day that retail businesses operate 100% in the black for the rest of the year (all income being profit, rather than the loss after deducting expenses relating to being in the red). However, with online shopping becoming more and more popular, especially during the pandemic times, this figure is decreasing.

Autoerotic Asphyxiation kills 600 people annually. This is the act of strangling or suffocating (most often by hanging) yourself to heighten sexual arousal. Depriving the brain of oxygen gives a person a dizzy, high feeling, however it's all too easy to make a mistake and accidently kill yourself while practicing this dangerous sex act.

Volcanoes kill 845 people annually.

Airplanes are responsible for an average 1,200 annual deaths.

Hippos come in on the survey with 2,900 deaths annually. Many experts believe that the Hippopotamus is the most dangerous animal in all of Africa. They weigh up to 8,000 pounds and can gallop at 18 miles per hour. They have been known to upset boats for no reason and bite passengers with their huge, sharp teeth. They are aggressive, unpredictable and have no fear of humans.

Texting while driving is responsible for 6,000 deaths each year. A survey by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute reports that a driver's risk of collision is 23 times greater when they are texting while driving.

Lightning, the final cause of death on our list, kills 10,000 people annually.