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TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Thursday, 17 September 2026

2010

The 54 year run of the soap opera ''As the World Turns'' ends as its final episode is broadcast.

2007

AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.

2006

Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.

2001

The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.

1993

Last Russian troops leave Poland.

1992

An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.

1991

The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.

Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.

1983

Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.

1980

After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan