The land that became Rio Grande do Norte was a donatário to João de Barros, the factor of the House of India and Mina, from John III of Portugal in 1535; prior to that, the Portuguese Crown owned the land. The French, who trafficked Brazil wood in the area, had a foothold on the land until the Portuguese expelled them in 1598. The Dutch took the land in 1634 as a part of Dutch Brazil and reigned until 1654, when they were defeated by the Portuguese. In 1701, Rio Grande do Norte joined the Captaincy of Pernambuco, and became a province in 1822 and a state of Brazil in 1889. (Full article...)
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Caymmi in 1938
Dorival Caymmi (Brazilian Portuguese:[doɾiˈvawkaˈĩmi]; April 30, 1914 – August 16, 2008) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years, beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba pieces, such as "Samba da Minha Terra", "Doralice" and "Saudade da Bahia", have become staples of música popular brasileira (MPB). Equally notable are his ballads celebrating the fishermen and women of Bahia, including "Promessa de Pescador", "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?", and "Milagre". Caymmi composed about 100 songs in his lifetime, and many of his works are now considered to be Brazilian classics. Both Brazilian and non-Brazilian musicians have covered his songs.
Ben Ratliff of The New York Times wrote that Caymmi was "perhaps second only to Antônio Carlos Jobim in 'establishing a songbook of [the 20th] century's Brazilian identity.'" Throughout his career, his music about the people and culture of Bahia influenced Brazil's image in the eyes of both Brazilians and foreigners. Caymmi was married to Brazilian singer Stella Maris for 68 years, and the couple's children, Dori, Danilo, and Nana, are also prominent musicians. Each debuted professionally by accompanying Caymmi onstage and in recordings. In 2014, Caymmi's granddaughter Alice also began a musical career. (Full article...)
Jorge Ben is the sixth studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben. It was released in November 1969 by Philips Records. The album was his first recording for a major label since 1965 when his first stint with Philips ended due to creative differences.
Ben recorded the album alongside producer Manoel Barenbein, the vocal/percussion band Trio Mocotó, and an orchestral section arranged by José Briamonte and Rogério Duprat. It was written by Ben during his previous few years performing independently and developing his unique samba-based style. He incorporated psychedelic and soul music for this lively recording, while his quirky lyrics dealt with everyday life, romances with women, Afro-Brazilian identity, and self-awareness. Guido Alberi's iconic cover for the album also drew on psychedelic influences in its pop-art illustration of Ben and symbols of contemporary Brazilian culture. (Full article...)
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The river bend at the Humaitá fortress. An invading flotilla would have to steam for more than a mile against the current (shown by arrow) while being detained – by the chain boom – under short-range battery fire. But the greatest danger was from improvised contact mines.
The Fortress of Humaitá (1854–68), known metaphorically as the Gibraltar of South America, was a Paraguayan military installation near the mouth of the River Paraguay. A strategic site without equal in the region, "a fortress the likes of which had never been seen in South America", it was "the key to Paraguay and the upper rivers". It played a crucial role in the deadliest conflict in the continent's history – the Paraguayan War – of which it was the principal theatre of operations. The site was a sharp horseshoe bend in the river; practically all vessels wishing to enter the Republic of Paraguay – and indeed to steam onwards to the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso – were forced to navigate it. The bend was commanded by a 6,000-foot (1.8 km) line of artillery batteries, at the end of which was a chain boom which, when raised, detained the shipping under the guns. The navigable channel was only 200 yards wide and ran in easy reach of the artillery. The fortress was protected from attack on its landward side by impenetrable swamp or, where this was lacking, defensive earthworks which, at their greatest extension, comprised a system of trenches stretching for 8 lineal miles (13 km), had a garrison of 18,000 men and deployed 120 cannon. At its zenith Humaitá was reputed to be impassable to enemy shipping. (Full article...)
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Catarina approaching Brazil as a Category 1 hurricane on 27 March
The storm developed out of a stationary cold-core upper-level trough on 12 March. Almost a week later, on 19 March, a disturbance developed along the trough and traveled towards the west-southwest until 22 March when a ridge stopped the forward motion of the disturbance. The disturbance was in an unusually favorable environment with a slightly below-average wind shear and above-average sea surface temperatures. The combination of the two led to a slow transition from an extratropical cyclone to a subtropical cyclone by 24 March. The storm continued to obtain tropical characteristics and became a tropical storm the next day while the winds steadily increased. The storm attained wind speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph)—equivalent to a low-end Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale—on 26 March. At that time, it was unofficially named Catarina and was also the first hurricane-strength tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Abnormally favorable conditions persisted, resulting in Catarina intensifying further, and it would peak with 1-minute sustained winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) on 28 March. The center of the storm made landfall between the cities of Passo de Torres and Balneário Gaivota, Santa Catarina soon after. Catarina rapidly weakened upon landfall and dissipated later that day. (Full article...)
The Uruguayan War (10 August 1864 – 20 February 1865) was fought between Uruguay's governing Blanco Party and an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil and the Uruguayan Colorado Party, covertly supported by Argentina. Since its independence, Uruguay had been ravaged by intermittent struggles between the Colorado and Blanco factions, each attempting to seize and maintain power in turn. The Colorado leader Venancio Flores launched the Liberating Crusade in 1863, an insurrection aimed at toppling Bernardo Berro, who presided over a Colorado–Blanco coalition (fusionist) government. Flores was aided by Argentina, whose president Bartolomé Mitre provided him with supplies, Argentine volunteers and river transport for troops.
The fusionism movement collapsed as the Colorados abandoned the coalition to join Flores' ranks. The Uruguayan Civil War quickly escalated, developing into a crisis of international scope that destabilized the entire region. Even before the Colorado rebellion, the Blancos within fusionism had sought an alliance with Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López. Berro's now purely Blanco government also received support from Argentine federalists, who opposed Mitre and his Unitarians. The situation deteriorated as the Empire of Brazil was drawn into the conflict. Almost one fifth of the Uruguayan population were considered Brazilian. Some joined Flores' rebellion, spurred by discontent with Blanco government policies that they regarded as harmful to their interests. Brazil eventually decided to intervene in the Uruguayan affair to reestablish the security of its southern frontiers and its regional ascendancy. (Full article...)
"A Puro Dolor" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican band Son by Four. It was written by Omar Alfanno and released as the first single of the second studio album of the band in 2000. Two versions of the track were produced by Oscar Llord for the album; one as a salsa and the other as a ballad. The ballad version was arranged by Alejandro Jaén.
The song reached number-one on Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, and became the longest running chart topper of its history, spending 20 weeks at the top; this record was broken five years later by Colombian singer Shakira with "La Tortura" which spent 25 weeks at number-one. "A Puro Dolor" also reached the Billboard 100; this led to the recording of an English-language version of the track "Purest of Pain", which was also charted in the United States. (Full article...)
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Detail of an early 20th-century painting by Aurélio de Figueiredo [pt] depicting a 32- to 33-year old Cabral. No contemporary portraits of Cabral are known to exist.
Pedro Álvares Cabral (European Portuguese:[ˈpeðɾuˈalvɐɾɨʃkɐˈβɾal]; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in history to ever be on four continents, uniting all of them in his famous voyage of 1500, where he also conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life remain unclear, it is known that he came from a minor noble family and received a good education. He was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly opened route around Africa. The undertaking had the aim of returning with valuable spices and of establishing trade relations in India—bypassing the monopoly on the spice trade then in the hands of Arab, Turkish and Italian merchants. Although the previous expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, on its sea route, had recorded signs of land west of the southern Atlantic Ocean (in 1497), Cabral led the first known expedition to have touched four continents: Europe, Africa, America, and Asia.
His fleet of 13 ships sailed far into the western Atlantic Ocean, perhaps intentionally, and made landfall (April 1500) on what he initially assumed to be a large island. As the new land was within the Portuguese sphere according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Cabral claimed it for the Portuguese Crown. He explored the coast, realizing that the large land mass was probably a continent, and dispatched a ship to notify King Manuel I of the new territory. The continent was South America, and the land he had claimed for Portugal later came to be known as Brazil. The fleet reprovisioned and then turned eastward to resume the journey to India. (Full article...)
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Cielo after winning the 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
César Augusto Cielo Filho (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈsɛzɐʁsiˈeluˈfiʎu], born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer who specialized in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individual World Championship gold medals and breaking two world records.
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias (pronounced[kaˈʃi.ɐs]; 25 August 1803 – 7 May 1880), nicknamed "The Peacemaker" and "The Iron Duke", was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Like his father and uncles, Caxias pursued a military career. In 1823 he fought as a young officer in the Brazilian War for Independence against Portugal, then spent three years in Brazil's southernmost province, Cisplatina, as the government unsuccessfully resisted that province's secession in the Cisplatine War. Though his own father and uncles renounced Emperor DomPedro I during the protests of 1831, Caxias remained loyal. Pedro I abdicated in favor of his young son Dom Pedro II, whom Caxias instructed in swordsmanship and horsemanship and eventually befriended.
During Pedro II's minority the governing regency faced countless rebellions throughout the country. Again breaking with his father and other relatives sympathetic to the rebels, from 1839 to 1845 Caxias commanded loyalist forces suppressing such uprisings as the Balaiada, the Liberal rebellions of 1842 and the Ragamuffin War. In 1851, under his command, the Brazilian army prevailed against the Argentine Confederation in the Platine War; a decade later Caxias, as army marshal (the army's highest rank), led Brazilian forces to victory in the Paraguayan War. As a reward he was raised to the titled nobility, becoming successively a baron, count, and marquis, finally becoming the only person created duke during Pedro II's 58-year reign. (Full article...)
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Pedra da Gavea, Rio de Janeiro. The "eyes" of the "face" are looking towards the right-hand of this picture. The etchings that can be seen on the dome of the mountain make up the supposed inscription. Pedra da Gávea is a mountain in Tijuca Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Differential weathering on one side of the rock has created what is described as a stylized human face, and weathered markings on another face of the rock have been described as an inscription. Some individuals, such as Bernardo de Azevedo da Silva Ramos, have advanced the position that the inscription is of Phoenician origin and possibly proof of pre-Columbian contact from Old World cultures. Alternative theories proposed include that the rock was the site of a Norse colony or that it is connected with suspected UFO activity.
Mainstream geologists and scientists are in agreement that the "inscription" is the result of erosion and that the "face" is a product of pareidolia. No credible evidence has ever been collected that backs up the idea that Pedra da Gávea was discovered by Phoenicians or any other civilization. Furthermore, the consensus of archaeologists and scholars in Brazil is that the mountain should not be viewed as an archaeological site, and hypotheses that regard it as such are fringe theories. (Full article...)
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TV Bahia (channel 11) is a television station in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, affiliated with TV Globo. Owned by Rede Bahia, TV Bahia is the principal station of Rede Bahia de Televisão, a statewide television network composed of another five owned-and-operated stations. TV Bahia's studios and transmitter are located on Prof. Aristídes Novis Street in the Federação district, in Salvador. Its terrestrial signal, through the station in Salvador and translators, reaches 133 cities in the state. Currently, besides being the leader in Salvador, it has the largest ratings among Globo's stations in Brazil.
TV Bahia is the fourth oldest television station in Bahia, having officially started broadcasting ten months after receiving the authorization for channel 11 VHF in Salvador from the federal government, on March 10, 1985. It was inaugurated as an Rede Manchete affiliate, starting its operations with the most modern equipment among the state's television stations at the time. (Full article...)
Thalassodromeus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Early Cretaceousperiod, about a hundred million years ago. The original skull, discovered in 1983 in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil, was collected in several pieces. In 2002, the skull was made the holotype specimen of Thalassodromeus sethi by palaeontologistsAlexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The generic name means "sea runner" (in reference to its supposed mode of feeding), and the specific name refers to the Egyptian god Seth due to its crest being supposedly reminiscent of Seth's crown. Other scholars have pointed out that the crest was instead similar to the crown of Amon. A jaw tip was assigned to T. sethi in 2005, became the basis of the new genus Banguela in 2015, and assigned back to Thalassodromeus as the speciesT. oberlii in 2018, though other researchers consider it a valid genus. Another species (T. sebesensis) was described in 2015 based on a supposed crest fragment, but this was later shown to be part of a turtle shell.
Thalassodromeus had one of the largest known skulls among pterosaurs, around 1.42 m (4 ft 8 in) long, with one of the proportionally largest cranial crests of any vertebrate. Though only the skull is known, the animal is estimated to have had a wingspan of 4.2 to 4.5 m (14 to 15 ft). The crest was lightly built and ran from the tip of the upper jaw to beyond the back of the skull, ending in a unique V-shaped notch. The jaws were toothless, and had sharp upper and lower edges. Its skull had large nasoantorbital fenestrae (opening that combined the antorbital fenestra in front of the eye with the bony nostril), and part of its palate was concave. The lower jaw was blade-like, and may have turned slightly upwards. The closest relative of Thalassodromeus was Tupuxuara; both are grouped in a clade called Thalassodromidae, which, depending on the study, has been placed either within Tapejaromorpha, closely related to the family Tapejaridae, or within Neoazhdarchia, closely related to the family Dsungaripteridae. (Full article...)
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Bahia sometime before its mid-1920s modernization, as indicated by its two funnels
Bahia was the lead ship of a two-vessel class of cruisers built for Brazil by the British company Armstrong Whitworth. Crewmen mutinied in November 1910 aboard Bahia, Deodoro, Minas Geraes, and São Paulo, beginning the four-day Revolta da Chibata (Revolt of the Lash). Brazil's capital city of Rio de Janeiro was held hostage by the possibility of a naval bombardment, leading the government to give in to the rebel demands which included the abolition of flogging in the navy. During the First World War, Bahia and its sister ship Rio Grande do Sul were assigned to the Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra (Naval Division in War Operations), the Brazilian Navy's main contribution in that conflict. The squadron was based in Sierra Leone and Dakar and escorted convoys through an area believed to be heavily patrolled by U-boats.
Bahia was extensively modernized in the mid-1920s. It received three new Brown–Curtis turbine engines and six new Thornycroft boilers, and it was converted from coal-burning to oil. The refit resulted in a striking aesthetic change, with the exhaust being trunked into three funnels instead of two. The armament was also modified, adding three 20 mm (0.79 in) Madsen autocannons, a 7 mm (0.28 in) Hotchkiss machine gun, and four 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes. In the 1930s, it served with government forces during multiple revolutions. (Full article...)
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Jocione Mendonça (19 February 1970 – 29 June 2018), better known as Jailson Mendes and sometimes Pai de Família, was a Brazilian porn actor and YouTuber. He became an Internet meme for his performance in a pornographic film where he says the phrase "Ai, que delícia, cara" ("Oh, what a delight, man"). Retired due to health issues, Mendonça was invited to act in pornographic films while he was in São Paulo and ended up making three of them. Due to his acting style, along with his phrase, he became an Internet phenomenon. Although he initially feared the repercussions, Mendonça later became used to his popularity. To change his image as a pornographic actor, he created a channel on YouTube with videos about video games and cooking.
Mendonça died on 29 June 2018, from a heart attack. He was considered one of the greatest Brazilian memes and one of the icons of Brazilian gay pornography. Some used Mendonça's character as a prank in news programs. (Full article...)
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From top to bottom: Brazilian 1st Division in the Battle of Caseros; Uruguayan infantry aiding Entre Ríos cavalry in Caseros; Beginning of the Battle of the Tonelero Pass; Charge of Urquiza's cavalry in Caseros; Passage of Brazilian fleet at the Tonelero.
The Platine War (Spanish: Guerra Platina, Portuguese: Guerra do Prata, Guerra contra Oribe e Rosas; 18 August 1851 – 3 February 1852) was fought between the Argentine Confederation and an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes, with the participation of the Republic of Paraguay as Brazil's co-belligerent and ally. The war was part of a decades-long dispute between Argentina and Brazil for influence over Uruguay and Paraguay, and hegemony over the Platine region (areas bordering the Río de la Plata). The conflict took place in Uruguay and northeastern Argentina, and on the Río de la Plata. Uruguay's internal troubles, including the longrunning Uruguayan Civil War (La Guerra Grande – "The Great War"), were heavily influential factors leading to the Platine War.
In 1850, the Platine region was politically unstable. Although the Governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, had gained dictatorial control over other Argentine provinces, his rule was plagued by a series of regional rebellions. Meanwhile, Uruguay struggled with its own civil war, which started after gaining independence from the Brazilian Empire in 1828 in the Cisplatine War. Rosas backed the Uruguayan Blanco party in this conflict, and further desired to extend Argentine borders to areas formerly occupied by the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This meant asserting control over Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia, which threatened Brazilian interests and sovereignty since the old Spanish Viceroyalty had also included territories which had long been incorporated into the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul. (Full article...)
Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so and the youngest player to win a World Cup (17). He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) following the 1958 tournament. With 77 goals in 92 games for Brazil, Pelé held the record as the national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years. At club level, he is Santos's all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a global star, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos. (Full article...)
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Martha Watts (February 13, 1848 – December 30, 1909) was an American missionary and school teacher who established four educational facilities in Brazil. Educated in Kentucky at the Louisville Normal School, she was in the first graduating class in the early 1870s and became a teacher, working in the public schools. After joining the Broadway Methodist Church in 1874, Watts joined a youth missionary society and founded a Sunday school class. In 1881, after applying to the Women's Board of Foreign Missions, she was accepted as the second woman from the United States to act as a foreign missionary and was the first woman to be sent to Brazil.
Arriving in the state of São Paulo in 1881, Watts' mission was to establish a school in Piracicaba. Within months, though she only had one student, Watts had opened the Colégio Piracicabano and began by recruiting a French teacher, Marie Rennotte, in 1882. At the time, most educational materials had been translated into French, as it was the universal language of education. The two women worked together to design an innovative co-educational learning environment, which offered courses in languages, literature, mathematics, philosophy, and the natural and physical sciences. Though criticized by conservative sectors of society and the Catholic Church, Watts gained powerful supporters, including prominent progressive politicians, lawyers, masons, and abolitionists. By the 1890s, the school method and curricula had gained wide support, the student body had grown substantially, and their methods were being implemented throughout the state. (Full article...)
Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian-American heavy metalsupergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Brazilian brothers Max (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Igor Cavalera (drums, percussion), who are widely known as former members of Sepultura, and the only two constant members of the band. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons. The group's creation marked the end of a 10-year feud between the Cavalera brothers who founded Sepultura in the early 1980s. In 2022, they adopted the name Cavalera in order to release re-recorded editions of classic Sepultura albums, which were released in 2023.
Following the brothers' falling out, Max Cavalera had formed a new band, Soulfly, and Igor had recorded four studio albums with Sepultura before leaving the band in January 2006. In July 2006, Max received an unexpected call from his brother, and by the end of the conversation, Max had invited Igor to visit him in Phoenix, Arizona, to perform in a Soulfly show. Igor joined Soulfly in concert and performed two Sepultura songs. After the show, Max suggested they begin a new project, and Igor accepted. To complete the band, Max chose Soulfly guitarist Marc Rizzo and Joe Duplantier (Gojira) as bass guitarist. The group then recorded their debut album at Undercity Studios in Los Angeles with engineer and co-producer Logan Mader in July 2007. Named after the band's original moniker, Inflikted was released through Roadrunner Records on March 25, 2008. Cavalera Conspiracy has released three more albums since then: Blunt Force Trauma (2011), Pandemonium (2014) and Psychosis (2017). (Full article...)
The giant otter or giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is a South Americancarnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in). Atypical of mustelids, the giant otter is a social species, with family groups typically supporting three to eight members. The groups are centered on a dominant breeding pair and are extremely cohesive and cooperative. Although generally peaceful, the species is territorial, and aggression has been observed between groups. The giant otter is diurnal, being active exclusively during daylight hours. It is the noisiest otter species, and distinct vocalizations have been documented that indicate alarm, aggression, and reassurance.
The giant otter ranges across north-central South America; it lives mostly in and along the Amazon River and in the Pantanal. Its distribution has been greatly reduced and is now discontinuous. Decades of poaching for its velvety pelt, peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, considerably diminished population numbers. The species was listed as endangered in 1999 and wild population estimates are typically below 5,000. The Guianas are one of the last real strongholds for the species, which also enjoys modest numbers – and significant protection – in the Peruvian Amazonian basin. It is one of the most endangered mammal species in the Neotropics. Habitat degradation and loss is the greatest current threat. They are also rare in captivity; in 2003, only 60 giant otters were being held. (Full article...)
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Bündchen in 2015
Gisele Caroline Bündchen (Brazilian Portuguese:[ʒiˈzɛliˈbĩtʃẽ], German:[ˈbʏntçn̩], born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th-richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th-most-powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modeling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers. (Full article...)
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Range (in green).
Euryoryzomys emmonsae, also known as Emmons' rice rat or Emmons' oryzomys, is a rodent from the Amazon rainforest of Brazil in the genus Euryoryzomys of the family Cricetidae. Initially misidentified as E. macconnelli or E. nitidus, it was formally described in 1998. A rainforest species, it may be scansorial, climbing but also spending time on the ground. It lives only in a limited area south of the Amazon River in the state of Pará, a distribution that is apparently unique among the muroid rodents of the region.
Euryoryzomys emmonsae is a relatively large rice rat, weighing 46 to 78 g (1.6 to 2.8 oz), with a distinctly long tail and relatively long, tawny brown fur. The skull is slender and the incisive foramina (openings in the bone of the palate) are broad. The animal has 80 chromosomes and its karyotype is similar to that of other Euryoryzomys. Its conservation status is assessed as "Data Deficient", but deforestation may pose a threat to this species. (Full article...)
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The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Grande Prêmio do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 March 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher of the Benetton team won the 71-lap race from second position. David Coulthard finished second in a Williams car, with Gerhard Berger third in a Ferrari. Damon Hill, who started the race from pole position, spun out while leading on lap 30 with an apparent gearbox problem, which was later found to be a suspension failure. Schumacher's win came despite Benetton encountering steering problems with his car during Friday practice, leading to him crashing heavily and necessitating steering component changes for the rest of the event. Despite Schumacher's victory, Hill proved to be faster during the race and seemed to be on course for a comfortable victory before his sudden retirement.
Other notable performances came from Berger, who took the final podium position despite being delayed during one of his routine pit stops due to a problem with a loose wheel nut, from Mika Häkkinen, who finished fourth for the McLaren team despite its new car proving to be uncompetitive in pre-season testing, and from Mika Salo, who drove strongly in the first half of the race to run third in his first Grand Prix for the Tyrrell team, only to suffer from a cramp and drop back to seventh place at the finish. Behind Häkkinen, the other points-scoring finishers were Jean Alesi in the second Ferrari and Mark Blundell, who drove the second McLaren. Blundell was standing in for regular driver Nigel Mansell in the second McLaren until the team could produce a wider chassis in which to accommodate him, as the car's initial cockpit design had proved to be too narrow for him to drive comfortably. (Full article...)
The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida is a Catholic basilica located in the Brazilian city of Aparecida. According to local tradition, a group of fishermen caught a statue of the Virgin Mary in their nets in 1717, a find which considerably improved their subsequent catches. One of the fishermen kept the statue at his home, which became a popular site for pilgrims. A small chapel was built to house it, but was replaced by successively larger churches as the statue's popularity grew. The present building was built from 1955, and houses 45,000 people.
A portrait of a female bare-faced curassow (Crax fasciolata), taken at the Pantanal in Brazil. This species of bird in the family Cracidae is found in eastern-central and southern Brazil, Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forests.
Coronel Fabriciano is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil and is located in the southeastern part of the country, about 102 km east of Belo Horizonte. It's estimated population in 2010 is 103.797. The municipality was created on January 20, 1949.
Pipa Beach is a village and beach in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is situated in the municipality of Tibau do Sul, about 84 km south of the capital of the state, Natal.
A ripe passionfruit and the cross-section of another. Passionfruits are the fruit of the passion flowervine species Passiflora edulis, which is native to Brazil and northeastern Argentina, but is now cultivated commercially in frost-free areas in many countries for its fruit. Passionfruit comes in two varieties: purple (seen here), which is usually smaller than a lemon, and yellow, which is about the size of a grapefruit.
Emperor of Brazil Pedro II was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, his father Pedro I's abrupt abdication and flight to Europe in 1831 left him as Emperor at the age of five. Inheriting an Empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II turned Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. On November 15, 1889, he was overthrown in a coup d'état by a clique of military leaders who declared Brazil a republic. However, he had become weary of emperorship and despaired over the monarchy's future prospects, despite its overwhelming popular support, and did not support any attempt to restore the monarchy.
Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
Bertha Lutz (August 2, 1894 – September 16, 1976) was a Brazilian zoologist, politician, and diplomat. She became a leading figure in the Pan-American feminist and human rights movements, and was instrumental in gaining women's suffrage in Brazil. In addition to her political work, she was a naturalist at the National Museum of Brazil, specializing in poison dart frogs. Her collections were destroyed in September 2018, when a fire devastated most of the museum's collections.
Bonito is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It is the capital of ecotourism in Brazil, being famous for its caves, rivers and lakes with transparent or intense blue water.
Itajaí is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil and is located in the Southern part of the country, about 94 km norther of Florianópolis. It's estimated population in 2009 is 172.081. The current mayor (Prefeito) of Itajaí is Jandir Bellini. The municipality was created on Juny 15, 1860.
The yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) is a species of caiman found in central South America. About ten million individuals, such as this one, exist within the Brazilian pantanal, representing what may be the largest single crocodilian population on Earth. This small-to-medium sized species feeds mainly on fish (especially piranha), but also eats birds, reptiles, and small mammals.
The Municipal Theatre of São Paulo is a theatre and landmark in São Paulo, Brazil. It is significant both for its architectural value as well as its historical importance; the theatre was the venue for the Modern Art Week in 1922, which revolutionised the arts in Brazil. The building now houses the São Paulo Municipal Symphonic Orchestra, the Coral Lírico (Lyric Choir), and the City Ballet of São Paulo.
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses) is a national park located in Maranhão state, in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected since June 1981, the 383,000-acre (155,000 ha) park includes 70 km (43 mi) of coastline, and an interior of rolling sand dunes. During the rainy season, the valleys among the dunes fill with freshwater lagoons, prevented from draining due to the impermeable rock beneath. The park is home to a range of species, including four listed as endangered, and has become a popular destination for ecotourists.
Nova Petrópolis is a municipality in the Southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The main town and seat of the municipality is also called Nova Petropolis. It is located in the Serra Gaúcha region, at 29º22'35" South, 51º06'52" West, about 100 km north of Porto Alegre, the state capital city. Nova Petropolis is situated at an average altitude of 580m above sea level and covers an area of 293 km².
A preparatory study for Discovery of the Land, a mural in the United States Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room, by Candido Portinari. Portinari was a Brazilianpainter who was a prominent and influential practitioner of the neorealism style. The mural depicts two sailors who might have been found in either the fleets of Christopher Columbus or Pedro Álvares Cabral, and is part of a series of four that show the colonization of the Americas by Europeans.
Parodia tenuicylindrica is a small species of cactus native to the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. It grows 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) in height and 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) in width. It has yellow and red-brown spines, white wool and yellow flowers. It produces yellow-green fruit and black seeds.
An 1868 photo of an Argentinegaucho. The term "gaucho" is used to describe residents of the South Americanpampas, chacos or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile and Southern Region, Brazil. It is a loose equivalent to the North American "cowboy" and often connotes the 19th century more than the present day. In those days, gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cows on the vast estancias, and practicing hunting as their main economic activities.
A series of rock formations, with the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, at the Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Established in 1939 as the country's third national park, Serra dos Órgãos National Park contains the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range as well as several water sources.
Gil started to play music as a child and was a teenager when he joined his first band. He began his career as a bossa nova musician and grew to write songs that reflected a focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key figure in the música popular brasileira and tropicália movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, while also working as a politician and environmental advocate. Known internationally, the album Quanta Live at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, it won the award for Best World Album and album Eletracústico won Grammy Award—Best Contemporary World Music Album. (Full article...)
Alberto Santos-Dumont (self-stylised as Alberto Santos=Dumont; 20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built, and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch prize in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.
Santos-Dumont then progressed to powered heavier-than-air machines and on 23 October 1906 flew about 60 metres at a height of two to three metres with the fixed-wing 14-bis (also dubbed the Oiseau de proie—"bird of prey") at the Bagatelle Gamefield in Paris, taking off unassisted by an external launch system. On 12 November in front of a crowd, he flew 220 metres at a height of six metres. These were the first heavier-than-air flights certified by the Aeroclub of France, the first such flights officially witnessed by an aeronautics recordkeeping body, and the first of their kind recognised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. (Full article...)
Image 48Rio de Janeiro, the most visited destination in Brazil by foreign tourists for leisure trips, and second place for business travel. (from Tourism in Brazil)
Image 65Petrobras world headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The company is the most important energy producer in Brazil, as well as the country's second largest company, after Itaú Unibanco. (from Energy in Brazil)
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