Rembrandt: Simson, an der Hochzeitstafel das Rätsel aufgebend

Public Domain Image: Simson, an der Hochzeitstafel das Rätsel aufgebend (a 1638 painting depicting Samson's marriage feast in which he delivers the puzzle), oil on canvas painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), dimensions 126.5 cm x 175.5 cm, located at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany.

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When Samson (also spelled as Shimshon, Simson, Shamshoun or Sampson) grows up to adulthood, he leaves his hills people to see the cities of the Philistines, where he falls in love with a Philistine woman and he decides to marry her. On the way to her house to ask for the woman's hand in marriage, Samson is attacked by a lion but he easily grabs it and rips it apart as he is blessed with divine powers, and reaches the Philistine's house and wins her hand in marriage. On his way to the wedding, Samson notices that bees have nested in the carcass of the lion and have made honey. He drinks some honey and gives some to his parents. At the wedding feast, Samson offers the puzzle, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet", to his thirty Philistine groomsmen, and promises them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, if they can solve it. The puzzle relates to his eating honey, on his second encounter with the lion (carcass). Failed and infuriated, the 30 Philistines tell Samson's wife to discover the answer and tell them, and threatens to burn her and her father's household if she does not do so. On the tearful imploring of his bride, Samson tells her the solution, which she reveals to the thirty groomsmen.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Wisconsin Air National Guard

Public Domain Photo: An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter-bomber aircraft from the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard sits on the runway in Madison, Wisconsin on June 28, 2008, during an American Independence Day celebration and fireworks display - DoD photo by Joe Oliva, U.S. Air Force. Dimensions and size: 3000×2300 pixels, 597 KB.

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Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, SNP

Public Domain Photos: Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, Sequoia National Park in California

The Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park in California so that visitors can drive their cars through it. The tunnel is 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and 17 feet (5.2 meters) wide. In December 1937, a sequoia tree, 275 feet (83.8 meters) tall and 21 feet (6.4 meters) in diameter, fell across the Crescent Meadow Road due to natural causes. In the following summer, a Civilian Conservation Corps crew cut a tunnel through the tree.

Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand

Public Domain Photo: Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand. Dimensions and size: 1746×1176 pixels, 121 KB

Klong Phrao Beach is in Ko Chang Island (or Koh Chang), the second largest island of Thailand located on the east coast, 310 km away from Bangkok, near the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a mountainous island known for several waterfalls, coral reefs and rainforests. Ko Chang, surrounded by 51 other islands, has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade. About 85% of the island is part of the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park. Besides its seafood, Ko Chang has plenty of spas comprising of various forms of massage, aromatherapy, herbal scrub, and reflexology. Koh Chang nightlife and bar scene have become popular tourist attractions.

There are plenty of white sandy beaches dotted with hotels and resorts. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a variety snakes, deer, stump-tailed macaque, the small Indian civet, the Javan mongoose, and over 60 birds species. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, kayaking/ canoeing, diving, jungle hiking, mountain biking, and elephant trekking. Hat Kai Bae, a sloping and long stretch of beach connecting with Klong Phrao Beach, is suitable for swimming.

John Klatt flies the Staudacher S-300D aerobatic stunt plane

Public Domain Photos: Major John Klatt, a pilot from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing and a civilian aerobatic pilot, flies a Staudacher S-300D, a world class aerobatic stunt plane crafted by John Staudacher (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Don Nelson, 115 FW/PA).

Major John Klatt is a pilot from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth, Minnesota. Klatt partners with the Air National Guard to assist in their recruiting efforts at air shows across the United States. In addition to his performances at the air shows, Maj. Klatt provides incentive flights to recruiters and Guard volunteers to promote the Air National Guard. When Maj. John Klatt is not flying the C-130 turboprop transport aircraft around the world or the F-16 Fighting Falcon in air support and combat operations for the U.S. Air Force, he serves as a first officer with a major U.S. commercial airline. Each year ‘The John Klatt Air Show’ participates in 18 to 20 air shows contracted by the Air National Guard (ANG).

The Staudacher S-300D (in the photos above), which is capable of pulling more than 20 G’s, which is twice the load of the F-16C Fighting Falcon, is a world class aerobatic airplane, and each plane is differently crafted to suit the pilot’s requirements by John Staudacher in the Bay City, MI area.

Piazza Carlo Alberto (Carl Albert Square), Turin, Italy

Public Domain Photo: Piazza Carlo Alberto (Carl Albert Square) is in Turin (Torino), a major city which is a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch. Before 1842 Piazza Carlo Alberto was the garden of the Palazzo Carignano, and in 1842 a park was opened here for the general public. The monument dedicated to Carlo Alberto stands at the center of the square. Piazza Carlo Alberto also houses the famous National University Library.

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U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcons over Madison skyline

Public Domain Photo: Four U.S. Airf Force F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard over Wisconsin's capital city of Madison on October 18th, 2008. In flight lead is aircraft 87-278 with a unique tail flash that was designed to celebrate the unit's 60th Anniversary. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Master Sgt. Paul Gorman)

Dish of serpentine with inlaid gold, pearls and other gems

Public Domain Photo: Dish of serpentine with inlaid gold fish, pearls and other gemstones, 1st century BCE or CE, with 9th century mounts from the Court of Charles the Bald, purchased in 1793 by the Louvre Museum and currently in the inventory of Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre), Department of Decorative Arts, Richelieu, First Floor, Room No. 1, Paris, France.

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri)

PD Image 1: The Chair of Saint Peter (bottom center), designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

PD Image 2: The Cathedra Petri and the interiors of Peter's Basilica, Rome

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri in Latin) is a wooden chair conserved in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, enclosed in a gilt bronze casing designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1647-53 AD. The cathedra in Saint Peter's Basilica was once used by the popes, and hence often said to have been used by Saint Peter himself, but it was a gift from Charles the Bald to the Pope in 875 AD.

Shrine Drive-Thru Tree, California

Public Domain Photo: The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree, a tree that visitors can drive through in a car, located at Myers Flat, Humboldt County, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco, photo taken on September 2, 2007.

The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree offers passage through a tunnel carved into a naturally angled opening in the trunk. The sign displayed at the site about the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree reads: “SHRINE DRIVE-THRU TREE, Age: 5000 years, Height: 275 feet, Diameter: 21 feet, Circumference: 64 feet, Myers Flat, California”. This tree tunnel is about 7 feet in diameter and 83 meters high.

Three other legendary drive-though tree tourist attractions stand near 101 Highway: Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree, the Tour-Thru Tree (at the northern end of the Redwood Country near Klamath), the Step-Thru Stump and the Drive-On Tree (a fallen giant with a partially paved ramp up).

The age of the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree, shown as 5,000 years old, is an exaggeration, because, top five of the verified oldest measured nonclone trees are:

1. Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, (known as Methuselah), Pinus longaeva - 4,844 years

2. Alerce, Fitzroya cupressoides - 3,622 years

3. Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum - 3,266 years

4. Sugi, Cryptomeria japonica - 3,000 years

5. Huon-pine, Lagarostrobos franklinii - 2,500 years

Also, view the YouTube video (below) of a car passing through the tree tunnel and also showing the hollow inner pith of the tree.