The world around us is both beautiful and inspiring, but sometimes it can also be a little bit frightening. The power of nature is mightier than all of us, and as incredible as it is to behold, sometimes we find ourselves standing in its way and completely at its mercy.
The strongest person in the world can do nothing in the face of a hurricane. The greatest swimmer is defenseless when caught in the middle of a flood. When Mother Nature truly wants to flex her muscles, she demonstrates that the planet is still hers; we just live on it!
But there are kinder sights to be seen, too. The animals living on our planet can be fierce, cute, cuddly or downright bizarre. When they are, it's useful to have a camera to hand. Here are fifty incredible pictures captured by people in the right place at the right time.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.