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Visually striking and just plain cool to say you’ve visited, volcanic lakes are a great vacation option for geology enthusiasts, photographers and waterfront family fun in general. For independent travelers, a little down time along the shores of one of these beauties can go a long way toward alleviating the travel fatigue that often frequents getaways taken on a backpacker’s budget.

While there are a number of volcanic lakes around the world worthy of a visit, these represent what I consider to be the most visually impressive. Here are five cool volcanic crater lakes worth checking out.

Meteorites. Bolides. Impact craters. They’ve inspired some very bad science fiction movies, yet one only has to turn a small telescope to the face of our battered Moon to realize that our solar neighborhood is a shooting gallery for flying rocks. Of course, the Moon lacks the effects of wind, rain, and erosion that remove most of the evidence of impacts here on Earth. As a result, visible evidence of impact craters on our own planet is relatively rare.

Thus far, 178 terrestrial impact sites worldwide are known, with more than 30 in the United States (various sources reveal different figures). Many were discovered through geological sampling or aerial photography; very few look like an actual crater from ground level. The following five sites are some of the most visible examples of impact craters in the United States, places where you can stand and imagine a past Armageddon.

When white settlers first landed in America and encountered Native Americans, there were some friendly meetings, some skirmishes and a few massacres as the two sides mixed, but eventually the settlers’ superior numbers and firepower drove the Indians from their lands along the Eastern Seaboard. Later, the United States government offered Native Americans treaties, guaranteeing them land further west if they would vacate their homeland. Time and time again, such treaties were broken by the United States, but most tribes continued signing new ones, trusting they would be honored.

Then there were the Native Americans who wanted no part of treaties, reservations or coexistence with the white man. Warriors such as Geronimo, Crazy Horse and others waged war against the U.S. in a bid to retain their homelands. Following is a list of the 10 fiercest Native American chiefs. It’s purely subjective and open to debate, yet this list highlights the warriors who were persistent in fighting settlers and/or the U.S. military, eluded capture for many years and in the process left a path of death, destruction and fear in their wake.

2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, the epic struggle between the North and South that left more than 620,000 Americans dead and in many ways still affects our nation today. Most Americans have at least an elementary knowledge of major battles such as Gettysburg, and leaders like Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Unknown to most people are some of the fascinating and truly bizarre tales from the Civil War. Here are five of the more bizarre events from the war.

With the residual effects of colonialism, decades of violence, exploitation of resources, and a string of corrupt leaders, it’s no real surprise that the world’s 10 poorest countries are in Africa. Crippled by civil wars, drought and disease, some African nations are trapped in a cycle of poverty. The tragic irony is that most of them are endowed with rich natural resources, including diamonds, oil, and gold, yet a large majority of the population never reaps the benefits.

A country’s wealth can be measured by its per capita GDP, an approximation of the value of goods produced per person. The lower the value, the more impoverished the nation. For the sake of comparison, the per capita GDP in the United States was approximately $47,000 in 2010. Here are the 10 poorest countries according to their per capita GDP (as of 2010).

In this age of obesity, the desire to burn excess fat motivates the dietary and exercise habits of many people. That's why it should be a relief to know that fat can be vanquished with simple dietary changes and a few minutes of daily exercise. The road from fat to fit is not always easy to follow, so here's to tipping the scale in your favor with five simple fat-burning tips.

Movies and television have been strange bedfellows from the very beginning, when the latter arrived on the scene in the middle of the 20th century and appeared to threaten the very existence of the former. Nothing of the sort ever came to pass, and in fact the two entertainment mediums have come to complement each other ever since in a variety of intriguing, often incestuous, ways. They've stolen ideas from each other, and actors and actresses cross from one medium to the other.

Although it's become common these days to see movie stars with fading careers migrate back to TV, for the majority of its history TV has served as a proving ground for actors with aspirations for the larger screen. That said, here are the top 10 TV actors and actresses who found fame in movies.

People have been ranking items and making lists of things in the world around them since the dawn of time. Early man ranked the best sites near his cave to hunt for food. God gave Moses the 10 commandments. America’s founding fathers produced a constitution, then improved it by tacking on an itemized list known as the Bill of Rights.

Chances are good that if you’ve landed on this page, you enjoy reading lists, or at least lists about your favorite things. If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right website. Listosaur.com features fresh, thought-provoking lists on many different topics, including entertainment, travel, history, science/technology, sports, politics and food/fitness. And you never know what you’ll find in our “Bizarre Stuff” category.

The site is updated several times during the week, so there’s always fresh content to check out.

Despite our best intentions, factual errors do occur. If you see a mistake, please let us know. Have a list idea of your own? We’d love to see it. Enjoy your visit to Listosaur.com, and we hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,

Arthur Weinstein
Founder
Listosaur.com LLC

From trademarks that literally take on a life of their own to children with do-it-yourself shrinking heads kits and all-too-realistic Tommy guns (I don’t recall such images on Leave it to Beaver), perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the following commercials is how just a few short decades ago, the masses likely didn’t flinch or bat an eye at them. Now, thanks to changing technology and social and cultural mores, these commercials are quaint and quirky at best and, at worst, degrading and dangerous.

January 31, 1958 marked the launch of Explorer I and the start of the Space Age for the United States. Since then, Americans have witnessed many shining achievements from their space program, as men walked on the Moon and unmanned space probes continue exploring the far reaches of our solar system.

Choosing the greatest NASA missions of all time is a tough task, but here are 12 U.S. space missions that blazed a trail or accomplished something unique. (All photos courtesy of NASA)