Investigation Discovery : Photo Blog

L.A. Riots: A Look Back After 20 Years (Photo Gallery)

Nancy Wilson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:34:04 -0400

On April 29, 1992, four white police officers were declared innocent in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, and Los Angeles erupted in the deadliest riots of the century. Three days later, 55 people were dead and more than 2,000 injured. Fires and looting had destroyed $1 billion worth of property.

20 years later, we look back at this explosive time and reflect on how far we've come.

>>Read: Pat LaLama: Race and the Media; Then and Now

Los Angeles police officers set up a line outside a building in Los Angeles, Thursday, April 30, 1992. Fires and looting have been going on since on Wednesday following the verdicts in the Rodney King beating trial. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

A fire burns out of control at the corner of 67th St. and West Blvd. in South Central Los Angeles April 30, 1992. Hundreds of stores were burned after rioting erupted after the verdicts in the Rodney King assault case. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Looters mill in the parking lot of the ABC Market in South Central Los Angeles, April 30, 1992, as violence and looting ensued on the first day of riots following the verdicts in the Rodney King assault case. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

A California Highway Patrol officer stands guard at Ninth Street and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles as smoke rises from a fire further down the street, April 30, 1992. It was the second day of unrest in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the Rodney King beating case. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Los Angeles police officer holds a shotgun on two looting suspects as a California State police officer puts handcuffs on them near Martin Luther King Blvd. and Vermont Ave. in South Central Los Angeles, in this file photo taken May 1, 1992. (AP Photo/John Gaps III)

Police stand over a group of handcuffed looting suspects in Los Angeles Thursday, April 30, 1992 as rioting continued throughout the area. The worst riots in U.S. modern history began when outnumbered police were faced down by a crowd angered by the acquittals of four white police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Few lives in the city were untouched by the 1992 riots, but some were nearly destroyed. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

An unidentified man loots a store in South Central Los Angeles, April 30, 1992, during unrest that began Wednesday following the verdicts that were handed down in the Rodney King beating trial. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac)

A woman enters a Popeye's restaurant spared by the looters because of the sign saying "Black-owned Business" posted in the window, May 8, 1992, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

A man removes a couch from a store in South Central Los Angeles in this April 30, 1992 file photo, as looting and rioting continued throughout the area. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

A commercial building is left to burn as firefighters protect nearby buildings from fire damage during the riots in South Central Los Angeles, April 30, 1992. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Superheroes: We Love Them, But Would We Marry Them?

Jack Huber — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:14:05 -0500

This summer, movie screens will be filled with crime fighters using special powers and a (sometimes) unwavering passion to make the world safe for working stiff, law-abiding citizens like us. Captain America, Thor and the Green Lantern will attempt to walk in the box office footsteps of Batman, Iron Man and, of course, that original square-jawed defender of truth, justice and the American way – Superman.

For the most part, superheroes are made not born (sorry, Clark Kent). Here's your chance to customize your own hero avatar (spandex and tinfoil anyone?); work against time to complete challenges; and earn hero points to save the world!

But why do these champions of justice fascinate us? And what if they were real? Discovery News looks at that very question in the video below:

But wait! Do the real-life superheroes mentioned in the video really exist? Yes they do.

In Seattle the caped avengers call themselves the Rain City Superhero Movement. Sporting names like Thorn, Buster Doe, Green Reaper, Catastrophe and Phoenix (pictured below), they have seen mixed results. One unfortunate costume choice included a ski mask which bystanders interpreted as standard-issue criminal apparel and called police.

Now we address the original question – would you marry a superhero? On the upside:

You will always feel safe.
Permanent bragging rights at all class reunions.
Errands and “honey-do” lists are never a problem.
Form-fitting costumes ensure he will never “let himself go.”
There are probably powers best used in private that aren't generally known.

Factors weighing against:

Rescued women tend to swoon and are prone to stalking.
24/7 on-call status means that planning family activities is difficult.
Secret identity makes it necessary to lie to those you love.
Super powers usually come with super “unpleasant” bodily functions.
Invulnerable children are impossible to discipline.

But suppose you decide that the positives override the negatives. Here are a few guys who may or may not be the real McCoy. We'll leave it to you to judge.

Happy fantasizing!

Photos: Marvel Comics and Paramount Pictures, DC Comics and Warner Brothers. Seattle PD. Carla Van Wagoner/WireImage/Getty Images.

Egypt, the Revolution & King Tut's Dad

Jack Huber — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:26:54 -0500

In one of those quirks of history, a pharaoh was turned up while a president was turned out.

Amid the recent revolt against President Hosni Mubarak, a 16-year-old protester came across the missing limestone statue of King Akhenaten (above, right), the father of Tutankhamun, and he saw that it was returned to Dr. Tarek El-Awady, Director General of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo (above, left). But the news is not all good.

Although museum officials like Dr. Youssef Khalifa (above, center) are encouraged by the return of Tut's father, they note that much looting of antiquities accompanied the civil unrest that saw Egypt's president ousted. At Saqqara, the tomb of Hetepka was broken into. In Abusir, a portion of the false door was stolen from the tomb of Rahotep.

Despite having their hands full helping decide who would rule the country, the Egyptian military caught thieves attempting to loot the site of Tell el Basta, as well as others trying to loot a tomb in Lisht.

Find Out More at Discovery News

Another Perspective on the Story

NEW SERIES: The Injustice Files

Photo: Ahmed Amin (3)

Lindsay Lohan Does “Purity”

Jack Huber — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:09:17 -0500

Facing charges that she stole a valuable necklace, actress and renowned bad girl Lindsay Lohan arrived at her hearing Wednesday in a white dress that she claimed symbolized purity. Courtroom observers noted that the hemline was about a foot above the knee, and it fit tight enough to have been sprayed on her -- leading some to conjure up thoughts decidedly different from purity.

Did it help her case?

Lohan pleaded not guilty to felony grand theft, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz, apparently unmoved by her fashion statement, admonished the defendant, “You’re no different than anyone else … please don’t push your luck.”

If only she had gone for a look that symbolized “innocence” instead of “purity.”

Check Out the Story

Recession Sparks Art Theft Boom

Jack Huber — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:19:44 -0500

This is job creation that the Obama Administration is NOT encouraging.

According to Dr. Derek Fincham, Academic Director of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA), “Grim economic times make art theft more attractive, while budget constraints take a toll on museum security and dedicated art policing units.”

“The Lady With the Fan” (right, top) by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani is one of five paintings stolen from the City Museum of Modern Art in Paris in May of last year, along with paintings by Matisse, Picasso and Leger. According to Fincham, one of the thieves was caught on security cameras entering the museum through a broken window, but authorities have been unable to secure the works, or the perpetrators. "Perhaps most troubling of all," he says, "there were guards on duty at the museum, yet the security system did not alert them to the theft of the paintings or the thief breaking into the museum."

Thieves in Egypt stole a painting by Vincent van Gogh (whose self portrait is to the right), titled “Poppy Flowers.” It had been on display at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo Egypt. The theft took place during Ramadan, while the guards were either sleeping or praying. None of the few visitors to the museum saw the theft of the Van Gogh which took place in daylight, while the museum was open to the public.

Check Out Our Top 10 Heists Ever

Photos: ANDREA MEROLA/epa/Corbis, FPG Intl./Getty Images