Thursday, October 17

The NFL recently announced that the Super Bowl will be coming to Atlanta in 2028, marking the second time the city's Mercedes-Benz Stadium has hosted the league final.

The Super Bowl is the final of the National Football League, which is the United States' major league for American football. It has been the final of the NFL since 1966, prior to which there were two separate football leagues in the US, the NFL and the AFL. In 1966, the two leagues agreed to host a final between the winners of each league while having separate seasons, known as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It was renamed the Super Bowl in 1968, and the two leagues merged in 1970, creating the NFL.

Since 1966, the Super Bowl has since been hosted by 16 different cities, the first of which was Los Angeles during the 1966-1967 season. Miami has hosted the most Super Bowls, with 11, while New Orleans has hosted 10 and Los Angeles has hosted 8. The Super Bowl always takes place on the second Sunday in February.

2024's Super Bowl took place in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, with the Kansas City Chiefs taking home their third win in five years and second in a row after they beat the San Francisco 49ers in a close game that extended into overtime. The next Super Bowl will be hosted by New Orleans, Louisiana once again, taking place at the Caesars Superdome, followed by the 2026 Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, California and the 2027 Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Now, the NFL has just announced that the bidding has ended for the 2028 Super Bowl, and Atlanta, Georgia will be hosting the event for the fourth time in the city's history. Atlanta first hosted the Super Bowl in 1994 and again in 2000 at the Georgia Dome, a stadium that was demolished in 2017. It hosted for the third time at the brand-new, $1.6 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2019, and it will be hosted at the same stadium in downtown Atlanta three and a half years from now.

At least 147 people are dead after an oil tanker exploded in Nigeria, sparking a massive blaze that turned the entire area into a cloud of smoke and fire.

The tanker was full of oil when the driver lost control of the vehicle as it was entering the state of Yobe, located in the northeastern portion of the African nation. The tanker crashed in the town of Majiya on Tuesday night, and people began crowding around the tanker to try and steal some oil from the leak gushing out.

The result was a massive disaster, as a small spark caused the puddle of oil to catch fire. This led to a massive explosion as the oil in the tanker combusted, killing the hordes of people gathering in the area. Some residents managed to escape, but many suffered from burns, breathing problems, and other severe injuries afterward.

Unfortunately, these types of incidents are very common in more undeveloped nations, especially rural areas of Africa. Many villages are located far away from cities or sources of crucial supplies, meaning that resources like water and gas are low. When a mishap occurs like Tuesday's incident, many locals begin surrounding oil tankers to steal the oil from the leaking truck, as it is available for free-- at a high risk. Due to the large number of people surrounding the oil, one small spark can cause the entire area to go up in flames, killing scores of people. Local governments continue to urge people to stay away from tankers during accidents like this, and while people know that the risk of an explosion is high, they continue to sprint towards the tankers and risk their lives as they try to grab a jug of oil.

Another example of this type of incident occurred just one month ago, when a tanker in Haiti was surrounded by people attempting to steal oil due to a shortage in the area. When the tanker caught fire, dozens of people were killed in the resulting inferno.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Sea otters store extra food in a small, baggy pocket located in their armpits.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Hope itself is like a star – not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. (Charles Spurgeon)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Exact (verb)- To exact something (such as payment or revenge) is to demand it and get it, especially by using force or threats. Exact is also used in phrases like "exact a terrible toll" and "exact a high/heavy price" to say that something has caused a lot of suffering, loss, etc.

In a Sentence: The novel's protagonist is undeterred by either time or circumstance in her effort to exact revenge.