National Roller Coaster Day

Although its origin unidentified, National Roller Coaster Day has been celebrated for some years on August 16. People celebrate the day by visiting an amusement park and enjoying a roller coaster ride.

In Las Vegas, the Big Apple Coaster at New York-New York Hotel and Casino is offering a buy-one-get-one general admission to its 67-mph thrill ride from 10:30 a.m. to Noon on Saturday August 16, 2014. It climbs up to the highest peak at 68 meters or 203 feet before rushing down 44 meters or 144 feet with a 180-degree “heartline” twist and dive maneuver. The first 100 riders will receive a special “National Roller Coaster Day” T-shirt.

The Big Apple Coaster can be seen on Postcard US-2574059 to Argentina in the front.

Two other roller coaster rides in Las Vegas are offering discounts as well. The Adventuredome at Circus Circus has a two-for-one discount on tickets to ride both El Loco and Canyon Blaster from 10 a.m. to Noon. The Desperado at Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino is offering two-for-one rides between 12:15 a.m. and 9:45 p.m.

World Cup Stamps

Postcard DE-3394587 from Germany was made of a series of World Cup stamps from several countries. The three stamps on the left were 1978 North Korea stamps showing World Cup winners: West Germany (1954, 1974), Italy (1934, 1938), and Uruguay (1930, 1950).

Magyar Posta in Hungary issued the three stamps in the middle to commemorate the 1978 FIFA World Cup held in Argentina from June 1 to June 25, 1978.

The top three stamps on the right were issued in R.P. Kampuchea in 1985, dedicating to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

The stamp on the bottom right was also a 1978 North Korea stamp from the 12-stamp History of the World Cup stamps set. Unfortunately, it fell off during the mailing.

The right stamp on the back was a Enthusiastic Germany football stamp issued on May 2, 2012.

Cataratas do Iguaçu

Postcard BR-228416 from Brazil shows Iguazu Falls, meaning “large water”, which are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentina province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. The total width of the waterfalls is approximately 800 meters or 2,625 feet on the Brazilian side and 1,900 meters or 6,234 feet on the Argentinean side, with the Iguassu River narrowing from 1,200 meters or 3,937 feet in width above the falls, into a 65-meter or 213-foot channel below. The Iguazu Falls consists of about one hundred waterfalls during the average flow, with their heights ranging between 40 meters or 131 feet and 80 meters or 262 feet. The average flow of the river is about 1,500 m³/s, with a low of 500 m³/s in drought and a high of 8,500 m³/s in flood. The largest volume of flows occurs between October and March.

Five main falls are on the Brazilian side; fourteen main falls are on the Argentinean side. Since most of the falls are on the Argentinean side and facing Brazil, the best views are from the Brazilian side.

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With the 2014 FIFA World Cup on the way, the number of foreign visitors to the Iguazu National Park, one the New Seven Wonders of Nature, increased 65%.