Great things can disappear in an instant as some momentous burp rattles mankind and alters the face of history. Pompeii, a town southeast of Naples, Italy, built on a spur of prehistoric lava, is just one example. In A.D. 79, it was destroyed in a flash by a hard-driving, molten rock stew spewing from Mount Vesuvius, freezing a few of its inhabitants into permanent museum pieces and History Channel specials after the Hitler footage has been exhausted. Salve! Ristorante was another example, wiped from an asphalt spur on McKinney Avenue by the hard-charging lava of lawyers and... More >>>