Clearly visible in the night sky, Mars has always played a mysterious role in the human psyche. A planet so close, and yet so far and utterly alien, it has fed our imagination for centuries. From video games to movies, many visionaries have explored the almost sinister side to Mars - the part we're all a little bit nervous about. Maybe we're looking a little bit too far away in the solar system - maybe they're right under our noses.
The fear of our alien overlords residing on a planet so close by seems to have been jump-started by a man named Christian Huygens, who in 1659 discovered an incredibly creepy feature on the surface of the red planet. Named Syrtis Major, this so-called geographical anomaly fed into public hysteria over an imminent attack, a hysteria that hasn't really died down since.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.