MTV's mega-hit, "The Jersey Shore, " has successfully followed eight dark haired and tan strangers -- Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, and Deena Nicole Cortese (replacing Angelina Pivarnick in season three) from the New Jersey shores to most recently, Florence, Italy.

CNN: Obsessions: Snooki killed the video star

Yesterday, Skyfall opened in China to enormous numbers, and it should finish its run as the seventh highest-grossing movie in history, bumping The Dark Knight Rises down to number eight on the all-time list.

FORBES: 'Skyfall' Becomes Tenth Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time

The box-like eight-floor structure had dark brown bricks as facing tiles on the outside walls, a style that became popular in Shanghai in the 1930s.

WSJ: Architect László Ede Hudec Designed Shanghai's Art Deco Landmarks

The most physical demonstration of this rivalry is, famously, the annual University Boat Race: one spring Saturday each year the Light Blues (Cambridge) and Dark Blues (Oxford) each send their finest eight oarsmen to row the 4 miles and 374 yards along the Thames between Putney and Mortlake in west London.

BBC: The Oxford versus Cambridge gloat race

Eight young women squirm under electrode-studded caps in a dark, small room in Greenwich, England.

FORBES: In Search of the Buy Button

It was thought about eight men aged between 18 and 25, all wearing masks, dark clothing and gloves, took part in the burglary.

BBC: Surrey father held at gunpoint makes Crimewatch appeal

In Thailand, devotees are burning black joss sticks and presenting eight black offerings, including black-feathered chickens and coffee, to appease the dark angel in the run-up to the eclipse.

CNN: HE GODS WERE DRINKING