“Today I Learned”: People Share 78 Fascinating Things They Didn’t Learn In School (New Posts)
Trains have tanks of sand with tubes that shoot sand under each wheel to create friction so the train accelerates more efficiently
When a Manhattan Project scientist was asked to calculate whether a human being could survive exposure to a very high dose of radiation, she only learned later that the person that had received the dose was her husband.
So, it goes without saying that education is generally a good thing. Minus probably the burden of knowing and comprehending things others don’t really care about, learning stuff can help you with a lot of things, generally enhancing your quality of life.
Sitting down and studying something not only gives you an escape from something, but also empowers you to do more. If you think learning how to use a hammer and nails bears little to no impact on things, that alone can mean you can do some pretty elite home decorating.
American athlete Florence Griffith Joyner is the fastest woman ever recorded. The record is still standing after 35 years. She passed away at the age of 38.
In 1998, elementary students in Aurora, Colorado started buying slaves in Sudan to free them, this gained global attention with schools in other countries starting slave buyback programs until it became clear that the money was just helping slavery grow.
Learning has the power to reduce stress. These days, there’s a sure abundance of it, so picking up new things to learn might help throw the excess anxiety out the window.
Studies have shown that employees who engaged in a learning activity gained a certain kind of buffer against the negative effects of stress. This included being less affected by negative emotions, unethical behavior, and burnout.
During a heated discussion in the Roman Senate, Julius Caesar received a letter. His fierce opponent Cato, thinking it would incriminate Caesar, had the letter read. It was a love letter from Cato’s sister.
Henry VIII’s doctors were too scared to tell him he was dying while he was on his deathbed because of the Treason Act forbidding anyone from speculating about the King’s death. The Archbishop was the one who had to break the news.
Needless to say, education instills confidence.
Not only is knowledge in and of itself empowering, as the more you know, the more you feel confident in your knowledge and abilities. But it’s also true that the learning environment can also foster self-confidence in students—things like positive feedback, setting realistic goals, implementing equality in the classroom, all the while allowing them to be individuals and creating a positive learning environment all help build up self-esteem and confidence in one’s own intelligence.
A man didn’t know that he got drafted by the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Norm Michael of Syracuse University in 1944, but could not reach him as he had already enlisted in the US Army. Michael only learned what had happened in 1999, when reading about other Syracuse NFL players.
After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, engineers carried diesel fuel up 17 flights of stairs in buckets to keep the generators running to power a data center.
In 1957 Little Richard enrolled in Oakwood College for the ministry. He told all the students he didn’t want them listening to his “devil” music and wanted buy his records back for more than the original price in order to burn them in a bonfire.
This one was already hinted at before, but there is a reason why folks say knowledge is power. Knowledge allows you to achieve many things: everything from being able to fix stuff yourself to being able to train your brain to resolve problems faster and more efficiently to straight-up being good at trivia games.
Schools have used infant simulator dolls which are designed to behave like real babies by crying, burping, and requiring ‘feeding’ and diapering, to try to deter teen pregnancy. A 2016 study found that teen girls in schools that used the dolls were about 36% more likely to get pregnant by age 20.
Education is also known to help something that’s often discussed these days, and that is mental health.
This one’s multifaceted as education in terms of a healthy mind means that it provides a sense of accomplishment, allows for social opportunities in educational environments, gives the tools to ensure financial stability, among many other things. This in turn reduces stress and anxiety, all the while strengthening self confidence.
In September 2020, the last Blockbuster video rental store, which is located in Bend, Oregon, hosted 1990s-themed sleepovers via Airbnb for $4 a night.
Neil Armstrong was filmed as he stepped on the moon with a $2.3 million upside-down camera. Westinghouse built for Apollo 11 a special model that the astronaut deployed by pulling a handle near the ladder he climbed down onto the lunar surface. NASA inverted the image for the TV audience.
One thing I can personally attest to is the fact that attending university also means going through social school as well. Learning a trade isn’t the only goal of an educational institution—it also provides ample opportunities to develop as a person on a social level through group projects, social clubs and events. You learn to function in society more, and those connections that you make during your studies can prosper and become a bigger deal one day.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm, they cancelled an upcoming animated Star Wars series which starred, among others, Weird Al Yankovic. They had already made 39 episodes comprising two seasons.
There are 56 United States Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients who received the medal for jumping on grenades and mines to save the lives of their comrades.
Learning is also a kind of an excuse for “me time.” Everyone needs to unwind, reboot, let their brain recoup and indulge in a good work-life balance. Learning is as good of an activity as any. Actually better, as you gain extra from it.
So, yeah, it’s quite alright to tell someone you can’t hang out with them because you’re on a strict learning schedule. Even if you don’t need to learn, hey, there’s your reason to force a raincheck on plans you don’t feel like being a part of.
In the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos instituted a “two-pizza rule”: every internal team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas. The reason was that a smaller team spends less time managing timetables and keeping people up to date, and more time doing what needs to be done.
The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León was killed after being struck by an arrow poisoned with manchineel sap. A present-day Spanish name is manzanilla de la muerte, “little apple of death”. This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most toxic trees in the world.
Scottish/Canadian man Angus MacAskill is thought to be the tallest “true” giant (not abnormal height due to a pathological condition) in history. He stood 7’9″ tall, had an 80″ chest (also a record) 44″ shoulders and weighed 510lbs.
Some might find it a bit delusional, but there are folks who find learning genuinely fun. Learning provides satisfaction in knowing things. Learning provides a sense of achievement. Learning can be challenging and thus transformative. All of this has more than enough potential to provide fun. And hey, if you gamify learning, you can rub your extensive knowledge of mythical creatures and historical trivia in everyone’s face.
That the moon appearing huge when it’s near the horizon is a trick our brains play on us, you can remove the illusion by bending over and looking through your legs, or standing on your head and nobody is quite sure why.
In 2007, Malaysia sent its first astronaut to the ISS. The government and Islamic scholars also wrote that in order to pray, Muslims in space should face Mecca if possible; but if not, they could face the Earth generally, or just face “wherever.”
During the opening ceremony of Ottawa International Airport’s new terminal in 1959, a USAF F-104 Starfighter did a supersonic flypast. The resulting sonic boom shattered nearly all the glass in the airport and caused significant structural damage, delaying the opening for another year.
Ultimately, the way you do education sets an example for others—especially those who look up to you for guidance.
Parents expressing genuine excitement for learning, and living it, is a strong influence on kids. That inspires kids to also want to learn. Even more so when they find out it becomes a shared interest in life for them. And if you’re not living that educational lifestyle, maybe it’s time you rediscovered the thrill? It’s no longer the case where you work the same job all your life, after all.
Léon and Mathilda’s relationship in Leon: The Professional (1994) was inspired by director Luc Besson’s own relationship with a 12 year old girl, who he later married.
Tickets to the first Superbowl cost just $12, which is approximately $106 when adjusted for inflation.
C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley both died on November 22nd, 1963. However, their deaths were overshadowed by the more prominent death of John F. Kennedy on the same day.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Any facts you thought were super fascinating? Share your findings, takes and stories in the comment section below!
And before you go, the learning doesn’t have to end here as you can continue scrolling “Today I Learned” articles on Bored Panda.
The US has a perpetual lease for Guantanamo Bay and sends Cuba a check for about $4500 per year but the Cuban government, since 1953 has refused to accept. However one time in 1959 the check was accidentally deposited causing confusion.
In a hurdling event , you are not penalized for knocking over a hurdle.
In 1964 a Swedish journalist did an experiment where he had a chimpanzee named Peter make a series of pantings and then submitted them to an art show as by Pierre Brassau to see if critics could tell the difference between avant grande art and art by a chimp. Most critics fell for it.
The first Japanese person to be sent to space was Toyohiro Akiyama. Known as “The Space Antihero”, Akiyama was not a trained astronaut, scientist nor engineer and spent his time in space craving cigarettes.
The Yellowstone National Park is on top of a caldera, which is a volcano that explodes so powerfully and immediately that everything around falls into the hole created, thus you are vacationing inside the top of volcano, but it looks flat and not like a “normal” shield volcano.
About an ancient African tradition where a murderer was punished by an assassin running into him with a spear which had meat on it. The murderer kept his mouth open. The murder victim’s family decides if the murderer is killed by the spear or fed the meat (forgiven).
On the set of Jaws, Spielberg invited George Lucas to see the mechanical shark still in development. Lucas playfully stuck his head in its mouth, and Spielberg clamped it shut, leaving Lucas stuck. They snuck out of the workshop thinking they broke the contraption after eventually freeing him.
Film composer John Williams is the most Oscar-nominated living person, with 54 nominations. He is also the first person to be nominated in seven consecutive decades.
As of October 2022, Norway spends $127,671 per inmate per year, which is more than the United States’ average of $25,000.
The movie “Paranormal Activity” had a total budget of $215,000. It went on to earn $193 million at the global box office.
Penn and Teller game went unreleased because the developer went bankrupt by overproducing copies of a Goofy game.
Apollo 12 astronauts secretly brought a camera timer on the space mission. The two who landed on the moon planned to take a selfie with both of them to mystify people back on Earth. The plan failed when they could not find the timer.
Starfish Prime was the largest nuclear test in space. At 250 miles in the air, it EMPed 900 miles of Hawaii, frying electrical systems, setting off burglar alarms, and shut down 6+ satellites due to the months long radiation belt. After 5 years, traces of the electrons still linger in space.
Until 2022, the Japanese public school system’s dress code required students dye their hair black. One student was forced to dye her naturally brown hair black, and was told to re-dye it every time her roots grew back. She was given academic penalties for not dyeing it often enough.
in 1778, the United States flag was formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine-gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
Radiohead seventh studio album In Rainbows was released under a pay-what-you-want model, in which fans could pay the price they desired, including downloading the entire album for free. Many customers in turned paid and they gained more profits because of this marketing strategy.
Robert Chesebrough, the inventor of Vaseline, practiced the unusual habit of consuming a spoonful of it each day. He attributed his long life of 96 years to this practice, without any scientific research to back it up.
Only the Special Editions of the original Star Wars trilogy were given to the National Film Registry despite the Library of Congress wanting the originals because George Lucas hates those versions. In fact, he had delayed in handing the Registry A New Hope until the Special Edition was made.
Astronomer Johannes Kepler built the legal defense for his mother, when she was accused of witchcraft. The six-year trial resulted in her freedom.
Nicolas Cage Spent $150 million on 15 homes (including one haunted mansion), two islands, a dinosaur skull, a Lamborghini, exotic pets and a rare vintage comic book.
The first iPhone couldn’t copy and paste text until 2 years after release.
More than 40 percent of the USA’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition. The assessment of bridges, airports and water infrastructure is similar.
The original record holders for the 1 mile run were all from the United Kingdom, from 1855 on. UK would hold the record for over 50 years, until it was finally broken by American John Paul Jones.
Mayor in High Wycombe, England are weighted annually since 1678 to make sure that the mayor didn’t grow fat at taxpayer money.
By the 1970’s the black footed ferret was declared extinct, only for a dog to bring one home to its owners in 1981 in Wyoming, allowing conservationists to find the last remaining popualtion.
Nero’s teenage brother died at a dinner party with his entire family present. Some of the guests were shocked, but Nero shrugged it off, saying it was normal, as he was having epileptic seizures since birth, so they carried on with their party.
The “20Q” (20 questions) handheld game, a toy released in 2003 and famous for its scary level of accuracy, actually used a basic implementation of an AI neural network. It used training data gathered from users of a web-browser based implementation of the game which launched in 1994.
The worst serial killer–Luis Garavito–had 193 confirmed victims. He died of eye cancer in October.
Shel Silverstein, who wrote “Where the Sidewalk Ends”, was a prolific writer. He wrote Johnny Cash’s “25 Minutes to Go” and Dr. Hook’s “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone'”. His book “A Light in the Attic” was on the NYT best sellers list for 181 weeks. And he never intended to be a children’s author.
An entire town exists in Pennsylvania due to one of the only traffic lights on the Interstate system.
Turkmenistan every year, teachers and doctors are forced to leave their jobs to go pick cotton for harvest on behalf of the government. This year there was an exception and they were allowed exemption.
You used to be able to buy flight insurance from a vending machine for 25c. The practice stopped due to scams, including a man who tried to commit insurance fraud by planting a bomb in his mother’s things, killing 44 people.
Cyndi Lauper sang a parody of her 1985 song “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” for the Bob’s Burger’s Season 2 premiere which aired in 2012. The episode is a parody of The Goonies. She said, “My son really wanted me to do it. He loves the show and was like, ‘C’mon, Mom, it’s hysterical. Do it.”
The Bic Cristal is the bestselling pen of all time, selling over 100 billion units, but had an infamously terrible spinoff. The “Bic Cristal for Her” was a pink version targeted at women that sold poorly, was publicly mocked, and inducted into the Museum of Failure.
Sunflower Syndrome – a rare form of pediatric photosensitive epilepsy. The child is attracted to the sun (heliotropism) or a bright light, wave their hand in front of their eyes to create a strobe and trigger seizure activity with lapses in consciousness and often a feeling of relief.
Marvel obtained the trademarks “Hulk Hogan”, “Hulkster” and “Hulkamania” for 20 years while the WWF agreed to no longer refer to Hogan as “incredible” or “Hulk” or ever dress him in purple or green. Marvel also obtained $100 for each Hulk Hogan match and 10% of any earnings under this name.
Ace of Base original lineup consisted of three siblings, a brother and two sisters. They were signed to their first contract after a record exec rejected their song “All That She Wants” but got their demo stuck in his car’s tape deck and finally decided he liked it. It went straight to no. 1.
Louis Armstrong was initially considered for the role of King Louie in Disney’s 1967 ”Jungle Book” but one of the writers said ‘You know the NAACP is going to jump all over it having a black man playing an ape – it would be politically terrible’ so the part went to Louis Prima.
Singer Hank Williams died less than two months after releasing his final single titled “I’ll never get out of this world alive”.
The “Infernal Machine”, a 25-barreled gun that the Corsican revolutionary Giuseppe Fieschi tried to assassinate King Louis Phillippe I with in 1835. The device killed 18 people in a single volley and injured 22 (as well as Fieschi himself), but only mildly grazed the King.
From 1928 to 2016, no Republican won the presidency without Richard Nixon or a Bush on the ticket.
Planet 9, a hypothetical ninth planet in the outer region of our solar system. The planet has not been directly observed, but the gravitational effects of the planet could explain the unique orbits of bodies beyond Neptune, which orbit the sun as a single cluster.
In 2018, a UK school began enforcing a policy that banned all students from carrying backpacks after two students and a staff member were injured by students carrying book bags that were slung over their shoulders. As a protest, a student carried his books to school using a microwave.
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Trains have tanks of sand with tubes that shoot sand under each wheel to create friction so the train accelerates more efficiently
When a Manhattan Project scientist was asked to calculate whether a human being could survive exposure to a very high dose of radiation, she only learned later that the person that had received the dose was her husband.
So, it goes without saying that education is generally a good thing. Minus probably the burden of knowing and comprehending things others don’t really care about, learning stuff can help you with a lot of things, generally enhancing your quality of life.
Sitting down and studying something not only gives you an escape from something, but also empowers you to do more. If you think learning how to use a hammer and nails bears little to no impact on things, that alone can mean you can do some pretty elite home decorating.
American athlete Florence Griffith Joyner is the fastest woman ever recorded. The record is still standing after 35 years. She passed away at the age of 38.
In 1998, elementary students in Aurora, Colorado started buying slaves in Sudan to free them, this gained global attention with schools in other countries starting slave buyback programs until it became clear that the money was just helping slavery grow.
Learning has the power to reduce stress. These days, there’s a sure abundance of it, so picking up new things to learn might help throw the excess anxiety out the window.
Studies have shown that employees who engaged in a learning activity gained a certain kind of buffer against the negative effects of stress. This included being less affected by negative emotions, unethical behavior, and burnout.
During a heated discussion in the Roman Senate, Julius Caesar received a letter. His fierce opponent Cato, thinking it would incriminate Caesar, had the letter read. It was a love letter from Cato's sister.
Henry VIII's doctors were too scared to tell him he was dying while he was on his deathbed because of the Treason Act forbidding anyone from speculating about the King's death. The Archbishop was the one who had to break the news.
Needless to say, education instills confidence.
Not only is knowledge in and of itself empowering, as the more you know, the more you feel confident in your knowledge and abilities. But it’s also true that the learning environment can also foster self-confidence in students—things like positive feedback, setting realistic goals, implementing equality in the classroom, all the while allowing them to be individuals and creating a positive learning environment all help build up self-esteem and confidence in one’s own intelligence.
A man didn't know that he got drafted by the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Norm Michael of Syracuse University in 1944, but could not reach him as he had already enlisted in the US Army. Michael only learned what had happened in 1999, when reading about other Syracuse NFL players.
After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, engineers carried diesel fuel up 17 flights of stairs in buckets to keep the generators running to power a data center.
In 1957 Little Richard enrolled in Oakwood College for the ministry. He told all the students he didn’t want them listening to his “devil” music and wanted buy his records back for more than the original price in order to burn them in a bonfire.
This one was already hinted at before, but there is a reason why folks say knowledge is power. Knowledge allows you to achieve many things: everything from being able to fix stuff yourself to being able to train your brain to resolve problems faster and more efficiently to straight-up being good at trivia games.
Schools have used infant simulator dolls which are designed to behave like real babies by crying, burping, and requiring 'feeding' and diapering, to try to deter teen pregnancy. A 2016 study found that teen girls in schools that used the dolls were about 36% more likely to get pregnant by age 20.
Education is also known to help something that’s often discussed these days, and that is mental health.
This one’s multifaceted as education in terms of a healthy mind means that it provides a sense of accomplishment, allows for social opportunities in educational environments, gives the tools to ensure financial stability, among many other things. This in turn reduces stress and anxiety, all the while strengthening self confidence.
In September 2020, the last Blockbuster video rental store, which is located in Bend, Oregon, hosted 1990s-themed sleepovers via Airbnb for $4 a night.
Neil Armstrong was filmed as he stepped on the moon with a $2.3 million upside-down camera. Westinghouse built for Apollo 11 a special model that the astronaut deployed by pulling a handle near the ladder he climbed down onto the lunar surface. NASA inverted the image for the TV audience.
One thing I can personally attest to is the fact that attending university also means going through social school as well. Learning a trade isn’t the only goal of an educational institution—it also provides ample opportunities to develop as a person on a social level through group projects, social clubs and events. You learn to function in society more, and those connections that you make during your studies can prosper and become a bigger deal one day.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm, they cancelled an upcoming animated Star Wars series which starred, among others, Weird Al Yankovic. They had already made 39 episodes comprising two seasons.
There are 56 United States Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients who received the medal for jumping on grenades and mines to save the lives of their comrades.
Learning is also a kind of an excuse for “me time.” Everyone needs to unwind, reboot, let their brain recoup and indulge in a good work-life balance. Learning is as good of an activity as any. Actually better, as you gain extra from it.
So, yeah, it’s quite alright to tell someone you can’t hang out with them because you’re on a strict learning schedule. Even if you don’t need to learn, hey, there’s your reason to force a raincheck on plans you don’t feel like being a part of.
In the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos instituted a "two-pizza rule": every internal team should be small enough that it can be fed with two pizzas. The reason was that a smaller team spends less time managing timetables and keeping people up to date, and more time doing what needs to be done.
The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León was killed after being struck by an arrow poisoned with manchineel sap. A present-day Spanish name is manzanilla de la muerte, "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most toxic trees in the world.
Scottish/Canadian man Angus MacAskill is thought to be the tallest "true" giant (not abnormal height due to a pathological condition) in history. He stood 7'9" tall, had an 80" chest (also a record) 44" shoulders and weighed 510lbs.
Some might find it a bit delusional, but there are folks who find learning genuinely fun. Learning provides satisfaction in knowing things. Learning provides a sense of achievement. Learning can be challenging and thus transformative. All of this has more than enough potential to provide fun. And hey, if you gamify learning, you can rub your extensive knowledge of mythical creatures and historical trivia in everyone’s face.
That the moon appearing huge when it's near the horizon is a trick our brains play on us, you can remove the illusion by bending over and looking through your legs, or standing on your head and nobody is quite sure why.
In 2007, Malaysia sent its first astronaut to the ISS. The government and Islamic scholars also wrote that in order to pray, Muslims in space should face Mecca if possible; but if not, they could face the Earth generally, or just face “wherever.”
During the opening ceremony of Ottawa International Airport’s new terminal in 1959, a USAF F-104 Starfighter did a supersonic flypast. The resulting sonic boom shattered nearly all the glass in the airport and caused significant structural damage, delaying the opening for another year.
Ultimately, the way you do education sets an example for others—especially those who look up to you for guidance.
Parents expressing genuine excitement for learning, and living it, is a strong influence on kids. That inspires kids to also want to learn. Even more so when they find out it becomes a shared interest in life for them. And if you’re not living that educational lifestyle, maybe it’s time you rediscovered the thrill? It’s no longer the case where you work the same job all your life, after all.
Léon and Mathilda’s relationship in Leon: The Professional (1994) was inspired by director Luc Besson’s own relationship with a 12 year old girl, who he later married.
Tickets to the first Superbowl cost just $12, which is approximately $106 when adjusted for inflation.
C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley both died on November 22nd, 1963. However, their deaths were overshadowed by the more prominent death of John F. Kennedy on the same day.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Any facts you thought were super fascinating? Share your findings, takes and stories in the comment section below!
And before you go, the learning doesn’t have to end here as you can continue scrolling “Today I Learned” articles on Bored Panda.
The US has a perpetual lease for Guantanamo Bay and sends Cuba a check for about $4500 per year but the Cuban government, since 1953 has refused to accept. However one time in 1959 the check was accidentally deposited causing confusion.
In a hurdling event , you are not penalized for knocking over a hurdle.
In 1964 a Swedish journalist did an experiment where he had a chimpanzee named Peter make a series of pantings and then submitted them to an art show as by Pierre Brassau to see if critics could tell the difference between avant grande art and art by a chimp. Most critics fell for it.
The first Japanese person to be sent to space was Toyohiro Akiyama. Known as "The Space Antihero", Akiyama was not a trained astronaut, scientist nor engineer and spent his time in space craving cigarettes.
The Yellowstone National Park is on top of a caldera, which is a volcano that explodes so powerfully and immediately that everything around falls into the hole created, thus you are vacationing inside the top of volcano, but it looks flat and not like a "normal" shield volcano.
About an ancient African tradition where a murderer was punished by an assassin running into him with a spear which had meat on it. The murderer kept his mouth open. The murder victim's family decides if the murderer is killed by the spear or fed the meat (forgiven).
On the set of Jaws, Spielberg invited George Lucas to see the mechanical shark still in development. Lucas playfully stuck his head in its mouth, and Spielberg clamped it shut, leaving Lucas stuck. They snuck out of the workshop thinking they broke the contraption after eventually freeing him.
Film composer John Williams is the most Oscar-nominated living person, with 54 nominations. He is also the first person to be nominated in seven consecutive decades.
As of October 2022, Norway spends $127,671 per inmate per year, which is more than the United States' average of $25,000.
The movie "Paranormal Activity" had a total budget of $215,000. It went on to earn $193 million at the global box office.
Penn and Teller game went unreleased because the developer went bankrupt by overproducing copies of a Goofy game.
Apollo 12 astronauts secretly brought a camera timer on the space mission. The two who landed on the moon planned to take a selfie with both of them to mystify people back on Earth. The plan failed when they could not find the timer.
Starfish Prime was the largest nuclear test in space. At 250 miles in the air, it EMPed 900 miles of Hawaii, frying electrical systems, setting off burglar alarms, and shut down 6+ satellites due to the months long radiation belt. After 5 years, traces of the electrons still linger in space.
Until 2022, the Japanese public school system’s dress code required students dye their hair black. One student was forced to dye her naturally brown hair black, and was told to re-dye it every time her roots grew back. She was given academic penalties for not dyeing it often enough.
in 1778, the United States flag was formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine-gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
Radiohead seventh studio album In Rainbows was released under a pay-what-you-want model, in which fans could pay the price they desired, including downloading the entire album for free. Many customers in turned paid and they gained more profits because of this marketing strategy.
Robert Chesebrough, the inventor of Vaseline, practiced the unusual habit of consuming a spoonful of it each day. He attributed his long life of 96 years to this practice, without any scientific research to back it up.
Only the Special Editions of the original Star Wars trilogy were given to the National Film Registry despite the Library of Congress wanting the originals because George Lucas hates those versions. In fact, he had delayed in handing the Registry A New Hope until the Special Edition was made.
Astronomer Johannes Kepler built the legal defense for his mother, when she was accused of witchcraft. The six-year trial resulted in her freedom.
Nicolas Cage Spent $150 million on 15 homes (including one haunted mansion), two islands, a dinosaur skull, a Lamborghini, exotic pets and a rare vintage comic book.
The first iPhone couldn't copy and paste text until 2 years after release.
More than 40 percent of the USA's roads are in poor or mediocre condition. The assessment of bridges, airports and water infrastructure is similar.
The original record holders for the 1 mile run were all from the United Kingdom, from 1855 on. UK would hold the record for over 50 years, until it was finally broken by American John Paul Jones.
Mayor in High Wycombe, England are weighted annually since 1678 to make sure that the mayor didn't grow fat at taxpayer money.
By the 1970's the black footed ferret was declared extinct, only for a dog to bring one home to its owners in 1981 in Wyoming, allowing conservationists to find the last remaining popualtion.
Nero's teenage brother died at a dinner party with his entire family present. Some of the guests were shocked, but Nero shrugged it off, saying it was normal, as he was having epileptic seizures since birth, so they carried on with their party.
The “20Q” (20 questions) handheld game, a toy released in 2003 and famous for its scary level of accuracy, actually used a basic implementation of an AI neural network. It used training data gathered from users of a web-browser based implementation of the game which launched in 1994.
The worst serial killer--Luis Garavito--had 193 confirmed victims. He died of eye cancer in October.
Shel Silverstein, who wrote "Where the Sidewalk Ends", was a prolific writer. He wrote Johnny Cash's "25 Minutes to Go" and Dr. Hook's "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'". His book "A Light in the Attic" was on the NYT best sellers list for 181 weeks. And he never intended to be a children's author.
An entire town exists in Pennsylvania due to one of the only traffic lights on the Interstate system.
Turkmenistan every year, teachers and doctors are forced to leave their jobs to go pick cotton for harvest on behalf of the government. This year there was an exception and they were allowed exemption.
You used to be able to buy flight insurance from a vending machine for 25c. The practice stopped due to scams, including a man who tried to commit insurance fraud by planting a bomb in his mother's things, killing 44 people.
Cyndi Lauper sang a parody of her 1985 song "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" for the Bob's Burger's Season 2 premiere which aired in 2012. The episode is a parody of The Goonies. She said, "My son really wanted me to do it. He loves the show and was like, 'C'mon, Mom, it's hysterical. Do it."
The Bic Cristal is the bestselling pen of all time, selling over 100 billion units, but had an infamously terrible spinoff. The "Bic Cristal for Her" was a pink version targeted at women that sold poorly, was publicly mocked, and inducted into the Museum of Failure.
Sunflower Syndrome - a rare form of pediatric photosensitive epilepsy. The child is attracted to the sun (heliotropism) or a bright light, wave their hand in front of their eyes to create a strobe and trigger seizure activity with lapses in consciousness and often a feeling of relief.
Marvel obtained the trademarks "Hulk Hogan", "Hulkster" and "Hulkamania" for 20 years while the WWF agreed to no longer refer to Hogan as "incredible" or "Hulk" or ever dress him in purple or green. Marvel also obtained $100 for each Hulk Hogan match and 10% of any earnings under this name.
Ace of Base original lineup consisted of three siblings, a brother and two sisters. They were signed to their first contract after a record exec rejected their song "All That She Wants" but got their demo stuck in his car's tape deck and finally decided he liked it. It went straight to no. 1.
Louis Armstrong was initially considered for the role of King Louie in Disney's 1967 ''Jungle Book'' but one of the writers said 'You know the NAACP is going to jump all over it having a black man playing an ape – it would be politically terrible' so the part went to Louis Prima.
Singer Hank Williams died less than two months after releasing his final single titled "I'll never get out of this world alive".
The "Infernal Machine", a 25-barreled gun that the Corsican revolutionary Giuseppe Fieschi tried to assassinate King Louis Phillippe I with in 1835. The device killed 18 people in a single volley and injured 22 (as well as Fieschi himself), but only mildly grazed the King.
From 1928 to 2016, no Republican won the presidency without Richard Nixon or a Bush on the ticket.
Planet 9, a hypothetical ninth planet in the outer region of our solar system. The planet has not been directly observed, but the gravitational effects of the planet could explain the unique orbits of bodies beyond Neptune, which orbit the sun as a single cluster.
In 2018, a UK school began enforcing a policy that banned all students from carrying backpacks after two students and a staff member were injured by students carrying book bags that were slung over their shoulders. As a protest, a student carried his books to school using a microwave.
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