The word “hobbit” has been found exactly once in texts predating Tolkien, in a list of magical creatures with no explanation or context.
Reading silently didn’t happen until the dark ages
Reading silently didn’t happen until the dark ages, when monks took a vow of silence. Before that, reading was done aloud, which is why the Romans had no punctuation and instead, chanted words to rhythms. Reading silently uses an entirely different part of the brain.
Parents who are concerned about how their children’s names…
Parents who are concerned about how their children’s names may affect them in life can now hire services to name their kids for them. Services have popped up all over the US and Europe, with one Swiss agency charging $29,000 to research and recommend your child’s name.
Cherophobia (fear of happiness) is an attitude towards…
Cherophobia (fear of happiness) is an attitude towards happiness in which individuals may deliberately avoid experiences that invoke positive emotions or happiness because they think something bad will happen after.
A Russian dog, whose owners were killed in a car crush
A Russian dog, whose owners were killed in a car crush, refused to leave the site of the accident. The dog waited for them, until it died 7 years later. The city informally adopted the dog and dedicated a statue to honor its loyalty.
Penicillin was formally discovered when Alexander Fleming…
Penicillin was formally discovered when Alexander Fleming did not tidy up some petri dishes filled with bacteria before going on vacation. A penicillin spore then spontaneously landed in a petri dish and caused enough damage to the bacteria for Fleming to notice this when he came back.
A woman in Nebraska tried to sue all gay people…
A woman in Nebraska tried to sue all gay people. Her appeal had no legal references, but quoted Webster’s Dictionary and the Bible.
There is an RC car that returns Javelins to the Olympic
There is an RC car that returns Javelins to the Olympic athletes. Here’s the video from London 2012.
Up until the 70s and 80s every competitor in the Olympics
Up until the 70s and 80s every competitor in the Olympics had to be an amateur, meaning they could not receive payment. Today, the only Olympic sports with no professional athletes are boxing and wrestling.
Towers in New York can fake and exaggerate how many…
Towers in New York can fake and exaggerate how many floors they have, using tricks like different sets of elevators to hide the missing floors.