fact
During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, two Japanese pole vaulters who tied for second place refused to participate in a tie-breaker. Upon returning to Japan, they cut their medals in half and fused them to one another so each athlete ended up with a half-silver, half-bronze medal.
In 1997 there was a contest to win an exact replica of The Simpson’s house, fully furnished. The winner could keep the home or trade it for $75,000. The winner took the money. The house was stripped of its decor before being sold.
The company Samsung accounts for 15% of South Korea’s entire economy, and that South Koreans often live in Samsung owned apartment buildings, can get treatment from Samsung-owned medical centers, go to Samsung universities, and even end up at a Samsung funeral parlor when they die.
Titus Adams, aged 7, walked barefoot in the snow for half a mile to get help for his mom after she was thrown from her crashed pick-up truck. His courageous half-mile walk amid 23-degree weather saved his mother’s life, authorities in Greeley, Colo., said.
Dr. Seuss drew anti-Japanese cartoons during WWII. When he met the survivors of Hiroshima, he realized “A person is a person no matter how small”. He later created Horton Hears a Who! as an apology, dedicating it to a Japanese friend.
In 2013, before Christmas, more than 250 passengers on Calgary-bound flights were part of a “Christmas miracle” done by WestJet. Santa Claus appeared on life-size screens at boarding gates and asked passengers what they wanted for Christmas. When the planes landed the gifts were on the baggage carousel.
In 2013, a scientist injected human brain cells into a mouse brain, which improved the mouse’s memory and ability to learn.
Many of the modern holiday standards, including “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”, “Silver and Gold”, and “Run Rudolph Run” were written by a single Jewish American songwriter named Johnny Marks.
In 1951, 650 British soldiers were being overwhelmed by 10,000 Chinese. When an American general asked for a status update, a brigadier responded “things are a bit sticky down there.” No help was sent and almost all of the troops were killed because the general did not get the understatement.
Facebook made about $90 per user in the US and Canada last year.