In 2007, the hijacking of a Mauritanian flight was thwarted. Over the PA, the pilot instructed the passengers that he was about to make a bumpy landing, and they should attack the hijacker while he was off balance. He said this in French, which the gunman did not speak. The ploy succeeded.
German film director Werner Herzog…
German film director Werner Herzog nearly took LANSA Flight 508, but canceled at the last minute. The plane was struck by lightning, killing 91 of 92 crew members and passengers. The lone survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, whose story was told in Herzog’s documentary Wings of Hope.
TV show Top Gear conducted…
TV show Top Gear conducted an extreme test of a Toyota pickup truck by leaving it on a beach to be taken by the tide, leaving it on top of a highrise building that was demolished, and setting it on fire. It still ran after being repaired with only the tools in the truck’s toolbox.
William the Conquerer Literally Exploded at His Funeral
Yes, History Can Be Both Fun And Interesting!
Some might argue that, given the brutal, bloody way William the Conquerer ruled England, his brutal, stinking, bloody end was more than fitting.
William who-would-be-the-Conquerer was born around 1028 to the Duke of Normandy and a peasant girl. Officially a bastard, William still inherited his father’s titles at the age of 8. Normandy, though, found itself embroiled in a Civil War, and William’s childhood could not be described as idyllic, title or no.
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Whether it came naturally to him or he learned the behavior of brutality, William embraced his legacy as he grew, punishing his defeated foes by chopping off their hands and feet in at least one instance.
In 1066, he won the bloody battle of Hastings and was crowned King of England on Christmas Day the same year.
Though he instituted some constitutional and social reforms and forged close ties with France while ending Viking influence in England, he’s mostly remembered for the way he treated the people that disagreed with and fought against him.
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In 1069, he began a campaign known as “The Harrying of the North,” in which he put down rebellions by burning villages and slaughtering livestock (and sometimes people), leaving those who survived starving to the point of cannibalism.
William, however, grew fatter and fatter until an incident with his horse – an unexpected movement caused the saddle to puncture his intestines – eventually killed him.
It took 6 weeks, and while dying, the king supposedly confessed that he regretted at least some of his atrocities. According to Orderic Vitalis, a Benedictine monk and chronicler of English contemporary life, William spoke from his deathbed:
“I treated the native inhabitants of the kingdom with unreasonable severity, cruelly oppressed high and low, unjustly disinherited many, and caused the death of thousands by starvation and war, especially in Yorkshire …In mad fury I descended on the English of the north like a raging lion, and ordered that their homes and crops with all their equipment and furnishings should be burnt at once and their great flocks and herds of sheep and cattle slaughtered everywhere. So I chastised a great multitude of men and women with the lash of starvation and, alas! was the cruel murderer of many thousands, both young and old, of this fair people.”
He wanted his wealth to be given to churches and the poor upon his death, “so that what I amassed through evil deeds may be assigned to the holy uses of good men.”
A nice speech, though most historians and other experts – including author David Bates – doubt he ever said it.
“Orderic has William express regret for the terrible bloodshed as a part of his deathbed confession. Although the speech is, as far as we know, entirely Orderic’s invention and an idealized version of what he thought ought to have happened, what he was certainly saying is that he believed William made a good end, as also did Eadmer and William of Malmesbury.”
The fruits of his time on earth caught up with William, and when he finally died, the knights and other noblemen fled, leaving the King’s corpse vulnerable to the peasant class who despised him. Orderic paints a ghastly final scene.
“The lesser attendants, seeing that their superiors had absconded, seized the arms, vessels, clothing, linen, and all the royal furnishings, and hurried away leaving the king’s body almost naked on the floor of the house. …as if he had been a barbarian.”
Only one knight – Herluin – came back to ensure the king would be properly buried. He did this, according to Orderic, because of “his natural goodness,” and “procured at his own expense persons to embalm and carry the body; and hiring a hearse, he caused it to be carried to the port on the Seine; and embarking it on board a vessel, conducted it by water and land to Caen.”
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The 70 mile trip took some time, and by the time the body arrived in Caen, the bacteria in the king’s gut had leaked and begun to decompose the rest of his tissue at an alarming pace. The funeral was further delayed due to a fire in Caen, then again by a “mourner” who claimed he had been robbed of his land by the church. A legal meeting proceeded, and by the time the heckler was compensated and sent on his way, things had begun to get smelly.
The body had overheated and swollen to enormous proportions. He would not fit into his tomb, and while they were trying to decide what to do, his “swollen bowels burst, and an intolerable stench assailed the nostrils of the bystanders and the whole crowd.”
And everyone peaced out because, yeah. Gross.
William the Conquerer hasn’t exactly been undisturbed since – he’s been disinterred 3 times (by the Church, at the hands of the Calvinists, and again during the French Revolution). All that remains of his unlucky corpse is a thigh bone, which is marked by a slab of stone.
If ever there was a guy who was definitely haunting people, it’s William the Conquerer.
Not that I blame him, even if he was a big of a wanker in his prime.
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Evidence Suggests That Running Could Prolong Your Life
Running certainly isn’t for everyone. Like me, for instance.
I’m one of those people who jokes that if you see me running, you should run, too, because there’s definitely something or someone chasing me.
I might have to reconsider my position, though, given that data supporting the idea that running equals better health just keeps piling up.
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We can add to it this report, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which found that people who ran even once a week had a 27% lower risk of dying early due to heart-related issues.
The associated study looked at the habits of 232,149 people over the course of 35 years, and even though there’s no promise that picking up a running habit will prevent you from dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer, they have shown a link between the two.
The good news is, it doesn’t appear you have to be a dedicated runner to reap the benefits of running – even people who ran for less than 50 minutes every week, or only once per week, or slower than 6mph avoided earlier deaths.
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“This finding may be motivating for those who cannot invest a lot of time in exercise, but it should definitely not discourage those who already engage in higher amounts of running,” summed up Željko Pedišić, one of the study’s authors told Runner’s World.
So, if you love running and do it often, there’s no reason to back off. And if you’re like me, well, there seem to be compelling health reasons to give it a go, even casually.
Just one 45-minute jog once a week could lower your blood pressure, your high cholesterol, help combat obesity and cardiovascular disease, lower your risk for type 2 diabetes, and even help keep certain types of cancer at bay.
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I guess those are pretty good reasons for getting off the couch and out from behind the computer once in a while.
So if you see me running, run too – just in case there are zombies, but also because we’d all like to live a little bit longer, if we could.
Right?
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Hiring Managers Share the Strangest Interviews They’ve Ever Experienced
A lot of us know how stressful it is to do a job interview. You realize that someone else has the power to make sure you can make a living, and that’s a pretty big deal.
Of course, hiring managers also run into some strange scenarios that probably make them question their life’s choices. Next time you have a job interview, remember these stories and have a little sympathy for the interviewer.
10. The Nude Livestreamer
One hiring manager did a video interview with a candidate that was nude even though he knew it was a video interview.
“We told him we could see him and he said “sorry” then covered up with a sheet. We asked if he wanted to reschedule and he said no he was good. So yeah we decided to pass.” — Boxman 75
9. The Prima Donna
A hiring manager found a candidate who felt competent and confident. Things went south once she requested a limo and wouldn’t take anything else.
“I tell her thank you for taking the time to fly down but not even our own VPs get that treatment and to go ahead and change your ticket to fly home, now.” —blatentpoetry
8. The Teary-Eyed Candidate
Think you’ve seen everything? One candidate made things awkward by crying during the interview – three times.
“She cried three times during the interview about how much she hated her current job. My coworker had to get up and grab a box of tissues for her. When she finally calmed down, she informed us that she’ll need a special desk chair due to an injury she sustained at her current job.” —accidentalhorse
7. The Candidate Who Can DEAL With People
One interviewer received an uncomfortable reply to his question.
“The one I won’t forget is when I asked him “how well do you interact with people?” He said, “I used to be a bouncer, I know how to DEAL with people..” I immediately said okay this interview is over, thank you for your time…” —Bubblesintroubles
This bouncer didn’t get the new gig.
6. The Candidate That Should do a Podcast
It’s routine for interviewers to ask about your strengths and weaknesses.
“To start the interview, I asked him to tell us (3 people) a little bit about himself.
35 minutes later, he stopped talking. Usually people answer this question in 1-5 minutes. It was incredibly awkward and I was tempted to interrupt him but then truly wanted to see how long he would go.” —DefinitelyYoda
5. The Candidate With The Exes
No one ever wants to run into their ex at work, except a candidate that gave the names to every ex of hers that worked in the company she interviewed at.
“She listed all of her ex-boyfriends who currently worked there and said she couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when she showed up to work.” —lovelanguage_sarcasm
4. The Interviewee That Just Didn’t Know
Going on an interview can be nerve-wracking and admitting that there’s something you don’t know can be a good thing. Just don’t do what this interviewee did:
“They answered literally every question, ‘I don’t know, man’ or ‘Can’t think of anything right now.’” —Webhead1287
3. The Hugging Candidate
Admittedly, some of us have committed certain faux-pas during the interview, but just be glad you didn’t hug your potential employer.
“My manager and I were doing this second interview, and when I called him in, he gave me a huge hug and proceeded to talk to me like I was his best friend. ” —tittyelf
2. The Stalker
Have you ever gotten lost at an interview? That could happen, just don’t do what this guy did:
“While waiting in reception, the applicant wandered into the CFO’s office. She was on the phone, so he stood in her doorway and stared at her while she was on the phone.” —fievelm
1. This Totally Inappropriate Candidate!
One hiring manager evaded a total HR problem by not hiring this candidate:
“Had a candidate who came in and asked how hot my administrator was and asked if she was single or ‘open to freaky Fridays.’” —gmabarrett
There are people who truly don’t understand how to conduct themselves during an interview. Are you a hiring manager that wants to vent about such things? Share your stories in the comments! We look forward to hearing them… or cringing along with you.
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Jet Lag Is Not Fun, but Don’t Worry – It Can Be Mitigated
Have you ever stepped off a plane and felt like you could fall asleep at the baggage claim for an hour or eight? That exhausted, drained feeling after flying for an extended amount of time is the dreaded jet lag.
It’s miserable, but there are ways to make yourself feel better.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, “jet lag disorder occurs when there is a temporary mismatch between sleep-wake cycle timing generated by the person’s internal circadian clock, and the external cues at the new destination.”
Jet lag has very little to do with how much sleep you did or didn’t get. It’s when your internal clock is not synced with what’s going on in your new time zone.
If we’re only talking an hour or two between your point of origin and your destination, then you probably won’t experience jet lag, though some travelers so really feel the difference between Pacific and Eastern time zones when flying between the two. Most people, though, feel jet lag when flying internationally east to west, or vice-versa.
One way to minimize jet lag is to make sure you keep hydrated. Airplane cabins are notorious for being dry, and the alcoholic and caffeinated beverages airlines peddle can accelerate dehydration. If you really want to keep your jet lag to a minimum, try sticking to water. If you like to drink alcohol on flights, than have a bottle of water for each beverage. It will make you feel better.
Getting up and moving around the plane is helpful for blood circulation and reducing jet lag. A little walk will also get oxygen to your brain, helping fight fatigue.
The decreased air pressure in an airplane cabin at altitude can cause gas and bloating that makes you feel uncomfortable and lousy upon landing – which gets your body working overtime and worsens jet lag. Bring healthy snacks and avoid fatty and greasy food while in the air.
If you feel pressure in your head, you can relieve it with gum, hard candy or big yawns. The movement in the jaw can also help ease headaches and stress, and since contributes to jet lag, anything you can do to keep it low will help. Try meditation, noise cancelling earphones or other relaxation activities.
Vitamins, particularly B12 and C vitamins, and healthy juices are good for fighting germs that cause illness and aches we all seem to pick up from flying. And, again, any energy your body is putting toward fighting off illness is energy it’s not spending on adjusting its body clock. Bone up before boarding.
Many international flyers also stave off jet lag by tricking their bodies into thinking they are already in the new time zone. Depending on what time it will be when you land, you could either expose yourself to bright light for a few evenings before you fly west or to bright light earlier in the morning for eastern destinations. If you need to sleep to get used to the time in a new place quickly, try taking melatonin to induce a restful sleep while flying.
The best way to handle being on the ground in a new time zone is to take things slow. Absorb your new surroundings, grab a healthy meal at a time good for your new normal and get to know the place. Ease into it, and you’ll be enjoying your strange times soon enough.
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An Orangutan Was Granted “Non-Human Personhood” Status and Retired to a Florida Refuge
Five years ago, an Argentinian court ruled that Sandra, then a twenty-something orangutan, was not merely an animal, but a non-human “person” who deserves to enjoy rights similar to those enjoyed by humans.
It meant, among other things, that she could no longer be owned or shown in a zoo because she has rights and interests that deserve to be protected by law.
For most of Sandra’s life, she lived on display at the now-defunct zoo in Buenos Aires, but she has recently arrived at a Florida refuge, where Patti Ragan, the founder and director of the Center for Great Apes, says she’s doing fine.
“Sandra is very sweet and inquisitive. She was shy when she first arrived, but once she saw the swings, toys, and grassy areas in her new home, she went out to explore.”
Sandra did, however, lose her personhood status upon her arrival in the United States, since our legal system currently doesn’t recognize non-human animals as people, though, oddly, it does extend that right to corporations. Animal rights activists advocate not only for the great apes, but also for elephants, dolphins, whales, and a handful of other intelligent animals to be treated more as people than things.
They believe these animals have intellectual capabilities that qualify them as individuals with rights and interests, not merely animals to be owned and profited off. Some of those rights would include the right to not be killed or assaulted, to have access to health care, and to be able to live their lives without providing profit to others.
Advocates at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation hope they can begin the process of getting their charges similarly recognized.
“The first step on the legal journey will be the recognition of dolphins and whales as non-human persons. From there we can begin to look at what this will mean for having specific rights for whales and dolphins recognized in law.”
Similarly, activists are lobbying the Bronx Zoo to release Happy the elephant or to obtain other elephants for their exhibit, since she’s been there alone for some time. Recommendations from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums suggest elephants be kept in groups of three or more.
She’s been dubbed the “loneliest elephant in the world” and is the only elephant being held alone in all of the United States.
For now, I guess we can count Sandra’s happy Florida retirement as a win – but there are many other intelligent animals out there waiting for a similar outcome.
I hope the people fighting for them are able to get the outcomes they deserve.
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7 Interesting Facts About Harriet Tubman
The movie Harriet recently came out at the U.S. box office, and (for most viewers) the movie is going to tell stories about this American historical figure that were previously unknown.
If you haven’t had time to get to the theatre yet, or you’re wanting to share details about a great American legend with your kids who are too young to view it, we’ve got you covered: here are 7 facts about Harriet Tubman that every American should know.
7. She never stopped serving others.
After the war, Tubman continued to push for women’s suffrage. She never had much, financially, but used what she had until the end, even donating some of her property to establish a Home for the Aged for elderly African Americans.
6. Harriet Tubman is not her given name.
She was born Araminta Ross (“Minty” as a girl), but changed her name in her teens to honor her mother.
5. She was tiny.
Tubman might have been larger than life – she had a reputation for being forceful – but she stood under 5 feet tall.
4. She suffered a debilitating head injury as a child.
Tubman was struck in the head with a weight thrown at another slave, and nearly died as a young girl as a result. She suffered from headaches, seizures, and visions her entire adult life, but none of that stopped her from undertaking hundreds of arduous, dangerous journeys.
3. She was the first woman to lead a U.S. military raid.
Tubman worked as a cook, nurse, scout, and spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, and was given $200 for her trouble. She also led a raid that freed 750 slaves from bondage in South Carolina.
2. She led her own family to freedom.
Tubman escaped, and then immediately began work with the Underground Railroad. She returned to Maryland’s eastern shore for her siblings, and led them, along with 70 other people, to freedom.
1. She lived an extremely long life, especially considering the circumstances of hers.
Harriet Tubman lived to around 93, which is made all the more astonishing considering all she endured during her lifetime.
Me, I’m still itching to see the film.
Are you going to see it? Please say yes!
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People Share the Secrets They Will Take with Them to the Grave
All of us have secrets. Things we won’t ever tell anyone as long as we live. Not our parents, not our spouses. Not our siblings. NO ONE.
In this AskReddit article, people share the secrets that they intend to take with them to the grave…
Take a deep breath and read on.
1. Poor pup.
“Only I know that my mother-in-law killed her dog by sitting on it.”
2. That’s good thing.
“I had a sweet, wonderful student who had been in foster care but his mom worked her ass off to get him back and she did. He had to take a very important city [correction — state exam. I have no idea why I wrote city] exam and she called me and asked if he passed it. I looked at the grades and saw he did and said so. She burst into tears of joy and that is when I saw I had read the wrong score.
He had failed.
So I changed his grade to passing. No one knew. That was the only time I ever did that.
That could have cost me my license.
The weird thing is, when my awful corrupt principal pressured me to change other students’ scores so we could raise our pass rate, I refused.
I never told anyone what I did for my student.
He went into the military, was extremely successful there, has a great wife and kids, so I think I did the right thing.
Fuck those tests. They aren’t human.”
3. Can’t admit it.
“Mentioned before, will never tell anyone I had one of those expensive fancy life sized sex dolls. Got rid of it at first opportunity after getting a real partner. But it’s literally the only secret I have that I’m not willing to say to anyone in real life.”
4. That’s…odd.
“When I was a kid I used to shit in a tire in the garden because I was scared of getting locked in the toilet.”
5. Mommy dearest.
“I attempted to murder my mother. She was abusive, verbally but also physically. She’d hit you in places no one would see, or rip clumps of my hair out when Dad was on the road for work. She probably has a personality disorder. She got in my face one night when I was coming home from my second job, and I had it. My Mom like went through whole periods where she wouldn’t work, I was killing myself every summer working 50+ hours to pay family bills in my parents’ names and also get my younger sister to all of HER activities. I HAD IT. I tried to put Mom’s head through a wall.
She started screaming, “Oh, help! Help!” and I told her she could dish it out, she should also be able to take it, shoved her on the ground and kicked her repeatedly in the abdomen and thigh, while still trying to put her head through the wall with one hand (it’s a plaster-and-lath situation, old house in New England). I really fucked her up, and it felt good to do so. She’s destroyed so many people’s lives and she never faces any consequences for it. No one in our family ever helped me or called the police when she would abuse me. The only one who ever helped was the dog, if the dog was awake when my mom tried to start something she’d get between us, growl at mom until she backed down. I had always shown restraint and never hit her until this night. But my Dad did call the cops on me when I crossed that line.
The cops get there, split us up to interview, I explain my side and then just blurt out, “Where were you assholes when I was 8 and she was doing that to me?” The cop was taken aback, I think he could tell I was being honest and it was a culmination of years of shit and pain. He goes and talks to his partner, “I think this isn’t an assault, I think it’s a mental illness thing.”
Then they basically intimidated my Mom and Dad into agreeing with them, they wouldn’t let it go until they agreed it was a medical issue not a criminal one. So they called an ambulance and I went to the hospital as part of a “diversion program.” Basically, they sent me to detox for three days and I emerged with no record, no charges, no nothing except a script for prozac and a recommendation for therapy (paid for by the state low income insurance plan).
Trying to kill my mom probably saved my life, honestly. Because I got myself some tools from a CBT/DBT therapist, but I’m not stupid enough to want people to know. Who would date me? How would I ever get promoted at work? Anyway: be kind. You never know what someone’s been through and you never know what people are capable of when pushed far enough.”
6. Blamed it on you.
“My father burned down my childhood home for the insurance money. He took me along as his “alibi”, so I could verify he wasn’t anywhere near it when it happened. I was 13 years old. I remember crying so hard knowing my clothes, books, photos – all of it would be destroyed. I wasn’t allowed to save anything because he told me it would have been too suspicious. I found out years later he blamed it on me. Telling the fire chief (plus friends and family) the fire had started because I must have been secretly smoking in my bedroom. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life…”
7. This is dark.
“When I was 7 my dad was dating this woman and they seemed pretty happy, but she had a son who would molest me for months in my own room and eventually lead to him raping me. If I was to have told anyone that would break up our parents and I didn’t want my dad to be sad so I just took it.”
8. On his death bed.
“As a teenager, I had cancer multiple times and nearly died a lot. At one point, I spent several weeks in intensive care and survived despite no doctor thinking that I possibly could live. More than 20 years later, everyone I know still comments on how I survived purely on will to live. I actually spent every moment in that hospital bed in absolute agony, desperately wanting to die.”
9. Family scandal.
“My mother is cheating on my father and my father is cheating on my mother, they both know I know this but made me promise not to tell the other parent. Parents are fucked up sometimes.”
10. Don’t do it!
“My best friend will get married soon and I think its the greatest mistake of her life.”
11. Tormented.
“I used to be so depressed when I was young. I tried to kill myself and used to puke whenever I was alone in my house, because my grandmother and my cousins used to tell me that I was fat and ugly and a lot of really bad shit. I don’t have the heart to share that with my parents because they will be heartbroken and I still haven’t get over it completely to discuss it.”
12. No one knows.
“I actually made a new reddit account because I will not tell another living soul other than me about this.
When I was 7 or 8, I lived in a community where everyone knew each other and you can pretty much sleep without locking your doors. One night we had bunch of guests over and everyone was having fun conversing so I ask my mom for some money to buy a candy. There was a convenience store right outside our building literally 2 steps to the left from when you walk out the apartment. I go inside the store, buy my candy, and head out.
As I was walking towards our apartment, a guy grabs my hand and tells me to not scream. I was so scared that I couldn’t scream even if I wanted to ( i was 7 or 8). He takes me to few floors above to a secluded stairway where there are no cameras or people. He pulls down my pants and starts touching my penis. I was confused and scared to understand what his intentions were. He also had something against my neck and kept saying ” shh” . That object could have been a knife but I have no memory of it. about 5 minutes of him touching me, he goes down one flight of stairs to see if anyone is there, to my luck he sees an old woman and runs.
Idk what it was about that lady but till this day, I’m convinced that lady was an angel. Had she not been there the guy would have murdered me. Till this day, no one knows not even my parents and I’ll keep it that way till death.”
13. Ooops.
“I was the guy who accidentally dropped water on a gay couple kissing in the middle of the road to protest from my balcony it went viral in my country for a few days thank god nobody recognized me.”
14. This is intense.
“A guy who worked with my fiance wouldn’t stop sending her lewd texts, or trying to give her weirdd gropey inappropriate hugs at work. One day he tried to drag her into a broom closet but she fought him off. The business treated the sexual harassment claims like they were just “playful rough housing that was overreacted to.” So, I put on a ski mask, crouched behind his truck, and when he came out I
pepper sprayed him in the face, then beat the shit outta him with a tire iron. then I took his phone and wallet to make it look like a mugging.”
15. Regrets…
“I regret having kids. I’m not cut out for motherhood and there is not a maternal bone in my body. Maybe it’s PPD or just this stage of life but I will seek therapy. I love my kids and I will never say anything or hint about my feelings, it’s not their fault.”
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