One of the ‘unwritten rules’ of the Tour de France is when the Tour is passing through where one of the riders grew up, everyone will slow down to let that rider lead the whole Tour through his hometown (also, if the race leader needs to stop to take a pee break, everyone else slows […]
Lyndon B. Johnson was known for…
Lyndon B. Johnson was known for wandering the White House turning off lights in rooms he thought empty, sometimes to the surprise of people working in those rooms. This earned him the nickname “Light Bulb Johnson.”
After losing a drunken bet…
After losing a drunken bet with his bandmates, Sabaton singer Joakim Broden had to walk to the band’s next gig. Broden walked from Falun, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway, over ~700km, staying at fans’ houses and accepting food/beer donations along the way to complete the journey.
A former Michelin Guide inspector…
A former Michelin Guide inspector said an inspector’s life is lonely, underpaid drudgery, driving around France for weeks on end, dining alone, under intense pressure to file detailed reports on strict deadlines, the guide had become lax in its standards, and some famous chefs are “untouchables”.
In 1670 a native american tribe decided….
In 1670 a native American tribe decided to travel to Europe to sell pelts after being scammed by colonists. They built a fleet of canoes, as they thought that England lay just over the horizon so they could easily row there. And the ship that found them and rescued them was a British slave ship. […]
In 2015, a guide dog in New York…
In 2015, a guide dog in New York was awarded the ASPCA’s “Dog of the Year” award for running in front of an oncoming bus to protect his blind owner, and didn’t leave her side until she received medical attention even though he suffered a broken leg.
The Russian novel We (1920-21)…
The Russian novel We (1920-21) by Yevgeny Zamyatin is considered one of the grandfathers of the dystopian genre and influenced George Orwell’s 1984. “Zamyatin’s influence on Orwell is beyond dispute…1984 shares so many features with We that there can be no doubt about its general debt to it.”
Carl Sagan’s team wanted to include…
Carl Sagan’s team wanted to include the Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun” on the Voyager Golden Records (discs containing greetings in 60 languages, music and sounds from Earth aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977), but the record company EMI, which held the copyrights, declined.
The $2 bill makes up 1% of currency…
The $2 bill makes up 1% of currency circulation. Its scarcity in daily use has confused some merchants who believe the bill to be fake. A 13 year old girl in Texas was detained by police when she tried to pay for her school lunch with a $2 bill, because the school’s counterfeit pen wouldn’t […]
Japan has over 5 million operating…
Japan has over 5 million operating vending machines currently within the country, making it so there is 1 vending machine per 23 people, making it the country with the most vending machines per capita in the entire world.