Lydia Litvyak was the Jewish Soviet fighter ace. During WWII she claimed 14 kills, trained 45 pilots, and shot down an ace who wouldn’t believe a woman beat him until she described the fight. She went missing on a flight Just before she was to receive the award “Hero of the Soviet Union”.
About half of Thailand’s 349,000…
About half of Thailand’s 349,000 monks are either overweight or obese. They rely solely on alms from the faithful and must consume what they are offered before noon each day. After midday, to keep their energy up, many rely on highly sweetened beverages, including energy drinks.
Alex, the parrot
Alex was a grey parrot with a vocabulary of over 100 words, the ability to identify over 50 different objects, and the ability to count quantities up to 6. Before he died in 2007, his last words were “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.”
A dark patch was left intentionally…
A dark patch was left intentionally on the ceiling of Grand Central Station’s main concourse to show how dirty it was before and after it’s first cleaning. The patch was swabbed and tested revealing the dirty ceiling was about 100 years of built up nicotine from cigarette smoke.
Mobile phone giant Gionee went bankrupt…
Mobile phone giant Gionee went bankrupt in 2018 when it’s chairman lost $144 million gambling at a casino forcing the liquidation of the company.
In 1949 Farmers blew up 1000 Acres…
In 1949 farmers blew up 1000 Acres of Wetlands in an attempt to kill 1000s of crows. The crows moved their Roost Prior to detonation, killing none.
19th-century inventor Charles…
19th-century inventor Charles Cros petitioned the French government to build a giant set of mirrors that could be used to communicate with aliens by scorching messages onto the surfaces of Venus and Mars. His request was declined.
Jimmy Carter’s family were all…
Jimmy Carter’s family were all farmers for 350 years and no member of his father’s family had ever finished high school. Carter’s childhood dream was “to go to the Naval Academy, get a college education, and serve in the U.S. Navy”.
The first patent for an electronic…
The first patent for an electronic cigarette was already filed in 1963, but inventor Herbert Gilbert never found a company willing to mass-produce his invention. His device works the same way as modern e-cigarettes, “containing a liquid that was warmed by a battery-powered device, creating a vapor that a person inhaled”.
In 2004 a British man auctioned…
In 2004 a British man auctioned and sold off literally all his possessions to fly out to Vegas and bet it all on one spin of roulette. He won.