Winston Churchill had an oxygen mask made for him for flying in high altitude airplanes during WWII that was customized to allow him to smoke cigars through a hole in the mask. 00
Thomas Jefferson impregnated one of his slaves…
Thomas Jefferson impregnated one of his slaves, and then enslaved his child. (And quite possibly five more). 00
Scottish Town Arnprior (pop. 200) painted wiggly…
Scottish Town Arnprior (pop. 200) painted wiggly lines on a straight road to confuse and slow down fast drivers. 00
A St. Bernard named Bamse was a mascot of the Royal…
A St. Bernard named Bamse was a mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy during WWII and was known for breaking up fights amongst his crewmates. He once saved a young lieutenant commander who was being attacked by a man wielding a knife by pushing the assailant into the sea. 00
On Friday, January 13, 2017, Finnair flight 666 flew…
On Friday, January 13, 2017, Finnair flight 666 flew to Helsinki International Airport (abbreviated HEL) taking off at 13:00 local time with an aircraft that is 13 years old. Surprisingly enough, it landed safely. 00
Until 1616 coffee was essentially a monopoly run by Yemen…
Until 1616 coffee was essentially a monopoly run by Yemen. Merchants were forbidden to sell live coffee plants or seeds. That changed when Pieter van der Broecke, a Dutch merchant, stole coffee seeds and brought them back to Holland. 40 years later coffee had traveled as far as Sri Lanka. 00
The chicken nugget was invented by a Cornell University…
The chicken nugget was invented by a Cornell University food science professor, who published the results academically instead of patenting them. 00
A dog named Chaser has the largest tested memory…
A dog named Chaser has the largest tested memory of any non-human animal. She can identify 1,022 toys by their name and retrieve them by name and by category. 00
One of the major objectives of the French Revolution…
One of the major objectives of the French Revolution was to switch all measures of time from base 12 to base 10, including a ten day week. Ironically, the experiment lasted 12 years. 00
Spoken by 200 people in central Siberia north of Mongolia…
Spoken by 200 people in central Siberia north of Mongolia, Ket language is considered to be in the same language family as Navajo. That would make Ket speakers the only remaining members in Eurasia of the original population that colonized the Americas. 00