There is an annual conference on boring things. In the past people have given talks on barcodes, sneezing and the sounds of vending machines.
There is an annual conference on boring things. In the past…
There is an annual conference on boring things. In the past people have given talks on barcodes, sneezing and the sounds of vending machines.
A guy showed up to the I-40 bridge collapse and took…
A guy showed up to the I-40 bridge collapse and took command of the federal disaster response by impersonating a US Army Captain. He led the response effort for two days before fleeing.
American Airlines went against manufacturer recommendations…
American Airlines went against manufacturer recommendations and used their own maintenance procedure to save 200 man hours of labor per aircraft. This resulted in one engine of AA Flight 191 separating from the wing on takeoff and the deaths of 273 people.
Pink Floyd were refused payment after a show in 1966…
Pink Floyd were refused payment after a show in 1966. The club owner claimed “Their performance wasn’t music”. They took him to court and lost.
Poor neighborhoods in 60’s-era Washington DC suffered…
Poor neighborhoods in 60’s-era Washington DC suffered massive rat infestations until Julius Hobson began catching the “possum-sized” rats in a cage, strapping it to the roof of his car, driving them to the rich neighborhoods, and threatening to release them.
“Judas” goats helped eradicate invasive goats…
“Judas” goats helped eradicate invasive goats in the Galápagos Islands. These goats are sterilized, GPS tracked, and given hormones to attract other goats so that armed hunters could kill all the goats from a helicopter, but leave the Judas goats alive so they could be used to find more goats.
In 1993, an American company proposed to build a giant advertising…
In 1993, the American company Space Marketing Inc. proposed to build a giant advertising billboard in outer space that would appear roughly the same size and brightness as the moon. The project didn’t meet funding and inspired a bill to ban all advertisement in outer space.
18% of people in a high speed chase…
18% of people in a high speed chase get away from police in Los Angeles.
“Run” is the word with the most different meanings…
“Run” is the word with the most different meanings. The verb-form alone has no fewer than 645 meanings and Peter Gilliver worked for more than nine months to work out all of them.