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The operation of the largest fraud in US history was fairly simple. Bernie Madoff deposited all his investors’ money into his Chase bank account and paid them off as necessary. At its height his account balance was over $5 billion. The scheme collapsed when he ran out of money.
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Eliot Ness, famous for taking down feared gangster and bootlegger Al Capone, died a penniless alcoholic that no one had heard of. His autobiography was published after his death and only then did he become famous with TV shows and movies being made of his exploits.
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In 1995 Iggy Pop reviewed Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for peer-reviewed academic journal Classics Ireland.
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In 1954, Ernest Hemingway survived two plane crashes in two days. After the second crash, the writer was presumed dead, but walked out of the jungle the next day, still holding a bottle of gin.
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Researchers have developed a self-cleaning surface which uses nano-scale surface engineering and chemistry. It can repel/prevent the transfer of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and other bacteria. The material can be shrink-wrapped onto door handles, railings, and other surfaces.
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Some Inuit groups used ridicule in the form of song duels as a means of conflict resolution. Two men who had failed to resolve a conflict by other means would secretly compose derisive songs about their adversary. The whole camp gathered in a large igloo to observe the song duel.
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Canada had considered annexing the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean region. In the 1980s, local islanders in favor of joining the Canadian federation reached a peak support of 90%.
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In Hong Kong, all new buildings must have at least two women’s toilets for every men’s toilet. Researchers say women take longer than men on average as they use toilets rather than urinals.
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When American businesswoman and convicted felon Leona Helmsley died, her will left her Maltese dog, Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, whilst leaving two of her four grandchildren with nothing. This sum was subsequently reduced to $2 million as excessive to fulfill its purpose.
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In 1974, drinkers in a British pub were bemoaning the fact that the UK didn’t produce world champions, so they invented a sport that no one else knew about: toe wrestling. In 1976, a Canadian visitor competed and won, so with the point of the sport gone, the “World Championship” was discontinued.
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