John Hetherington, the inventor of the top hat, caused a riot when he first wore it in public in 1797. He was arrested for “a breach of peace” after several women fainted and a young boy’s arm was broken in the commotion.
Spiders can sense electrical…
Spiders can sense electrical currents in the air and use them to launch themselves upward, traveling up to hundreds of miles. Occasionally a “mass ballooning” occurs, where so many spiders descend from the sky it looks like snow.
Before 1954, stop signs used…
Before 1954, stop signs used to be yellow with black lettering. This was because there was no red dye that would not fade over time. However, by 1954, sign makers began using a fade-resistant porcelain enamel, and it was declared that stop signs would be red with white lettering.
In 1957 Little Richard saw a bright…
In 1957 Little Richard saw a bright red fireball flying across the sky, which he took as “sign from God” to repent from performing secular music and his wild lifestyle at the time until 1962. The fireball actually was the launching of the first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik 1.
Two men dressed as Batman and Captain…
Two men dressed as Batman and Captain America were teaching kids at an event when they noticed a nearby home on fire. They ran to the house, rushed inside, and rescued a cat that had inhaled smoke. “Batman” gave the cat mouth-to-mouth breaths until it recovered, then it hissed and “freaked out.”
In Finland there are “open prisons”…
In Finland there are “open prisons” where you can work for $8 an hour, own cell phones, can do your own grocery shopping and get three days of vacation every couple of months while serving your sentence.
Researchers spending long periods…
esearchers spending long periods of time in Antarctica have begun to develop their own unique accent.
In the whole history of submarine…
In the whole history of submarine warfare, there was only ever one underwater submarine battle. That battle was also the only time a submerged submarine sunk another submerged submarine.
For 25 years, two brothers re-gifted…
For 25 years, two brothers re-gifted each other the same pair of pants, in increasingly inventive and difficult packaging, including a 600lb safe, a double-glazed window, a 16-foot rocket ship, and a crushed car, with a card that read “Merry Christmas, the pants are in the glove box”.
In 1974 the 1946 movie…
In 1974 the 1946 movie “It’s A Wonderful Life” fell into public domain because the studio failed to renew it’s copyright. As a result, it was aired a lot, which explains why it became so popular even though it flopped in theaters. The studio got rights to the movie again in 1993.