In the 15th century, Richard Strangways came up with imaginary coats of arms for old kings who had lived before heraldry. For the pre-Christian kings of France he painted a shield with 3 black toads.
Ian Fleming named his character…
Ian Fleming named his character “Goldfinger” after the stern architect Ernő Goldfinger, whom he despised. When Ernő filed a suit over the name, Fleming threatened to rename the character “Goldprick”. Ernő dropped the suit in exchange for legal fees and six copies of the book.
In 1959, police were called…
In 1959, police were called to a segregated library in S. Carolina when a 9yr-old black boy refused to leave. He later got a PhD in Physics from MIT, and died in 1986, one of the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The library that refused to lend him books is now named after him.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor…
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government was worried Japan would invade Hawaii and seize all the U.S. currency there. As a precaution, the U.S. burned $200 million in cash circulating on the islands, and replaced them with freshly printed bills with “Hawaii” stamped on them.
The process of dry cleaning…
The process of dry cleaning was invented in 1821 by an African American business owner named Thomas Jennings. He was one of the first African Americans to be granted a patent. He had to use the proceeds from his invention to buy his wife and children out of slavery.
People in Japan are renting cars…
People in Japan are renting cars, but not to drive them anywhere. Car rental companies looked into it and discovered that people were using them to take naps, eat lunch, do work, change clothes, recharge cell phones, and store things (when storage lockers at train stations weren’t available).
While in the USSR, Neil Armstrong…
While in the USSR, Neil Armstrong collected a handful of soil from outside a Ukrainian man’s house in Siberia to acknowledge that man’s contribution to Apollo-11 Moon Mission. The gravitational trajectory adopted by Apollo-11 program to reach the Moon is named after that man – ‘The Kondratyuk Rout’.
In 1999, Philip Morris attempted…
In 1999, Philip Morris attempted to convince the government of the Czech Republic that smoking was highly beneficial to the country, as more people would die earlier as a result, thus letting the government save millions on pensions, hospitals, and housing for elderly citizens.
In 1953, a paper boy acquired…
In 1953, a paper boy acquired a hollowed-out nickel containing a ciphered message while collecting for his deliveries. He told the daughter of an NYPD officer and the news got to the FBI, eventually leading to the arrest and conviction of KGB agent Vilyam Fisher four years later.
In the late 17th century…
In the late 17th century, the pirate Henry Avery became the richest pirate in the world after raiding a treasure laden ship belonging to the Grand Ruler of India. He stole £600,000 in precious metals and jewels, equivalent to £89.6M today. The world’s first worldwide manhunt was called on him. Although a number of his […]