26 years before Titanic, William Thomas Stead wrote a story called “How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic by a Survivor.” The title’s pretty descriptive, with the concern of the story being a lack of adequate safety precautions, specifically lifeboats. Stead himself would die on Titanic.
Parachuting beavers were a real thing in the US following World War 2
Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials struggling to manage a growing beaver population in the 1940s and 1950s struck on an unusual solution. The rangers took advantage of a surplus of parachutes following World War II to launch a program to trap and air drop beavers into the remote the Frank Church-River of No […]
The Tree That Was Arrested
There is a banyan tree that has been officially under arrest (and chained) for over 100 years. In 1898 an intoxicated British officer ordered the mess sergeant to arrest the tree as he thought that it was moving towards him. Since then, the tree has remained in chains.
The “Windy City” name has nothing…
The “Windy City” name has nothing to do with Chicago weather. Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its politicians were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”
Principal Akbar Cook…
Principal Akbar Cook installed a free fully-stocked laundry room at school because students with dirty clothes were bullied and missing 3-5 days of school per month. Attendance rose 10%. The Principal Cook went on to create a Lights On program where students can stay late at school, get a hot meal and stay off the […]
When Carl Jung and Sigmund…
When Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud met for the first time, they talked for 13 hours straight.
Similar to the fact that…
Similar to the fact that the American South may referred to as “The Bible Belt”, or the Great Lakes Region is referred to as “The Rust Belt”, the Mormon Corridor (in the Midwest of the US)is nicknamed “The Jello Belt” because they consume twice the amount of Jello as the average American.
Wifi Stone
Berlin-based media artist Aram Bartholl created a rather curious work: a 1.5-ton rock that doubles as a WiFi router and is powered by fire. Located in a forested spot by a river at the Springhornhof outdoor museum in Germany, the “Keepalive” rock requires that visitors brush up on their survival skills to build a fire […]
You have to use an organic…
You have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times before it becomes more environmentally friendly than a typical plastic bag.
In 2015, Whole Foods tried to sell…
In 2015, Whole Foods tried to sell Asparagus Water for $6 (literally three stalks of asparagus in a bottle of water). Twitter users made fun of the company for selling such a ridiculously pricey item. The company’s CEO then issued an apology and pulled off the product from the shelves.