During the Middle Ages, it was believed that ringing church bells during thunderstorms would ward off lightning. However, this practice was discontinued after over 100 bell ringers were struck and killed by lightning.
Colonial America
Before the revolution in America, the UK had been transporting convicts to the colonies for many years. As a result, there was a significant number of prisoners in colonial America. It is believed that the state of Georgia was established as a penal colony. After the revolution, the UK began sending convicts to Australia instead.
In Bermuda, as there is no natural…
In Bermuda, as there is no natural water source, residents collect rainwater by installing white, stepped roofs on their homes.
In the US, less than 1% of nuns are under 40…
In the US, less than 1% of nuns are under 40, with the average age being 80 years old.
In 1925, Nome, Alaska was hit by a diphtheria…
In 1925, Nome, Alaska was hit by a diphtheria epidemic and all the available antitoxin had been exhausted. Since land, air, and sea routes were not feasible, 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs bravely carried the serum over a distance of 674 miles in just 5 and a half days despite harsh subzero temperatures, near-blizzard […]
In an effort to preserve the truth…
In an effort to preserve the truth, a woman recorded hundreds of thousands of hours of TV news between 1977 and 2012. She accumulated a vast collection of 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes, which were stored in her home and in apartments she rented specifically for this purpose. Upon her death, the Internet Archive agreed […]
Handwriting in schools
The introduction of the Common Core State Standards in 2010 led to many schools removing handwriting instruction, including cursive writing, from their curriculum as it was no longer a requirement for students to be proficient in it.
Dennis Ritchie
Dennis Ritchie, the creator of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating system, passed away one week after Steve Jobs. Despite his significant contributions to the field of computer science and his impact on nearly every software system in use today, his death received little attention due to being overshadowed by Steve […]
A dedicated fan traveled three…
A dedicated fan traveled three hours to bring insulin to the rapper Boozie Badazz. Instead of accepting any payment, she requested only a photo. On her way back, she stopped at a store, bought a scratch-off lottery ticket and won $10,000.
The Drake Equation, a formula developed…
The Drake Equation, a formula developed in 1961, is used to calculate the number of advanced civilizations capable of communicating via radio within our galaxy. The initial estimate using this equation was at least 20.