fact
France had a “proto-internet” called Minitel, to which half the population had access. It allowed for buying plane tickets, shopping, 24-hr news, message boards & adult chat services. It was used to coordinate a national strike in 1986. Some believe it hindered the internet’s adoption in France. 00
In 1901, a doctor was told mid-surgery that he was needed urgently elsewhere, to which he responded that he could not leave “even for the President of the United States”. He was then told he needed to operate on William McKinley, the President of the United States. The doctor maintained his claim and actually didn’t […]
Newly discovered fossils show that moths and butterflies have been on the planet for at least 200 million years whereas flowering plants came along around 130 million years ago. Butterflies survived without flowers for 70 million years. 00
Pope Francis hasn’t watched television in almost 30 years after he promised the Virgin Mary that he wouldn’t anymore. 00
In July 1979, company officials at the Concrete Pipe Corp. in Menasha, Wisconsin decided to elect Jesus Christ as the new chairman of their board. The decision was unanimous. When asked what address they were going to supply to the state for the new chairman, the company president, Don Koepke, explained, “We’ll say, ‘wherever two […]
In 2015, a Louisiana man was arrested for drunkenly riding a horse on a highway. When detained, he said, “The horse knows the way home” and the sheriff concluded it did not constitute DUI. 00
One third of all motels in the U.S. are owned by Indians with the last name ‘Patel.’ 00
In 2013 a zoo in China tried to pass off a hairy dog as a lion. 00
Sailors aboard submarines work 6 hour shifts so that it is easier for them to give their undivided attention to the equipment they operate during a shorter shift. The military also switched submarines from an 18-hour work day to a traditional 24-hour one, improving morale significantly. 00
In 1977, Argentina flew a pregnant woman to their military base in Antarctica so she could have first baby to ever be born on the continent. In doing so, the Argentine government believed this would give them an undisputable claim on the land, but the claim is not recognized internationally. 00