One of the first things ever sold online was pizza. PizzaNet, owned and operated by Pizza Hut, was created in 1994 and serviced Santa Cruz, California. It was one of the first few thousand on the web. The site is still running today.
Since 2009, the names of planets…
Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn’s moon Titan, like Arrakis Planitia.
The American Hippo Bill was an attempt to introduce…
The American Hippo Bill was an attempt to introduce hippos into the bayous of Lousiana. Lawmaker argued the hippos would eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging the rivers and also produce meat to help solve the American meat predicament.
In Hungary in the 1940’s, while…
In Hungary in the 1940’s, while the country was experiencing the worst hyperinflation in recorded history, they issued a bank note with a denomination of 100 quintillion Hungarian pengős, which was worth approximately US $0.20.
In the 1970s, IKEA was expanding…
In the 1970s, IKEA was expanding so rapidly that German executives accidentally opened a store in Konstanz, approximately 200 miles (320 km) from their intended location of Koblenz.
After 35 years of age, the human…
After 35 years of age, the human brain shrinks in volume, starting at 0.2% a year and accelerating to over 0.5% a year by age 60. By age 90, the brain has lost on average 14% of its volume.
John Batman was the founder…
John Batman was the founder of the town that became Melbourne, Australia. And originally he called it “Batmania”. There’s even a street named after him: Batman Ave.
JP Morgan bailed out banks in 1907 but…
JP Morgan bailed out banks in 1907 but a severe recession occured anyway. Nelson Aldrich, a powerful senator with close ties to Morgan, led a mission to Europe in 1908 to study the workings of the central banks in England, France and Germany. The Federal Reserve was created a short time later.
To help reduce the high male to female…
To help reduce the high male to female ratio (5:1) in a small Australian mining town (Mount Isa), the mayor put out a call to lonely “beauty-disadvantaged women” to move to Mount Isa for a chance to find love.
In 1905, American millionaire ….
In 1905, American millionaire George Kessler threw himself a birthday party at the Savoy Hotel in London that involved flooding the entire courtyard with four feet of water so his guests could dine in gondolas and a five foot birthday cake brought out to them on the back of a baby elephant.