Recently some folks at the New York Public Library discovered a box containing old reference questions from the 1940s to 1980s. They’re posting the questions to their Instagram account, noting, “we were Google before Google existed.”
A researcher found that it takes no more than 3.5% of the population…
A researcher found that it takes no more than 3.5% of the population of a country participating in sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to topple a totalitarian government.
Humans can live unprotected in space for about 30 seconds…
Humans can live unprotected in space for about 30 seconds if they don’t hold their breath.
Traffic in central London moves at the same speed…
Traffic in central London moves at the same speed as horse-drawn carriages a century ago.
There is an episode of Supernatural in which the two main characters are…
There is an episode of Supernatural in which the two main characters are sent to an alternate universe in which they play the actors that play their characters on Supernatural (themselves) who are in the middle of filming an episode of a TV show called Supernatural.
Scientists created a completely enclosed, artificial environment called Biosphere…
Scientists created a completely enclosed, artificial environment called Biosphere 2 and made one mistake that caused all the trees to fall down before maturation: there was no wind so trees failed to develop stress wood, which is necessary for them to stand.
Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected PM of Congo…
Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected PM of Congo and a pan-Africanist, lasted only 81 days before being killed by the Belgians and the CIA.
McDonald’s offers product placement rewards to rap…
McDonald’s offers product placement rewards to rap artists who mention the Big Mac in their songs.
In 2008, hackers gained unauthorized access to a NASA spacecraft…
In 2008, hackers gained unauthorized access to a NASA spacecraft’s control system but chose to do nothing with it.
After a wave of plane hijackers demanded passage to Cuba in the 1960…
After a wave of plane hijackers demanded passage to Cuba in the 1960s, the FAA considered building a fake Havana airport in Florida. US agents would wait for the plane to land and arrest the unsuspecting hijackers.