Internet access is a legal right in Finland. source»
May 2013
3 posts
The Supreme Court ruled tomatoes are vegetables. source»
Hawks have 20/2 vision. They can see an object from 20 feet away that a human can only see from a distance of 2 feet. source»
June 2012
50 posts
The CIA spent $20 million on a program to equip cats to spy on Soviets. The first deployment of the cat led to it getting run over by a car. source»
Light from the moon can create rainbows. They are called moonbows. source»
President George Washington would rotate his slaves six months at a time to avoid giving them their freedom based on Pennsylvania law. source»
France has sovereign territory in North America. source»
Algae in the world’s oceans provide more of our oxygen than do trees on land. source»
The CIA used prostitutes to trick people into taking LSD as part of Operation MKULTRA. source»
The plastic sheath on the end of your shoelace is called an “aglet”. source»
Adolf Hitler’s nephew fought for the United States and against his uncle in WWII. source»
After sex, some men experience instant feelings of sadness and regret. This is known as post-coital tristesse. source»
Al Capone ran a soup kitchen during the Great Depression. source»
The pyramids were not built by slaves, but by well-fed, skilled laborers, who were given proper housing and living quarters. source»
In 1355, Oxford students upset over the quality of wine cause a 3 day riot which left almost 100 dead. source»
Rosemary Kennedy, John’s younger sister, was lobotomized at the age of 23. source»
George Washington had the public support to become king of America, but gave up the power to Congress. source»
Bayer, famous for producing aspirin, purchased prisoners from Auschwitz to test new drugs. source»
During WWII, Japan bombed China with fleas infected with the bubonic plague. source»
In 1999, Google tried to sell itself to Excite.com for $1 million. Excite said no even even after the price was lowered to $750,000. source»
Andrew Jackson once let a dueling opponent shoot first. Jackson took a bullet to the ribs, then proceeded to carefully aim and kill his opponent with his shot. source»
Pandas are biologically carnivorous and derive little energy from bamboo. They eat between 20 and 30 pounds of bamboo per day. Consequently, they also defecate up to 40 times a day. source»
The Roman dictator Cincinnatus was made dictator while plowing his fields. After saving Rome from rival tribes, he humbly returned to his farm. source»
The love life of Roman Emperor Claudius was considered unusual at the time because he only liked women, not men. source»
Diarrhea was the leading cause of death among soldiers during the American Civil War. Soldiers had a code of honor against shooting at someone while they were pooping. source»
In 1832, Mormon founder Joseph Smith, then married, was tarred and feathered for having sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl. source»
In the 1500s, Mapuche warrior Galvarino had both hands cut off as punishment for defying the Spanish. He returned home, raised an army, and fought the Spanish with blades tied to the stubs of his arms. source»
Al Capone’s bullet proof Cadillac was seized by treasury agents and later used as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s limousine. source»
During WWI, Albert I, King of Belgium, fought alongside his troops while his wife, Queen Elisabeth, worked as a nurse at the front. source»
When taught to use money, monkeys will pay for sex. source»
Genghis Khan killed 11% of the world’s population. source»
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the Eiffel Tower’s lift cables were cut by the French, so Hitler would have to climb the steps to the top. source»
Herbert Pililaau was the first Native Hawaiian to be given the Medal of Honor. The day after he gave his life to save his comrades, they found his body surrounded by 40 dead Koreans. He was using his trench knife. source»
Hitler was a vegetarian. source»
Poon Lim survived 133 days alone on a raft at sea by fishing, drinking bird blood, and killing a shark with a jug of water. source»
French mathematician Joseph Fourier believed wrapping himself in his blanket was beneficial to his health. He died after tripping on it and falling down the stairs. source»
Andrew Jackson’s pet parrot had to be removed from his funeral for shouting obscenities at the mourners. source»
Andrew Jackson was the only United States president to ever pay off the national debt in full. source»
Jews fought side-by-side with Muslims to protect Jerusalem from the Crusaders. source»
Hitler had a Jewish-Austrian doctor who didn’t charge Hitler’s family due to economic hardship. Hitler showed his “everlasting gratitude” by never sentencing him to a concentration camp, had him protected by the Gestapo, and referred to him as “Noble Jew.” source»
Many African-Americans gained Irish surnames (e.g. Shaquille O’Neal) becuase Irish and Blacks lived side-by-side in the poorest parts of port towns in 19th century America. source»
The smell of freshly-cut grass is a plant distress call. source»
Astronaut Gordon Cooper used only a wristwatch, knowledge of star patterns, and math estimations to find the correct pitch for re-entry when his capsule lost power. source»
In ancient China, the military used mannequins to lure their enemies to shoot arrows. Later they would collect the arrows to replenish their supplies. source»
Oral sex was illegal in Canada until 1969. source»
The Sacred Band of Thebes was an army of 300 men in 4th century Greece consisting completely of male homosexual couples. The idea was the soldiers would fight harder to protect their lovers. source»
A plan to attack American cities to justify war with Cuba was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 only to be rejected by President John F. Kennedy. This proposal was called Operation Northwoods. source»
In the 1950s, the CIA abducted and tortured random American citizens for experimentation. These activities were given the code name MKULTRA. source»
During World War II, the Soviet military trained dogs to carry explosives under enemy tanks. Unfortunately for the Soviets, they trained the dogs using their own diesel-engine tanks, so when the dogs were deployed in battle, they ran under Soviet tanks instead of the enemy’s gasoline-engine tanks. source»
In what was called the Dancing Plague of 1518, numerous people took to the streets of France and danced for days at a time, many until their death. source»
