26Alton Brown
Celebrity chef Alton Brown worked as a cinematographer and video director before he became a food star. He was director of photography for R.E.M.'s music video "The One I Love" and spent all of his time between takes on the set watching cooking shows, feeling that he could do a better job.
27. Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs mortgaged his home to buy a virtual asteroid for $100,000. In 2005, this was the most valuable virtual item ever sold. This landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records for owning the most expensive virtual item, which he later sold for $635,000.
28. In the final stages of hypothermia, humans exhibit two strange behaviors; paradoxical undressing, in which a person will remove all their clothes despite being dangerously close to death, and a completely autonomous, instinctual burrowing behavior.
29. The ‘Sacred Band of Thebes’ were a force of 300 elite soldiers of the Theban army in 4th Century B.C. The force was made up of 150 pairs of male lovers. During the Battle of Chaeronea, they stood and fought to the death while their comrades ran. They were buried side by side.
30. Benjamin Franklin had an abusive older brother named James Franklin who forced him to sign an indenture which bounded him until he turned 21. His brother was abusive partly because Benjamin showed talent. At the age of 17, Benjamin ran away penniless to Philadelphia, gained connections and jump-started his political career.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Happy Birthday
Most Germans sing "Happy Birthday" in English but with a German accent, rather than singing it in German.
32. 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.
33. Comedian Demetri Martin incorporated music into his act to prevent Comedy Central from rearranging his performance for TV.
34. The notion that NASA astronauts carry suicide pills for use in case they are marooned in outer space is untrue. Exposure to outer space results in a much faster and smoother demise compared to a suicide pill.
35. When George Washington passed away in 1799, the British Royal Navy lowered its flags at half-mast. The London Morning Chronicle stated that ‘The whole range of history does not present to our view a character upon which we can dwell with such entire and unmixed admiration.’
