26Andy

Andy was a footless goose born in the 1980s who walked around in baby shoes. He rapidly became a huge star and appeared all over the media, before he was murdered in 1991. His death sparked a nation-wide outrage and a $10,000 reward for information about his killer, but the case was never solved.
27. Scientists have created a transparent aluminum-like material as shown in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It is a hard, glass-like magnesium aluminate that has visible and IR transmission. Military applications include lightweight bulletproof glass, armor, and lasers.
28. The first mention of a pen with ink reservoir came in 973 A.D. in the region of northwest Africa by Ma'ād al-Mu'izz. He wanted a pen that didn’t get his hand messy. The next mention came in the 17th century by a German inventor, Daniel Schwenter.
29. Ben, from Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has no sense of smell and gets his "food enjoyment" from the texture. This is why the brand puts chunky ingredients in their icecream.
30. Mirrors didn’t exist until circa 500 B.C. so the only way people knew what they looked like was by looking at their reflection in still water. Thus, water was a symbol of the self and a symbol of death.
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31Japanese skating rink

A Japanese skating rink once put 5,000 dead fishes in their ice to give their customers the enjoyment of skating over a frozen ocean. The attraction was closed immediately after a public uproar.
32. Venus rotates so slowly, you can keep the sunset in the same place and watch sunset forever just by walking.
33. There was a hymn dedicated to Ninkasi, the Sumerian Goddess of beer. The hymn not only praised her, but it also provided directions for brewing beer.
34. The first antivirus was a virus (reaper) designed to scour the net for the first virus (creeper) and destroy it.
35. Valentine's Day is the day that St. Valentine was beaten with clubs and tortured to death for performing secret marriages against the Emperor's wishes. The Emperor Claudius II banned all marriages because soldiers didn't want to leave their families to fight in wars.



