26The Empire Strikes Back
Filming Star Wars in Tunisia was hindered by the first major rainstorm in 50 years, and The Empire Strikes Back filming in Norway was hindered by the worst winter storm in 50 years.
27. John Lennon repeatedly denied that the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is about LSD and that he got the inspiration for the song when his son brought home a drawing of his friend Lucy who was in the sky with diamonds.
28. In 1508, Autun, France pressed charges on rats for destroying barley crops. The lawyer representing the rats argued that the court's summons wasn't specific enough to his clients and that Autun's cat population made it unsafe for his clients to come to court. The rats were acquitted.
29. Maria Daume, the first female marine to go through the traditional training process was born in a Siberian prison and orphaned at the age of 2.
30. King Richard the Lionheart of England forgave and freed his killer, a young French boy whose father and brothers had been killed by Richard; the boy said he shot Richard with a crossbow as revenge, and Richard was so impressed with his bravery that he sent him off with 100 shillings.
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31Gettysburg farmhouse
A farmhouse in Gettysburg was used as a field hospital. There was so much blood on the floor, that there is still dried blood between floorboards. When under a blacklight, large bloodstains are still visible.
32. Hippos can sleep underwater by using a reflex that allows them to surface, take a breath, and sink back down without waking up.
33. The first major investor in Facebook, Peter Thiel, made over $1 billion from his original $500,000 investment by selling his shares, a 200,000% return on his investment.
34. Japan is infested with invasive North American Raccoons, due to the popularity of the 1977 Cartoon series "Rascal the Raccoon". Thousands of Japanese adopted Raccoons, only to let them into the wild when they proved to be poor pets.
35. It’s hypothesized that warm-bloodedness evolved in mammals and birds because it provided defense against fungal infections. Very few fungi can survive the body temperatures of warm-blooded animals. By comparison, insects, reptiles, and amphibians are plagued by fungal infections.
