1President Johnson
In the 1940s President Johnson, at that time as a Congressman, he used to drive around with a snake in his trunk because he believed black people were scared of snakes. He used to go to fuel stations, get served by black guys and made them open the trunk. He was once almost beaten with a tire iron.
2. The experience of walking into a room and forgetting exactly what you came in there to do is called the Doorway Effect. Walking through an open door and entering a new room creates a "mental block" in our brains and resets the memory to make room for the creation of new memories.
3. Mr. Rogers had a deep friendship with Koko, a gorilla who knew over 1000 words in sign language. He even had her on his series titled "You and I Together", dedicated to helping children get over their fears of meeting new people or being in different situations.
4. Napoleon Bonaparte signed the Louisiana Purchase in his bathtub at the Tuileries Palace. An American hotelier in Louisiana bought the tub in 2006 and put it in a hotel in New Orleans for guests to bathe in.
5. In 1909, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce was visiting London and was lost on a foggy street when a Boy Scout helped him find his way, but refused a tip saying it was his good deed ("good turn") for the day. Four months later W. D. Boyce started Boy Scouts of America.
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6Mint
The reason mint feels cold is due to it containing menthol. Menthol activates the same receptor (TRPM8) that detects cold temperatures, so the brain will interpret it as something cold.
7. In the 1940s, the Canadian government deliberately starved indigenous children and used them as test subjects just to study the value of vitamins.
8. Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pastafarians) are allowed to officiate weddings in New Zealand.
9. One way the Romans measured time was through Saeculum - the period of time from the moment an event occurred (for example the founding of a city) until the point in time that all people who were alive to see it happen were dead.
10. The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico is now known as the Great Carrier Reef.
11Vito Corleone's cat
In the Godfather, Vito Corleone's cat was actually a stray cat that they found in the middle of the Paramount lot.
12. Leonardo da Vinci’s last name isn’t “da Vinci.” It just means “from Vinci” as in Vinci, Florence in Italy (where he’s from).
13. The inspiration for creating SimCity game came when its creator Will Wright was developing a helicopter shoot'em up and found that he enjoyed messing around with the tool that creates the landscape maps more than the game itself.
14. In curling, good sportsmanship and politeness are essential. Congratulating opponents on plays and abstaining from trash talk are part of what’s known as the “Spirit of Curling.”
15. The Ikh Khorig or Great Taboo is an area of almost a hundred square miles in Mongolia believed to contain Genghis Khan's resting place. The area was patrolled by elite guards and their descendants for centuries and was only opened to archaeologists in 1989.
16Dr. Fox Effect
To test the Dr. Fox Effect, researchers once created a jargon-filled, contradictory, and nonsensical lecture. Audiences rated the lectures highly if the presenter was expressive, even though the lecture was gibberish.
17. A freed slave named Samuel McCulloch was the first Texian soldier to be wounded during the Texas Revolution, in 1835. A law later prohibited freed slaves from residing in the Republic of Texas but specifically excluded McCulloch, his family, and his descendants in recognition of his service.
18. When Salvador Dali was exhumed 28 years after his death in 2017 for DNA tests, it was discovered that his famous “10 past 10” mustache still remained perfectly intact.
19. A rabbit named Dory helped save her owners life when he slipped into a diabetic coma. When Simon Steggall passed out watching TV, Dory jumped on his chest and thumped furiously. Her odd behavior caught the attention of Steggall's wife (she thought he was just sleeping) who called for help.
20. According to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a virgin cat in Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten.
21Steve Hodel
A Los Angeles homicide detective named Steve Hodel believes that his deceased father killed the Black Dahlia, after he found a picture of him with Elizabeth Short. He later discovered that his father had been one of the prime suspects at the time of the murder.
22. Monkeys aren't supposed to eat bananas. The bananas that humans consume are so full of sugar that monkeys will get diabetes if it is a regular part of their diet.
23. There is a "honeymoon phase" for people who acquire a new job that usually ends after the first year of employment. Happiness levels dip after the first year, and stress levels continue to rise and rise each year thereafter.
24. Breakfast being “the most important meal of the day” originated in a 1944 marketing campaign launched by General Foods, the manufacturer of Grape Nuts, to sell more cereal. During the campaign, grocery stores and radio advertisements promoted the importance of breakfast.
25. The first firemen to respond to the Chernobyl meltdown stood above the burning core, which emitted radiation at 30,000 roentgen per hour. When they died a few weeks later, their bodies were so radioactive they were buried in coffins made of lead with the lids welded shut.
