26Larboard and Starboard
The left side of the ship was originally called “larboard” or the “loading side” of the ship. The opposite side was called “starboard,” or the “steering side” of the ship. Because they sounded too similar, the left became “port” since left side of the ship was the one that was against the dock for loading.
27. In 1982, Jerry Lawler slapped Andy Kaufman on David Letterman. This stunt was revealed to be a hoax years later.
28. The story of the film, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was improvised in a meeting. After the Italian director had a meeting with American movie executives, they asked him what film he had in mind, and in the span of a couple of minutes, they quickly improvised the entire story of the film.
29. 60 years ago, about 20% of East Asian young adults were near-sighted. Today that number is 90%. Scientists suspect this is due to decrease in time spent outside during childhood.
30. Before the 1920s, up to 70% of children in parts of the US had goiters due to iodine deficiency.
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31White Car Rule
According to a municipal ordinance that was signed in 2001, only white cars are allowed on the island of Boracay in Philippines.
32. Tapeworms can live inside humans for up to 30 years and grow up to 80 feet in size.
33. NASA was inspired by Fritz Lang's film, 'Frau im Mond', to use a countdown for rocket launches. NASA used the countdown to not only help technicians synchronize, but also found that announcing the countdown would build suspense for those watching at home.
34. Nascar racers lose 5-10 pounds of sweat during a race.
35. In 1987, Morocco applied to join the European Communities (the precursor to the European Union). The application was rejected on the grounds that Morocco was not considered to be a "European country" and hence could not join.
