26Bertha Benz
Bertha Benz successfully marketed her husband's invention, the motor car, when she took it for a 65-mile trip, overcoming mechanical problems and inventing brake shoes on the way, and proving that cars were suitable for long journeys. Her trip gained attention, resulting in Benz's first sale.
27. Black Bart was a notorious stagecoach robber, who never cursed, never fired his weapon, didn't ride a horse and left poems after his crimes.
28. Ireland has 3 peat fired power plants. Using peat taken from Irish bogs, it's more polluting than coal and is so inefficient that it is subsided by the state.
29. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish friar who was sent to Auschwitz for hiding Jews during World War 2. He offered his life and volunteered to die in the place of another camp inmate who was about to be executed when the camp inmate cried that he had a ‘wife’ and a ‘child’. Maximilian, on the other hand, had no family. In 1982, Catholic Church venerated him as the patron saint of amateur-radio operators, of drug addicts, of political prisoners, of families, of journalists and of prisoners.
30. Alligator Snapping Turtles can live over 150 years, and some have been found with musket balls and flint arrowheads in their shells.
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31Mitsuaki Tanigawa
A Japanese cat burglar was unmasked as a 74-year-old pensioner named Mitsuaki Tanigawa after 9 years’ worth of heists. He stole more than 29 million yen (£194,000) during his spree. When captured, he said: "I am defeated."
32. In 2004, a Disney employee who played Tigger was acquitted of charges of allegedly fondling a 13-year-old girl in costume, when his defense attorney tried on the costume in court and demonstrated how hard it was to move the costumes oversized glove hands.
33. Buddy Holly's wife found out about his death while watching TV and suffered a miscarriage the next day due to “psychological trauma.” His mother heard the news on the radio and collapsed. Soon after, authorities adopted a policy of notifying a victim’s family before their name was released.
34. Scientist grew trees in a sealed biosphere and couldn't work out why they fell over before they matured. They eventually figured out that whilst they provided the perfect growing environment it was lacking wind which provides the stress needed to ensure the trees grew strong enough to support themselves.
35. Hawaii allows people to throw their beloved's ashes into their volcanoes, as long as you pay a $25 permit and do it discreetly.
