26Licking Machine
A group of engineering students from Purdue University reported that its licking machine, modeled after a human tongue, took an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
27. While alcohol made from apples is called cider, alcohol made from pears is called “Perry.”
28. Hospitals throughout New York City area were bracing for maximum capacity on 9/11, only to slowly realize that there were very few survivors from the World Trade Center’s collapse.
29. David Vogel, the then-president of production at Disney, was fired from his position for buying the rights to the script for Sixth Sense for $3 million because he bought it without permission.
30. Filipino churches built during Spain’s colonial period used millions of egg whites in the concrete to make it more durable. This is also why Filipino desserts often use lots of egg yolks. Many of these desserts were developed to use up all the extra yolks from construction projects.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Kamikaze Pilots
Kamikaze pilots weren’t 100% volunteers. Pilots were asked to put their hand up in a big group if they didn’t want to volunteer. Amid peer pressure, hardly anyone was able to say no to the mission.
32. Bruce Springsteen’s mother would rent him guitars for $6 a week in 1957. Springsteen bought his first guitar as a teenager in 1964 for $18.95. Later on, his mother would take out a loan to buy him a $60 Kent guitar.
33. James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, developed a new proof for the Pythagorean Theorem while discussing math with some members of Congress. His proof was published in a peer-reviewed journal.
34. Stalin struggled with depression and summoned renowned Russian psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev to examine him. After the examination, Bekhterev said only one word, “paranoiac.” He died on the very next day from what most believed was poisoning.
35. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is a challenge to write the worst opening paragraph to a novel possible. It is named after the author of the 1830 novel Paul Clifford, which began with “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents.”
