1Loons
Loons are like airplanes in that they need a runway for takeoff. In the case of loons, they need from 30 yards up to a quarter-mile (depending on the wind) for flapping their wings and running across the top of the water to gain enough speed for lift-off.
2. Kosmos 954 was a Soviet nuclear-powered satellite that crashed into northern Canada in 1978, spreading radioactive debris all over the area. The incident was largely kept secret from the locals inhabiting the area at the time.
3. It is possible to have multiple pupils or even multiple irises in one eye. This condition is called Polycoria.
4. There are series of species where species A can interbreed with species B, and species B with species C, but not species A with species C. They're called ring species.
5. A group of 100 artists covertly placed props with coded messages onto the set of the soap opera 'Melrose Place' for over 2 years. Props included bedsheets with unrolled condoms titled 'Safety Sheets' and paintings depicting locations related to high-profile deaths/murders.
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6Tokyo Movie Shinsha
A Japanese company named Tokyo Movie Shinsha was behind the animation of a lot of Disney classics like original Duck Tales, Winnie the Pooh, Inspector Gadget, Chip and Dale.
7. Out of some 45,000 known species of spiders, only 23 are considered to be quasi-social, which includes building and maintaining larger webs together. These colonies can grow large enough to even take down birds and bats.
8. In the 1960s, the ancient Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt was moved brick by brick to a new location to protect it from flood water.
9. President Risto Ryti of Finland, in exchange for military and food assistance during World War 2, promised Germany he would fight the Soviet Union. Germany provided the supplies, and Ryti resigned, allowing his successor to seek peace with the Soviets.
10. In 2008, Morgan Spurlock (director of Super Size Me) made a movie called 'Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'. Later on, the CIA revealed that Osama bin Laden himself had a copy of the film at his hideout in Pakistan.
11Citadelle Laferrière
The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest military fortress in the Caribbean. Its gray walls are as thick as 16 feet and as high as 147 feet and were outfitted with more than 365 cannons. Since its construction, the fortress has withstood numerous earthquakes, though a French attack never came.
12. Byron Looper is a Tennessee politician known for both changing his middle name to "Low Tax" as a vote-winning stunt and, during a Tennessee state senate race, assassinating his opponent. In the election, held a month later, he still received 1,531 votes.
13. Shen Fu Tsong was the first recorded Chinese person to step foot in Britain. Tsong cataloged the Chinese collection in the Bodleian Library, showed the librarian how to hold Chinese books, and explained their contents. King James II had Tsong's portrait painted and hung it in his bed-chamber.
14. Neanderthals sailed the Mediterranean. Stone tools, of the kind made by Neanderthals, were found in areas that were known to be distant islands at the time.
15. The reason Dippin' Dots is not sold in grocery stores is that it has to be stored at -40°F to maintain its consistency. Generally, supermarket freezers sit around 0 to -5 °F. Dippin' Dots uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the pebbles of ice cream to -320° and store it with dry ice at -40°.
16Chewing Gum
Precursors to chewing gum date back 5,000 years with the first commercial chewing gum released in 1848. To sweeten these early gums chewers would repeatedly dip the gum in a plate of powdered sugar to reconstitute the sweetness while they chewed.
17. Ordinary ice is called ice Ih because it has hexagonal crystals. But if you cool it below -37 °C, scientists believe it will gradually turn into a cubic form called ice Ic.
18. Ephedrine, one of the main ingredients in methamphetamine, is made from ephedra, a plant that has been used in traditional medicine for over 2,000 years.
19. Elephant seals can hold their breath for over 100 minutes and dive to depths of over 5,000ft below the surface of the ocean.
20. During World War 2, the British made "decoy sneakers" for Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in the Pacific to disguise their footprints and make them seem like barefoot locals.
21Babe Didrikson
Babe Didrikson was an accomplished track and field, basketball, baseball, and softball star. Babe also competed in the 1932 Olympics and won 7 LPGA major tournaments. In her final years, Babe played and won LPGA tournaments while battling colon cancer and wearing a colostomy bag.
22. Vodka can actually save lives. In 2007, a patient arrived at an Australian Hospital having drunk ethylene glycol, a common ingredient in antifreeze, which can cause renal failure. The Vodka drip given to him prevented the toxic effects of the ethylene glycol from killing him.
23. The 1904 Baltimore fire got way worse than it could have been because there was no industry standard for fire fighting equipment at that time and therefore the hoses that the fire fighters had did not fit on the hydrants.
24. During World War 2, UK’s Special Operations Executive developed super itching powder to demoralize the Germans soldiers. Some resistance laundresses used this on Nazi uniforms and underwear. One intelligence report stated that at least one U-Boat had to return to port due to the powder’s effects. Condoms lined with the powder was also distributed to German soldiers in Norway.
25. The 1960's Pink Panther car was custom built on an Oldsmobile Chassis & V8 engine. Instead of a rearview mirror, it had a camera in the back and a black & white television monitor. The 'Panthermobile' cost $100,000 to build (equivalent to $476,000 in 2021).
