1Richard Halliburton
The lowest toll ever paid for crossing Panama Canal was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton in 1928, who swam across the canal.
2. There are “ghost islands” off the coast of Virginia that have been uninhabitable since 1936 as they act as a natural barrier to the coast during hurricane season. They are home to a feral horse population, a NASA flight facility, and the second tallest lighthouse in the United States.
3. John Quincy Adams had a pool table installed in the White House that he enjoyed playing most days. This was something that his opponents and some dignitaries found scandalous.
4. An average individual in 1700s consumed 4 pounds of sugar annually. By 2009, 50% of Americans were consuming at least 180 pounds of sugar annually.
5. Wolves make great foster parents and even adopt other species' offspring sometimes such as fox cubs.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. Church members seek to acquire “Slack” through sex and avoidance of work.
7. There is a thing called the "sweater curse." Some knitters believe that knitting a sweater for a significant other and giving it to them as a gift will result in a breakup. A 2005 poll found that 15% of knitters have experienced it firsthand.
8. Don Featherstone, the creator of the famous plastic Pink Garden Flamingo, also wore matching outfits with his wife every single day for 35 years.
9. Production of alarm clocks in the US stopped in 1942, to direct resources towards the war effort. In 1944 production was restarted due to the number of workers arriving late because broken alarm clocks, and being unable to buy new ones.
10. During World War 2, Aimo Koivunen became the first soldier to overdose on methamphetamine during combat. He entered into a state of delirium and became separated from his patrol for a week. In that time he was injured by a land mine, caught and ate a raw bird, and skied 400 km.
11Stink bombs
In World War 1, the British would fire giant stink bombs at the German trenches. The bombs smelled terrible but were harmless. This was done to compel the Germans to put on gasmasks, which made them less effective fighters, prior to an assault.
12. Using a natural phenomenon called radiative cooling, the ancient Persians created ice, even when temperatures were above freezing.
13. During the 1997 UK general election, the Liberal Democrats won the Winchester constituency by 2 votes. The Conservative incumbent legally challenged the result and secured a re-run of the election. The second time he lost by 21,556 votes.
14. Food company Hormel offered a reward for information leading to the rescue of kidnap victim Jayme Closs. They paid out $25,000 to Jayme upon her escape, for "rescuing herself."
15. Because of their massive balloons during Thanksgiving parades, Macy's is the second biggest consumer of Helium in the world after the US Military.
16Tim Allen
In 1978, American actor Tim Allen was arrested after he was caught drug trafficking with over 650 grams of cocaine. He provided the names of other dealers in exchange for a sentence of 3-7 years than possible life imprisonment. Finally, he served two years and four months in federal prison.
17. All of the vanilla produced in today’s world is pollinated by hand utilizing a technique developed by an enslaved boy back in 1841.
18. The Netherlands loaned $2.5 million to John Adams, who was the ambassador to the Netherlands back in 1782. This was done in order to stabilize the US after their war of independence finished. In today's value that would be a loan of roughly $150 billion.
19. Harry Houdini in disguise often attended magic shows by people who claimed to be “spiritual mediums.” Knowing their trick, he would finally light a flashlight that left the deception in the open and stand up and cry “I am Houdini! And you are a fraud!”
20. Helga de la Brache was a woman who grew up in lower-class circumstances but successfully posed as a Swedish princess for years. She even convinced the Swedish royal family who gave her a pension and “furniture befitting a princess.”
21Misery
Stephen King’s character of Annie Wilkes in “Misery” was the personification of his severe addiction to cocaine and alcohol.
22. The Northern Great Plains was home to many fortified Native American towns, beginning in the 800s and existing all the way until the 1880s. These towns had over a thousand residents and a plaza centric layout. These were sedentary towns where people lived year-round.
23. 95% of Mongols are lactose intolerant yet eat a diet that consists heavily of dairy products.
24. Cards Against Humanity was initially named 'Cardenfreude', a pun on 'Schadenfreude', which is the experience of joy that comes from the humiliation of someone else.
25. George McClellan, the mayor of New York in 1904, was to symbolically start the first train at City Hall station and the hand it over to an engineer. However, he enjoyed himself so much that he refused to stop controlling the train until he reached 103rd street.
