1Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist and a teacher who devised the periodic table. In 1867, one day after working for three straight days, he got the inspiration from a dream: "Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper.” He named his discovery the “periodic table of the elements.”
2. The majority of infections from swimming pools and hot tubs are caused by cryptosporidium, a diarrheal disease caused by microscopic parasites which are released (anally) into the water and then consumed (orally) by fellow swimmers. Hotel pools are the primary place of infection.
3. There were about 60,000 attempts to get across the Berlin Wall. 5,000 people managed to escape through the Wall, with an estimated death toll of 136.
4. In 2012, 300,000 students in Montreal protested for over 100 days over a 75% hike in tuition prices.
5. Louis de Bourbon, Count of Soissons who after betraying Louis XIII and successfully beat his army at the Battle of La Marfée, accidentally killed himself when lifting the visor of his helmet with his pistol after the battle was over.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Rainforest canopies
Rainforest canopies have their own soil that is completely distinct from the soil on the ground. This "canopy soil" forms on the tops of branches from the death of mosses and plants, and sustains a high richness of fungal species that regulate nitrogen and nutrients in the forest.
7. Juice Jacking is a type of cyberattack where public USB charging points double as data connection points, installing malware or copying data. Free USB charging points can be used to steal your data.
8. Staring into someone's eyes for 10 minutes straight may cause disassociation and hallucinations.
9. Simon in Simon Says (children's game) is different in other countries. In France it's Jack Says, Chinese is Teacher Says, Norway is The King Commands, and Ireland is O'Grady Says.
10. After Warren Harding’s Teapot Dome scandal, the House and Senate were given subpoena power for review of tax records of any US citizen without regard to an elected or appointed position, nor subject to White House interference.
11Eazy-E
In 1991, the Republican Party accidentally sent out a fundraiser invitation to Eazy-E. He trolled everyone by donating and attending a luncheon at the White House with George H.W. Bush.
12. Anoka, Minnesota was the first U.S. city to put on a Halloween celebration when they did so in 1920 to divert youngsters from Halloween pranks. It was also proclaimed "The Halloween Capital of the World" by Congress in 1937. Today, tens of thousands of people visit Anoka annually for Halloween.
13. The U.S. Constitution forbids members of Congress from holding ‘any office under the United States’ concurrent with their congressional service. Legal scholars have concluded that individuals holding military commissions should be barred from serving in Congress.
14. A 13-year old girl named Eliza Armstrong was purchased for £5 by journalist W.T. Stead in his attempt to expose sex slavery in Victorian London. Though his newspaper story led to tighter laws protecting women and girls, he was still arrested and jailed for abduction and procurement.
15. Jazz on bones or "Ribs" were bootleg vinyl recordings made from old x-rays with holes burned in the middle from cigarettes. In the '50s and '60s they were a black market method for smuggling banned music into the Soviet Union such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley.
16Depression
People with depression feel better after listening to sad music.
17. The song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, was originally meant to have been sung by Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was scrapped after Elton John himself intervened, saying “I don't want a big, stinky warthog singing my love song!"
18. Sue Jones-Davies, who portrayed Judith in Monty Python's Life of Brian, later became Mayor of Aberystwyth. She discovered that the town had banned the Life of Brian for 30 years, and her first act was to overturn the ban and stage a screening with Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
19. Anthony Pellicano is a Hollywood fixer who was recently released after 15 years in prison for multiple indictments. He walked out to a six-figure trust that was funded by high-level executives and Hollywood stars for his silence while he was incarcerated.
20. A study of Holocaust survivors found that they passed their trauma on to their children. Their children were found to have an increased likelihood of stress disorders when compared to Jewish families who were living outside of Europe during World War 2.
21Ibrahim Prize
The Ibrahim Prize is a $5 million payout plus $200,000 per year given to African leaders who were democratically elected and left office after their term was up as part of their criteria. For 7 of the 12 years, it was offered, it was never awarded to anyone.
22. An 8 months Pregnant Mary Turner protested the lynching of her innocent husband Hayes Turner by a white mob in 1918 and threatened to have them arrested. In order to “teach her a lesson”, she and her unborn child were brutally murdered. No one was charged.
23. As a kid in D.C., American composer Duke Ellington loved to play baseball. Sometimes Teddy Roosevelt, who was president at the time, would ride by on his horse and stop to watch Duke and his friends play.
24. Draconian laws are named after the first Greek legislator, Draco, who meted out severe punishment for very minor offenses. These included enforced slavery for any debtor whose status was lower than that of his creditor and the death sentence for stealing a cabbage.
25. A long-lost Rembrandt painting was found in a basement in New Jersey. It was initially valued by a local auction house at $800, who was unaware of its true value. But numerous art buffs recognized its true value, resulting in it selling for $870,000 ($1.1 million with the sale premium).
