26Riverside, Iowa
Gene Roddenberry never gave Captain Kirk a birthplace more specific than the state of Iowa. In 1985, when trying to find a theme for its annual festival, the town of Riverside voted to proclaim itself the future birthplace of the Starfleet officer. Roddenberry gave the town his blessing.
27. All raindrops have a speck of dirt inside them. Raindrops can only form when they have something to condense on to, thus the need for a particle of dirt.
28. A meteorite originating from Mars’s moon Phobos fell on a Russian military base in Yemen in 1980. It contains the mineral Florenskyite, which is not found anywhere else on Earth.
29. After a 1979 court case ruled the city could not be held responsible for people tripping and falling on cracked sidewalks unless the city had been previously notified of the hazard, the Trial Lawyers formed a committee to map every crack, pothole, and other hazards in the city and report them.
30. During a debate in 1843, Kentucky abolitionist politician Cassius Marcellus Clay survived an assassination attempt. Despite being shot in the chest, Clay drew his Bowie knife, tackled his would-be assassin, cut out his eyes, and threw him over an embankment.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Hickok usually sat with his back to a wall so he could see the entrance of the building he was in. On his last day, when he went to play poker, the only seat available was one facing away from the door. He tried changing seats twice, but couldn’t. He was shot in the back of the head.
32. In 2001, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee named Monica O’Leary survived 9/11 because she had been laid off less than 24 hours before the attacks. Afterward, she learned she had never technically been fired because the HR employees that would have processed her layoff all died on 9/11.
33. In Japan, a home loses value from Day 1, losing half its value in 10 years and becoming almost entirely worthless in 25. When a property is sold, the existing house is almost always razed and rebuilt. Even the most important shrines in Japan face regular rebuilding.
34. A scientific study found that starting high school one hour later than usual allowed students to sleep more than half an hour more, and was associated with reduced sleepiness and increased academic performance.
35. When Stephen Colbert was 10 years old, his father, 2 brothers, and 69 others were killed when their plane crashed 5 miles from the runway amid dense fog. The crew failed to pay attention to the plane’s altitude because they were busy trying to spot a nearby amusement park through the fog.
