26Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse
When constructing a walkway for the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, the original design was replaced by a cheap one, which was never checked by an engineer. The new plans only had 1/3 the strength needed. The walkway collapsed in 1981 and killed 114 people, the deadliest accidental structural failure in US history.
27. On Aug. 4, 1972, U.S. military pilots flying south of Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam saw something unexpected. More than two dozen sea mines suddenly and without apparent explanation exploded in the water. The cause behind it, discovered decades later, was found to be a solar flare.
28. During a game between the Barbados and Grenada national football teams in 1994, a bizarre rule was added according to which goals in extra time were counted double. This meant it was more beneficial for Barbados to score an own goal. Grenada then tried to score an own goal to counter this, so Barbados had to defend both goals.
29. Magic Shell syrup gets its hardening properties from coconut oil, which is high in saturated fats. Once it contacts something cold like ice cream, the fats rapidly cool down and solidify.
30. There's an ethnicity known as the “Magyarab,” who are the descendants of Hungarian mercenaries who settled in Sudan and Egypt under the Ottoman Empire in the 16th Century.
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31Kim Kardashian Lawsuit
Kim Kardashian sued Old Navy claiming the use of Canadian actress Melissa Molinaro violated her publicity rights by using a lookalike in an ad. Old Navy countered that the actress was famous in her own right and the case was settled out of court.
32. Yi Sun-Sin was a 16th century Korean Admiral, who in spite of having no prior naval experience, remained undefeated at sea and never lost a single ship. In his most famous battle, he commanded 13 ships against the Japanese who had 330 vessels. He won, all whilst recovering from having been recently tortured.
33. Poland and the Soviet Union were the two most affected countries in World War 2 in terms of deaths as a percentage of the population. In Poland 5.7 million died in the war, over 17% of its population. In the Soviet Union, an estimated 26.6 million people died, over 15% of its population.
34. The Mozart Effect, the idea that classical music makes babies more intelligent, is largely unfounded. However, listening to music one enjoys does lower cortisol levels and anxiety, offering benefits to studying as long as it isn’t too distracting.
35. Native Australians, often thought of as pure hunter-gatherers, were farming fish 6600 years ago.
