1Centipede Venom
Centipede venom contains over 500 different compounds, many of which show evidence of potent antimicrobial and anticancer properties.
2. Sassoon Eskell, the first minister of Finance of Iraq was Jewish. One of his notable decisions was demanding that Iraq's oil revenue be remunerated in gold rather than sterling, a decision that saved Iraq huge sums of money when the Pound sterling plummeted.
3. Hedgehogs can suffer from 'Balloon Syndrome' where they inflate like a balloon after injury or infection and then need to be deflated to prevent permanent injury or worse.
4. The "Coal Wars" in the US refers to a period between 1890 and 1930 when many wars were fought against armed unions of coal workers. The Battle of Blair Mountain alone was the second-largest uprising in the US (only after the Civil War), where over 1,000,000 rounds were fired.
5. The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released the same weekend as X-Men: Dark Phoenix. It outperformed the X-Men movie, making it the first time an X-Men film did not top the box office the week of its release.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6Sea Otters
Sea otters were extinct in Washington State between 1910 and 1965. The current population originally came from Alaska and they were evacuated from areas where the US was testing nuclear bombs between 1965 and 1972.
7. The final Hercule Poirot novel "Curtain" was written in the early 1940s, when author Agatha Christie wasn't sure she would even survive World War 2 and wanted to give the character a proper send-off. After World War 2, she locked it away and had it published shortly before her death in the 1970s.
8. Balthasar Gerard, the assassin of William of Orange, was executed in an extremely gruesome manner. Aside from the standard beheading, he also had his hand burned off, his feet crushed, was disemboweled alive, quartered, and had his heart ripped out and thrown at his face.
9. In 1981, a TU-104 crashed in Leningrad killing all onboard which included 16 admirals and generals and dozens of other officers. Investigation revealed that the plane crashed due to improperly loaded goods which were brought by generals who went on a shopping spree.
10. There are six major types of corn, two of which are sweet corn and popcorn.
11Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI opposed gaslighting and railways, believing that they would create commerce and lead to liberal reforms. Gregory XVI banned railways in the Papal States, calling them Chemins d'enfer ("road to hell", a play on the French for railroad, chemin de fer, "iron road").
12. In 1997, Disney offered to purchase Knott's Berry Farm, which would have been part of the Disneyland Resort and converted to Disney's America, originally meant to be built near D.C. The Knotts refused to sell the park to Disney out of fear that Disney would eliminate most of what Walter Knott had built.
13. In the late 1960s, the Lorillard Tobacco Company was successfully sued for sending company vans into housing projects to give out free Newport cigarettes to black children.
14. Chuck E. Cheese was created by Nolan Bushnell, the Co-Founder of Atari Video Games as a way to open up arcade games to younger children.
15. Songwriter Joni Mitchell only released a greatest hits album, "Hits," on the condition that she released a "Misses" album to go with it.
16Concorde's Fuselage Expansion
Due to the intense heat experienced while flying at 1350 mph, the Concorde's fuselage would expand by up to 12 inches. It was painted white to help dissipate heat.
17. "Terminal Lucidity" describes the phenomenon of brief return of mental clarity or memory, right before death, in people who suffer from severe dementia and other neurological disorders.
18. The 1st Minnesota Infantry lost 82% of its fighting strength on July 2nd, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. This is the largest loss by any surviving US military unit in a single day's engagement.
19. In 1914, a 17-year-old Princess Mary decided to distribute tin boxes containing small Christmas gifts to British Empire troops at the frontlines of World War 1. After trying to finance it from her allowance, she set up a fund, appealed to the public, and raised the equivalent of £17 million today.
20. Tapeworms can live inside you for up to 30 years and grow up to 80 feet long.
21Historic Shark Population Decline
Global shark population was wiped out by up to 90% around 19 million years ago, even though there were no signs of sudden climatic or environmental changes.
22. During the Titanic's sinking, Lucile Carter and her children were separated from her husband William Ernest Carter (an extremely wealthy American). When she met him again on the rescue ship Carpathia all he said was that he had a jolly good breakfast and that he never thought she would make it. They divorced less than two years later.
23. Research has found that wearing glasses increases a political candidate's electoral success. Despite this, many politicians avoid them as they think it makes them look less attractive.
24. Batman: The Animated Series was drawn on black paper to make the city and its atmosphere feel dark.
25. In the '70s and '80s, dead acidic lakes were fairly common in the US, Europe, and Canada because of acid rain. The acidity in lakes killed all microbes and aquatic life, resulting in crystal clear water that allowed the lake bottom to be visible.
