26 French Waiters Strike For Mustaches
In 1907, French waiters went on strike for better pay, more time off, and the right to grow mustaches. During that period, employers forbade lower-class workers from growing facial hair.
27. Actor Charlie Cox failed an audition for the Han Solo film because he had grown accustomed to avoiding eye contact while playing Daredevil.
28. The Red Ghost was a legendary demonic figure that terrorized Arizona in the late 1800s and reportedly killed a woman. It later turned out to be a feral camel with the decaying corpse of a man strapped to its back, likely a remnant of Jefferson Davis’s experiment to create a camel division for the U.S. Army.
29. Between 2000 and 2014, New York restaurants that earned a Michelin star were more likely to close than those that didn’t. By the end of 2019, 40% of Michelin-starred restaurants had shuttered.
30. In 2009, legal poppy farmers in Tasmania couldn’t figure out why their fields often had crop circles. They later discovered that wallabies were breaking in, eating the poppy bulbs to get high, and then running in circles, trampling the flowers.
31 Girl Sent By Parcel Post
In 1914, a 4-year-old girl named Charlotte May Pierstorff, was sent via parcel post because her parents found it cheaper than buying a train ticket. Weighing just under the 50-pound limit, she traveled in the train’s mail compartment with a stamp on her jacket and was safely delivered to her grandmother by the mail clerk on duty.
32. In 2013, a thief pulled off a daring heist at Cannes by breaking into a lightly guarded room and stealing a suitcase containing 72 pieces of jewelry worth $136 million. A billionaire planned to showcase the jewelry in a private exhibition.
33. Contrary to popular belief, human metabolism doesn’t significantly slow down until after age 60.
34. Beethoven kept his hearing loss a secret. In an unsent letter to his brother, he explained that people wrongly perceived him as antisocial. He longed for human connection but became a recluse out of shame for his condition, which even led him to contemplate suicide.
35. When Jimi Hendrix’s mother passed away, his father prohibited him and his brother from attending the funeral. Instead, he gave them shots of whiskey, telling them it was the “manly” way to cope with loss.
36 Eyebrows Crucial For Face Recognition
Researchers have discovered that removing eyebrows from pictures of familiar faces significantly reduced recognition accuracy-much more than removing the eyes.
37. In 2010, authorities found Greg Fleniken dead in his locked Texas hotel room, showing no external injuries but severe internal damage. After an 8-month investigation, authorities revealed that a drunken guest in the neighboring room had accidentally fired a gun, fatally striking Fleniken in the scrotum.
38. One of the most enigmatic structures in cell biology is the vault. Discovered 40 years ago, these giant, half-empty structures exist in nearly every cell of every animal on the planet. Their mysterious nature often keeps them excluded from science textbooks.
39. A former warlord and self-confessed cannibal, General Butt Naked, now serves as a preacher. During the Liberian Civil War, he led the Naked Base Commandos, a group of child soldiers, committing atrocities like child sacrifices and cannibalism. He has never faced prosecution despite admitting to killing over 20,000 people, and he currently focuses on rehabilitating former child soldiers.
40. During the French Revolution, Jacques Hébert’s public execution became a cruel spectacle. Executioners rigged the guillotine blade to stop inches from his neck three times to amuse the crowd before finally carrying out the execution.
41 Fraudulent Wine Worth $150M Exposed
A fraudster named Rudy Kurniawan produced an estimated $150 million worth of fake wine between 2002 and 2012, creating it in his California home. His scheme unraveled when Domaine Ponsot, a wine producer, discovered him selling Ponsot wines that had never been made. The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
42. The “Nobu” restaurant chain was co-founded by actor Robert De Niro, who spent five years persuading world-renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa to partner with him before Nobu finally agreed.
43. In 2003, critics retaliated against Alan Ralsky, dubbed the “spam king,” after a local article detailed his lavish lifestyle. They uncovered his address and signed him up for so much junk mail that, at its peak, hundreds of pounds were delivered daily to his doorstep.
44. When a crow dies, other crows gather around the body to investigate what happened and determine the cause of death.
45. During their 1966 world tour, The Beatles unintentionally offended the Philippines’ First Lady, Imelda Marcos, by skipping a palace luncheon. The incident sparked public outrage and led to a hostile departure, causing the band to vow never to return.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Dogs Banned From Antarctica Since 1994
Dogs have been banned from Antarctica since 1994 due to fears that they could spread diseases to the native seal population.
47. Early in the AIDS epidemic, an executive of the weight-loss product “AYDS” dismissed concerns around the name of its product, stating, “The product has been around for 45 years. Let the disease change its name.”
48. Around 31% of Pakistanis aged 20 to 79 are diagnosed with diabetes.
49. Lord Nelson, one of Britain’s most accomplished naval commanders, battled seasickness throughout his career. In a letter, he confessed, “I am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.”
50. Powered flight independently evolved four times in history: in birds, bats, pterosaurs, and insects.
RE: Fact #15 (Obese Drivers Face Higher Risks) – Check out the CDC’s list of top 10 killers. Being overweight ups your chances of getting *all* of them.
RE: Fact #35 (Hendrix’s Whiskey Funeral Coping Lesson) – Pack it in tight.
RE: Fact #28 (Red Ghost: Camel With Corpse) – That would really tick me off.