1 Willis Replaced by Harrison Ford
In 2013, producers of The Expendables 3 offered Bruce Willis $3 million for four days of work reprising his role as Church. Willis demanded $4 million instead, insisting on a $1 million-per-day rate. Sylvester Stallone and the team refused, replacing him with Harrison Ford within 72 hours.
2. When Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit wrote ‘Hot Dog’ in 2000 as a diss track aimed at Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, he laced it with lyrics lifted from Reznor’s own songs. The track included so many borrowed lines from Nine Inch Nails that Durst was legally required to credit Reznor as a co-writer and pay him royalties.
3. In clinical settings, staff use the term Daughter from California Syndrome for a family member who returns after a long absence and knows little about a terminal patient’s condition. The relative arrives angry and articulate but uninformed and challenges the care plan. They often demand unrealistic, aggressive treatment that goes against medical advice.
4. When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was introduced in Russia, contestants learned to be wary of the Ask the Audience lifeline. Russian studio audiences frequently misled players by intentionally choosing the wrong answer. By contrast, U.S. audiences got it right over 90 percent of the time.
5. In 1789, President George Washington borrowed the book ‘The Law of Nations’ from the New York Society Library while it shared Federal Hall with the new federal government. He never ended up returning it. In 2010, the head librarian joked they would skip the fines but would love the book’s return. A month later, the Mount Vernon estate sent it back, a full 221 years overdue.
6 Barcode Adoption Took 40 Years
When the barcode first appeared, shoppers did not embrace it, and some even spread conspiracies about hidden pricing schemes and control. The barcode industry hit back in the press and called critics Luddites who did not understand the technology. Even so, the scanners and systems were so expensive that it took about 40 years before even half of all registered grocery stores actually used barcodes.
7. About 30 percent of people are natural night owls whose internal clocks push their peak alertness to later in the day. Their genetics and chronotype make them feel more focused in the evening than in the morning. As a result, early school or work schedules often clash with how their bodies are programmed to function.
8. In 2008, Nebraska passed its first child surrender law to let parents safely relinquish babies under 30 days old. Because lawmakers forgot to set an age limit, parents began dropping off much older children, many of them between 10 and 17. The unexpected surge of abandoned teens forced the state to quickly amend the law to cover only infants.
9. A 2022 study noted that people who donated blood or, more effectively, blood plasma saw significant drops in the level of PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, in their bodies. Plasma donation removes PFAS faster because the chemicals bind to blood proteins that are taken out during the process. Researchers pointed to this as a rare, practical way for exposed people to lower their PFAS burden.
10. In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics told parents to keep peanuts away from children zero to three years old in an effort to prevent allergies. Families followed the guidance and removed peanut exposure from infants’ diets. Instead of falling, peanut allergy cases rose sharply in the following years.
11 1986 Brain Self-Stimulation Case
In 1986, researchers studying brain stimulation reward let a 48-year-old female volunteer control a device that sent pleasurable electrical signals to specific parts of her brain. Once she had access, she spent days doing almost nothing but pressing the button to self-stimulate. She ignored her family, skipped basic hygiene, and kept pressing the button on the device to stimulate herself until she developed an open sore on her finger.
12. In 2001, a Gulfstream III was flying a private jet charter to Aspen, Colorado, when a wealthy passenger pressed the pilots to ignore local flight and landing restrictions. He even entered the cockpit to intimidate them into attempting the prohibited approach. The crew tried to land anyway, the jet crashed on approach, and all 18 passengers aboard were killed.
13. In the early 1990s, Kurt Cobain tracked down The Raincoats, an all-female, obscure British post-punk band that had stopped performing, because he loved their music. He pushed for them to reunite and lined them up to tour with Nirvana in 1994. Cobain died just before the tour started, so the collaboration never happened.
14. In 1973, during the U.S. energy crisis, President Richard Nixon skipped Air Force One and boarded a regular United Airlines flight from Washington to Los Angeles. The flight was temporarily designated Executive One to mark the presence of the sitting president. It remains the only time a serving U.S. president has flown on a commercial airline.
15. In 1989, Canadian hockey player Duncan MacPherson vanished without explanation, leaving his family and friends with no clear trail to follow. He rented a snowboard at the Stubai Glacier resort in Austria and was last seen heading out alone on the only open run. Authorities could not find him at the time, and the case sat unresolved for years. Fourteen years later, in 2003, his frozen body was finally discovered inside the glacier on the same slope.
16 Down Syndrome Lifespan Tripled
In 1912, doctors recorded that people with Down syndrome lived an average of about 12 years. By the 1980s, better medical care and social support increased that average to around 25 years. Today, in developed countries, people with Down syndrome often reach an average lifespan of about 60 years.
17. A 2023 study found that height played a measurable role in male life expectancy. Men under 5 ft 8 in lived almost 5 years longer than men who were 6 ft or taller. Those 5 ft 5 in or shorter lived more than 7 years longer than the tallest group.
18. In the 1700s mules were rare on American farms, but George Washington believed they worked harder and behaved more calmly than horses or donkeys. He received high-quality breeding animals from Europe, including a Spanish jack from the King of Spain and another from the Marquis de Lafayette. Washington started a mule breeding program at his Mount Vernon estate in Virginia to improve American draft animals. Because of that effort, he became known as the father of the American mule.
19. In 1895, Alfred Nobel ordered in his will that 31 million Swedish kronor be invested and the returns used to fund annual prizes for work that benefits humanity. The Nobel Foundation invested that capital and let it grow instead of spending the original bequest. By the end of 2024, the fund had risen to more than 6 billion SEK, almost 200 times the starting amount, through investment gains. Those returns alone covered about 136 million SEK in 2024 for all Nobel prizes, medals, and administration, allowing the awards to continue indefinitely.
20. Since the 1980s, kids and graffiti writers have drawn the cool S, a simple stylized S made from connected lines, without knowing where it came from. In 2020, someone who did not create the symbol registered a trademark for it. The trademark holder said they had no plans to sue people for using it.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 CIA Vault 7 Tools Exposed
In March 2017, WikiLeaks published a series of documents about a secret CIA hacking program known as Vault 7. The files described tools that could turn smartphones, computers, smart TVs, and even vehicles into surveillance devices. The leak showed that the agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence had built an extensive digital arsenal for covert monitoring.
22. The Arlington National Cemetery contains more than 400,000 graves, all under U.S. Army direction except one. Specialist R. L. McKinley died in a reactor accident, and officials consider his remains contaminated. For that reason, the Atomic Energy Commission keeps authority over his grave and requires its permission before anyone can disturb it.
23. During World War II, the U.S. Army asked food researchers to develop a better source of vitamin C for soldiers because troops disliked the vitamin C tablets they were given. In the early 1940s, they created concentrated orange juice that could be shipped and stored without spoiling. The new product gave soldiers an easy, palatable way to avoid scurvy. That wartime solution later became a staple in American kitchens.
24. For decades after the 1950-1953 Korean War, the United States officially listed 54,246 American dead, and that figure was etched on the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2000, officials reexamined the records and found that a government clerk had wrongly included thousands of postwar accidental and illness deaths in the total. The corrected count of combat and theater deaths was 36,940.
25. Keiko, the orca who starred in the 1993 film Free Willy, became the focus of an international effort to return him to the wild. After years of rehabilitation in Oregon, crews transported him to Iceland in 1998 and released him into the open sea in 2002. Instead of joining wild pods, he repeatedly sought out humans and followed boats, showing he had not fully adapted to life in the wild. In December 2003, about a year after his release, he died of pneumonia in Norway.
RE: Fact #36 (Egyptian Sed Festival Fitness Test) – Yeah, that makes sense. If the only reason you have any authority is because your dad had it, you’d better be able to back it up with your own strength, or you’re probably gonna get overthrown.
Pharaohs were thought of as god-kings, ruling because the gods willed it and even being gods themselves. Their power came from their dynasty and this divine right. We don’t see a lot of proof of revolts or assassinations, just a handful. That time in history is pretty unclear, so it might have happened more than we realize. I’m thinking this formal procession might not have been that amazing, especially since at times the royal family was super inbred and had disabilities.
Things got a bit rough in Egypt not too long after Ramesses II was around.
His son Merneptah took over, then Merneptah’s son Seti II. Seti II had a rival named Amenmesse, who actually managed to mess up Seti II’s tomb. But Amenmesse eventually disappeared, and Seti II got to fix some of the damage before he died.
After Seti II, Siptah became pharaoh. It’s unclear if he was Seti II’s son or Amenmesse’s. He also had a short time on the throne, and then it went to Seti II’s wife, Twosret. Her reign was even shorter, probably because Setnakhte overthrew her. He definitely had to fight for the crown.
Setnakhte then passed it down to his son, Ramesses III. Some people think of him as the last really significant pharaoh because Egypt made it through the Late Bronze Age Collapse while he was in charge. But, sadly, he was also killed as part of a plot in his own harem.
RE: Fact #34 (Swiss Citizenship Denied Over Raclette) – Reading a Swiss newspaper daily, I’ve noticed they’re really good at making it tough to become a citizen. It feels like a way to keep people out, wanting them to work there but not actually join their community.
To become Swiss, you need to meet the naturalization requirements, plus really know your local community and get along well with people there.
That last bit is pretty funny. It’s like saying, “Sure, you’ve been here a decade, worked the whole time, learned the language and traditions. But your neighbor remembers you didn’t pick up your dog’s poop on his lawn two years ago and he’s still mad about it, so we can’t grant you citizenship.”
Yeah, there have been quite a few situations where people who’ve lived in Switzerland for ages, contributing to society and being good citizens, had their citizenship turned down just because of one person who was anti-foreigner.
RE: Fact #48 (German POW Kayak Escape Fails) – It’s pretty similar to what the person who figured out the Death Valley Germans mystery guessed. In that situation, the hikers’ car broke down, and they headed towards China Lake NAS, thinking it’d be a well-guarded place where they’d get help. They didn’t realize it’s just more empty desert.
It really shows how people underestimate the size of the US. Even with all our safety nets, step just 10 minutes outside a town and you’re in the wilderness. If you’re not ready, you’re in trouble.
It’s like they saw Death Valley as just another American playground for a quick afternoon trip. They had a cartoon map, no survival gear, food, or water. And taking a minivan off-roading? That’s just wild. If you think the US is a playground where someone will always bail you out, you’re more likely to do stuff like that.
It’s just a sad situation where the guy kept messing up. Every chance they had to do the right thing, they somehow made the wrong choice.
I usually reread that once a year or so. It’s really fascinating how he solved the mystery.
That’s a tough one to think about, what would be worse for them. Dying so close to NAS China Lake, thinking help is right there but you can’t quite make it, or making it there only to find nothing, and then being too far gone, exhausted, or dehydrated to even try for something else.
RE: Fact #3 (Daughter From California Syndrome) – If you’ve worked in healthcare, you’ve probably seen this. I used to see it in the ICU all the time.
Usually, a family member who’s been there watching their loved one decline just sits quietly with them. But then, a relative who hasn’t visited in a while shows up. Suddenly, all the focus and attention shifts to them. They’re loud, demanding, and don’t seem to grasp the reality of the situation, insisting that “everything” be done.
My aunt did this with my grandmother too. My mom and uncle looked after her for years. Then when she moved to hospice, my aunt showed up acting like she was the savior. She didn’t know anything about the medications or why Grandma was taking them, but she wanted everything changed. She completely lost it over small stuff and blamed our family and the doctors for her dying.
My grandpa was in his 90s and had dementia and COPD. My aunt, who’s a nurse and also a fu*king nut job, came to visit and caused a huge scene. She’d yell at the doctors, report my mom to social services, and even call EMS to have him taken to the hospital against his wishes. She truly believed she was some medical genius who could fix him. After one of the doctors shut her down, she left and went back out of state.
I’ve heard of that, but I’ve never actually heard it called “Daughter from California Syndrome” before.
We call it son on the west coast too, just like they do in New York.
There’s a doctor-blogger I used to follow who wrote about this in an essay.
Basically, doctors will have a chat with your family to suggest switching to “comfort care only.” This means they’ll stop treatments and machines, and focus on pain relief so you can pass peacefully. Your family might freak out, accusing the doctors of trying to kill you just to make their jobs easier. They’ll probably push for complex surgeries, more meds on top of the ones you’re already taking, and bringing in top consultants from anywhere to try and keep you alive for a few more days.
Sometimes, the way people handle healthcare spending is like a signal to show they care. While that’s not usually the case for most people paying their own insurance, it really seems to fit when families are dealing with elderly relatives. I heard from a hospital lawyer that folks who live nearby and have spent a lot of time with their parents or grandparents are usually okay with letting them go. But then, someone who lives far away might fly in last minute and insist that absolutely everything be done, no matter what.
The doctors will say they respect the family’s wishes, but it’s often not true. They’ll go along with continuing the care, sure, but “respect”? You can bet they’re swapping stories in the cafeteria later, even though it’s against medical privacy rules. They’ll share ridiculous family demands, like wanting a blind, 90-year-old with stage 4 cancer to join a trial in Sri Lanka, or pushing for a liver transplant for someone on a ventilator with brain damage who can’t walk or talk.
Each day, doctors will talk to the family again. As your condition gets worse and reality sinks in, they’ll start to give in. Eventually, they’ll allow the doctors to take you off the machines and move you to Palliative Care. I can’t imagine what that’s like, even though every palliative care doctor I’ve ever met is incredibly cheerful and positive – it’s a total mystery.
You’ll pass away, but it won’t be quick. It takes time for the heart to stop, the lungs to fill with fluid, and toxins to build up. It’s usually best to be on high doses of morphine throughout this, to manage the pain and make it easier for your family to watch.
Not everyone manages to do that, though. Dying can take anywhere from a day to several weeks. Sometimes families want to be there for a week straight. But often, they have work and other commitments. Maybe they live far away. You might not have recognized them for years, haven’t spoken a clear word in months, and even if your mind suddenly cleared, you’d be so medicated you wouldn’t know what’s going on. Facing the prospect of missing work and school to sit by a “living corpse” for weeks, just to watch it become a “non-living corpse,” many families politely say no. And honestly, I can’t blame them one bit.
There’s a national volunteer program called “No One Dies Alone.” Kind people from the community go to hospitals to sit with dying patients who have no one else. It’s great that this program exists.
Still, this is how many of my patients end up dying. Old, with lost limbs, stuck in bed, with sores, in a mess, struggling to breathe, high on morphine, totally out of it mentally, in a sterile hospital room with a volunteer they just met sitting by their side.
To be clear, “respecting someone’s wishes” just means doing what they want, not actually admiring their wishes for being so great.
And for those saying doctors care more about insurance money than people, I can promise you none of the ICU doctors spending days keeping brain-dead patients on life support are thinking about cash when they’re trying to get families to face reality.
Someone else said most doctors could be replaced by chatbots. Yeah, good luck asking ChatGPT to help you when you’re in critical condition. Seriously, people these days.
RE: Fact #44 (Avocado Oil Highest Smoke Point) – It is the best oil for searing steak
I’ve never used it before. Does it add any flavor, or is it pretty neutral? I usually use refined sunflower oil for searing meat or fish.
Generally, refined oils don’t have much of a smell or taste.
RE: Fact #29 (Ted Bundy’s 1977 Window Escape) – Nowadays they put a high-powered shock belt on the defendant.
It’s not right for the jury to see the defendant in jail clothes or think they’re already locked up, because that can make them biased. If they make the accused wear leg restraints during the trial, they use cloth ones that don’t make noise, and they put cloth around the tables so the jury can’t see the restraints. The jury also leaves the courtroom before the defendant is brought in or taken out.
That thing is super uncomfortable, seriously. Having prongs digging into your leg for hours, day after day, was definitely the worst part of being on trial. I don’t think I even had to wear restraints while I was in court, just that big, annoying strap around my leg.
Yeah, that’s rough. There really should be a comfier way to do the probes, especially since juries can get sidetracked by stuff like body language, and having prongs digging into your ankle all day would totally mess with that.
Wow, look at you thriving on factrepublic now!
RE: Fact #47 (Teen Hacker Shut Down NASA) – Back in the 90s or very early 2000s, this guy Jason Diekman supposedly hacked into NASA. After that, he apparently stole a bridge from PacBell and used it like a conference call line for his IRC buddies. He noticed PacBell’s servers went down for a bit every Sunday, and figured out Western Union was transferring money then. He attempted to intercept the money a few times without luck, and was actually on the verge of succeeding when they caught him.
He got arrested again later for something different. I wasn’t around that weekend, but my friends were all at a BBQ at his place. The last ones to leave, around 5 AM, got surrounded by guys with guns. They weren’t told why for a long time, and it really freaked them out. We were all around 18 to 20 years old back then.
I just love hearing about all the super random, wild stuff that happens to people on factrepublic. Thanks for sharing that super weird insight!
RE: Fact #8 (Nebraska Safe Haven Teen Dropoffs) – Honestly, if parents are ditching their teenage kids like that, the kids might actually be better off in an orphanage or foster care.
RE: Fact #26 (Wichita Language Died 2016) – This is actually a pretty big issue in the native community, not just with language but also with cultural customs and identity. As elders pass away, many tribes haven’t had younger people to step up and carry on that knowledge.
It seems like the whole “internal colonization” thing is happening just as it was planned.
It’s a classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
If you’re young and successful, you might move off the reservation and send money back home. But then you might marry someone who isn’t American Indian, and if you’re not speaking the language, the cultural loss just keeps growing.
On the other hand, if you want to stay and learn, you’ll probably marry and do your best to keep traditions alive. But job opportunities are pretty limited, and honestly, how much time do you really want to put into learning a language that only a few hundred people speak?
It’s a tough spot because thousands of languages are at risk right now, and most of them will probably disappear within the next generation.
Young folks probably want to be able to connect with more people globally, opening up lots of economic, social, and tech opportunities.
RE: Fact #4 (Russian Millionaire Audience Sabotage) – Totally makes sense that this is tied to cultural stuff. It’s kinda funny, board games have a similar vibe! European games often focus on building up an economy or system to win, whereas American games tend to have a lot more luck involved. My professor for a class about it once said this goes back to historical differences. Things like the Gold Rush and the stock market here in the US seem to have pushed Americans toward a “get rich quick” idea based on luck, while Europeans usually prefer a slower, more planned approach.
RE: Fact #13 (Kurt Cobain Revived The Raincoats) – The liner notes for their album are really heartfelt. For anyone who hasn’t heard of them, he said he doesn’t know much about the Raincoats, but their music has deeply impacted him. He mentioned that whenever he hears it, it reminds him of a difficult time in his life when he was really unhappy, lonely, and bored. He felt that listening to their first record was one of the few things that brought him peace. He added that he could have looked up the band’s history, but he felt it was more important to describe his feelings and how their music sounds to him. When he listens to the Raincoats, he feels like he’s a stowaway in a dark attic, feeling a bit intrusive. It’s like he’s not just listening to them, but eavesdropping. He feels like they’re all in the same old house, and he has to stay perfectly still so they don’t hear him spying. If he gets caught, it’ll ruin the whole experience because it feels like it’s their private thing.
So, if you’re curious about what music he was into, Cobain actually made a list of his top 50 albums in his diary, which came out after he passed. I’ve been diving into them over the last few months, and it’s been a total game-changer. There’s some seriously incredible music in that list. It definitely leans heavily into hardcore punk, and yeah, there are a few albums that are pretty rough or even offensive, but it’s all worth checking out. Just wanted to give you a heads-up!
It’s like I’m overhearing them instead of listening to them.
This really nails two important things people often forget to talk about with music: how it made you feel, and how it connects to a specific time in your life. It’s not just about whether it’s good or bad, or old or new. This perspective makes music feel more alive, like a reflection of ourselves. It shows me that he really puts a lot of thought into his listening.
It’s really a testament to Cobain’s character that even when he was at his lowest and most despairing, he was still trying to help lift up people he believed deserved to be right there with him at the top of his career.
RE: Fact #20 (2020 Trademark of Cool S) – It’s so funny how nobody can really say for sure where this came from, who made it popular, or what it even means. It just took off everywhere ’cause it looked neat.’
RE: Fact #10 (Peanut Avoidance Policy Backfired) – And it’s a neat flip side to this: now that the advice has changed, peanut allergies are dropping like crazy.
So, we got our first Gen Z person at work, and she asked if any of us had peanut allergies. I had to tell her the rest of us are too old to have one, which totally blew her mind. It’s good to hear that’s being sorted out.
So I just checked, and it seems like it jumped from about 0.8% of people to around 2% at the peak of all that bad advice. That’s a pretty big jump, so you can’t really say it was just a one-generation thing.
RE: Fact #14 (Nixon’s 1973 Commercial Flight) – I really admire him for what he did in that situation.
If you dig into Nixon’s history, you’ll find he did some pretty admirable things, like creating the EPA. Maybe those actions were too good for the powers that be, which is another whole rabbit hole to explore. It’s a really deep subject. I’ve probably said too much already.
Nixon is such an interesting character, full of contradictions. He really went from nothing to something, unlike JFK who came from wealth. Nixon worked hard for every dollar he made. He even turned down a Harvard scholarship to look after his sick mom. Back in college at Whittier, he felt like an outsider because he wasn’t from a wealthy background, so he started his own groups. He got a job offer from the FBI, but it fell through because of budget cuts before he could even start. He was also a gifted musician, playing piano and writing his own songs. He lived pretty modestly for most of his life and achieved some incredible things while in office, like creating the EPA, improving relations with China, and skillfully handling the oil crisis. He was open to listening to all sorts of people, from protesters at the Lincoln Memorial to regular folks on airplanes.
On the flip side, he was really obsessive, paranoid, and dealt with a major inferiority complex. He thought enemies were everywhere and wasn’t above spreading rumors about homosexuality, deviance, or financial problems to ruin opponents like Edmund Muskie. He authorized some seriously illegal actions and even people disappearing. He was in charge when the US was involved in terrible war crimes in Cambodia and quietly backed the genocide in Bangladesh.
Basically, Nixon embodies both the best and worst aspects of America. He started as a small, sickly, poor kid who, through sheer grit and brains, lifted himself up to become a war criminal.
RE: Fact #20 (2020 Trademark of Cool S) – Yeah, I’m wondering about that too. How did they even manage to get a trademark for that?
No idea why they were allowed to trademark it.
RE: Fact #15 (Duncan MacPherson Glacier Discovery) – He was engaged when he disappeared. I know someone whose friend was engaged to him. After he went missing and was thought to be dead, she moved on, which makes total sense. Then, 14 years later, she had to go back when his remains were found. Apparently, seeing his face again was really tough for her. It wasn’t just about getting closure; she was in her late 30s by then, and he still looked like he did when he was young and vibrant at 23. It’s like time just stopped for him.
RE: Fact #50 (Turtles All the Way Down) – So, in this wild fan story out there I read once about a giant space turtle called Great A’Tuin is swimming through space. On its back, there are four enormous elephants, and these elephants are carrying the whole Discworld on their shoulders. A tiny sun and moon go around them in a weird orbit to make seasons happen. It’s probably pretty unique in the universe, where an elephant might have to lift a leg so the sun can pass!
RE: Fact #22 (Contaminated Grave at Arlington) – There are two other graves that look just like this one. All three were lost in the same incident and all three require AEC permission to be disturbed. Specialist John A. Byrnes: buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Whitesboro, Oneida County, New York, USA and Navy Seabee Richard C. Legg buried in Kingston Cemetery, Kingston, Tuscola County, Michigan, USA
Having the name “Sea Leg” while in the Navy is pretty awesome! I hope he had a blast with that nickname and all his buddies while he was serving.
What’s even funnier is that he was a SeaBee, and that’s a job in the USN that’s known for NOT going out to sea. He was a total landlubber! In reality, he never served on a ship or went to sea that way. Before he was assigned to Nuclear Power Trainer in Idaho Falls, he was stationed with the Naval Construction Battalion and then the Naval Construction Training Center.
Jokes aside, I totally respect him.
RE: Fact #37 (Ancient Beer Contained Tetracycline) – That’s neat! The article mentioned that grain would get contaminated with strep bacteria, and then other bacteria would create an antibiotic to fight it off.
The article explains that Streptomyces bacteria are the ones that produce the tetracycline antibiotic. While it’s true that these bacteria make tetracycline to fight off other microbes, it’s not the *other* bacteria that are producing the antibiotic. That’s why the article focuses on Streptomyces – they’re the source of the antibiotic.
I had to go back and re-read that after your comment because I totally missed it! It’s just a *tiny* bit off though: the Streptomyces bacteria actually makes the antibiotic itself to fight off other bacteria.
Streptomyces is pretty neat! It’s a type of bacteria, but when you see it in a culture, it actually looks like mold, and people often think it is mold.
RE: Fact #18 (George Washington’s American Mule Project) – Mules can’t reproduce, so the process of creating them involves breeding horses and donkeys. They’re actually smarter than horses in a way – if you ask a mule to do something that seems like a bad idea, they’ll just say no. Most folks aren’t cut out to own a mule; you’ve gotta be both pretty smart and really practical.
RE: Fact #45 (1923 Quake Moved Sushi Indoors) – Hey, fun fact for ya: salmon and salmon roe sushi are pretty new, only really popping up in the 1980s. Most of it actually comes from Norway.
So, I think the deal is, Pacific salmon have parasites that Atlantic salmon don’t, or at least didn’t. It’s been a while since I came across that bit of info, though.
RE: Fact #7 (Genetic Night Owls Clash Schedules) – I recall a health class where we did a survey about whether we’re morning larks or night owls. It had 30 questions, and your score ranged from +30 (morning person) to -30 (night person). There were 10 people who scored over +25, and 20 people were between +5 and +20. I was the only person in the class with a negative score, landing at -28.
I remember discussing a survey like that back in college and it hit me that a close friend I had a crush on and I were completely incompatible long-term. She’d be at her most interesting and excited around 8 AM, while I was practically wishing I was dead. If any early birds and night owls here have managed to make a long-term relationship work, I’d love to hear your stories!
After almost 20 years of marriage, I’ve found that when your schedules don’t completely overlap with your partner’s, it can actually be really good for the relationship. Having “me time” is super important for introverts to recharge, but honestly, it’s great for anyone to maintain their own identity and interests. It can even make you appreciate your partner more.
It’s definitely possible to keep up solo time even if your schedules line up perfectly, but when it just happens naturally, it’s even simpler.
My wife really looks forward to her morning time now, and I count on my few hours in the evening to relax. We still have plenty of time together during the other roughly 12 hours of the day.
Obviously, this can go too far and it’s not the same for everyone, but it’s a fantastic way to avoid that codependent “us syndrome” that can really smother relationships over time.
RE: Fact #41 (1978 Chesterfield Canal Unplugged) – It’s like something from Looney Tunes, where there’s a giant bathtub plug stuck at the bottom of a big body of water.
These aren’t large at all, but because of the water pressure, anything bendy can get through. Canal locks are really dangerous.
Does this canal have locks? I didn’t see any mention of them in the article. It just says the drain was there so the canal could be drained in case of emergency.
It’s super dangerous no matter why it was built. The pressure difference is scary stuff.
You know that Lake Peigneur? It’s only about 10 feet deep on average, so keep that in mind for this story.
Basically, some oil company decided to drill in the lake, ’cause, well, it’s America and fu*k the planet, there’s money to be made. But they didn’t bother to check what was under the lake. So when they hit a certain spot, the drill got stuck, and the platform started to tilt. The day shift was just arriving, so the night shift was like, “Not our problem,” and they left.
As the day went on, the tilt got worse and worse. Eventually, the day shift bailed on the platform, unloaded their stuff, and got on a boat to head back. From the boat, they watched their 90-foot drill tower completely capsize and sink… in just 10 feet of water.
Turns out, they had drilled right into a salt mine under the lake.
The other version is that they drilled in the right spot, but the mine wasn’t marked correctly. Honestly, both stories are probably true since all the evidence got wiped out in the disaster.
RE: Fact #3 (Daughter From California Syndrome) – If there’s one thing to remember from this fact and the comments below it, it’s to get your power of attorney and medical directive forms sorted out. That’s super important if you have kids.
RE: Fact #46 (Eliza Dushku Drew Prison Fans) – Anyone else find it surprising that hardcore prisoners were into Buffy?
RE: Fact #1 (Willis Replaced by Harrison Ford) – It’s interesting because it’s easy to just think “greedy,” but it’s also possible they were thinking, “I really don’t want to do this, but if they’re going to pay me that much, I’d be a fool to turn it down.”
I think he was also dealing with that illness he’s got.
His family might have rather told the story that he turned down the offer instead of him being too unwell to do it.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It’s pretty common for people at that level to ask for crazy amounts of cash for projects they’re not actually interested in.
Snoop has said before that he charges hundreds of thousands for a feature, but will also do it for free or way cheaper if he’s into it. It’s basically a way to stop people from constantly bugging them to do stuff.
T-Pain mentioned in an interview that he wishes he’d known that. He did a ton of features back in the day, but he did them all for free.
RE: Fact #40 (Gateway Arch Legs Forced Apart) – We don’t seem to build enough cool stuff anymore. Billions are spent on things nobody sees or cares about. I want to see more arches, Space Needles, giant statues, or faces carved into mountains. Honestly, I’d even take a pyramid at this point.
I’d honestly just prefer to have healthcare.
RE: Fact #23 (WWII Army Orange Concentrate) – “Eat it!”
“No!”
“C’mon, eat it! You wanna be a big boy, don’t you!?”
“I don’t wanna, it’s yukky.”
When I was in Afghanistan, I was the only one taking the malaria pills because all the soldiers were just like you described.
RE: Fact #44 (Avocado Oil Highest Smoke Point) – We mainly use avocado oil for cooking.
I’m considering picking some up for myself now.
I remember seeing a really good post on facebook a while back about this. Turns out a lot of brands aren’t actually 100% avocado oil, which is pretty misleading. I recall Chosen Foods being one of the good ones that was actually pure avocado oil.
RE: Fact #17 (Shorter Men Lived Longer) – Taller people have more cells, which could mean more chances of getting cancer.
It’s wild how this happens with us, but it’s pretty cool that it doesn’t happen with other animals.
Elephants have 20 copies of the p53 antitumor gene, while humans only have one. If our single copy gets damaged, it’s a big problem.
RE: Fact #20 (2020 Trademark of Cool S) – “Protecting it by trademarking it ourselves, so nobody else can abuse it and sue people,” That’s a bit like being a vigilante.
So, another well-known story is about the Linux trademark. The guy who created it actually didn’t bother trademarking his name at first. But then, something happened, and that’s pretty much how the Linux Foundation got started, all to protect his name.
That’s a nice thought and all, but it seems pretty wild to me that this can even be trademarked in the first place. Feels a bit like corporate overreach.
It’s understandable that a trademark for something as common as the cool S would be hard to enforce because it’s so widespread and generic. Trademark law has a rule for when a word or symbol becomes so common that people just see it as the general term for something. In those cases, the trademark usually can’t be enforced anymore.
Think about Kleenex in North America. It’s a brand name, but it got so popular that its trademark was basically canceled because it became the everyday word for tissues, not just the brand.
The whole point of trademarks is corporate colonialism.
RE: Fact #25 (Keiko’s Failed Wild Release) – Most captive whales aren’t really ready to be let go into the ocean. The ones who *might* have a chance are usually ones who were caught from the wild more recently and haven’t been in captivity for too long. Even then, they still need a lot of training before they can be released. Keiko wasn’t one of those, especially since he’d been in captivity for so many years.
Even though Keiko, an adult male orca from Iceland, managed to live for a good while in the wild, humans had to teach him how to survive there. This whole process was a huge undertaking and took years. He never really fit in with a wild whale group and still looked for human company in the end.
Yeah, orcas are tricky ’cause they usually hang out in family groups. It makes you wonder if a freed orca can actually join up with just any random pod out there. Anyway, I still think he ended up better off. He kept getting human care, but also got to live out in the ocean.
RE: Fact #46 (Eliza Dushku Drew Prison Fans) -” I’ve been getting fan mail from maximum security prisons and death row. What are the authorities thinking, putting on a show with young teenage girls for death row inmates? They write all sorts of disgusting things, truly awful stuff. And they send pictures, like “Here’s me before prison!” – and it’s some guy on a couch with a beer, a mustache, and a big belly. It’s incredibly creepy, way creepier than Buffy.”
Buffy was a really great show, and tons of people watched it, not just teenaged girls.
Honestly, she has a really good point there. Prisons do keep an eye on outgoing mail, so they should have been aware of what was going on.
RE: Fact #4 (Russian Millionaire Audience Sabotage) – This reminds me of that Slavic joke: A genie tells a peasant that whatever he wishes for, his neighbor gets double. The peasant asks, “So if I get a wife, my neighbor gets two?” The genie confirms. “If I get a horse, my neighbor gets two horses?” The genie agrees again. The peasant then says, “Okay. Then cut out one of my eyes.”
RE: Fact #7 (Genetic Night Owls Clash Schedules) – I used to work day shifts and was dealing with exhaustion, high blood pressure, high sugar, being overweight, and IBS. After switching to the 3rd shift, all of those issues got better. I’m down to one blood pressure medication from three, and my digestive system is almost back to normal. Plus, I get a 20% bonus for working 3rd shift! I don’t really have a social life anymore, but I’m happy with my life.
Man, I wish I could work nights. I feel like I’ve gotten stuck in this corporate grind, and even though my job could totally be done anytime, they expect me to be there at 8:30 am. It’s a bummer because instead of me being at my best from, say, 10 am to 7 pm, I’m only performing at like 50-75% from 8:30 am to 5 pm. I’ve noticed myself getting more distracted and less focused. It’s just a temporary gig though, so oh well.
I work from home from 10 AM to 6 PM. I literally roll out of bed at 9:50 AM and start working 10 minutes later. My brain doesn’t really wake up until around 11 AM. This is the first job where I don’t feel permanently jet-lagged, always needing to nap, and constantly exhausted. I’m much more productive, and the company isn’t wasting money paying me for hours when I’m not actually able to work.
I work in software development. During remote work in COVID, I’d usually get a few hours of work done during the day, but I did most of my stuff after 9 PM. I was happy then. Now that I’m back in the office, fu*k the elite.
Been on the 8-5 schedule for 10 years after working nights for ages. Took me a whole year to adjust my sleep, but I still feel like I’m running on half power in the mornings. It doesn’t matter if I get 8 hours of sleep or just 4.
Then, come nighttime around 10, I’m suddenly full of energy, even if I only got a few hours of sleep the night before. It’s so frustrating because everything is set up for morning people. I seriously wish I could just wake up at 7am and feel good. It really sucks feeling crummy for the first few hours of the day, every single day.
I’ve been working night shifts for almost 14 years now, out here in the Pacific Northwest. From about mid-October through March, I can basically live in complete darkness all day with blackout curtains. And during the Covid years, my commute was super easy because there was hardly any traffic.
My only complaint is that those same years kind of killed off most 24-hour stores, except for places like 7-11. I really miss being able to do my grocery shopping at 3 AM – that was the best.
man i really miss being able to pop over to wal mart at 2 in the morning.
You know, this might sound a bit odd, but check out online tabletop RPGs, like on Roll20. I went through a rough patch with some serious social depression when I was working nights. It got so bad that even dark thoughts started to seem… doable. That really freaked me out, so I started scrambling to find ways to connect with people. I tried gaming on Xbox, like doing raids in Destiny, but that just meant a never-ending stream of random people, not necessarily folks I’d click with. Then I discovered tabletop RPGs, like D&D, and wow, I’m so glad I did. Finding a group of people who mesh well and actually enjoy playing together is amazing. Plus, sessions can go on for a good couple of hours. Seriously, feeling isolated can really mess with your mental health, and having some cool people to chat with can make a huge difference.
RE: Fact #21 (CIA Vault 7 Tools Exposed) – So, yeah, you’ve gotta physically put the hack on the TV first, but this really shows why folks are hesitant about having mics or cameras in their televisions.
RE: Fact #32 (Alchemist James Price Drank Poison) – It sounds like this person felt stuck in a situation with no way out, and sadly, ended up thinking suicide was the only option.
Also, back in 19th century UK, there were a couple of women who claimed they could live without eating, and they used sneaky ways to get food without anyone noticing. When doctors questioned their claims and wanted to examine them at a hospital, at least two of them chose to starve to death rather than admit they were faking it.
There was a movie called “The Wonder” that was about this.
There was this woman back in the late 90s or early 2000s who said she was a “breatharian.” A documentary crew put cameras all over her place, and she nearly died because she couldn’t eat without being filmed.
I met a breatharian! She was this retired lady I met at a hostel in Brazil who was cycling around the world. At first, she seemed pretty normal, really free-spirited but down-to-earth. But the more we chatted, the stranger things got. She was telling me about this super tough cycling trip she’d done across multiple continents, yet she claimed the last thing she’d eaten was just a small omelette in Thailand. She explained that as a breatharian, she didn’t really need to eat. That omelette was apparently a slip-up. I did ask her about this thick, brown, sludgy liquid she was slurping through a straw from a huge jar the whole time we were talking. She cheerfully replied, “Oh, that’s Nesquik.” The way she saw it, that wasn’t eating, and not even really drinking. It was just a sipping habit that made her feel good, maybe from when she was a kid. So, this lady was basically living on Nesquik, mixed way thicker than usual to make a kind of liquid paste. She kept telling herself it was just a minor, regrettable bad habit, like chewing gum in public.
So, the leader of the Breatherians got caught eating, and then he just declared that certain foods are actually made of light, making them okay to eat. The specific items? McDonald’s quarter-pounders with cheese and McDonald’s diet Coke. Anything else, like quarter-pounders without cheese or other Coke drinks, is apparently radioactive. It’s all in a direct interview where he explains that only those specific items aren’t radioactive. He clarifies he didn’t say all McDonald’s food, just that particular sandwich and drink. He claims he still lives on air and light, but has to stay “visible” and interact with the energy of others to help them.
RE: Fact #11 (1986 Brain Self-Stimulation Case) – It’s a wild thought, but imagine if you could just bypass all the chemicals and go straight to the source for a 100% pure, always-available high. What could possibly go wrong, right?
From what I recall, they did a similar experiment with rats, and a bunch of them passed away because they stopped eating and such. They’d rather self-stimulate than take care of themselves.
So, if the rat’s orgasming 100% of the time, that means there’s no time left for eating, right?
They did a bunch of mouse experiments with morphine drips. One they didn’t talk about was the one where the mice had buddies. When they were alone in their cages, they’d just chug the morphine water until they overdosed. But when they were put in an environment with water, morphine, food, and other mice, they only used the morphine sometimes, less than 90% as much.
I recall learning about a study like this back in college for mammalian physiology. They had three groups of rats. One group was the control – pushing a button did nothing. Another group experienced something unpleasant when they pushed it. The third group got a pleasure sensation in their brain when they pushed the button.
The control group would push the button now and then, maybe out of curiosity or by accident.
The second group learned pretty quickly that pushing the button led to that bad outcome, so they rarely did it.
The third group, though, pushed the button non-stop, sometimes even choosing it over food.
It’s been about 25 years, but I definitely remember that story. My memory of the specifics might be a bit off, but the main idea is pretty solid.
RE: Fact #27 (Venice Mocked Marco Millions) – Yeah, China! Their huge land and massive population mean they’ve got tons of people to work for cheap. What’s their plan? Use their natural resources to take over markets? Become an economic superpower? Challenge the West with their blend of aggressive capitalism and communism? Riiiiiiiight. Get out of here, Marco.
RE: Fact #16 (Down Syndrome Lifespan Tripled) – Saw a guy who looked like he was around 70 with Down Syndrome at the grocery store the other day. It was kind of a surprise because I’d never seen someone older and graying with Down Syndrome before. He seemed to have a couple of family members with him, which was pretty nice to see.
Yeah, it’s not super common to see kids with Down syndrome these days. I guess most folks choose to end the pregnancy if they find out about it.
Yeah, but some people are totally against any abortion, and then there are those few cases where it’s only found out after the baby’s born. That can happen if the mom doesn’t get regular pregnancy checkups or if it wasn’t caught on the early screenings.
The protein linked to Alzheimer’s is on the same chromosome that people with Down Syndrome have an extra copy of. This is why many with Down Syndrome develop an early, fatal form of Alzheimer’s, and almost all of them get it by age 60. On top of other health issues, this is a big reason why we don’t see many elderly people with Down Syndrome.
I was thinking about a day when genetics could get to a level where we could fix some of these genetic quirks. In my country alone, we spend about 20-40 billion a year on disability support for kids. I wish I could have been born without some of my own genetic quirks.
Yeah, my second cousin had Down syndrome and lived to 63. Dementia really took a toll on her at the end, and she also had epilepsy. She passed away the day before her mom. She was always so cheerful and gentle with everyone, even when she wasn’t feeling well. Down syndrome can bring a lot of health problems that aren’t obvious from the start.
RE: Fact #28 (Condom Found in Patient’s Lung) – Seriously, how do you inhale a condom and not end up in the ER right away? That has to hurt like crazy!
Maybe she forgot because she was drunk.
Or maybe they were just really drunk or high and didn’t even notice.
She might have been trying to put it on with her mouth and ended up breathing it in. She was likely so drunk that she didn’t even realize it happened.
RE: Fact #22 (Contaminated Grave at Arlington) – I bet McKinley’s grave doesn’t get visited much. It’s pretty heavily protected, with a double lead-lined casket, encased in concrete, inside a metal vault, buried 10 feet deep.
Yeah, none of the ones at Arlington get bothered much.
RE: Fact #9 (Plasma Donations Lower PFAS) – Maybe pass them on to someone else.
RE: Fact #6 (Barcode Adoption Took 40 Years) – So there’s this thing in Germany called the Hildegard Orgonakkumulator that’s become a bit of a meme lately. It’s super expensive, like €1.5k, and the idea is that it “neutralizes” barcodes on stuff. Funny enough, there are some older companies that make products with barcodes that have an extra horizontal line through them. They say this is to stop “Orgon accumulation.” Turns out, one of these companies actually admitted they added that stripe because a customer asked for it, and they’ve kept it around just because they’d lose sales otherwise.
RE: Fact #42 (2011 Rapture Money Kept) – Whoa, according to the source people actually ended up giving over $100 million to this thing. Am I getting that right?
RE: Fact #34 (Swiss Citizenship Denied Over Raclette) – I’m a naturalized Swiss citizen, and they didn’t ask me anything about cheese.
RE: Fact #39 (Faqing’s Murderous Buddhist Rebellion) – This would be awesome for a Call of Cthulhu campaign with an eastern theme.
I bet this guy was secretly using his Buddhist group as a front to summon some kind of cosmic monster.
RE: Fact #33 (C. V. Raman Sailed Early) – Just to let you know how useful Raman Effect is, it lets scientists shine a laser on a chemical reaction and figure out what chemicals are in it by looking at their structure and how the molecules’ energy is spread out.
It doesn’t mess up the stuff you’re looking at, so you can use it on valuable things. Plus, you can do these measurements on the fly and you don’t have to keep things at room temperature and pressure. If you can shine a light into or through something with the laser, you can measure stuff that’s under the kind of pressure and heat you find deep inside the Earth, where a lot of materials are in forms that aren’t stable when things are normal.
So, not only was it a real struggle to figure out, it’s also super useful. It’s totally Nobel Prize material.
RE: Fact #35 (Himakajima Annual Green Light) – A few years back, I helped get an afterschool homework program going in my neighborhood. I noticed kids were literally scrambling to get to our building from cars, buses, and even biking or running across streets. So, I got an interpreter to help me write a letter to all the parents in their own languages, plus English. I specifically asked for permission to walk their kids in small groups of three to a nearby intersection. This spot has a traffic light with a green arrow, and signaled crosswalks. On the way to our building, there’s another intersection without a light, but it has painted crosswalks, ramps for sidewalk access, stop signs, yield signs, and a pedestrian crosswalk right in the middle of the block leading to the park. All the parents were cool with letting their kids join the program.
We tutors made sure every single kid in the program learned how to cross streets safely before they “graduated.” We even had a test on parents’ day. When we asked the kids to show us “what to do to cross the street if you are at/see_________,” they all aced it, getting 100%.
But the parents? I think about 75% of them either “died” or “got hurt pretty bad” when asked the same questions. We all celebrated with ice cream, and we gave them a strong reminder: “NEVER, EVER let Miss A, B, or C catch you running across the street, crossing when the light is red, or trying to race a car or truck!”
It’s a bit concerning that a lot of adults who aren’t good with basic street safety are raising kids. But it’s awesome that you stepped in and taught them. Hope they remember it and teach their own kids too.
Street culture really changes a lot from place to place. I’d break it down into two main ideas:
1) Is the street mainly for getting from A to B with rules to do it fast, or is it a place for people to hang out and figure things out as they go?
2) Should the responsibility be on the people who could cause the most harm to be careful, or on those most likely to get hurt to protect themselves?
Where you land on one or both of these makes a big difference in how people act.
RE: Fact #33 (C. V. Raman Sailed Early) – I’ve used Raman spectroscopy, which is based on the principles he discovered, lots of times!
Usually, when light hits something, the light that bounces off has the same wavelength. This is because electrons absorb the light, get bumped up to a higher energy state, and then fall back down, giving off light with the same energy. It’s like a direct bounce, no energy lost or gained.
But Raman found out that electrons can actually go into temporary “meta-stable” states, especially when atoms are chemically bonded. So, electrons can move between the normal state, an excited state, and these meta-stable states, and when they come back down, they release light with *different* wavelengths. This is called inelastic scattering. The meta-stable states are tied to the types of chemical bonds and how the atoms vibrate in those bonds. So, by looking at the wavelengths of the light that bounces back, we can see peaks that tell us what kinds of bonds are there, giving us info about the sample’s purity or if the bonds are under stress. It’s super handy and usually pretty fast and simple!
RE: Fact #4 (Russian Millionaire Audience Sabotage) – This joke is pretty funny. It’s about a guy touring hell and seeing different cauldrons for different groups of souls. The joke is that the Russian souls are all trying to pull each other back in when one tries to escape, so they don’t need any demons guarding them.
RE: Fact #11 (1986 Brain Self-Stimulation Case) – I remember that! There was a Star Trek episode that had something similar. I think they used it as a weapon in that one.
RE: Fact #39 (Faqing’s Murderous Buddhist Rebellion) – He also used illegal drugs that caused users to go crazy, to the point where family members wouldn’t recognize each other and would end up killing and maiming each other.
Back then, he had over 50,000 followers. These followers went on to kill the magistrate Fucheng, trash the Bohai district, and murder officials.
Seriously, what were they taking back in the 6th century?
This is likely something from the Datura genus. Those plants have compounds like scopolamine that can cause derealization and psychosis.
RE: Fact #30 (Ann Cooper Hewitt Sterilized) – So I checked out the mom, and I’m glad she didn’t just get to peace out. Even though Ann settled the lawsuit, her mom was already spending more than she had. Eventually, she got so broke that her landlord took her to court for rent, and she ended up having to move into a tiny room where she passed away. All of this went down just 3 years after the surgery.
I guess the good thing about this whole thing is that even if the law doesn’t always deliver justice, karma usually does.
Karma doesn’t really exist. Lots of great people have a tough time, while a lot of terrible people have it easy.
So, I’m curious what happened to the money after the lawsuit. The original $14 million was supposed to be split with Ann getting two-thirds and Marion one-third. The deal was that if Ann didn’t have kids, her whole share would go back to Marion.
Marion apparently blew through her third having a good time. But I’m wondering if Ann had to hand over her remaining money to Marion. I haven’t found any info on Ann after the lawsuit, other than she got married about 5 or 6 times and passed away at 40.
It’s wild how both Maryon and Ann ended up in such rough financial shape. Maryon’s will left everything to her son, with Ann getting things like furs and gold-fitted dressing bags – the papers even called it “Sterile Daughter Gets Knick-Knacks.” Turns out, those “knick-knacks” were worth more than her brother’s share. By the time Maryon died, she had barely a few thousand dollars left but owed over seven hundred thousand. The government was after her for back taxes, and businesses even took her jewels to cover debts. The newspapers had a field day, with headlines like “Gold-Digger Dies Penniless.”
And Ann’s situation wasn’t much better. She left her remaining half a million dollars to her husband and only a dollar to her half-brother. Her husband, Frank, went to Texas to invest her money in oil. He briefly saw his ex-wife, daughter, and grandkids before dying of cancer himself. He didn’t keep his promise to be buried with Ann either. So, Ann, who was supposedly terrified of being alone, ended up completely abandoned in the end.
If you look at other articles about this, it mentions the will was set up so the mother would only inherit the dad’s share if Ann died without kids. Since the mother passed away first, that part of the will apparently never needed to be used. I’m just wondering if the mother was actually planning to harm her own daughter, or if she was just being clueless and desperate.
So, the will said Ann’s share would go back to Marion if Ann didn’t have any kids. But since Ann lived longer than her mom, it never really came up.
Ann did tell the press that her mom had issues with gambling and alcohol. She got a third of her late husband’s estate, but I bet she’d already spent it all by 1935.
RE: Fact #43 (Kilauea Lava Cricket Pioneer) – I’m not so sure about the “seen nowhere else” part. I actually find them in my garage, and we’re only about 1200 feet from a lava flow from the 1950s.
RE: Fact #21 (CIA Vault 7 Tools Exposed) – Yeah, I think the Patriot Act after 9/11 started allowing the government to spy on regular folks. Feels like this has been going on for ages and most people were aware.
And Snowden totally opened our eyes to what they were really up to.
Yeah, it did. Facebook basically showed them they were amateurs around 2007.
Giving away your data to a private company on purpose isn’t quite the same as the government secretly watching you.
RE: Fact #14 (Nixon’s 1973 Commercial Flight) – That pilot must have been really scared.
Back in the 70s, the pilot was way more drunk than Nixon ever was.
RE: Fact #12 (Aspen VIP Forced Fatal Landing) – Eighteen people died because a rich businessman wanted his Aspen dinner party to go on.
Some super-rich folks with psychopathic tendencies totally have this “main character” vibe and genuinely think the universe is looking out for them, shielding them from death. It’s a bit like that Stockton Rush guy. They’ve had such a smooth ride that they don’t credit luck for any of it. They must feel chosen by the universe or something similar.
My dad was like that too. He chewed out a bus driver who wouldn’t cross a bridge, saying the bus was obviously too heavy. My dad went on and on for about 10 to 15 minutes, but thankfully the driver didn’t give in. Seeing how some wealthy people act, this isn’t surprising at all. Some of them really think the laws of physics don’t apply to them.
It’s tough not to feel that way. When things keep going your way, it’s natural to expect that streak to continue. It’s a bit like how people who’ve been through trauma might expect bad things to keep happening – it’s just part of the human experience, really.
Hot take, this is the pilot’s fault. Same story with Kobe’s death. “Get-there-itis” is a super well-known thing among private pilots and charter passengers. As the pilot in command, you’re totally responsible for the flight’s safety, no one else on board is.
Yeah, the rich guy was a d*ckhead for pressuring them. But their job is to not give in to that pressure, whether it’s subtle unspoken urgency or aggression. You never risk the safety of the flight, doesn’t matter if you fear for your job.
As a fishing captain, it’s pretty funny how many rich folks have tried to tell me how to run my boat. I do what’s safe and productive, and I’ve been doing this for over ten years, so I know what I’m doing. I also won’t be bullied or pushed around. It’s my boat and my life, and I’m in charge. Some people are just clueless; I’ve had to get tough twice to stop them from crossing the line.
Seriously, who would actually do something on a boat in the middle of the ocean? The thought alone should be enough to stop anyone.
Yeah, so when I was a coxswain in the USCG, we were told that, as the coxswain, you actually have the power to tell the President, who’s the Commander in Chief, to sit down and be quiet if he’s on your boat. You just gotta be prepared for the aftermath when you get back.
This isn’t about some rich jerk, but someone trying to throw their “weight” around. When I was a baggage handler, a police pilot walked right up to an Air Canada flight to tell our fueller to service them next, completely ignoring how the actual call system works. I stopped him because Air Canada is screened through security, but the police weren’t. If he’d gotten any closer, they would’ve had to screen the whole flight again. He was trying to pull rank as a cop, like that mattered here. He pointed to the badge patch on his shoulder and asked, “Do you know what this is?” I deadpanned, “A patch sewn into your shirt?” That made him mad enough to grab his taser. People really need to wake up and see what’s going on.
RE: Fact #2 (Fred Durst Pays Trent Royalties) – Seriously, what gave Limp Bizkit the right to write a diss track about anyone, and especially about Reznor?
RE: Fact #36 (Egyptian Sed Festival Fitness Test) – Imagine a Presidential Fitness Test, kind of like the one they used to have for kids, but for presidents!
Imagine presidents and their cabinet members having to take a quiz on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” to highlight the modern TV-like drama in politics. I’d totally watch that!
I’d honestly pay to see that happen right now.
RE: Fact #17 (Shorter Men Lived Longer) – Getting to be 6’5″ might be more fun for the first 40 years, but honestly, being 5’6″ makes the next 40 way easier.
Haha, plot twist! I’m only 5’6″ and I’ve been dealing with serious back and neck pain since I was 15.
RE: Fact #49 (2029 Asian Winter Games Neom) – Sounds like they’re running a bit behind, and the games are gonna be in South Korea.
Sounds like they’re trying to quietly ditch the project. By 2025, new contracts for Neom completely stopped, and Neom wasn’t even mentioned in Saudi Arabia’s pre-budget statement for 2026.
Yeah, my stepdad’s been working on Neom for a few years, and it’s true that the work is winding down. It’s definitely not going to be that huge 500km city in the desert they originally talked about.
RE: Fact #17 (Shorter Men Lived Longer) – Yeah, I’m no biologist either, but I imagine being bigger probably makes your joints and organs have to work a lot harder. Plus, you see that larger dog breeds tend to have shorter lifespans, right?
I’m getting older and I’m 6’5″. It’s really hitting me hard.
Being a short guy, I’m playing the long game. The tall guys are doing great right now, but when their knees start giving out, I’ll be the one charming those older ladies. No disrespect intended, of course.
My dad passed away last year. He was 80 and 204cm tall. All I can say is, fu*k hospital beds.
Hey man, I’m 6’1″ and 220 lbs, and my back and knees definitely ache too, haha.
Yeah, I thought of dogs too. I had a couple dachshunds for nearly 20 years, but larger breeds usually don’t live much past their early teens.
I used to work somewhere ages ago that had this pug, man, it felt immortal. That poor little guy was practically falling apart for years, but he was 25 and still hanging in there, just barely.
It’s mostly the heart. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood where it needs to go. It’s a bummer, but you often see really tall basketball players not making it much past 70, and it’s usually heart or cardiovascular problems that do them in.
RE: Fact #3 (Daughter From California Syndrome) – This kind of thing happens all the time! I’ve been dealing with something similar today. Lots of family members who don’t bother checking in on grandma, but then they’re bugging me with all sorts of crazy demands about her care. It’s wild because you might almost get it if they lived far away, but it’s usually someone from just the next town over. It happens most around the holidays when they finally notice their relative has declined after ignoring them all year, and then they want immediate nursing home placement. I always think, why don’t you take them home, help them out, and then call around to nursing homes on Monday? But nope, too much work, too busy… whatever. They care just enough to make it someone else’s problem. Then you have the ones who want to keep their relatives alive at all costs, because while the relative is in a nursing home, the kids are basically living in their houses for free.
I’d never heard that term before, but it totally fits my aunt. And she wasn’t even that far away, just a 2.5-hour drive! My dad’s wish was to not be kept alive if it meant just wasting away in a hospital with no hope of getting better. My aunt never visited him, but she definitely thought she knew better than my mom and me.
It took about four months from my dad’s cancer diagnosis until he passed. My aunt, who’s a nurse, and her husband, who works in the ER, were planning to drive my dad to MD Anderson to find some miracle cure for his blood cancer. They ended up calling me a murderer and a greedy b*tch who only cared about his money because I said there was absolutely no way he was driving 12+ hours. He passed away at home a few days after they were supposed to take him. He was with his wife, daughter, and dog, and he went peacefully without any of the drama his sister would have caused.
I’m so over families who come in and force prolonging and unnecessary suffering on someone who’s dying.
RE: Fact #9 (Plasma Donations Lower PFAS) – Hey, that’s neat! I have a condition called haemochromatosis, so my body just keeps soaking up iron. The treatment is to give about a pint of blood every six weeks. It doesn’t usually get donated because it’s so iron-rich, so it mostly just gets tossed. So, it’s pretty cool that even though my blood is basically like, “evil robot blood” trying to kill me, it’s probably not the most eco-friendly kind of blood.
How did you find out you had that condition?
I was always super tired, so they tested me for anemia, but it turns out I’m the opposite.
Just to chime in here, it’s something that can be passed down in families. So, if a parent has it and you start noticing symptoms, they’ll typically get it checked out. My father-in-law passed away in his 40s from a heart attack, and it was likely due to hemochromatosis. I really don’t want that to happen to my husband.
When you donate blood, depending on where you are, some of it might be used for research. At the place where I donated, there was a question on the form asking if I was okay with them using my blood for research.
RE: Fact #24 (Korean War Deaths Recounted) – Yeah, I get being a little off, like a few percent. But 18,000? How does that even happen?
Someone working at the Pentagon, far from the action, was adding up the numbers of US military deaths from the Korean War. They combined the 20,617 deaths that weren’t from combat with the over 33,000 who died in action. Out of those non-combat deaths, 3,275 were in Korea itself, leading to a new total of 36,940.
Basically, they included all US military deaths during the Korean War, even those who died from things like training accidents in Germany, heart attacks, or in Pearl Harbor.
Hold up, how did 20,000 servicemen die of natural causes? That sounds like a huge number.
RE: Fact #12 (Aspen VIP Forced Fatal Landing) – So, the person scheduling flights for Avjet apparently said that the pilot thought it was a big deal to land in Aspen because the customer who booked the charter spent a lot of cash on a dinner party. Sounds like typical rich jerk behavior.
RE: Fact #23 (WWII Army Orange Concentrate) – Yeah, those lemon crystals without added sugar are super tart and not really pleasant to eat.
I’m pretty sure Steve1989 has a video where he drinks those lemon crystals. He’s reviewed a lot of WWII rations. Honestly, most of it doesn’t seem edible though.
RE: Fact #19 (Nobel Prizes Run on Interest) – That’s how all foundations operate.
Today the ‘writer’ learned that wealth builds up over time.
Yeah, it’s called an endowment. That’s when you have an investment big enough that just the earnings from it are enough to pay for what you need.
Some foundations are set up to spend all their money, and I think the Gates Foundation plans to be done by 2045.
It’s strange because I remember them setting it up with a portfolio that should have lasted forever. I think they went with a 60/40 stock-to-bond mix and took out about 5% annually, which most simulations suggest should keep going indefinitely. Makes me wonder if they decided to spend more aggressively because things are so messed up right now.
RE: Fact #7 (Genetic Night Owls Clash Schedules) – I’m most alert around 10 PM, but I usually conk out by 10:45 PM. Then I have to get up at 5 AM.
Yeah, my daughter and I have the same problem – we both stay up way too late. We’re always wishing we could get to bed earlier since we’re not getting enough sleep, but then when it’s actually bedtime, we’re suddenly wide awake and super productive! It’s a total vicious cycle. If school started around noon instead of 7:30 AM, we’d be so happy.
RE: Fact #6 (Barcode Adoption Took 40 Years) – My mother-in-law said it was the mark of the beast.
My friend’s grandma writes an infinity sign on the barcode of food she gives them. She says it’s to make the food safe and keep “evil frequencies” out of their apartment kitchen.
In Taiwan, older folks are scared of microwaves, and some people in Korea believe sleeping in a room with a running fan will kill them. Basically, everyone’s a bit clueless.
At some point, we’re gonna have to deal with all the rampant stupidity out there. I’m not trying to be an edgy teen or anything, but folks like this are just a real pain.
I used to work for a company that delivered organic food right to people’s homes. One day, an older woman called because she got a package of our sausages, and she was absolutely losing it. The reason? The packet had a barcode on it, and she definitely didn’t want anything with a barcode in her house. She said she’d even called ahead to ask if the sausages were barcoded, and someone told her they weren’t. She demanded we pick them up right away and give her a refund. She was seriously having a panic attack over it all.
I talked to my supervisor about it, but they said that wasn’t a good enough reason for a refund. So, I had to tell the old lady, and she just screamed and hung up.
Hobby Lobby still doesn’t use them for that reason.
RE: Fact #36 (Egyptian Sed Festival Fitness Test) – Wow, Ramses II must have lived a super long life! Celebrating so many Sed festivals is wild, way more than any other pharaoh. And living to 90 or 91? That’s amazing. It must have been incredible to see all that.
Yep, after the first 30 years, the Heb-Sed festival happened every few years after that.
That would have been awesome, I would have loved to see Queen Elizabeth tackling a ceremonial obstacle course.
RE: Fact #8 (Nebraska Safe Haven Teen Dropoffs) – I grew up in foster care and knew one of the moms who made headlines for driving her teen to another state and leaving them, all because of this law. It didn’t shock me at all, but it did make me really sad that her life was still so tough, just like it was for all of us kids. It’s definitely not the answer, but it shows how much some people need skills and resources they just can’t get.
It’s heartbreaking when we let our kids down. While I know there are no easy answers and money isn’t a magic fix, sometimes just a little help can go a long way. I’m saying this as someone raising my grandchild.
Things like love, attention, understanding, and patience really make a difference, and it feels like we don’t see them much anymore. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Having money is pretty much the only way to cover your basic needs, so it solves most of the problems we deal with. When you have a safe place to live and enough to eat, everything else becomes a lot easier to handle.
RE: Fact #38 (Alexander’s Name Adopted by Jews) – Sander and Alex are still really popular Jewish names.
Lots of folks might already know Zander because it’s pretty popular too.
Wondering if Adam Sandler’s last name has its origins here.
Sounds like you’re thinking Sanders, like Bernie.
RE: Fact #49 (2029 Asian Winter Games Neom) – Considering how things are right now, I don’t think I’ll be going there anytime soon.
So, I was at a Jimmy Carr show recently, and someone asked him about his gig in Saudi Arabia. He just said, “Lucrative,” and then went into that standard line about how “laughing is progress” that a lot of comedians seem to be using lately.
RE: Fact #33 (C. V. Raman Sailed Early) – His nephew, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, also won a Nobel Prize in physics back in 1983. He’s also got the Chandrasekhar limit and the Chandra X-ray observatory named after him, plus a bunch of other stuff.
Being a regular kid in that family sounds like it would have been pretty rough. Imagine the pressure: “Your uncle and cousin both have Nobel Prizes, why don’t you? And no, you’re not majoring in liberal arts.” It’s like they’d say, “We’ll keep hitting you until more Nobel winners show up in the family.”
Everyone in the family is super accomplished, with some being scientists and others musicians.
RE: Fact #15 (Duncan MacPherson Glacier Discovery) – The CBC’s “Fifth Estate” did a really great short doc back in 2006. It showed his parents visiting the place where Duncan died, and believe it or not, they found stuff the recovery team missed. Super sad.
Like old clothes or bits of hiking gear, or remnants of someone saying “he always had your ears, sweetie.”
After watching the whole thing, here’s a quick rundown:
For 14 years, parents searched for their son on a famous ski glacier, and nobody else was helping them. His body was finally found when the ice melted during a heatwave, right in the middle of a major ski trail.
The police were super negligent, so the ski resort had their own team handle the body’s retrieval. Later, when the parents went back to the spot where he was found, they discovered more of his remains and clothing. That’s also when they learned the cops had made regular staff clean up the scene.
A really sad detail the parents shared at the end is that they’ll never return to the resort. It’s not just because their son is buried there, but because seeing everyone else having fun, walking, and laughing where he died makes it feel like people are dancing on his grave. That really got to me.
The article mentioned the snowcat theory was based on “significant trauma including amputation of arms, hands and legs.” Because of that, I’m leaning towards the latter and feel terrible for his family.
He broke his leg skiing and bled out. Then, overnight, the ice resurfacing machine covered him up and smoothed it all out. Somehow, his body ended up in a crack and stayed hidden.
I remember seeing a MrBallen video about this ages ago, it was pretty intense.
Yeah, re-watching it, I was pretty close – he did die at a ski resort, and the machine was involved in his death. It wasn’t a Zamboni, but similar. Anyway, super gruesome stuff.
Yep, it totally reminded me of MrBallen too!
So, the main idea is that a snowcat driver who wasn’t paying attention hit him when he couldn’t get out of the way. The driver, probably scared of what would happen, then used the snowcat to bury the body deep in the snow, thinking it would never be found. That is, until the planet warmed up enough over a long time for the snow to melt.
RE: Fact #44 (Avocado Oil Highest Smoke Point) – So, I was reading up on how to deep-fry a turkey for Thanksgiving and learned that avocado oil is way too pricey for that. But, refined sunflower oil is a pretty good substitute, with a smoke point of 252–254 °C.
On a side note, some really heavy-duty Polydimethylsiloxane stuff can handle over 315 degrees Celsius, even more than avocado oil. It’s supposed to be tasteless, odorless, and clear, but you probably don’t want to cook your steak on what’s basically an industrial coolant.
What did surprise me, though, is that PDMS is actually used as a food additive in many fast-food cooking oils to stop them from foaming. It turns out it’s in tiny amounts in things like chicken nuggets.
RE: Fact #2 (Fred Durst Pays Trent Royalties) – Reznor is still cashing in on that big hot dog money.
It makes me wonder if there’s a specific day he eats a hot dog and thinks, “This is it. This is the Limp Bizkit money. ‘Ol Trent is eating on Freddy’s dime, yum yum yum.”
RE: Fact #10 (Peanut Avoidance Policy Backfired) – The new parents I know are introducing common food allergens one by one according to a schedule.
Doctors actually suggest introducing common allergens when babies first start eating solid foods. My little girl had peanut butter when she was 6 months old.
RE: Fact #25 (Keiko’s Failed Wild Release) – Releasing animals that have been kept in captivity often seems like it’s more about making people feel good than actually doing what’s best for the animals.
RE: Fact #49 (2029 Asian Winter Games Neom) – Yeah, I get it. When I think winter sports, Saudi Arabia totally comes to mind too.
They’re going to build Neom much colder, it just hasn’t happened yet.
RE: Fact #48 (German POW Kayak Escape Fails) – Four days later, on January 27, 1945, Wattenberg cleaned himself up and walked into Phoenix. He had 75 cents, most of which he used for a meal at a restaurant. He then took a short nap in a hotel lobby chair before walking the streets at night. While he was out, he asked a street cleaner for directions. The cleaner thought Wattenberg’s accent was a bit odd, so he called the police, and Wattenberg was arrested by 9 AM the following morning.
It sounds like those German guys were pretty lucky to be POWs in the USA, considering how bad it could have been in Europe, or even worse, in Russia.
Some German POWs actually had a pretty good time in the camps, and after the war, they even went back to live in the same areas. Early in the war, towns near the POW camps would have picnics and festivals and bring treats for the prisoners. Part of the reason for this was that they wanted Germany to hear how well the POWs were being treated, hoping it would lead to good treatment for any US service members there. It’s wild that German POWs were treated better than Japanese Americans, especially since Japanese Americans had family serving in the Army and had their homes and businesses taken away. It’s absolutely fu*ked up.
I used to think it was weird how relaxed security was for POWs in the US back then, but I realized I was thinking about it from today’s perspective.
We have GPS, internet, way better transportation, and easy communication now. Plus, someone with a German accent wouldn’t stand out as much these days. If you could get out of the prison itself, escaping would be much easier.
But in 1945, none of that existed. You’d be in the middle of nowhere with no clue what was around you. You couldn’t call anyone for help, and you wouldn’t have a map. And that accent would probably make you super obvious. The guards didn’t really have to worry about prisoners escaping or getting very far because those POWs had no real shot at getting back to Germany or causing any problems nearby.
It’s wild they didn’t get in any trouble after being caught again. The guards were probably cracking up, like “dude, where’d you think you were headed?”
This was kind of the idea when they set up the prisoner camps. The thought was, even if the prisoners got out, where would they even go? It didn’t even have to be a super terrible place. A lot of them were built in the middle of the Great Plains for that exact reason. And even if they managed to reach the coast, then what?
It’d be wild to put so much work into an escape, and then have the guards just be like, “aw, you’re cute” and pat you on the head. That’s the ultimate power move, right?
RE: Fact #30 (Ann Cooper Hewitt Sterilized) – Honestly, I didn’t think things could get any worse. But then all the criminal charges against the mother and doctors were dropped. And Ann only had $150,000, which, yeah, is like $3.5 million today, but for losing your ability to have kids because of your greedy sociopathic mother? That’s hardly justice.
Seriously, the fact that Ann didn’t kill her mother shows incredible strength.
Seriously, how could these charges get dropped? I know women didn’t have many rights back then, but this is just out of control.
Before all this, eugenics was a pretty big deal in the Western World, until the Nazis showed just how extreme it could get.
Basically, anyone considered to be of “poor breeding” could be sterilized against their will. This included most people with disabilities, mental illnesses, criminal records, and so on.
The idea was that by stopping these folks from having kids, we’d end up with a healthier, more peaceful, and smarter world. While I’m sure many people recognized the ethical nightmare and potential for abuse, their voices were silenced, and eugenics was the law of the land.
Back then in the US, kids didn’t have many rights until they were 21. The law treated children much more like property than it does now, though the US still has some catching up to do in this area.
Ann’s mom convinced the doctor that her daughter was “feeble-minded” and therefore a good candidate for sterilization.
Since Ann was under 21, the doctor went along with it.
The charges were dropped because her mother had the right to do what she wanted with her “child,” and the doctor believed he was doing the right thing.
We often take for granted the careful procedures and protections our medical professionals now follow. But these are fairly new ideas and aren’t recognized everywhere.
Things were just different back then. It really annoys me, but when you dig into it, you can tell just from how the articles sound and what people said. Forcing a minor to be sterilized wasn’t against the law. The judge actually threw out the case against the doctors, saying he didn’t get why it was even brought up because it wasn’t a crime. It was super frustrating to read, but it almost felt like I was reading about something from 1635 instead of 1935.
RE: Fact #14 (Nixon’s 1973 Commercial Flight) – For whatever reason, Nixon didn’t seem to care much about his personal security. A few years before that, he impulsively decided to visit the Lincoln Memorial late one night.
Yeah, nobody really wanted Spiro Agnew as president, so Nixon was a pretty safe bet.
Before Watergate, Nixon was super popular. He actually got over 60% of the popular vote back in 1972, and nobody’s topped that since then.
Agnew made Nixon look like a saint, which is saying something! DC’s always had its share of shady dealings, but Agnew was pretty much the top dog when it came to that.
RE: Fact #21 (CIA Vault 7 Tools Exposed) – Oh man, smart TVs! I totally spaced on those. Guess I’m a bit behind the times. 😔
If your TV is smart, and depending on how your local network or Wi-Fi is set up, someone could potentially see your other devices, connect to them, or even set up something to intercept your internet communications.
Lots of people have microphones in their remotes now for voice commands.
RE: Fact #25 (Keiko’s Failed Wild Release) – Yeah, it seems like captive orcas often struggle to adjust when they’re released back into the wild, right? Or maybe they don’t even do that anymore because of that very problem.
RE: Fact #32 (Alchemist James Price Drank Poison) – If you’re wondering what that is, it’s cyanide.
Wait, are you talking about Prussian Blue?
Totally right! Prussic acid comes from dissolving cyanide in water, and Prussian blue is made when you add iron to that prussic acid.