26Mariya Tsukanova
Mariya Tsukanova was a Soviet medic who during World War 2 saved dozens of lives by taking up a machine gun and firing until she lost consciousness from injuries. Being outnumbered, she was brutally tortured and executed by the Japanese and killed. She was named “Hero of the Soviet Union” posthumously.
27. Despite the efforts from the Catholic church, the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus' name is attributed to the belief that just as St. Peter (San Pedro) holds the keys to heaven, the effects of the cactus could allow its users to reach heaven while still being on earth.
28. During solar eclipses, tree leaves act as pinhole cameras, resulting in trees casting crescent-shaped shadows on the ground. This effect puzzled Aristotle in the 4th Century B.C.
29. People can't eat after a breakup due to the body going into survival mode. There are fewer constrictions and relaxations of the muscles in your stomach and bowels, which consequently slows down the digestion of food.
30. Despite the fact that China is wider than the contiguous United States and could ideally have 5 different time zones, China uses only one time zone called China Standard Time (CST) across the entire country.
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31Suez Canal First Blockage
On the first day the Suez Canal opened, in November 17, 1869, a French ship named the Péluse ran aground and blocked the canal, forcing ships stuck in the canal to wait until the next morning when the Péluse was hauled away.
32. Charles Manson once approached Steve McQueen with a script, he wrote, in hopes of getting him to produce it. When McQueen turned him down, an altercation happened, in which McQueen broke Manson's nose.
33. Lithium, which is used to treat bipolar disorder, when found naturally in drinking water has been found to reduce the amount of violence and suicide in that population.
34. The baby of 19th century Empress Elisabeth of Austria was taken away by her mother-in-law who named the child after herself and refused to allow Elisabeth to breastfeed or care for her own child. Her second daughter born a year later was also taken from her.
35. The Washington Monument’s many blocks are held together by just gravity and friction. No mortar was used in the building process.
