1Twain and Tesla
Mark Twain and Nicola Tesla were good friends and fans of each other’s work. Tesla read Twain’s works before they met, and Twain, intrigued by electricity, often visited Tesla’s lab. Twain once participated in one of Tesla’s experiments which caused Twain to have to hastily run to the bathroom.
2. The famously large US President William Taft followed a weight loss program. Taft was in contact with Dr. Yorke-Davies for over 20 years and kept a daily record of his weight, food intake, and physical activity. Taft managed to go from 340 to 244 pounds and walked 3 miles to the Capitol every day.
3. P.T. Barnum’s famous elephant Jumbo got his name from the Swahili word for chief. It was the elephant who caused the word “Jumbo” to mean something large, not the other way around.
4. Owls’ ears are placed asymmetrically, at different heights on the sides of their faces, so that the sounds reach each ear at different times. This is essential to identify the exact direction of their prey.
5. A crocodile from Burundi named Gustave has killed as many as 300 people. He has evaded numerous captures and kill attempts and has obtained near-mythical status in the region.
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6Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty almost wasn’t built in New York because the governor wouldn’t use city funds to build its pedestal, but Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper articles inspired 160,000 people to donate. Though a majority of donations were less than $1, they raised over $100,000 in just 5 months.
7. In 1889, a lion escaped from a traveling show in Birmingham and ran into the sewers. When an angry mob formed, Frank Bostock, the owner secretly snuck another lion out the back. He then returned with the lion clearly visible and was hailed a hero. The escaped lion was still in the sewers. He eventually came clean to the police and then rounded up a bunch of men to find the lion.
8. Contrary to popular belief, sweating does not remove toxins from the body. Dehydration from excessive sweating can actually make it harder for your body to remove toxins.
9. Baby horses are born with “feathers”, AKA faery fingers or golden slippers (real name eponychium). They protect the mother’s uterus during gestation and birth canal during parturition from damage from the otherwise sharp and dangerous hoof kicks. They harden and fall off very soon after birth.
10. During the American Revolution at the Battle of Long Island, 400 Maryland Soldiers repeatedly attacked a superior British force in order to allow Gen. Washington’s army to escape total destruction. Washington said of them, “Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose.”
11Tupaia's Map
A Polynesian man named Tupaia drew an incredibly accurate map for Captain Cook, but it was misunderstood to be badly made and unusable. The map puzzled people for centuries until some researchers finally figured out how to use it correctly.
12. Talk-show host Stephen Colbert half-jokingly ran for US President in the 2008 election. He stated that he would only run if he received a sign, which came when Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in Lord of the Rings, appeared on his show and gave him a replica of the sword, ‘Anduril.’
13. There is more water in the vapor and clouds above the Amazon rainforest than there is in the Amazon River.
14. The first reported successful blood transfusions were performed by the Incas as early as the 1500s. Spanish conquistadors witnessed blood transfusions when they arrived in the 16th century.
15. American Dental Associations exclusively recommends “soft” bristles for toothbrushes. Medium or firmer brushes are considered harmful because they can erode teeth enamel and damage your gums.
16No Sugar Tonight
1970's Guess Who song “No Sugar Tonight” was created when the band’s guitarist saw a tough biker in a California intersection getting yelled at by his girlfriend for not taking out the trash and leaving her with the kids. She added, “And one more thing, you ain’t getting no sugar tonight.”
17. In 2016, “Live Nation” admitted that less than 1/3 of the tickets for a popular tour were available to fans. When “The Tragically Hip” announced their final tour, 2/3 of tickets were sold to brokers and more were held for industry guests.
18. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland sheltered Jews persecuted and expelled from various European countries. About three-quarters of the world’s Jews lived in Poland by the middle of the 16th century.
19. Thomas Jefferson said that his Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom was “meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian, and the Mahometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.” It’s on his grave as 1 of his 3 great accomplishments.
20. In 1915, a man named Charles Hatfield convinced the town of San Diego that he could create rainfall using a secret mix of chemicals. The city offered to pay him $10,000 if he could end their drought. A few days later, the town experienced the worst flood of the 20th century. Hatfield never got his money. The city council claimed the floods were an act of God, not an act of Hatfield.
21Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are one of the fastest animals on Earth relative to their body size. They can cover more body lengths per second than any other vertebrate and for their size can outpace fighter jets and the space shuttle, all while withstanding G-forces that would make a fighter pilot blackout.
22. German professor Martin Luther enrolled at the University of Erfurt at the age of 17 to study law which he described as a “beerhouse and whorehouse.” He gave up law for philosophy but eventually left university altogether, sold his books, and became a monk.
23. There are ancient languages that are considered untranslatable or ‘extinct’ because we have no descendant languages to use as a frame of reference for translation. One example is the Etruscan language of Italy that belonged to people who lived in Italy before the Romans.
24. Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed boxing while he was president. His sparring partner once punched him so hard he lost vision in his eye for the rest of his life. Roosevelt never told the other man what had happened.
25. Alcatraz’s prison guards created the myths about man-eating sharks and the deadly waters of San Francisco to discourage prisoners from escaping. There is only one recorded shark fatality in San Francisco which was back in 1959.
