26Terry Crews
Before Terry Crews was a football player or actor, he was a courtroom sketch artist. He covered the worst murder case in Flint, Michigan’s history.
27. There was a mysterious culture in Eastern Europe between 5500 to 2700 B.C. which constructed sophisticated, organized, densely-populated settlements, only to burn them to the ground every 60-80 years and rebuild the same settlement as before.
28. After an obese umpire died during a game, Major League Baseball decided to enforce weight limits. In 1999 under this policy, umpire Eric Gregg was fined $5,000 for exceeding 300lbs.
29. In the 1980s and 19990s, the Los Angeles Police Department set up a task force to look into the possibility of an active serial killer they dubbed the “Southside Slayer.” In reality, they had 4 or 5 active serial killers.
30. The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool began during the industrial revolution when Manchester built a canal to circumvent Liverpool to avoid paying fees for importing/exporting goods through their port.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Last Copy of Beowulf
The only copies of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and “Beowulf” are unique manuscripts that came from the same private library. Both were nearly destroyed in a fire in 1731.
32. Famous computer hacker Kevin Mitnick only wound up in jail originally because a “friend” was pissed that Mitnick beat him at a $150 bet. After being bested, Mitnick’s then-friend was so angry about losing that he called the FBI and told them about everything Mitnick had ever hacked.
33. Alfred Wintle was a British officer in World War 1, who once tried to escape a hospital disguised as a nurse. Although he successfully attended a women-only dance in the nurses' quarters, he was caught as he forgot to take off his monocle.
34. Actors were not looked upon highly in the Roman Empire and were considered to be on the same social level as prostitutes.
35. After Peter the Great mandated that all officers in his army must have started their career as privates, noble families began to register newborn boys as privates. First reporting for service at the age of 15, the boys were then promoted through seniority to junior lieutenant or equivalent rank.
36Inter Library Loan
Many public libraries in the US participate in Inter Library Loan (ILL). That means you have access to virtually any book, journal, magazine, or DVD held by any public library in the country.
37. In 1981, the US Post Office issued an anti-alcohol stamp that said “Alcoholism: You can beat it!” Though well-intentioned, it was a huge flop mainly because it could look like the sender was sending a specific message to the recipient.
38. The man who invented the modern theory about oxygen and combustion, Antoine Lavoisier, was guillotined in 1794 during the French Revolution.
39. The white rind of a watermelon, between the pink flesh and green skin, is loaded with nutrients and just as healthy as the commonly eaten pink flesh.
40. A decapitated flatworm can regrow not only its head back entirely but also all of its old memories back with it.
