26Calming Waters
In 1762, Benjamin Franklin had a hollow walking stick created that could secretly hold around 1 pint of oil in it. When the head of the stick was pushed down, it would release oil from the bottom. He did this to trick his friends into thinking he had the power to calm waves in troubled waters.
27. The US exports more bull semen to Iran than any other country. In 2018 alone, the amount of semen exported from the US was more than the combined total of the next seven other countries exporting semen to Iran.
28. In 1231, after noticing the rapidly rising cost of medicine, Emperor Friedrich II forbade doctors from doubling as pharmacists. He fixed the prices of various medicines so that they could not rise further.
29. Some of the boulevard medians in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have 8-10 feet deep bunkers with toilets in them, originally installed in the 1930s as a convenience for city workers who were out and about all day without access to a toilet.
30. In Kaziranga, a national park in north-eastern India, rangers can shoot and kill poachers to protect the Indian one-horned rhinoceros with legal immunity, which has reduced rhino poaching.
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31Bruce McCandless
Astronaut Bruce McCandless floated in space completely unattached to anything, 320 feet away from the space shuttle with only a nitrogen jetpack back in 1984.
32. Jazz guitarist Pat Martino suffered a near-fatal seizure in 1980 which left him with amnesia and no recollection or knowledge of how to play the guitar. He re-learned how to play the instrument, and resumed his performing and recording career in 1987 until his death in 2021.
33. In 1961, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara wrote a book called “Guerrilla Warfare”, which explained different tactics for waging guerrilla warfare in different countries. Bolivian counter-insurgency forces also studied this book, which eventually led to Guevara’s capture and execution in 1967.
34. “Wrap Rage” (the anger/frustration which results from an inability to open packaging) is estimated to be responsible for up to 60,000 people a year being treated for injuries. In one survey, 71% say they’ve been injured while opening packages and in 2004 the US had 6,500 emergency room visits due to these kinds of injuries.
35. Sir Paul McCartney’s mother (Mary McCarthy) died when he was just 14 years old. He struggled with grief for around 8 years, until one night she appeared to him in a dream saying things like “Don’t worry, live your life, let it be.” From this, he wrote the world-famous Beatles song “Let it be.”
