26USS Carl Vinson
In 2010, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was deployed to Haiti after the 2010 Earthquake and provided the island with 200,000 gallons a day of fresh drinking water from its desalination plants.
27. Conan O'Brien credited "The Simpsons" with saving him. Prior to being hired on it, he was experiencing a personal and professional slump. He abruptly quit his SNL writing job with no plans other than aimlessly walking the streets of NYC for inspiration.
28. Ferrari and Mercedez keep blueprints to every car they've ever made and will produce parts for them if you need one repaired.
29. In 1981, Mr. Rogers had a segment on his TV series where a disabled boy named Jeffrey Erlanger described to the audience what it was like to be handicapped and in a wheelchair. 18 years later, Jeff surprised Mr. Rogers with an appearance during his induction into the Television Hall Of Fame.
30. Eclipses can be mathematically calculated. The eclipse of May 28, 585 BC, which stopped a battle in Greece, was said by Isaac Asimov to be the earliest human event known to the exact date and time.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Totem pole
The Native American "Shame Pole" is a totem pole erected to embarrass people for non payment of debts or ridicule misdeeds. In 2007, one such pole was erected in Alaska depicting the CEO of Exxon to highlight an unpaid debt of $5 million owed from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
32. The Aztecs made swords (Macuahuitl) embedded with prismatic obsidian blades that are far sharper than even high-quality present day steel razor blades.
33. People from different languages arrange pictures of chronological events differently (English speakers from left to right, Hebrew from right to left), and the Kuuk Thaayorre will arrange them from east to west regardless of the direction they face in the room.
34. Smile Mask Syndrome is a psychological disorder in which subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling. First described in Japan in 1983, this is attributed to the great importance placed on smiling in the Japanese service industry.
35. Killer whales can and do regularly eat swimming moose.
36Martian rovers
NASA recovered metal from the WTC and used it on Martian rovers as a tribute to those fallen on the 9/11 attacks.
37. Heroin use among US adults went from 0.33% to 1.6% from 2001 to 2013.
38. President Carter's son (Chip Carter) and Willie Nelson once got high together on the roof of the White House.
