Lighting hit a WWI bomb forgotten by the British and the bomb killed a cow!
Lighting hit a WWI bomb forgotten by the British and the bomb killed a cow!

This cow could be considered a close relative of “bad luck Brian”, especially since it is considered the single unluckiest cow in history of existence because it died from a bomb explosion that was caused from a lighting that was able to detonate a 50,000 pound bomb that was forgotten by Britain for over 20 years!

During WWI, 21 enormous mines were buried in the Belgian countryside by the British army, making these 21 mines the largest planned non-nuclear explosion in history!

General Herbert Plumer of the British army spent 18 months planning this single deadliest non-nuclear blast, making each mine heavier than 50,000 pounds each! That would be a grand total of 600 tons!

However, only 19 of those bombs went off, killing over 10,000 Germans. One of the two remaining bombs was struck by lighting and thus it killed the poor cow. As for the other one it’s location it’s still unknown. Let’s hope “Bad Luck Brian” doesn’t visit Belgian territory anytime soon.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/11XOWVN
A single fungus may have over 10,000 different genders!
A single fungus may have over 10,000 different genders!

A topic that always comes abroad during your biology class is fungal sex (well maybe not, yet it’s interesting), so when it comes to talk about fungi gender it might get a little bit tricky, but don’t worry! We are here to help you understand!

Contrary to humans in which there are men and there are women from a strictly reproductive point of view, among fungi, any individual con donate or receive genetic material, and hence either be a daddy or a mommy.

Some fungi only have two mating types (bipolar), some have four or more possible mating types (tetrapolar) and a few fungi, for instance Schizophyllum commune, have more than ten thousand mating types!

So this type of fungus can pretty much mate with any other fungi he/she wants, since everyone can be a potential mate!

So next time you think of yourself as a great “player” remember that some fungi can get a lot more action and fun than you.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/13ZmDEL
The USS Arizona holds a place for the Pearl Harbor survivors’ ashes!
The USS Arizona holds a place for the Pearl Harbor survivors’ ashes!

The USS Arizona was a battleship built by the U.S Navy back in the mid-1910s. This ship participated in many important events, such as WWI, escorting President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference, going to Turkey to represent American interests during the Greco-Turkish war, and finally it was laid to rest after being transferred to the Pacific Fleet.

In April 1940, however, the USS Arizona and the Pacific Fleet were transferred from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese imperialism. Sadly, the ship was bombed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and hence killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. And what’s more incredible is that even though most of the ships sunk that day, the USS Arizona could not be fully salvaged!

The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial, dedicated on May 30th, 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles the ship’s hull. This memorial is visited by more than one million people annually and it is only accessible by boat.

The USS Arizona is an active U.S. Military cemetery, and therefore if any of the survivors want their ashes to be among the ones of their fallen mates the USS Arizona holds a special place for them.

(Source)

http://www.omg-facts.com/History/The-USS-Arizona-Holds-A-Place-For-The-Pe/57565
A Canadian journalist was kidnapped by Somalians. When she was released, she created the largest Somalian charity!
A Canadian journalist was kidnapped by Somalians. When she was released, she created the largest Somalian charity!

Amanda Lindout is a Canadian humanitarian and former journalist. She was kidnapped along with some of her partners by Islamist insurgents in southern Somalia. She was held for over 15 months!

The abductors were teenage insurgents from the Hizbul Islam fundamentalist group, and they demanded 2.5 million dollars for Amanda and the rest of her crew. After 460 days as a hostage her family paid the ransom and later on Amanda was hospitalized for two weeks and treated for acute malnourishment.

Once she got back to North America she studied Development Leadership at the COADY International Institute and later on founded the Global Enrichment Foundation to create more opportunities in Somalia by offering university scholarships to Woman!

And not only that! On August 2011, Lindhout went back to Somalia, leading a large convoy carrying food aid for 14,000 people! When asked why she did this she described it as “an opportunity for me to look at that fear and maybe let it go, this fear that I have been carrying around with me for some time”.

So next time you are not willing to forgive someone you love remember that there are people like Amanda forgiving people that don’t even deserve it.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/15gHrqH
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became great friends after being each other’s nemesis during their political life!
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became great friends after being each other’s nemesis during their political life!

After being opponents for almost an entire lifetime, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became very good friends in the end. They both had different opinions and points of views when it came to politics and pretty much anything.

Therefore, they became rivals and didn’t really seem to like each other. However, they both reconciled in 1812. Adams decided to make an effort to really get to meet Thomas Jefferson! He even added with his very own words: “You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other.”

And what’s even more curious about this whole situation is that they spent the rest of their lives writing fascinating letters to each other! This way, they were able to become great friends and were able to die happy knowing that their all life nemesis wasn’t that bad after all.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/11kIYP6
A 13-year-old sacrificed himself to destroy a tank!
A 13-year-old sacrificed himself to destroy a tank!

Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh was born on May 6th of 1967 and died on October 30th of 1980 as a true war hero. At the age of 13 in 1980, during the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war he made the decision of leaving home and joining the war.

He was fighting along the Iran army, and at one point the Iraqi troops pushed the Iranian troops back as they were passing through a very narrow canal. Many of the Iranian soldiers were either dead or wounded at this point by the Iraqi troops.

Therefore, Hossein took a grenade from a nearby body, pulled the pin out, jumped right underneath an enemy’s tank, and by blowing himself up he was able to disable the tank! This made the enemies think that the area was mined and therefore decided to stop their advancement.

Until today, Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh is considered a true national Iranian hero, and one of the boys with bigger guts that have ever lived.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/15eK10o
Buster Posey once played all nine positions during a baseball game. His team won!
Buster Posey once played all nine positions during a baseball game. His team won!

Back in 2008, Buster Posey (former San Francisco Giants player), played for Florida State University. On May 12, during a game against Savannah State University, he hit a grand glam and played all nine fielding positions!

And not only that; His team won 10-0! His performance during that game was great; in fact while he was playing as a pitcher that day, he struck out both batters he faced!

2008 was in fact a great year for Posey; he hit .463 with 26 home runs and 3 RBI and won multiple awards such as the Johnny Bench Award, Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year award, Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award among many others!

When it comes to doing something you love there are no limitations to what you can do; always give your best, just like Buster Posey would.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/17i0xUp
Our universe might exist inside a black hole!
Our universe might exist inside a black hole!

Believe it or not, we might be living inside a black hole! How is that even possible?Nidokem Poplawski is a physicist who presented a solution to the big question: How did the universe begin?

The main idea of Poplawski is that our entire universe lies inside a black hole. His theory is based on several physics laws and it helps explain several questions that not even the Big Bang theory can explain, such as: What started the big bang? What caused inflation to end? Etc.

His theory helps explain many different phenomena, such as gravity, tortions, and mysterious forces such as the Sun’s attraction to certain planets, among many others!

(Source)

http://bit.ly/17i0Aj0
The British got the Ottomans high so they could capture Jerusalem!
The British got the Ottomans high so they could capture Jerusalem!

During the siege of Jerusalem back in 1917, the British, in an effort to capture the city from an entrenched Ottoman garrison, started to airdrop “special” cigarettes. These “special” cigarettes were smoked by the Ottomans, but what they didn’t know is that they were filled with large doses of Opium!

Ottomans were too stoned to fight, so when they were doing their last stand at Sheria, the British were able to attack them and destroy their defense since the Ottomans were too high to mount a successful attack and defense. The British successfully took Sheria, and soon after Jerusalem!

In simpler words: The British strategy worked perfectly! The Ottomans didn’t even stop to check if the cigarettes contained anything, so by triggering their cigarette addiction, the British were able to celebrate Christmas at Jerusalem.

So next time an enemy offers you a cigarrete you might want to check the cigarette first.

(Source)

http://bit.ly/13W6fFh
70% of the US and European stock market trades are completely automated with no human input!
70% of the US and European stock market trades are completely automated with no human input!

Back in 2006, 1/3 of al stocks traded in the USA and EU were traded electronically by specially designed algorithms without any human input. Today, it is estimated that around 70 % of stocks traded in the US and EU markets are bought/sold by algorithmic programs, with some markets pushing 80 %.

In order to understand this, it is important for you to know what algorithmic trading is. Algo trading is the use of electronic platforms for entering orders with an algorithm which executes pre-programmed trading instructions.

These instructions include many commands and variables, such as timing, price, or quantity of the order. And what’s most amazing is that in many cases the order can initiate without any human intervention.

All those algorithms are used by banks, pension funds, among many other important places.We see mathematics in every day life use, but when it comes to many we can see it magically becomes a lot more interesting!

(Source)

http://bit.ly/13W6d05