July 2012
News reports on suicides are typically discouraged...
News reports on suicides are typically discouraged because of fears that they can induce a wave of copycat suicides. In case you’re skeptical, copycat suicides can be a real problem. When someone commits suicide, it’s somewhat common that others close to him or her will also commit suicide, in what is known was the Werther effect. If a suicide is very widely reported on, it can serve as a...
Band-aids emit a blue glow when pulled apart.
Band-aids emit a blue glow when pulled apart. It’s due to a process called triboluminescence. Triboluminescence is what occurs when a Wint-O-Green Life Saver candy is crushed in the dark, letting off a little glowing spark. Triboluminescence basically means light caused by friction, and is the cause for lots of things we see.
It’s to blame for the blue light given off when lightning strikes,...
There are two individuals in the U.S. who have...
There are two individuals in the U.S. who have their own zip code: the president and Smokey the bear! People take Smokey the bear pretty seriously. Smokey gets all kind of fan mail, so much so that he has been given his own zip code: 20252. The president is the only other person (if Smoky Bear is considered a person) to have his own zip code.
Smokey Bear has had his zip code since 1964. The...
There is a company that sells peanut butter...
There is a company that sells peanut butter slices. As you can see in the picture, they’re a bit like Kraft Singles, the pre sliced and packaged cheeses. They’re packaged in a similar way, with individual peel-off sheets of peanut butter.
They’re called P.B. Slices and share their name with their company. The company was based in Guthrie, Oklahoma, but doesn’t appear to be active anymore. The...
Anesthesia developer Horace Wells killed himself...
Anesthesia developer Horace Wells killed himself with a razor. He used chloroform to dull the pain! Horace Wells was a dentist by trade, born in Vermont and practicing in Connecticut. He was known for his introduction of anesthesia into dental work, particularly by using nitrous oxide (laughing gas). He was introduced to chloroform by having it given to him as part of a demonstration by a circus...
Both Sweden and the Soviet Union made plans to...
Both Sweden and the Soviet Union made plans to develop moose-mounted cavalries!
I’m sure there’s a “Soviet Russia” joke in this fact. How about, in Soviet Russia moose hunts you? Anyways as early as 1869, the Russian zoologist and explorer Alexander von Middendorff wrote to the Tsar’s government about how the moose is an underutilized and unexpected war resource, and suggested that the...
Game of Thrones started as a story about turtles.
Game of Thrones started as a story about turtles. George R. R. Martin is known as one of the most famous current fantasy writers, specifically for his acclaimed series called A Song of Ice and Fire, the first book of which is A Game of Thrones. So popular is the series that, as you likely know, it has spawned a wildly popular HBO series.
Martin has said that when he was a child, he would often...
The vibrator was invented before the vacuum.
The vibrator was invented before the vacuum. To be clear, this is on a consumer level. Vibrators were first used for medicinal reasons in 1878, and didn’t become consumer available products until 1900. It was ten years before the electric vacuum became an available consumer product.
The vibrator was actually the fifth electric home appliance. Only the sewing machine, fan, tea kettle, and toaster...
There are such things as fruit salad trees!
There are such things as fruit salad trees! There was a time when you needed to visit several different trees in order to get that perfect bowl of fresh fruit salad. Now there’s one tree that makes things a lot more efficient by holding up to 8 different kinds of fruits.
It’s rightly called the “Fruit Salad Tree.” The Fruit Salad Tree Company (yes there actually is a Fruit Salad Tree Company)...
Liz Taylorâs jewelry collection was auctioned...
Liz Taylorâs jewelry collection was auctioned for more than £74 million.
It was an auction that broke several records. The highest selling piece was the Pink Graff at £28.9 million. It broke the record for the most expensive diamond and jewel ever sold at an auction. It is pink diamond and is 24.78 carats. It got its name from the second person to purchase it, Laurence Gaff who bought it...
Bob Marley had 3 children born in 4 weeks to 3...
Bob Marley had 3 children born in 4 weeks to 3 different women! Marley married Rita Anderson in 1966, but he had children by several other women. He had three children in late April and the first half of May. The first was born in April on the 20th in 1972. His name was Stephen Marley and he was the child of Bob Marley’s wife Rita.
The next two children Marley fathered that were born in 1972...
There's an island in Japan that once had a...
There’s an island in Japan that once had a population density of 216,264 people per square mile but is now completely abandoned.
The whole island of Hashima is an abandonded ghost town. Until 1974 the island was a coal mining facility bought by Mitsubishi in 1890. It now has huge concrete buildings that are completely abandoned now and a sea wall. They actually built Japan’s first large...
There is a Dutch medical professional named Taco...
There is a Dutch medical professional named Taco Monster. He’s been awarded the Name of the Year award, defeating the likes of Delorean Blow and Vernon Lee Bad Marriage Jr. (why didn’t Senior get a nomination too). Now, you’d think that his name means something else in the Netherlands, but no, you’ll still get a few eyebrows if you sign your name as Taco Monster on a grocery receipt or phone...
The Obelisco of Buenos Aires had a condom draped...
The Obelisco of Buenos Aires had a condom draped over it on world AIDS day 2005! The Obelisco, is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. The monument was built to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city. They needed to make the Obelisco’s surroundings more appealing, so the government of the city started the project Punto Obelisco.
They created a...
The Strangers in Your Dreams are Actually People...
The Strangers in Your Dreams are Actually People That Youâve Seen in Real Life! The human brain is responsible for many complex creations, but it can’t invent the image of people. So the “strangers” that you meet in your dreams actually have the faces of people who you’ve once seen in your real life but forgotten, like your childhood mailman or that guy bumped into on the side walk that one...
The Empire State Building makes more money from...
The Empire State Building makes more money from observation deck ticket sales than from renting office space! One hundred and ten million people have visited the observation decks of the empire state building. It is the one of the most visited outside observation decks in the world.
With such a huge number, it’s slightly less surprising that the empire state building actually gets more money...
Genghis Kahn helped the environment!
Genghis Kahn helped the environment! In fact, the Mongol Emperor’s environmental contribution helped eliminate 700 million tons of carbon! He also let forests regrow where they had been chopped down to make room for towns and farm land. This was especially significant when you consider the large size of the mongol empire.
This wasn’t because Kahn was a tree hugger. In fact, this wasn’t even...
A study has shown that taking underarm sweat from...
A study has shown that taking underarm sweat from a man and putting it on the lips of a woman will put her in a better mood and regulate her menstrual cycle!
Researchers created a study where they applied excretions from the underarm of a male on the upper lip of 18 women between the ages of 25 and 45. The women were unaware of what was on their upper lip. Apparently, some of them thought the...
Reggie Jackson nicknamed a bat boy for the Oakland...
Reggie Jackson nicknamed a bat boy for the Oakland A’s “Hammer” because of his purported resemblance to Hank Aaron and that bat boy would later assume the rap name “MC Hammer.” What hasn’t MC Hammer done? Stanly Kirk Burrell was found outside the Oakland A’s stadium by team owner Charlie Finley dancing around for tips to buy tickets to the game. He recruited the 13...
Whoopi Goldberg chose her stage name from the...
Whoopi Goldberg chose her stage name from the whoopee cushion and because her mother thought Goldberg was Jewish enough sounding to make it in Hollywood! Caryn Elaine Johnson grew up in Manhattan, New York. Her mother was a nurse and teacher while her father was a clergyman who left them. She was raised by her mom and when she was a girl, she saw Star Trek and saw the character Uhura and said...
