"When Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, he willed the cities of Boston and Philadelphia $4,400 each, but with the stipulation that the money could not be spent for 200 years. By 1990 Boston’s trust was worth over $5 million. "
"James Bond originally used a Beretta 418 until a fan of the novels (and small arms expert) told Ian Fleming that it was a lady’s gun. Fleming wrote a scene in Dr. No to detail the exchange and give Bond his now famous Walther PPK."
"The modern English word phoenix derives from the Middle English word phenix, itself from the Old English Fenix, which was borrowed from Medieval Latin phenix, which is derived from Classic Latin Phoenix."
"Only one species of frog goes “Ribbit”, but it has become a national and global cliché because that frog resides in Hollywood and was used for sound effects."
"In France, by law a bakery has to make all the bread it sells from scratch in order to have the right to be called a bakery."
"There are seven times as many people of Irish descent living in America, than in Ireland."
"During the Napoleonic Wars, the English Navy inflicted over 3 times as many casualties on the French Navy than the French Navy inflicted on the English Navy, in part because French gun crews fired high to disable enemy masts & rigging while English gun crews fired low into enemy gun crews & hulls. "
"Today, more people worldwide suffer from obesity (1.3 billion) than hunger (900 million)."
"Petroleum companies have rights to most of the battery patents and sue anyone who used them (with gag orders)"
"There exists an impactful cave painting in Argentina at least 9000 years old that is an entire wall of silhouettes of human hands. "
"After NetFlix’s House of Cards Season 3 was released, the bandwidth required to run Netflix went from 30% to 45% of the total Internet bandwidth in the US. "
"Vegetables in Alaska grow gigantic because they receive 20 hours of sunlight a day. "
"Neil Armstrong threatened legal action against his barber, for selling his hair to a collector for $3,000."
"There is a Marvel Character called Asbestos Lady, who robbed banks with her accomplices, who (like her) all wore asbestos lined clothing. She later died of cancer. "
"In 1962, investor Warren Buffett agreed to sell shares of a failing company for $11.50 per share. The tender offer was for only $11.375, so Buffett decided to buy more stock, took control of the company and fired the man who made the offer."
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