"The tidal coastline of Maine is longer than the eastern tidal coastline of Florida by 147 miles (237 km)."
"Just as the ribbon was about to be cut on the Sydney harbour bridge, a man in military uniform rode up on a horse, slashing the ribbon with his sword and opening it in the name of the people of New South Wales before the official ceremony began. He was promptly arrested."
"When you look at a clock, and the second hand seems to freeze for a moment, your brain is actually generating a false memory, and your perception of time stretches slightly backward. This effect is called chronostasis."
"In the 1600s French astronomer, Adrien Auzout once considered building a telescope 1,000 ft long. He thought the magnification would allow him to see animals on the moon."
"At the end of the Gulf War, 20 people died in Kuwait due to falling bullets from celebratory gunfire. "
"When traffic cameras were first set up in California, a man got a speeding ticket in the mail that included his photo as proof of guilt. Mad, that he was fined by a camera, the man took a picture of money and mailed it off. Weeks later he was mailed another photo this time of handcuffs."
"In the 1940s the FBI considered the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” to be communist propaganda due to its supposed subversive anti-capitalist/banking themes. "
"There have only been two confirmed cases of humans being hit by a meteorite. Statistically, there is a better chance of getting hit by a tornado, a bolt of lightning and a hurricane all at the same time. "
"Astronaut John Young got really bad flatulence from drinking orange juice during the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. Unknowingly, he broadcast this fact to the world. “I have the farts again. I got them again, Charlie.” "
“To take something with a grain of salt” refers to an Ancient Roman recipe for an antidote that protects against all kinds of poisons. The recipe was to take two dried walnuts, two figs, and twenty leaves of rue; pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt. It was believed that if a person took this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons for that day."
"Mozart is known sufferer of a rare sensory condition known as “Synthesia”, allowing him to perceive different sounds as forms of color. "
"Scientists attached stilts to the legs of ants to prove that they return to their nests by counting their steps. The ants with stilts overshot their nest by roughly 50% due to the new length of their steps."
"The gravestone of J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife is inscribed with “Lúthien” and “Beren”. They were two tragic legendary characters in The Lord of the Rings, who were madly in love. "
"Mark Twain is considered one of the first stand-up comedians and a pioneer in the art of “personal branding”. "
"The Netherlands and the U.K. did not know they were at war with each other for 334 years. "
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