Tirpitz the Pig: The German Warship Survivor Who Joined the Royal Navy
Meet Tirpitz, the German pig who survived a sinking warship, joined the Royal Navy, raised money for charity, and ended up in a museum.
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Forget Playing with Pigskin; This Sport Really Gets Your Goat
Read more: Forget Playing with Pigskin; This Sport Really Gets Your GoatIf basketball or hockey isn’t your thing, consider taking up the sport of buzkashi. Originating with the Turks and Mongols sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries, its name means “goat dragging.” The name describes it well.
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Robert Liston: The Surgeon With the Legendary 300% Mortality Rate
Read more: Robert Liston: The Surgeon With the Legendary 300% Mortality RateRobert Liston was the fastest surgeon before anesthesia—and the legend behind medicine’s infamous 300% mortality rate.
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The Dangers of Long Hair on a Hair-Raising Ride
Read more: The Dangers of Long Hair on a Hair-Raising RideRoller coasters are meant to be thrilling, not dangerous. In a tragic incident, a maintenance worker’s long hair got caught in a coaster’s car, resulting in a fatal accident. Similarly, supermodel Fabio suffered an injury when a roller coaster collided with a goose during a ride. Both incidents highlight the risks associated with roller coaster…
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Death Comes from Above
Read more: Death Comes from AboveHow can suicide be the cause of death and not be self-inflicted? How about when the suicide of one person causes the death of another? Such an unfortunate event happened on August 31, 2009 in Viladecans, Spain. A 50-year-old Ukrainian man was out for a stroll that evening with his wife. Unbeknownst to them, a…
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Meet the Feathered Guardians of the United Kingdom
Read more: Meet the Feathered Guardians of the United KingdomPermanent residents of the Tower of London include six ravens. They have been seen in and around the tower since being built in 1078. They have been officially-sanctioned since the days of Charles II (r. 1660-1685), who had been told that if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will…
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1890: Not a Good Year to Be Born in France
Read more: 1890: Not a Good Year to Be Born in FranceHalf of all male babies born in France in 1890 were killed or maimed during World War I. source
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What Happens If They Have a War, But Everyone Forgets About It?
Read more: What Happens If They Have a War, But Everyone Forgets About It?Hostilities broke out in 1651 between the Netherlands and the Isle of Scilly. While the details are a bit sketchy, it appears that Dutch Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp arrived at Scilly to demand compensation for damages incurred by Dutch ships during the Second English Civil War. Scilly was the last holdout for the royalists, so…
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When Quintillionaires Are Paupers
Read more: When Quintillionaires Are PaupersWho hasn’t heard an older person complain that a dollar just doesn’t buy what it used to? Imagine what it was like in Hungary in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when the nation encountered the worst case of hyperinflation in history. Because of the instability of the national economy, something that cost 379…
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Better Buy a Bigger Wallet
Read more: Better Buy a Bigger WalletIf you are traveling to the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, you might consider using a credit card, rather than having to convert your cash into local currency. The legal tender currency is called Rai, and it consists of doughnut-shaped stones, ranging from 3.5 cm (1.4 in) to 4 meters (12…
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Going to Their Knees When There Was Nowhere Else to Go
Read more: Going to Their Knees When There Was Nowhere Else to GoThe Constitutional Convention was at a deadlock. They had been meeting for five weeks and could come anywhere close to an agreement about how the states should be represented in the new Congress. Small states wanted equal representation. Large states wanted proportionate representation. With no one willing to budge and tempers running high in the…
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The Last Soldier
Read more: The Last SoldierOfficially, World War II came to an end on September 2, 1945 with the surrender of Japan. For Teruo Nakamura, the war would continue for another 29 years, 3 months, and 17 days. Nakamura was serving as a private in the Japanese army in September 1944 and was stationed on the Indonesian island of Morotai…
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But Officer, I Thought I Was Only Going 55 When I Jumped From the Car!
Read more: But Officer, I Thought I Was Only Going 55 When I Jumped From the Car!If you feel the urge to be a daredevil, you might want to steer clear of Glendale, California. City ordinances there make it illegal to jump from a motor vehicle that is moving in excess of 65 miles per hour.
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Laughter: the Best Medicine?
Read more: Laughter: the Best Medicine?They say laughter is the best medicine, but that did not prove to be true for Alex Mitchell.
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Defending His Client to the Extreme
Read more: Defending His Client to the ExtremeAttorney Clement Vallandigham (former US Congressman from Ohio and famously deported to the South by President Lincoln during the Civil War) was defending Thomas McGehan, who was accused of shooting a man to death during a fight in a saloon. Vallandigham argued that his client was innocent and that the victim had accidentally shot himself.…
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Hot Real Estate Deal: The Woman Who Owns The Sun
Read more: Hot Real Estate Deal: The Woman Who Owns The SunInterested in some hot real estate, talk to the woman who owns the sun and is selling parcels for a deal.
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