The 1927 White House Renovation and the Overdue Bill to the King of England
Calvin Coolidge, the 1927 White House renovation, and the deadpan joke that Britain should get the bill for damage dating back to the War of 1812.
Keep readingCheck Out the Latest
-
This is Jimmy Carter…. I’d Like to Report a UFO, Please
Read more: This is Jimmy Carter…. I’d Like to Report a UFO, PleaseIn 1969, President Jimmy Carter observed an unidentified flying object in Leary, Georgia. He later reported this sighting to the International UFO Bureau in 1973, describing a peculiar green light that intensified and vanished. Ufologist Robert Sheaffer suggested it was likely a misidentification of Venus.
-
Longest Novel Will Take a While to Read
Read more: Longest Novel Will Take a While to ReadThe world record for the longest novel ever published goes to A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust. It was published in 13 volumes beginning in 1912. With an estimated 9,609,000 characters (each letter and space counting as a character), it came out at 4,215 pages in length. The title translates as In Search of…
-
Edgar Allan Poe and His Creepy Prediction of a Cannibal Crime
Read more: Edgar Allan Poe and His Creepy Prediction of a Cannibal CrimeHow did Edgar Allan Poe predict the creepy cannibal murder of a cabin boy?
-
Chess: A Game of Limitless Possibilities
Read more: Chess: A Game of Limitless PossibilitiesBecause of its complexity, chess offers limitless possibilities. After just three moves, there are over 9,000,000 possible configurations of the board.
-
I’ll Take My Winnings By Check, Mate
Read more: I’ll Take My Winnings By Check, MateThe longest tournament chess game, in terms of moves, ever to be played was Ivan Nikolic vs. Goran Arsovic in Belgrade, Serbia in 1989. The game lasted for 269 moves and took 20 hours and 15 minutes to complete. It ended in a draw. The longest decisive tournament game was Viktor Kortchnoi vs. Laurent Fressinet,…
-
Keep a Towel Handy
Read more: Keep a Towel HandyHuman feet can produce a pint of sweat per day. source
-
The Bacon Brigade
Read more: The Bacon BrigadeIn 266 BCE, the Greek city of Megara fended off the Macedonian conqueror Antigonus II Gonatas using flaming pigs doused in resin. Antigonus’s battle elephants fled in terror from the bacon brigade. source
-
Monkeys in Space: The Unlucky Adventures of Albert the Monkey — Times 6!
Read more: Monkeys in Space: The Unlucky Adventures of Albert the Monkey — Times 6!Six astronauts named Albert all had the distinction of becoming monkeys in space — and all had unlucky travels. Read about them here.
-
Singular Facts About Singularities
Read more: Singular Facts About SingularitiesBlack holes — also known as “singularities” — can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the amount of matter, or “stuff,” in an object. Another kind of black…
-
It’s Not Easy Being
GreenGreyRead more: It’s Not Easy BeingMarvel Comics’ mega-strong, most-in-need-of-anger-management character the Hulk is best known for being green. Originally he appeared as grey, just as his creator Stan Lee intended. When a printer error turned him green, Lee decided to go with the flow. The Hulk has returned to grey occasionally over the more than half century since he first…
GreenGrey -
I Have a Banana, And I’m Not Afraid to Use It!
Read more: I Have a Banana, And I’m Not Afraid to Use It!Nathan Channing was arrested after pointing a banana at two Mesa County, Colorado Sheriff’s deputies, both of whom thought it was a gun. Under the category of “Truth is Stranger Than Fiction,” it should be noted that Channing is a native of Fruitvale, and one of the deputies is named Bunch. Source
-
Zombie Chickens: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.
Read more: Zombie Chickens: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.Zombie chickens are not the product of a horrible made-for-television movie about the end of the world. They are real. “Chicken zombies occur when old hens that can no longer lay eggs are incorrectly euthanized by poultry farmers using carbon monoxide,” the training plan instructs. “The hens appear to be dead when buried but inexplicably come back…
-
This Coronation Ceremony is Brought to You By Right Guard Antiperspirant
Read more: This Coronation Ceremony is Brought to You By Right Guard AntiperspirantThe coronation ceremony of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (1837-1898) required her to be anointed in her right armpit. source
-
Super Rat
Read more: Super RatThe average rat can: wriggle through a hole no larger than the diameter of a quarter scale a brick wall as if it had rungs gnaw through lead pipes and cinder blocks with chisel teeth that exert 24,000 pounds per square inch survive being flushed down a toilet and enter buildings by the same route multiply…
-
A Sheepishly Wooly Fact
Read more: A Sheepishly Wooly FactMerino sheep are prized for their super-fine wool. In a skin area about the size of a postage stamp, these sheep will carry between 10,000 and 15,000 fibers. The fibers are less than 19.5 microns wide. By comparison, they typical human hair is 60-70 microns wide. The wool of sixty merino sheep, tied end to…
Trending
FDR’s Fishing Trip and Near Exposure of His Bare BunsFebruary 23, 2022
The 27th Letter and Why the Ampersand was Removed From the AlphabetFebruary 10, 2020
A Buttload is an Actual Unit of MeasurementFebruary 5, 2020
The Three Stooges: America’s Favorite Violent IdiotsApril 27, 2026
Can You Identify the Only 3 Non-Rectangular Flags?April 11, 2022
