Jonathan Swift’s infamous hoax convinced England that astrologer John Partridge was dead—even while he was still alive. Discover the bizarre true story behind Isaac Bickerstaff.
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On the night before Thanksgiving, November 24, 1971, a passenger by the name of Dan Cooper boarded a plane in Portland, Oregon, bound for Seattle. Clad in a suit and raincoat, wearing dark glasses and carrying a briefcase, he sat silently in the back of the plane.
During his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting, and this was to a friend and only for a very small amount of money. While Van Gogh was never a success during his life, he plugged on with painting, sometimes starving to complete his over 800 known works. Today, they bring in hundreds of…
Most of us take Albert Einstein’s name as synonymous with genius, but he didn’t always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and…
Discover how Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln’s assassin, once saved the President’s son — a shocking historical irony that defied destiny.[
Mark Twain lost more than a half million dollars in his lifetime from the failed inventions in which he invested. The invention that cost Twain the most was one in which he did not invest in: Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. When Bell personally offered Twain a chance to invest in his telephone, Twain responding by…
Green Eggs and Ham, the beloved children’s book, was the result of a bet. Read about it here.
In the mood to treat yourself to something special? A Golden Opulence sundae from New York City’s Serendipity 3 restaurant is covered in 23-carat edible gold leaf and is also rich in flavor thanks to Tahitian vanilla ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla beans and chunks of rare Chuao chocolate from Venezuela. In lieu of…
For nearly 200 years competitors have gathered at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, England for the annual Cheese Rolling. Hordes of fearless contestants chase an 8-pound Double Gloucester cheese wheel down a steep hill, in an effort to catch the cheese before it gets to the bottom. The winner gets to keep the cheese and typically…
Armpit sniffers work for deodorant companies. They may spend their days in a hot room sniffing up to 60 armpits an hour to determine the effectiveness of deodorant in controlling sweaty smells and then write up reports on the effectiveness of the different deodorants involved. The work requires both a good sense of smell and…
Have you ever wondered what happens to all those golf balls that end up in the ponds, lakes, and streams of golf courses? They’re not left in the water to rot for all eternity. Instead, golf ball divers retrieve them and make a handsome profit from them. A typical golf ball diver can retrieve 800,000…
Austin, Texas hosts the largest colony of Mexican free-tailed bats, with approximately 1.5 million bats residing beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. This unique natural attraction draws both locals and tourists, highlighting the city’s rich biodiversity and ecological significance.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, was afraid of the dark. Read more fun facts about Thomas Edison. Read more fun facts about inventions. Read more fun facts about phobias.
Nolan Bushnell, creator of the Atari Video Game System, is also the founder of the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain.
A 12-pound, duck-sized horse called Sifrhippus once inhabited the forests of North America. Tweets by commonplacefact Posted via DraftCraft app
