How California Got Its Name from a Mythical Island, a Warrior Queen, and a Book Most People Have Never Heard Of
A mythical island ruled by warrior women? Find out how California got its name from a book that no one remembers.
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How a John Wayne Movie Killed Nearly Half of its Cast and Crew
Read more: How a John Wayne Movie Killed Nearly Half of its Cast and CrewWhy did a John Wayne movie see so many of its cast and crew develop cancer and die?
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Learn Why Some People Feel Compelled to Eat Some Really Weird Things
Read more: Learn Why Some People Feel Compelled to Eat Some Really Weird ThingsDo you ever have a craving for chocolate that won’t let you concentrate until you satisfy it? Have you known a pregnant woman whose appetite seems to glitch like a faulty computer? These urges are nothing compared to those who suffer from the eating disorder pica. In this article, our friends at Stuff I Learned…
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When the United States Takes on The Snake, the Nutcracker, Joey the Clown, and Fat Tony
Read more: When the United States Takes on The Snake, the Nutcracker, Joey the Clown, and Fat TonyIt’s rare when we hear laughter emerge from behind the doors of the Commonplace Fun Facts Legal Department. The usual sound of wailing and the gnashing of teeth is generally more than enough to obfuscate any signs of mirth or levity. Be that as it may, the loud guffaw that ushered forth one day suggested…
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Did Emperor Julianus Buy His Title at an Auction?
Read more: Did Emperor Julianus Buy His Title at an Auction?Did Roman Emperor Julianus buy his imperial title at an auction? Find out the strange facts here.
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George Washington’s Scandalous Love Letters From a Married Woman
Read more: George Washington’s Scandalous Love Letters From a Married WomanΤhe last thing George Washington needed was a scandal. Only days had passed since handing over the presidency to his successor. The Father of the Country was basking in the adulation of a grateful nation. He was lauded not only as the man who led the colonies in a successful revolution against the most powerful…
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Surviving a 75-Story Free Fall in an Elevator
Read more: Surviving a 75-Story Free Fall in an ElevatorIs there anyone who hasn’t gotten into an elevator and wondered what would happen if the elevator cable snapped, sending the elevator plummeting to the ground? If that thought has crossed your mind, that shouldn’t be surprising, and it is good to consider what would take place. After all, it actually happened.
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Why is Whale Poop So Stinking Valuable?
Read more: Why is Whale Poop So Stinking Valuable?What is yellowish-gray, comes after a whale, and is worth more than $1,000 per ounce? No, this isn’t the start of a corny joke; it is a legitimate question. The answer is whale poop. To find out why people are so eager to find and pay for something whales are so eager to get rid…
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NASA Measures Space Sickness With the Garn Scale
Read more: NASA Measures Space Sickness With the Garn ScaleOne of the biggest honors a person can receive is to become the namesake of a unit of measurement. Daniel Fahrenheit, Andres Celsius, and Charles Richter are just a few individuals whose names have been immortalized by being applied as a label to the thing that is being measured. Just such an honor was bestowed…
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The Coolidge Concept of Gossiping
Read more: The Coolidge Concept of GossipingPresident Calvin Coolidge was famously a man of few words. Even so, “Silent Cal” could, by his own admission, get caught up in gossiping.
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Australia’s Name-Changing Tallest Mountain
Read more: Australia’s Name-Changing Tallest MountainIf you stand on the summit of Mount Kosciusko, you have made it to the peak of Australia’s highest mountain. You share that achievement Pawel Edmund Strzelecki, the first Westerner to reach the mountaintop. Well, technically, that’s not quite true. Yes, Strzelecki was the first Westerner to climb Mount Kosciusko, and yes, Mount Kosciusko is…
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How Many Ways Can You Spell Scissors?
Read more: How Many Ways Can You Spell Scissors?How many ways can you spell scissors? The word can be spelled in over 240 ways, according to T.T. Barrow, who wrote about it in his 1895 article “To the Curious.” Barrow proposed even more variations and pondered philosophical questions related to writing. He humorously suggested that authors should focus on simpler topics like “scissars”…
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Arrhichion of Phigalia: The Olympic Champion Who Won After Death
Read more: Arrhichion of Phigalia: The Olympic Champion Who Won After DeathAncient Greek athlete Arrhichion won his final Olympic pankration match even after dying. Discover the incredible true story and historical sources behind it.
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The Ones and Twos of Going Number 1 and Number 2
Read more: The Ones and Twos of Going Number 1 and Number 2Did you ever complain while doing your math homework and ask, “Why do I need to learn this?” Probably someone responded by telling you that no matter what you choose to do with your life, you’re going to have to use math in some way. It turns out this is true, even if you plan…
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Jefferson’s Illiteracy Preference
Read more: Jefferson’s Illiteracy Preference“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” – Thomas Jefferson
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Does the World Seem Crazy? An Expert Predicted This Would Happen
Read more: Does the World Seem Crazy? An Expert Predicted This Would HappenHave you ever looked around and wondered if insanity is on the rise? Does it seem that the whole world is losing its mind? Are you increasingly convinced that sane people are in the minority? Perhaps you aren’t imagining things. On Friday, August 2, 1912, the Vancouver Daily World carried an article under the headline,…
