People & Society

Amish beards have no mustache because they associate them with the military, and they're pacifists March 3, 2021

In 1998, Alex Trebek donated of 74 acres of open land (worth $2m at the time) in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills for the purpose of conservation and as a wildlife corridor March 2, 2021

During the second Vatican Council, a Cardinal from Belgium shouted "Why are we even discussing the future of the Church when half the Church is not even here?" Referring to the lack of women religious on the Council. 23 women were then appointed as auditors March 1, 2021

A lab study found honeybee venom (which has the compound "melittin") destroyed 2 types of hard to treat breast cancer cells. Melittin on its own reduced cancer cell growth & can be produced synthetically. One venom concentration killed cancer cells within 1 hour with minimal harm to other cells. February 28, 2021

Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini were friends at one point, however Doyle refused to accept Houdini performed using trickery and believed he had supernatural powers. Their friendship ended after Houdini exposed séance mediums who claimed to have powers to talk to the dead. February 27, 2021

In 1865, Charles Dickens was traveling home from France when his train derailed while crossing a bridge, and his car was left dangling from the tracks. He helped save stranded passengers and then climbed back into the dangling car to find a manuscript he was supposed to send to his publishers. February 27, 2021

John Cockcroft, the man who insisted that the windscale nuclear power plant chimney stacks be fitted with high performance filters that saved much of norther England from becoming a nuclear wasteland after the reactor caught fire was mocked for his caution before the accident. February 24, 2021

Sleight of hand artist Apollo Robbins was so proficient that he once managed to pick the pockets of 2 secret service agents assigned to former president Jimmy Carter. He managed to steal the forner president's itinerary, the keys to his motorcade and the badges of the agents. February 20, 2021

Nicaraguan Sign Language is a sign language that spontaneously developed among deaf children in Nicaragua in the 1980s. It is of particular interest to linguists because it is believed to be to be an example of the birth of a new language, unrelated to any other. February 20, 2021

Texas has it's own separate electrical grid from the rest of the US. This was done for political purposes so that they didn't have to deal with Federal regulations. February 16, 2021

The city of Doncaster has road gritters named "Gritsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney", "David Plowie", "Brad Grit", "Gritney Spears", and "Usain Salt". February 15, 2021

Apple's policy of refusing to repair phones that have undergone "unauthorized" repairs is illegal in Australia due to their right to repair law. February 14, 2021

After the 2011 Japanese nuclear plant in Fukushima was disabled by an earthquake tsunami double whammy, elderly Japanese people volunteered to do repairs to save young people from radiation exposure. February 14, 2021

Researchers found that a blood test called PanSeer detected cancer in 95% of patients up to 4 years before they got a conventional cancer diagnosis. The test determines if the DNA in blood plasma was shed by tumours based on precence of particular methyl groups. February 11, 2021

50 new shades of colours were created for the anime film Akira. This is due to the fact most of the movie takes place at night, which was a setting animators commonly avoided due to increased color requirements. In total there are 327 shades in the movie February 10, 2021

The skeletons of medieval English archers were deformed from years of archery. The high poundage of war bows, coupled with years of training in their use from a young age, led to skeletons having over-developed shoulder and arm bones to compensate for the growth of muscle around those areas. February 7, 2021

Graffiti artist Banksy sought to trademark his image of a protester throwing flowers. The trademark office denied it on the grounds of him having no interest in selling his work. In the ruling they used a quote from one of Banksy's books: "copyright is for losers" February 2, 2021

In 2014, four tenants refused to move out of their homes when developers wanted to create one of the most exclusive residences in Manhattan. Eventually, they all received huge payouts. The last tenant was so savvy and stubborn he received $17 million, plus use of a $2 million residence for life. February 1, 2021

Meet the California Genocide, an oft-forgotten event in U.S. history due to occurring at the same time at the California Gold Rush. The Native American population of California decreased from as many as 150,000 in 1848 to 30,000 in 1870. Tribes such as the Yahi were hunted to extinction. January 31, 2021

People in the US got free flights by buying money from the government. People would buy 1$ coins in bulk from the US mint (free shipping) and pay off their credit card bill with the coins. They would buy the coins with credit cards that awarded frequent flyer miles, thus getting them free miles. January 31, 2021