stackyFACTSBefore the invention of the magnetic compass, Norse sailors bravely crossed treacherous, foggy oceans by holding up a specialized mineral known as an Iceland spar. These unique optical crystals polarized the scattered sunlight, allowing ancient navigators to pinpoint the sun's exact location directly through thick cloud cover.
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British forces dropped the very first allied bombs on the city of Berlin during World War II in 1940, but the initial payload completely failed to hit any…
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To bypass strict religious dietary laws, the Vatican officially categorized what bizarre animal as a fish?
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When you're trying to establish a brutal fascist regime, it helps to have God on your payroll. In 1929, Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty with the Holy See.…
Discover morePicture a Roman citizen jingling down a street with a bronze key nearly as big as a fruit from the market swinging at their waist. These oversized keys…
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Because if someone is mentally unwell, dizzying them into unconsciousness will surely fix it. 'Rotational therapy' spun patients at horrific speeds to…
Discover morePicture Sundays in a medieval village: instead of a lazy afternoon, men line up with bows, required by law to practice arrows into the sky. At first glance,…
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