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Ferruccio Lamborghini originally built his massive fortune manufacturing tractors from leftover military hardware after the Second World War.
Ferruccio Lamborghini originally built his massive fortune manufacturing tractors from leftover military hardware after the Second World War. After the war,…
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A bucket can let a Skyrim speedrunner skip a wall—and part of the story.
A bucket can let a Skyrim speedrunner skip a wall—and part of the story. Holding certain objects against a wall can exploit collision behavior and push the…
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An absent limb can still feel painfully present.
An absent limb can still feel painfully present. After amputation, changes in remaining nerves, the spinal cord and brain can contribute to sensations…
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An 1808 newspaper sent a duel into the sky.
An 1808 newspaper sent a duel into the sky. A report in the Northampton Mercury described two rivals settling their dispute from balloons above Paris. In the…
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Inflammation sends repair resources to an injury—and can make the area hurt.
Inflammation sends repair resources to an injury—and can make the area hurt. Blood vessels widen and become leakier, allowing fluid and immune cells into the…
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Christchurch paid a wizard to help give the city its identity.
Christchurch paid a wizard to help give the city its identity. Ian Brackenbury Channell, known as the Wizard of New Zealand, received an annual council…
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The largest nuclear test released about 50 megatons.
The largest nuclear test released about 50 megatons. The Soviet Union detonated Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya in 1961. Its estimated yield was more than three…
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Economists widely observe a principle called Gresham's Law, which states that bad money always drives out good money from active circulation within a given market.
Economists widely observe a principle called Gresham's Law, which states that bad money always drives out good money from active circulation within a given…
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Swiss cheese production was strictly controlled by a massive government-backed cartel known as the Swiss Cheese Union from the First World War all the way until the late 1990s.
Swiss cheese production was strictly controlled by a massive government-backed cartel known as the Swiss Cheese Union from the First World War all the way…
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A car horn can play two notes at once.
A car horn can play two notes at once. Many horn sets pair a lower and a higher tone; Bosch, for example, has offered a 400-and-500-hertz combination.…
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A company can move its legal home without moving its workers.
A company can move its legal home without moving its workers. Delaware lets businesses incorporate there while operating elsewhere. A registered agent…
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Chess’s queen was once much weaker than the piece we know today.
Chess’s queen was once much weaker than the piece we know today. In late-15th-century European play, she gained long-range movement along ranks, files, and…
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Secret Teachings of All Ages is considered the absolute encyclopedia of mystical philosophy, but it was published by Manly P.
Secret Teachings of All Ages is considered the absolute encyclopedia of mystical philosophy, but it was published by Manly P. Hall when he was only…
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First commercial webcam ever integrated directly into a laptop was the Apple iSight in 2006, ending the dark era of balancing clunky third-party cameras on top of your monitor.
First commercial webcam ever integrated directly into a laptop was the Apple iSight in 2006, ending the dark era of balancing clunky third-party cameras on…
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Sales of Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses skyrocketed by over forty percent immediately after Tom Cruise wore them in the 1986 movie "Top Gun," literally saving the brand from the brink of financial ruin.
Sales of Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses skyrocketed by over forty percent immediately after Tom Cruise wore them in the 1986 movie "Top Gun," literally saving the…
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Wicca is frequently marketed as an ancient, unbroken pagan religion stretching back to pre-Christian Celtic times, but it was actually invented in the 1950s by a British retired civil servant named Gerald Gardner.
Wicca is frequently marketed as an ancient, unbroken pagan religion stretching back to pre-Christian Celtic times, but it was actually invented in the 1950s…
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An axolotl rebuilds a missing limb instead of just closing the wound.
An axolotl rebuilds a missing limb instead of just closing the wound. Cells beneath the wound covering form a structure called a blastema, which supplies…
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Beloved television painter Bob Ross used to be a master sergeant in the United States Air Force, where his primary job was to be the guy who screamed at raw recruits to make them scrub the latrines.
Beloved television painter Bob Ross used to be a master sergeant in the United States Air Force, where his primary job was to be the guy who screamed at raw…
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Earth could orbit a Sun-mass black hole much as it orbits the Sun.
Earth could orbit a Sun-mass black hole much as it orbits the Sun. At Earth's distance, gravity depends on that central mass, not on whether the object…
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Quebec stores maple syrup to smooth out unpredictable harvests.
Quebec stores maple syrup to smooth out unpredictable harvests. The producers' strategic reserve holds surplus syrup from strong seasons and releases supplies…
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Seventeenth-century Sweden minted copper money in plates so large that a ten-daler piece weighed about 43 pounds.
Seventeenth-century Sweden minted copper money in plates so large that a ten-daler piece weighed about 43 pounds. Paying a substantial sum could mean moving a…
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Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected object because your attention was engaged on another task.
Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected object because your attention was engaged on another task. In the famous…
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A byte did not always mean eight bits.
A byte did not always mean eight bits. Early computer designs used different group sizes, often shaped by the characters or data the machine needed to handle.…
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Earth keeps a solid iron center at roughly 6,000°C.
Earth keeps a solid iron center at roughly 6,000°C. Enormous pressure allows the inner core to remain solid despite temperatures comparable to the Sun's…
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