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The oil crisis helped spread right turns on red.
The oil crisis helped spread right turns on red. U.S. policymakers promoted the rule in the 1970s as a way to reduce time spent idling at signals. It was not…
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Some zoo cheetahs grow up with a dog as a companion.
Some zoo cheetahs grow up with a dog as a companion. Zoos have paired selected hand-raised cheetah cubs with dogs that become playmates and familiar social…
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Snakes completely lack eyelids and instead protect their unblinking eyes with a transparent, specialized scale known as a brille or spectacle.
Snakes completely lack eyelids and instead protect their unblinking eyes with a transparent, specialized scale known as a brille or spectacle. It works like a…
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Scream gave its old title to the kind of movie that would mock it.
Scream gave its old title to the kind of movie that would mock it. Wes Craven's slasher was developed under the title Scary Movie before becoming Scream. In…
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The Spartans made red cloaks part of their military image.
The Spartans made red cloaks part of their military image. Ancient writers associated the clothing with a formidable appearance, and later explanations often…
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Pyramid power was a massive pseudoscientific fad in the nineteen seventies where people genuinely believed that placing food, razor blades, or their own heads inside a cardboard…
Pyramid power was a massive pseudoscientific fad in the nineteen seventies where people genuinely believed that placing food, razor blades, or their own heads…
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Mary Shelley kept a relic believed to be her husband's heart.
Mary Shelley kept a relic believed to be her husband's heart. After Percy Shelley drowned in 1822, his body was cremated on an Italian beach. Edward Trelawny…
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A school-lunch budget plan tried to count ketchup as vegetables.
A school-lunch budget plan tried to count ketchup as vegetables. Proposed U.S. rules in 1981 would have let condiments contribute toward school lunches'…
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Uno began as Merle Robbins's take on Crazy Eights.
Uno began as Merle Robbins's take on Crazy Eights. Robbins developed the game in 1971, turning the familiar match-and-discard card-game idea into a dedicated…
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Numerologists believe that numbers carry deep mystical vibrations that influence the fabric of reality, and no number has caused more unhinged obsession than twenty-three.
Numerologists believe that numbers carry deep mystical vibrations that influence the fabric of reality, and no number has caused more unhinged obsession than…
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Walt Disney's final written communication before his death in 1966 was a piece of paper on which he mysteriously scribbled the name of actor Kurt Russell, a bizarre cinematic…
Walt Disney's final written communication before his death in 1966 was a piece of paper on which he mysteriously scribbled the name of actor Kurt Russell, a…
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Engineers at IBM created the very first smartphone all the way back in 1992, unleashing a massive black brick called the Simon Personal Communicator that cost nearly eleven…
Engineers at IBM created the very first smartphone all the way back in 1992, unleashing a massive black brick called the Simon Personal Communicator that cost…
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Marvel hastily shot the famous post-credits shawarma eating scene for The Avengers after the movie had already held its official world premiere, forcing the cast to awkwardly…
Marvel hastily shot the famous post-credits shawarma eating scene for The Avengers after the movie had already held its official world premiere, forcing the…
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Crassus bought houses while they were burning.
Crassus bought houses while they were burning. Plutarch describes the Roman financier buying threatened properties cheaply from frightened owners, alongside…
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Wampum could preserve an agreement as well as carry value.
Wampum could preserve an agreement as well as carry value. For Haudenosaunee people, patterns of shell beads recorded laws, traditions and political…
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A coffee nap tries to line up two different clocks.
A coffee nap tries to line up two different clocks. A short nap can reduce sleepiness while caffeine is being absorbed. Researchers tested the combination in…
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Bali's temple monkeys can hold your belongings for a food offer.
Bali's temple monkeys can hold your belongings for a food offer. At Uluwatu, researchers documented macaques taking visitors' objects, keeping possession and…
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Hot-cold empathy gap is a psychological dynamic in which people vastly underestimate the influence of visceral drives on their own attitudes, preferences, and behaviors.
Hot-cold empathy gap is a psychological dynamic in which people vastly underestimate the influence of visceral drives on their own attitudes, preferences, and…
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Idi Amin handed businesses to loyalists and wrecked the economy supplying them.
Idi Amin handed businesses to loyalists and wrecked the economy supplying them. In 1972, Amin expelled Uganda's Asian population and redistributed seized…
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France welcomed around 90 million international tourists in 2019.
France welcomed around 90 million international tourists in 2019. That pre-pandemic total helped make it the world's leading destination by international…
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Mew slipped into Pokémon through 300 bytes of leftover space.
Mew slipped into Pokémon through 300 bytes of leftover space. Developer Shigeki Morimoto recalled adding the creature after debugging features were removed…
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Zener cards were developed in the 1930s by perceptual psychologist Karl Zener to conduct rigorous, scientific testing for extrasensory perception and clairvoyance at Duke University.
Zener cards were developed in the 1930s by perceptual psychologist Karl Zener to conduct rigorous, scientific testing for extrasensory perception and…
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Muscle memory may leave traces beyond the muscle you can see.
Muscle memory may leave traces beyond the muscle you can see. Training changes muscle fibers and the systems that control them. Researchers have investigated…
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Papua New Guinea has more than 800 living languages.
Papua New Guinea has more than 800 living languages. Mountain ranges, deep valleys, and dense forests have helped sustain many distinct communities and…
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