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Criminals in New York City used to routinely steal subway tokens by jamming the turnstile slots with paper and then physically sucking the trapped token out with their mouths.
Criminals in New York City used to routinely steal subway tokens by jamming the turnstile slots with paper and then physically sucking the trapped token out…
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Walt Disney World is a resort network, not one theme park.
Walt Disney World is a resort network, not one theme park. Its parks, hotels, roads, waterways, and transport routes occupy a vast property in central…
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Saliva helps turn food into a signal your tongue can read.
Saliva helps turn food into a signal your tongue can read. Dissolved molecules reach taste receptors, which respond to qualities such as sweetness, saltiness,…
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Jesse Pinkman survived because Breaking Bad found a better use for him.
Jesse Pinkman survived because Breaking Bad found a better use for him. Aaron Paul recalled learning that Jesse had originally been intended to die during the…
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Piggly Wiggly’s founder tried to trap short sellers and ended up trapped by his own debt.
Piggly Wiggly’s founder tried to trap short sellers and ended up trapped by his own debt. Clarence Saunders bought heavily in 1923, hoping traders who had bet…
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Some Moscow strays learned to travel by subway.
Some Moscow strays learned to travel by subway. Reports documented a small number of dogs boarding trains and moving between familiar stations. Researchers…
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Caesar reportedly told his kidnappers their ransom was too low.
Caesar reportedly told his kidnappers their ransom was too low. In Plutarch's account, pirates demanded 20 talents and Caesar offered 50, treating their price…
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Austrian soldiers accidentally attacked their own army during the Battle of Karánsebes in 1788, reportedly suffering massive casualties without a single enemy Ottoman soldier ever stepping onto the battlefield.
Austrian soldiers accidentally attacked their own army during the Battle of Karánsebes in 1788, reportedly suffering massive casualties without a single enemy…
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Zosimos of Panopolis was a Greco-Egyptian mystic and alchemist from the 3rd century who wrote extensively about the spiritual transformation of matter.
Zosimos of Panopolis was a Greco-Egyptian mystic and alchemist from the 3rd century who wrote extensively about the spiritual transformation of matter. In one…
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Paramount Pictures actively developed a script in the 1970s for a Star Trek feature film where the crew of the Enterprise encounters an alien claiming to be Jesus Christ.
Paramount Pictures actively developed a script in the 1970s for a Star Trek feature film where the crew of the Enterprise encounters an alien claiming to be…
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The 'cobra effect' is a warning about paying for the wrong result.
The 'cobra effect' is a warning about paying for the wrong result. The familiar parable describes a snake bounty that encourages people to breed snakes…
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Friends' monkey was an actor with a difficult schedule.
Friends' monkey was an actor with a difficult schedule. Katie, a female capuchin who played Marcel, had to hit marks alongside a tightly timed sitcom cast.…
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Elizabeth II drove without holding a driving license.
Elizabeth II drove without holding a driving license. The British sovereign was exempt from the normal licensing requirement, and official state cars could…
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Godzilla's original roar began with a double bass rather than an animal.
Godzilla's original roar began with a double bass rather than an animal. Akira Ifukube used a resin-coated leather glove on the instrument's strings to create…
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Personal automobiles remain completely stationary and parked for roughly ninety-five percent of their operational lifespan, making them one of the most inefficient capital investments a human being can make.
Personal automobiles remain completely stationary and parked for roughly ninety-five percent of their operational lifespan, making them one of the most…
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Quentin Tarantino actually financed his legendary independent film Reservoir Dogs by playing an Elvis Presley impersonator on an episode of the cozy geriatric comedy series The…
Quentin Tarantino actually financed his legendary independent film Reservoir Dogs by playing an Elvis Presley impersonator on an episode of the cozy geriatric…
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Credem Bank in Italy officially accepts massive wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as collateral for small business loans, storing hundreds of thousands of them in highly secured, climate-controlled vaults.
Credem Bank in Italy officially accepts massive wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as collateral for small business loans, storing hundreds of thousands of…
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Pluto's entire surface is only slightly larger than Russia.
Pluto's entire surface is only slightly larger than Russia. Using Pluto's measured diameter of about 2,377 kilometers gives a surface area near 17.7 million…
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Norway features a remarkably quaint little town officially named Hell, which predictably freezes over entirely every single winter due to the unforgiving Scandinavian climate.
Norway features a remarkably quaint little town officially named Hell, which predictably freezes over entirely every single winter due to the unforgiving…
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Casinos in Las Vegas strictly prohibit the installation of wall clocks or windows on their gaming floors as a psychological tactic to sever your connection to the linear progression of time.
Casinos in Las Vegas strictly prohibit the installation of wall clocks or windows on their gaming floors as a psychological tactic to sever your connection to…
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Clear-air turbulence increased in a four-decade analysis.
Clear-air turbulence increased in a four-decade analysis. A University of Reading study compared atmospheric conditions from 1979 to 2020. At a typical North…
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A fever turns up your body's thermostat.
A fever turns up your body's thermostat. Immune signals can tell the hypothalamus, a temperature-regulating region of the brain, to aim higher. You may shiver…
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Lincoln's store sent him deeper into debt.
Lincoln's store sent him deeper into debt. In 1833, Abraham Lincoln partnered with William Berry to buy a small store in New Salem. The venture struggled, and…
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NASA spent nearly thirty-eight million dollars developing the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle in the early 1970s, creating a foldable, battery-powered buggy that astronauts could use…
NASA spent nearly thirty-eight million dollars developing the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle in the early 1970s, creating a foldable, battery-powered buggy that…
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