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A tiny island footbridge became famous for a disputed border story.
A tiny island footbridge became famous for a disputed border story. At Zavikon in the St. Lawrence River, a roughly 32-foot bridge connects a house's island…
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One Malaysian hotel contains 7,351 rooms.
One Malaysian hotel contains 7,351 rooms. The First World Hotel in Genting Highlands holds the Guinness record for the largest hotel by room count. Its…
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Japanese railway researchers made a train sound like a warning animal.
Japanese railway researchers made a train sound like a warning animal. They tested a deterrent combining deer alarm calls with barking sounds, emitted from a…
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Superman's creators sold their early rights for $130.
Superman's creators sold their early rights for $130. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's 1938 deal transferred rights to the character alongside payment for the…
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Queensland put trivia questions beside the highway.
Queensland put trivia questions beside the highway. In designated fatigue zones, roadside signs pose a question and reveal the answer farther along the road.…
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Gun Fight was released in 1975 and holds the prestigious title of being the very first arcade video game to use a microprocessor instead of basic solid-state routing.
Gun Fight was released in 1975 and holds the prestigious title of being the very first arcade video game to use a microprocessor instead of basic solid-state…
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Chameleon color changes are primarily driven by temperature regulation and emotional state rather than a simple desire to camouflage into their surroundings.
Chameleon color changes are primarily driven by temperature regulation and emotional state rather than a simple desire to camouflage into their surroundings.…
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New York’s street steam often starts with water outside the pipes.
New York’s street steam often starts with water outside the pipes. Rain or groundwater can touch hot underground steam equipment and vaporize, rising through…
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Production on the 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist was delayed when a mysterious electrical fire burned almost the entire set of the MacNeil house to the ground, leaving only…
Production on the 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist was delayed when a mysterious electrical fire burned almost the entire set of the MacNeil house to the…
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Matt Damon famously turned down the lead role in James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi phenomenon Avatar, walking away from a contract that offered him ten percent of the film's backend box office profits.
Matt Damon famously turned down the lead role in James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi phenomenon Avatar, walking away from a contract that offered him ten percent of…
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Ford tried to grow his own rubber supply in the Amazon.
Ford tried to grow his own rubber supply in the Amazon. Fordlândia, founded in 1928, combined a plantation with an American-style company town. Dense…
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Quadriga's collapse involved fake balances, not just a lost password.
Quadriga's collapse involved fake balances, not just a lost password. Canadian securities investigators found that CEO Gerald Cotten used accounts credited…
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Apple's famous spinning wait cursor, officially named the 'spinning pinwheel of death', was allegedly inspired by a hypnotic toy sitting on the desk of an early executive's…
Apple's famous spinning wait cursor, officially named the 'spinning pinwheel of death', was allegedly inspired by a hypnotic toy sitting on the desk of an…
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The Simpsons invented a word to defend another strange word.
The Simpsons invented a word to defend another strange word. In a 1996 episode, a character reassures another that “embiggen” is perfectly “cromulent.” The…
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Sarah Winchester, the massively wealthy heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, spent 38 years continuously building a sprawling, chaotic mansion in California because a psychic…
Sarah Winchester, the massively wealthy heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, spent 38 years continuously building a sprawling, chaotic mansion in…
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Paramount paid to reserve The Godfather before Puzo finished it.
Paramount paid to reserve The Godfather before Puzo finished it. A surviving letter described $12,500 in option money and a separate $80,000 purchase price if…
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Kuwait’s Souk Al-Manakh stock boom ran on checks dated for the future.
Kuwait’s Souk Al-Manakh stock boom ran on checks dated for the future. Traders bought speculative shares with promises to pay later, allowing commitments to…
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Romans repeatedly banned astrologers, then known as Chaldeans, from the city of Rome, specifically because emperors were terrified that citizens would cast charts to predict the exact date of their assassinations.
Romans repeatedly banned astrologers, then known as Chaldeans, from the city of Rome, specifically because emperors were terrified that citizens would cast…
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Die Hard changed its sales pitch.
Die Hard changed its sales pitch. Ads shifted emphasis from Willis to the building and back. A poster does not simply reproduce a film—it chooses which part…
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India's Supreme Court actually ruled in 2004 that astrology is a legitimate science and can be officially taught in universities, legally placing horoscopes on the same academic level as physics and biology.
India's Supreme Court actually ruled in 2004 that astrology is a legitimate science and can be officially taught in universities, legally placing horoscopes…
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Kenneth Grant was a British occultist who took over a faction of the Ordo Templi Orientis and decided that traditional mysticism simply wasn't strange enough, so he started aggressively mixing it with H.P.
Kenneth Grant was a British occultist who took over a faction of the Ordo Templi Orientis and decided that traditional mysticism simply wasn't strange enough,…
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Legendary Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe kept a fully domesticated, remarkably thirsty pet elk that met a deeply tragic end after getting aggressively blackout drunk at a fancy aristocratic party.
Legendary Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe kept a fully domesticated, remarkably thirsty pet elk that met a deeply tragic end after getting aggressively blackout…
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Rocky's empty ice rink came from an empty extras budget.
Rocky's empty ice rink came from an empty extras budget. Talia Shire recalled that the production couldn't afford the crowd originally intended for Rocky and…
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Citizens of Mattoon, Illinois, succumbed to a massive wave of mass hysteria in 1944 when dozens of people reported being paralyzed in their beds by a mysterious figure spraying sweet-smelling gas through their windows.
Citizens of Mattoon, Illinois, succumbed to a massive wave of mass hysteria in 1944 when dozens of people reported being paralyzed in their beds by a…
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