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The snow falling on Dorothy contained asbestos.
The snow falling on Dorothy contained asbestos. The Wizard of Oz used asbestos-containing fake snow in its poppy-field scene. A material valued for resisting…
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Martin Luther King helped persuade Uhura to stay on Star Trek.
Martin Luther King helped persuade Uhura to stay on Star Trek. Nichelle Nichols recalled wanting to pursue a stage opportunity when King urged her to consider…
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Canada dominates a global count of larger lakes.
Canada dominates a global count of larger lakes. For lakes exceeding 0.1 square kilometers, Canadian government reporting puts the country's share at roughly…
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Rupert Grint rapped his way into a Harry Potter audition.
Rupert Grint rapped his way into a Harry Potter audition. His homemade audition tape included a rap explaining why he should play Ron Weasley. The…
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Die Hard turned unfinished office floors into Nakatomi Plaza.
Die Hard turned unfinished office floors into Nakatomi Plaza. Los Angeles's Fox Plaza supplied the recognizable tower and interior locations for the 1988…
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Costco gave up millions in margin to keep a chicken at $4.99.
Costco gave up millions in margin to keep a chicken at $4.99. In a 2015 earnings call, its finance chief described years when holding that price meant…
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Sales of Caller ID devices tripled in the United States immediately following the release of the horror movie Scream in 1996, as teenagers suddenly grew terrified of answering…
Sales of Caller ID devices tripled in the United States immediately following the release of the horror movie Scream in 1996, as teenagers suddenly grew…
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Franz Joseph Gall invented the mystical pseudo-science of phrenology, convincing nineteenth-century intellectuals that a person's entire personality and future could be…
Franz Joseph Gall invented the mystical pseudo-science of phrenology, convincing nineteenth-century intellectuals that a person's entire personality and…
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Helena Roerich claimed to receive telepathic messages from a spiritual master named Morya, which guided her and her famous painter husband on a massive, grueling expedition through the Himalayas in the 1920s.
Helena Roerich claimed to receive telepathic messages from a spiritual master named Morya, which guided her and her famous painter husband on a massive,…
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A memorial diamond turns mourning into a material science problem.
A memorial diamond turns mourning into a material science problem. Companies market lab-grown diamonds made using carbon recovered from cremated remains or…
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Babe’s farm used real animals and mechanical doubles.
Babe’s farm used real animals and mechanical doubles. The 1995 production combined trained animals, animatronics, and digitally enhanced footage. When a dog…
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Social connection belongs in the health conversation.
Social connection belongs in the health conversation. Long-term studies link social isolation with increased risk of premature death, and the U.S. Surgeon…
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A monastery could outlive every monk living inside it and still own the same land.
A monastery could outlive every monk living inside it and still own the same land. Property belonged to the continuing religious community rather than to a…
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Tupperware parties taught customers how to use the product.
Tupperware parties taught customers how to use the product. The airtight seal was not self-explanatory on a department-store shelf. Home demonstrations let…
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Many of Mister Rogers' famous sweaters were knitted by his mother.
Many of Mister Rogers' famous sweaters were knitted by his mother. The cardigan he put on at the start of each show was not just a costume chosen to look…
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Public economics heavily studies the free-rider problem, a frustrating market failure that occurs when individuals actively consume a shared resource without paying their fair share for its maintenance.
Public economics heavily studies the free-rider problem, a frustrating market failure that occurs when individuals actively consume a shared resource without…
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Bestselling self-help books promote the law of attraction, a mystical belief that simply thinking positive thoughts will magically manipulate the universe into sending you massive amounts of wealth and success.
Bestselling self-help books promote the law of attraction, a mystical belief that simply thinking positive thoughts will magically manipulate the universe…
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Green eyes don't contain green paint.
Green eyes don't contain green paint. Eye color depends on how much melanin the iris contains, where it sits, and how light interacts with its structure.…
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Airplane cabin air is dry partly because the outside air at cruising altitude contains very little moisture.
Airplane cabin air is dry partly because the outside air at cruising altitude contains very little moisture. Bringing it into a heated cabin produces low…
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President Richard Nixon permanently severed the United States dollar from the gold standard in 1971, officially ending the Bretton Woods system and transforming the global…
President Richard Nixon permanently severed the United States dollar from the gold standard in 1971, officially ending the Bretton Woods system and…
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Doomsday prophets and modern mystics constantly warn us that a blood moon is a terrifying supernatural omen signaling the collapse of human civilization and the dawn of a new spiritual era.
Doomsday prophets and modern mystics constantly warn us that a blood moon is a terrifying supernatural omen signaling the collapse of human civilization and…
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Lady and the Tramp's spaghetti scene survived by being animated.
Lady and the Tramp's spaghetti scene survived by being animated. Walt Disney had cut the sequence after seeing its storyboards. Animator Frank Thomas…
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Tardigrades, colloquially known as water bears, can survive the lethal vacuum of space, extreme radiation, and temperatures near absolute zero by entering a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis.
Tardigrades, colloquially known as water bears, can survive the lethal vacuum of space, extreme radiation, and temperatures near absolute zero by entering a…
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Time twin studies routinely shatter astrological claims by tracking individuals born within minutes of each other at the exact same hospital to see if they develop similar personality traits or life trajectories.
Time twin studies routinely shatter astrological claims by tracking individuals born within minutes of each other at the exact same hospital to see if they…
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