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Did you know... Danes once bred a pig to look like the flag.
In the early 20th century, those who resided in North Frisia under Prussian rule were not allowed to raise the Danish flag. But some crafty North Frisians took action by breeding a pig, known as the Danish Protest Pig, to be red in color, with a large white stripe around its belly—thus creating an animal version of the flag. As they technically did not break the law, and because it wouldn't have been feasible to ban the breeding of pigs, the Danes successfully protested Prussia.
Did you know... A 70-year-old woman once completed seven marathons in seven days, across all seven continents.
Chau Smith was always an avid runner, and, in 2017, she decided that for her 70th birthday, she would complete seven marathons in one week across all of the continents. Traveling made it challenging—for example, Smith made the race in Egypt just minutes before the start because her plane to Cairo was delayed. But despite the obstacles, she completed her goal.
Did you know... Dogs like squeaky toys for a dark reason.
Ever wonder why your little puppy obsesses over those squeaky toys? Because dogs are descendants of wolves whose instincts include hunting smaller animals. The sound a squeaky toy makes is very similar to the sound a small animal makes when being hunted.
Did you know... The man who founded Atari also started Chuck E. Cheese.
In 1972, Nolan Bushnell started the gaming company Atari, which gave us the classic arcade game Pong. Bushnell sold the company just four years later and the following year, he opened Chuck E. Cheese! In fact, there is one game in Chuck E. Cheese that actually is called Ping, a knockoff of his original arcade game, which he couldn't use since he no longer owned it.
Did you know... Most people break up on Mondays.
Searching through public Facebook data, Lee Byron and David McCandless found that relationships statuses changed for the worse two weeks before Christmas, around Easter, and on Mondays. Though this data may be somewhat misleading, as people might not be live-updating their breakups, it shows an obvious trend.
Did you know... There may be 2,000 active serial killers in the U.S. right now.
Thomas Hargrove has been archiving homicides for years through his Murder Accountability Project. Through his experience, he came up with an algorithm that found patterns in recent unsolved murders linked to at least one other murder through DNA. This allowed him to estimate the number of unsolved cases in the U.S. at any given time. According to The New Yorker, he believes that the number of active serial killers in the U.S. is around 2,000.
Did you know... Beethoven could still hear after going deaf.
Upon going deaf, Beethoven discovered that if he bit onto a metal pole that connected to the piano he was playing, he could hear almost perfectly well. This process is called bone conduction, and while technology has evolved, the science is the same: Vibrations are transferred from the conductive metal into our bones. When this happens, our ears pick up the signal with no sound distortion.
Did you know... Ants have a built-in FitBit.
While previous research found that ants use visual cues, a 2007 study discovered that desert ants have an internal pedometer that helps them keep track of their travels and find their way back home.
Did you know... Crows holds grudges.
In 2010, researchers in Seattle found that formerly captured crows were able to remember the face of their abductor even years after the incident. Once they identified the suspect in question, they would threaten them by diving down and swarming the person that they had felt threatened by years before.
Did you know... You can always "see" your nose.
The human brain is capable of amazing things, but in order to do those things, it needs to block out distractions through a process called unconscious selective attention. The nose is one of those distractions. In his landmark 1960s study, Ulric Neisser discovered this phenomenon after he asked participants to count the number of times basketball players passed a ball in a video. What the large majority failed to notice in the video was a girl walking through the middle of the court with an umbrella, because they were so focused on counting.
Did you know... A restaurant in New York employs grandmas as chefs.
It is true that everybody thinks their Italian grandma—or nonna—is best cook around. So it was a genius idea when Joe Scaravella decided to gather up as many nonnas as he could to work in his restaurant in Staten Island. Enoteca Maria combines the skill of these delightful, talented grandmothers and has them create and cook recipes from their own family cookbooks.
Did you know... Shaq only ever made one three-pointer.
Shaquille O'Neal made the only three-point shot he would ever make in his entire career on Feb. 16, 1996. When the Orlando Magic played the Milwaukee Bucks, O'Neal received an almost full-court pass before he shot the three-pointer. Despite being the only official three-point shot in his career, he went down in NBA history as one of the greatest of all time.
Did you know... America's first bank robber deposited the money back into the same bank.
At the Bank of Philadelphia on Aug. 1, 1798, a sum of $162,821 was stolen from the vault. There was no sign of forced entry so it was thought to be an inside job. Patrick Lyon was imprisoned as the prime suspect, as he had been the carpenter that worked on the vault doors.
But then, they realized a man named Isaac Davis had been depositing large sums of money into the Bank of Philadelphia. It turned out, he was one of the robbers involved. In 1799, Lyon was freed, and Davis only ended up repaying the money without serving a day in jail.
Did you know... Sharks existed before trees.
Trees are young'ns compared to the geezer sharks that rule the sea. Sharks have existed for around 400 million years, while trees became their own official species only 350 million years ago. Other notable animals that outlive our leafy ancestors are the horseshoe crab as well as the jellyfish.
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Did you know... And trees weren't always biodegradable.
Today, bacteria and fungi eat away at fallen trees, but that wasn't always the case. Bacteria had to evolve to eat wood, so hundreds of millions of years go, trees would fall at death, leaving large piles of dead wood. Forest fires of unimaginable proportions would burn the massive mounds of dead wood. And that's where most of the coal today on Earth came from, according to National Geographic.
Did you know... You're pronouncing Dr. Seuss' name wrong.
Dr. Seuss, the popular children's book author who is known for his rhyming skills, was born with the name Theodor Seuss Geisel. Seuss is his mother's maiden name, and their family pronounces it as "soice" (rhyming with voice). Seuss' college friend Alexander Liang even wrote a poem about the common misconception.
Did you know... Nearly all species to have ever existed on Earth are extinct.
We walk an Earth that has seen the extinction of 99.9 percent of all of the species who've ever lived on it, according to PBS. Congratulations—that means you are technically in the .1 percent… at least for now!
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Did you know... The Silverback gorilla can lift almost a literal ton.
The Silverback gorilla can lift up to 10 times its body weight on average: a total of about 1,800 pounds, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This makes them one of the strongest living animal species on Earth. Though they are feared, the Silverback gorillas will only use their strength when they feel threatened.
Did you know... Every time you shuffle a deck of cards, you get a combination that's never existed.
Your angsty teenage dreams of being the most original, unique person alive could actually come true! Grab a deck of cards and shuffle. Most likely, you will have created a combination of cards that had never existed yet until that moment. Any math experts out there know that this is because the probability comes out to 52 factorial or 52! (52 x 51 x 50 … x 2 x 1). The probability that two card shuffles are exactly the same is so small, it likely will never happen.
Did you know... There is an immortal jellyfish.
When it's an adult, the "Immortal Jellyfish," scientifically named Turritopsis dohrnii, can transform its cells back to its childhood state. This usually happens when it is physically harmed, sick, or even when it is starving. The jellyfish evolved this skill in order to survive throughout history, specifically when latching onto ships. Since it can hitchhike, its DNA has spread and the not-so-rare species is emerging all over the world.
Did you know... America accidentally dropped an atom bomb on South Carolina in 1958.
In March 1958, a B-47 plane was headed to the United Kingdom and was armed with an atomic bomb. This bomb was even bigger than the "Fat Boy," the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
During the flight, the pilots noticed a fault light, so one of them decided to check it out. In doing so, he accidentally released the emergency pin, watching in horror as the bomb dropped to the ground. The good news was, the critical part of the bomb needed to set it off was still on the plane, so it never exploded.
Did you know... Baby blue whales grow 200 pounds per day.
Blue Whale calves grow 200 pounds per day for the first year they are alive. They can move at a brisk pace of five miles per hour when fully grown, but can get up to 20 miles per hour if need be. They can also hear up to 1,000 miles away in the ocean.
Did you know... Actor Bill Murray uses a 1-800 number instead of an agent or manager.
Bill Murray is famous for starring in movies like the original Ghostbusters (1984) and Groundhog Day (1993). But anyone in Hollywood who's interested in working with him must first navigate a somewhat strange situation in order to get his attention. That's because the star uses a mysterious 1-800 number instead of an agent or manager.
"You just call the 1-800 number," filmmaker Theodore Melfi, who directed Murray in St. Vincent (2014), told USA Today. "You have to record the message and send the message. I started calling once a week … He never called back. I finally called his lawyer and said, 'I'm trying [to] reach Bill.' And he goes, 'What number do you got?' And I go, 'I've got the 800 number.' And he goes, 'Well, that's what I got.'"
Did you know...Cats once delivered mail in Belgium.
In the 1870s, the city of Liège, Belgium, attempted to employ 37 felines as mail carriers, according to the BBC. Messages were tucked into waterproof bags that the kitties would carry around their necks. However, while one cat apparently made it to its destination in under five hours, the other felines took up to a day to complete their journeys. Due to the fact that the cats weren't particularly reliable and definitely weren't speedy, the service didn't last very long.
Did you know... There's a device that creates energy from snowfall.
It's pretty darn impressive that scientists have been able to harness energy from the sun, wind, and water, providing us with all kinds of alternative sources of power. And now they've managed to create energy from snowfall. According to a 2019 study in the journal Nano Energy, engineers and chemists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a device made of silicone that can harness a charge from static electricity.
"Snow is positively charged and gives up electrons, while silicone is negatively charged and accepts the electrons," IFL Science explains. "So, as the snow lands on the silicone, a charge is produced and then captured." Think of it like the spark of energy you create when you rub a balloon against your hair.
Did you know... A mermaid "documentary" once fooled so many people that the U.S. government had to issue a statement.
In 2013, Animal Planet aired Mermaids: The New Evidence, a documentary—or rather, a mockumentary—that "proved" the half-human-half-fish beings exist. And while the program was fake, plenty of the 3.6 million viewers that watched believed that the fictional claims were real. In fact, so many people were fooled that the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a statement on its website addressing the confusion, saying: "Mermaids: The New Evidence is just entertainment. No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found."