The town of Winneconne, Wisconsin, after being left off of of the official state road map, attempted to secede from Wisconsin. They wished to either declare independence and annex neighboring towns, or alternatively be integrated into another state, ‘preferably one with better weather’.
In 1865, Charles Dickens was traveling…
In 1865, Charles Dickens was traveling home from France when his train derailed while crossing a bridge, and his car was left dangling from the tracks. He helped save stranded passengers and then climbed back into the dangling car to find a manuscript he was supposed to send to his publishers.
Drivers with more expensive cars are…
Drivers with more expensive cars are less likely to yield to pedestrians. A study has found that the likelihood of yielding goes down by 3% for every extra $1,000 in car value.
The battleship Imperator Aleksandr…
The battleship Imperator Aleksandr III was built by Imperial Russia, taken by Provisional Russia, given to Germany, given to Britain, given to White Russians, and then sold for scrap by the French. The ship guns were then sold to the Finns, stolen by Nazis, and returned to Russia after WW2.
The Rubik’s Cube was originally…
The Rubik’s Cube was originally designed to solve “the structural problem [of] how could the blocks move independently without falling apart.” It wasn’t until the designer Erno Rubik couldn’t “reset” his cube that the idea of a puzzle was conceived.
The developers of the racing simulator…
The developers of the racing simulator game Assetto Corsa were attempting to find the source of what they believed to be a bug with the in-game traction control. In reality, the “bug” was the simulation accurately recreating a real world physics problem they were unaware of.
The Canadian Medical Association voted…
The Canadian Medical Association voted in support of a ban of Mixed Martial Arts in Canada. They argued from a physician responsibility standpoint they could not overlook activities which cause injury and trauma to Canadians. They had previously come out against Boxing for similar reasons.
Firefighters use wetting agents…
Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter. The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and soak into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.”
In the early 1940s a Mexican scientist…
In the early 1940s a Mexican scientist named Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena created a color television system some considered better than any American system at the time. His work made it possible in the 1970s for NASA to transmit color photos of Jupiter from the Voyager satellite.
Eliminating tipping has no impact…
Eliminating tipping has no impact on service or food quality. But, customers reported lower satisfaction when tipping was eliminated – even when it resulted in the meal costing less – because they felt their power over the server was gone.