In 1915, during a historic drought, San Diego hired a “Rain Maker.” He took the job and soon thereafter there was so much rain that there were floods and a dam even broke. They didn’t pay him though. Too much rain.
Facts
Most stars exist in binary or triple…
Most stars exist in binary or triple star systems. It is hypothesized that up to 85% of stars are gravitationally bound to another star in a multiple star system. Therefore, solitary stars (such as the Sun) are actually not the norm in the universe, but in fact are a rarity.
A fish at the Vancouver Aquarium…
A fish at the Vancouver Aquarium was given a prosthetic eye so it wouldn’t be bullied by other fish.
In Victorian London, mail was…
In Victorian London, mail was delivered to homes 12 times a day. “Return of post” was a commonly used phrase for requesting an immediate response to be mailed at the next scheduled delivery. It was quite common for people to complain if a letter didn’t arrive within a few hours.
A set of twins that reunited….
A set of twins was reunited after 37 years in 1979. Both were named Jim by their adoptive parents, loved carpentry and math, and pursued careers in security. Even stranger, they had each married a woman named Linda and then remarried a woman named Betty.
Upon being told he couldn’t go…
Upon being told he couldn’t go to Disneyland due to security concerns, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev went berserk. He said afterwards, “What do you have there – rocket launching pads? Is there a cholera epidemic down there? Have gangsters taken control of the place? Your police are strong enough to lift up a bull; surely they are strong enough to take care of gangsters?” Khrushchev left LA the next morning.
After Michael Jackson’s hair…
After Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire in 1984 he founded a burn center. “I wanted to do something because I was so moved by the other burn patients I met…” He suffered painful burns, but hospital staff remember him spending much of his time visiting and comforting other patients.
Electricity was first installed…
Electricity was first installed in the White House in 1891. It was such a new concept that President Benjamin Harrison and his wife both refused to touch light switches due to their fear of electrocution so the White House staff had to follow them around and turn the lights off and on for them.
None of the architecture on Euro…
None of the architecture on Euro banknotes is real, as the EU prohibited displaying any national monuments, so to not give greater prominence to one country over another. Hence, for the €5 note, a computer was used to scan multiple European bridges and combine them into one neutral design.
In 1953, an Australian Centurion main…
In 1953, an Australian Centurion main battle tank survived a nuclear test that was only 500 yards away. Later nicknamed the Atomic Tank, it went on to serve in the Australian military for 23 more years, including 15 months of service in Vietnam. At least 12 of the 16 crewmen of the tank died of cancer, according to a former crewmember in an interview in the 1990s.