Agatha Christie essentially invented the standard modern crime fiction formula that most TV shows follow: A murder is committed, multiple suspects (all concealing secrets), the detective gradually uncovers the secrets, discovering the most shocking twists towards the end and solving the crime.
Facts
Spain’s newest submarine was…
Spain’s newest submarine was 75+ tons heavier than expected because someone put a decimal point in the wrong place. It could go down, but might not come up again.
Winston Churchill and Princess…
Winston Churchill and Princess Diana were from the same aristocratic family, the Spencers. Churchill’s last name was officially Spencer-Churchill.
Legendary crime fighter Eliot…
Legendary crime fighter Eliot Ness was promised by Al Capone that $2,000 would be on his desk every Monday morning if he turned a blind eye to his gang’s bootlegging activities ( $33,000 a week in 2018 adjusting for inflation). Ness refused the bribe, was penniless when he died in 1957.
In 2016 Belgian cyclist Femke Van…
In 2016 Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche was discovered to have a hidden motor in her bicycle, the first proven instance of “Mechanical Doping”.
Happiness and life satisfaction…
Happiness and life satisfaction among United States adolescents, which increased between 1991 and 2011, suddenly declined after 2012. By 2016-17, both adults and adolescents were reporting significantly less happiness than they had in the 2000s.
In 1976, an Italian economist…
In 1976, an Italian economist wrote an article entitled “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity”. His first law is as follows:
“Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.”
A man spent two years, planting…
A man spent two years, planting thousands of flowers, to help bring his blind wife out of depression.
The community of Puʻuwai…
The community of Puʻuwai, Hawaii and the entire island it is located on, is off limits to anyone except residents and official visitors. Tourists are not allowed. Tourists aren’t allowed because the entire island is private property. A rich white person bought the whole dang thing 150 years ago.
Adam Walker was protected from …
Adam Walker was protected from a great white shark by a pod of dolphins while swimming to raise money for dolphin conservation. About 10 dolphins surrounded him for about 1 hr in Cook Strait, 6th leg of the Oceans Seven: a marathon of 7 long-distance open water channel swims around the world.