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Bread was [ invented in Egypt] around 8,000 BC. (Thanks, Egypt!) The first examples of it were flat and unleavened, most closely resembling what we know today as chapatis in India or tortillas in Latin America.
The sound of doors opening and closing on Star Trek is a flushing toilet.
The voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse got married in real life.
Tulips were once more valuable than gold.
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Turkeys Were Once Worshipped Like Gods
While the turkey is currently America’s favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, in 300 B.C., these big birds were heralded by the Mayan people as vessels of the gods and were honored as such, so much so that they were domesticated to have roles in religious rites. They were symbols of power and prestige and can be found everywhere in Maya iconography and archaeology.
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Napoleon Was Once Attacked By a Horde of Bunnies
Once upon a time, the famous conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte was attacked by…bunnies. The emperor had requested that a rabbit hunt be arranged for himself and his men. His chief of staff set it up and had men round up reportedly 3,000 rabbits for the occasion. When the rabbits were released from their cages, the hunt was ready to go. At least that was the plan! But the bunnies charged toward Bonaparte and his men in a viscous and unstoppable onslaught. And we were taught that Waterloo was the conqueror’s greatest defeat…
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A New Orleans hotel offered a $15,000 stay to a whoever stole the “most outrageous” item from them.
In March 2019, the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans decided to celebrate its 125th anniversary by offering a free seven-night stay in its presidential suite, along with complimentary private dinners and spa treatments worth a whopping $15,000. But this wasn’t a standard giveaway: The prize was only available to the person who returned the “most outrageous” item ever stolen from the hotel.
The Goodyear Blimp is the official bird of Redondo Beach, California.
The Goodyear Blimp is nothing short of iconic, but we wouldn’t classify it as a bird. Still, that didn’t stop Redondo Beach—a coastal city situated near the Goodyear Blimp’s home airport in Carson, California—from passing a resolution in 1983 to make the blimp its official bird.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
In 1881, dentist Alfred P. Southwick witnessed a drunk man die quickly after [touching a live electric generator]. Southwick soon realized that electricity could be a quick and more humane alternative to hanging for executions. And thusly, the electric chair was born, and was first used in 1890. Though it wasn’t an initial success—a second jolt needed to be used—Southwick eventually worked out the kinks. Cotton candy and electric chairs: What will dentists think of next?
A cloud can weigh more than a million pounds.
Clouds are not as light and fluffy as they appear. In fact, researchers have found that a single cloud weighs about 1.1 million pounds. How do they know? Well, that number is calculated by taking the water density of a cloud and multiplying it by its volume. Fortunately, the cloud can still “float” at that weight because the air below it is even heavier.
Updating post after our two week Christmas break.
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Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can.
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The NYPD had a police officer follow Andre the Giant whenever he went out drinking. This was to make sure he didn’t get drunk and fall on anyone.
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A duel between three people is actually called a truel.