Weird but interesting facts of life
Some are funny facts and some will make you say WTF. But being inconvenient and not useless, all those facts will enrich your knowledge base and help you pass through.
In 1999, Lene Hau led a Harvard University team who, by use of a Bose-Einstein condensate, succeeded in slowing a beam of light to about 17 metres per second, and, in 2001, was able to stop a beam completely.
In 1984, the New Zealand Prime Minister got drunk and decided to spontaneously call a general election, which he lost.
Two nights before Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, he broke two ribs when he fell from a horse. He was so afraid of being removed from the mission that he went to a veterinarian for treatment. On the day of the flight, he was in such pain that he could not seal the hatch by himself.
Mosquitoes don't transmit HIV. One tube sucks in blood, and another sends saliva into the person.
The actor who play Vincent Crabbe in the Harry Potter films went to prison for taking part in the 2011 London riots and for growing weed.
A World Cup qualifying match between Chile and Brazil was canceled after an opposing fan hit the Chilean goalkeeper with a flare. Photos later proved that the flare never touched him; he faked the injury with a hidden razor blade.
Spiders can use Earth's electrostatic field to propel themselves up to 2.5 miles into the atmosphere.
Hubert Latham was the first to attempt to fly a plane over the English Channel in 1909; he failed, but in doing so he became the first person to ever land a plane on water.
The word “sinister” is a word English took from Latin meaning “left handed”
The Star Wars expanded universe featured an elaborate backstory for Han Solo's pants
Emmy was the ship's cat on the RMS Empress of Ireland. She never missed a voyage. However, on 28 May 1914, Emmy tried to escape the ship. The crew could not coax her aboard and the Empress left without her, which was regarded as a terrible omen. Early the next morning the Empress sank.
In 1971, a chimpanzee community began to divide, and by 1974, it had split completely into two opposing communities. For the next 4 years this conflict led to the complete annihilation of one of the chimpanzee communities and became the first ever documented case of warfare in nonhumans
Canada is the #1 foreign oil provider to the U.S.
In medieval Germany, married couples could legally settle their disputes by fighting a Marital Duel. To even the field, the man had to fight from inside a hole with one arm tied behind his back. The woman was free to move and was armed with a sack filled with rocks.
An estimated 10% of Europeans are immune to HIV infection because they have an ancestor who survived bubonic plague (the "Black Death.")