Curious Facts (29 pics)

1

"TIL In Kaziranga, a national park in north-eastern India rangers can shoot and kill poachers to protect the Indian one-horned rhinoceros with legal immunity, reducing rhino poaching."

2

"TIL after the holidays, the Rockefeller Christmas tree is cut into lumber for Habitat for Humanity homes"

3

"TIL In 1975 Elvis went to see a movie with his gf. He was spotted by fans and they went crazy. His gf walks up and pranks the fans saying to Elvis, "Charlie, you're not using that Elvis bit again are you? Come on, you're not telling these people that you're Elvis again are you?" The fans left."

4

"TIL After Ayrton Senna's death, it was discovered he secretly donated an estimated $400 million of his personal fortune to help poor children"

5

"TIL that in 1993 the Barbie Liberation Organization switched the voice boxes on talking G.I. Joes and Barbie dolls causing the barbies to say phrases like "vengeance is mine" and G.I. Joes to say "The beach is the place for summer." 300 to 500 dolls were modified."

6

"TIL Molly Brown survived the Titanic and was rescued by the Carpathia. Aboard the Carpathia, a battered Brown did what she could to help the other survivors, including raising money from the wealthy to help poor passengers. Her acts of heroism earned her the nickname "the Unsinkable Mrs. Brown.""

7

"TIL Indonesia put a nation wide stop on manta ray fishing after it was calculated that a single animal is worth an estimated US$1 million over its lifetime in tourism versus its value of $40-$500 when killed"

8

"TIL Sir Paul McCartney's mother (Mary McCarthy) died when he was just 14 years old. He struggled with the grief for around 8 years, until one night she appeared to him in a dream saying things like "Don't worry, live your life, let it be". From this he wrote the world famous Beatles song "Let it be""

9

"TIL a Brazilian priest strapped himself to 1000 balloons as a fundraising event for truckers. He set off into the sky and then disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. His body was recovered months later."

10

"TIL of Herman Francis Mark, an Austrian scientist and son of a Jew, who chose to flee Austria in 1938. He clandestinely bought platinum wire, worth roughly $50,000, which he bent into coat hangers while his wife knitted covers so that the hangers were able to be taken out of the country.

For a period of time after the rise to power of Hitler/ the Nazis, Jews were allowed to leave Germany, but have to leave their fortune behind. So he was smuggling his money out of country."

11

"TIL of Cain's Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers, a 1934 mystery novel printed with its 100 pages out of order. To solve the puzzle, readers must determine the correct page order as well the names of both the six murderers and six victims. The mystery has only ever been solved by three people."

12

"TIL Dr. Charles R. Drew, an African American, developed improved techniques for blood storage, which saved thousands of Allied forces' lives during WWII. In 1942, however, he resigned as director of the first American Red Cross Blood Bank because of their exclusion of African-Americans' blood."

13

"TIL that a hurricane hit Hawaii when Jurassic Park was filming. The sets were destroyed and the cast and crew were stranded in a leaking hotel ballroom. Steven Spielberg played cards with the kids for hours and told them stories to distract them. Real footages of the hurricane were added to the film"

14

"TIL of the end of Brazil's monarchy. The last emperor; Pedro II's liberal regime pushed for women's rights, ended slavery, gave power to the parliament and respected freedom of speech. But he was overthrown, exiled and replaced by a republican regime that was practically a military dictatorship."

15

"TIL the classic Kong dog toy was created after an auto-repair shop owner's dog kept chewing a VW Bus suspension part"

16

"TIL that On July 21, 1972, George Carlin was arrested and charged with violating obscenity laws after performing his famous "Seven Dirty Words" routine at Milwaukee's Summerfest. He would go on to be arrested a total of seven times for reciting that same routine."

17

"TIL that a pilot's 16 year old son was allowed to sit at the plane's cockpit of an Aeroflot flight while it was on autopilot. He disengaged the autopilot, triggering a series of events which led to the plane crashing and the death of all 63 passengers and 12 crew onboard."

18

"TIL teenagers take more risk not only due to an undeveloped frontal cortex, but also due to higher dopamine response that provides greater rewards for novel activities"

19

"TIL that a couple days before the deadly eruption of Mt. Pelee in 1902, the town of St. Pierre was plagued by in invasion of giant centipedes and pit vipers, claiming the lives of 50 people."

20

"TIL after the massive success of his #1 hit "Somebody That I Used to Know", Gotye stopped recording solo music, went back to his old band and hasn't released a song under the Gotye name ever since"

21

"TIL in 1944, a 21 year old tail gunner of a Lancaster Bomber jumped from his aircraft after being shot down over Germany. He fell 18,000 ft without a parachute and survived with a sprained leg as his only injury."

22

"TIL two thirds of Argentina's population is of Italian heritage. They fled there for economic opportunities and to escape devastating wars. It is the only other country besides Italy with an Italian heritage majority population."

23

"TIL that in 1924, a tunnel network was discovered underneath Washington D.C. Speculation behind the network's origins included a Confederate hideout or a liquor depot for bootleggers; they were actually dug by the Smithsonian Institute's entomologist Harrison G. Dyar, who 'did it for exercise'."

24

"TIL the original John Hughes cut of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" ran 3.5 hours because there was so much improv between Steve Martin and John Candy, and that that cut is probably lost forever."

25

"TIL Utqiagvik, Alaska. People often call the town "the top of the world," When the sun sets on November 18, it will stay below the horizon until January 23, resulting in a polar night that lasts for about 66 days."

26

"TIL that the most successful predator in Africa is the African wild dog. If a pack targets a prey, there’s an 85% chance they’ll bring it down successfully"

27

"TIL Elvis Presley Never Wrote Any of His Own Songs despite being one of the most recognizable musicians of all time."