Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
On April 1, 1974, black smoke was seen rising from Mount Edgecumbe, a volcano in Alaska. When a Coast Guard pilot came closer to investigate, he found 70 tires burning and the words " April Fool " spray-painted in the snow.
In 1900, 40% of American cars were powered by steam, 38% by electricity, and 22% by gasoline.
Fortune cookies were invented in 1900 in San Francisco.
Charles Richter, who invented the Richter Scale, was a nudist.
Troy Leon Gregg (1948-1980)
He escaped from a Georgia prison the night before his execution, only to be beaten to death in a bar fight.
In 1972, a pocket of uranium in Africa was found to have undergone self-sustaining nuclear fission for hundreds of thousands of years, making it the only known naturally formed nuclear reactor.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Canada declared war on Japan before the U.S. did.
Denmark's current flag design was first used in 1219. No other modern country has used its flag for so long.
Louis Chevrolet, the founder of Chevrolet, died bankrupt and poor working as a mechanic for the company he started.
The Mysterious Death Of Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913)
Inventor of the diesel engine.
Hennig Brand was a 17th century alchemist who believed he could distill gold from human urine. He accumulated 1,500 gallons of urine and then boiled it, he didn't get any gold but he did discover phosphorus.
Communist leader Vladimir Lenin spoke English with a strong Irish accent because his tutor was an Irishman.
In 2016, a 155 year old mousetrap, kept as an exhibit in a Berkshire museum, caught a mouse.
The first recorded use of marijuana was in China, over 4,700 years ago.
Masabumi Hosono (1870-1939)
He was the only Japanese passenger on the Titanic. He was ostracized in Japan for surviving the shipwreck.
In 1863, Venezuela became the first modern country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
When Hitler was in prison in 1924, he wrote a letter to a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Munich asking to advance him some money to buy a limousine and that he would pay it back from royalties from Mein Kampf.
Brazil was once called the " United States of Brazil."
One of the thirteen articles in the 1781 U.S. Articles of Confederation states that if Canada wants to be admitted into the U.S., it will automatically be accepted.
Wallace Souza (1958-2010)
He was a Brazilian crime show host accused of hiring hitmen to kill people in order to boost ratings for his show.
Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16.
Cerro Rico is a mountain in Bolivia known as the " Mountain that eat men " because it is estimated that 8 million people have died over the last 500 years mining the silver in it.
Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin's official title was " His Excellency, President for life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of all the beasts of the earth and fishes of the seas and conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in particular."
" Fart Proudly "
Was an essay written by Benjamin Franklin in 1781 while he was in Europe.
Abraham Lincoln told his wife Mary his hobby was cats. He once let one eat from the table during a formal White House dinner.
During WWII, when Hitler visited Paris, the French cut the lift cables on the Eiffel Tower so that Hitler would have to climb the steps if he wanted to reach the top.
The first Olympian disqualified for " banned substances " only had two beers to calm his nerves before the pistol shooting in the 1968 Mexico Games.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi (1916-2010)
He survived both atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A lone male armed with a pistol commandeered a Braathens SAFE Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 116 passengers and 5 crew members while on a domestic flight from Trondheim-Vaernes Airport (TRD) to Oslo in Norway.
The hijacker, apparently fed-up with society, demanded to speak with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice of Norway. Shortly after landing at Oslo's Fornebu Airport, all 116 passengers were permitted to leave the aircraft, but the 5 crew members remained on board as hostages. Reportedly the hijacker, who had been drinking heavily during the entire episode, surrendered his pistol to authorities one hour later in exchange for more beer. There were no casualties.
In 1600, a volcano erupted in Peru causing a famine in Russia that killed over 2 million people.
Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats.
Mongooses were introduced to Hawaii in 1883 to control the invasive rat population. However, rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal. Hawaii now has a problem with both.
The Indonesian flag is the same as the Polish flag, but upside down.
Hitler was asleep when D-Day forces landed. None of his generals dared to send re-enforcements without his permission, and no-one dared wake him.
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China was the deadliest earthquake on record with 830,000 deaths.
Harvey Logan (Kid Curry) 1867-1904
" The Wildest of The Wild Bunch "
He had a quick temper and a quick trigger finger.
Was credited with killing 9 lawmen and himself.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
