Category: Fun Facts

Gena Turgel’s story is one of remarkable fate. She was just sixteen years old when the Nazis invaded her hometown of Krakow, Poland. In the Holocaust, Gena lost her father and seven siblings, including her sister, Miriam, who was shot by the Nazis for smuggling food into Plaszow concentration camp. After spending two years as […]

Thomas Fitzpatrick was in a tavern in Washington Heights, New York, in September of 1956 when a bet was proposed. Not one to turn down a bet, especially while drinking, Fitzpatrick obliged. The challenge? Get back to the bar from New Jersey in under fifteen minutes. He stole a plane from an airport in New […]

Over the years, postal service workers have seen some pretty odd things sent through the mail, ranging from live shrimp to a coffin. One such instance that stands out in the state of Idaho is a “package” sent in 1914 between two towns. May Pierstorff was five years old when her parents spent 50 cents […]

If you’re looking for one of the wonders of the world, look no further than your own body. The nerve impulses in your body travel at over 429 miles per hour, while a single sneeze generates a gust of wind traveling at 100 miles per hour. A heart beats nearly 30 million times each year, […]

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most well-known nautical tragedies of all time, but some believe that a key element could have prevented it. David Blair was Second Officer on the crew before being removed at the last minute. His superiors had opted to move him off and bring in Henry Wilde, […]

A study done in 2003 aimed to find out more about sperm—specifically, the notion that sperm have a sense of smell. Scientists from the United States and Germany found that an odorant receptor that has been found on sperm is able to direct movement. Thought it is unknown if the compound that attracts the sperm […]

Kim Il-sung was the leader of North Korea in the early 1970s, when Volvo sent marketing materials promoting their then-new 144 GL. Volvo was pushing to be amongst the first European companies to make their way into the North Korean market. Kim Il-sung’s regime ordered 1,000 of these new cars, and the first group arrived […]

Before the days of the musical Newsies, “newsies” was the nickname given to describe newspaper boys in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the 1890s, hundreds of young girls and boys sold newspapers throughout New York City. They would be able to purchase a stack of newspapers for 65 cents then spend their days […]

The year 2012 saw the arrest of three people for a multi-million-dollar theft operation. The thieves were after something highly coveted in Canada: maple syrup. That’s right, these men stole nearly $15 million in maple syrup from a Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers storage facility in Quebec, Canada. The warehouse is a co-op between […]

In April 2017, Xavier Jugelé, a police officer in Paris, was killed in the line of duty. Jugelé had been working on the Champs Elysees for nearly three years when an attacker took his life. He was an active proponent for gay rights and was in a civil partnership with a man named Etienne Cardiles. […]