With the possible exception of the mysterious, enigmatic figure known only as Bob Ross (see: The Surprisingly Mysterious Life of Famed Artist Bob Ross), Pablo Picasso is perhaps the most well-known artist from modern times. (Although, I think most are probably unaware that his actual name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano […]
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Nobody is really quite sure how the tradition of waking up NASA astronauts with pieces of music got started; NASA itself only notes that “Wake-up calls are a long-standing NASA tradition.” However, archivist and historian Colin Fries, who has painstakingly tracked down every example of a song or clip played by NASA in such a scenario going all the way […]
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The KV-1 and KV-2 are recognised as being amongst the most heavily armoured tanks deployed during WW2. At least initially largely impervious to anything less than a direct, point-blank hit from a dedicated anti-tank weapon, the KV series was so formidable that the first time the Wehrmacht encountered them, Soviet soldiers destroyed dozens of anti-tank guns by simply driving towards […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Auto companies are a lot like automobiles. Some seem to run forever; others never ran very well in the first place. Here’s a look at a stylish carmaker that was beloved by its fans…but still ended up in a ditch. FLIGHT PLAN In the years leading up to World War […]
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Simon H. asks: What civilization made the rock walls in Rockwall Texas? Manmade or a natural feature, the miles of seemingly neatly stacked, often-buried stone that sometimes reach 40 feet in height and transverse above and below the ground of Rockwall County, Texas are intriguing. Unfortunately for those who love to read up on ancient civilizations, on the whole the […]
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James M. asks: Why does putting a car battery on cement cause it to drain when the casing is made of plastic? Shouldn’t that insulate it? Contrary to very popular belief (even touted by many a mechanic), today’s car batteries with their hard plastic shells will not discharge or otherwise be damaged when placed on a concrete floor. (The other […]
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Jason H. asks: How does an Islamic person know where to face when they’re in space and supposed to be praying towards Mecca? The first Muslim person in space was Royal Saudi Air Force pilot Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 1985 aboard the United States shuttle Discovery. He was followed up by the first Muslimah in space, […]
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Sitting in the back of a dark, old-fashioned Las Vegas casino sits, rather unremarkably, the largest gold nugget on display in the world. Slowly spinning on a table in a place not uncoincidentally named “The Golden Nugget,” the so-called “Hand of Faith” gold nugget is not as glamorous nor as shiny as cartoon gold nuggets would have you believe. While […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Just because you’re not an astronaut, that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to the space program. You don’t even have to get out of bed. Meet the “pillownauts.” LOST IN SPACE Today we take it for granted that astronauts can function in the weightlessness of spaceflight, but at the dawn […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader If the Transfermium Wars raged from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, how is it that so few people have ever heard of them? Because they were fought by rival groups of scientists over who would get to name newly discovered chemical elements. PARENT TRAP When someone discovers a […]
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Jamie M. asks: Why do a lot of blind people wear sunglasses indoors? One of the most common questions we’ve been asked over the years, right up there with how blind people know they are done wiping after going #2, is why blind people wear sunglasses. After almost seven years of being asked this question, we suppose it’s high time […]
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Giving away free stuff with a purchase is a good way to bolster sales and can result in a tidy increase in profits, provided you follow the general rule of making sure the long term projected profit from the promotion is greater than the cost of the giveaway. Appliance giant Hoover learned this seemingly obvious lesson first hand in 1992 […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe, there’s an 800-year-old chest filled with $2 million in treasure. Want to find it? Here’s the story of the man who hid it and the clues he’s given to help you find it. THE COLLECTOR Forrest Fenn was a kid […]
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“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” – Mike Godwin Coined in 1990 by author and attorney Mike Godwin, Godwin’s Law was originally, to quote Godwin “a project in memetic engineering”, partially inspired by a 1980s article he read in Whole Earth Review in which they discuss the power of […]
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Kyle S. asks: Do people really fish with dynamite like they show in movies? Fishing with dynamite, or blast fishing as it’s more accurately known, despite sounding like something more suited to a Looney Tunes cartoon, is a genuine and well-documented practice that is still commonplace in select areas of the globe today. This is more than a little unfortunate […]
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Generally speaking, attorneys, and particularly high-priced litigators, are not known for being “nice” or polite in their interactions with those on the opposite side of the table of their clients. Rather, the stereotype (not without basis) is of a profession filled with aggressive and sometimes even nasty people, who will stop at nothing to see their clients prevail- it’s their […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader In 1905, a painting shown in Paris shocked the public. Critics reviled it; religious and conservative moralists made speeches against it. The artist who painted it was vilified as a “wild beast” and a victimizer of women. But the painting could hardly be called pornographic. It wasn’t even a nude; […]
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Gabino asks: Why do they bother putting the text This Page Intentionally Blank on blank pages? It’s easy to dismiss the phrase, “This page is intentionally left blank” and its usage as an example of bureaucracy gone mad, but it and the blank pages themselves are actually there for good reason. To begin with, the practise of marking intentionally blank pages, […]
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