Author Archives: Melissa

From Titanic Survivor and Near Amputee to Hall of Fame Tennis Champion- The Story of Dick Williams

In the early morning of April 15, 1912, 21-year-old Richard “Dick” Norris Williams II was washed off the deck of the doomed RMS Titanic and into the icy water of the North Atlantic. Rescued by a lifeboat, but almost up to his waist in near-frozen water for several hours, Williams suffered such extreme frostbite that medical personnel wanted to immediately […]

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“No”- The Remarkable Story of Lauritz Sand

From September of 1941 through May of 1945, Norwegian Resistance pioneer Lauritz Sand was alternately beaten and broken, then treated, then beaten again by Nazi interrogators. And despite enduring four years of the hardest torture they could dole out, all while in his 60s, he steadfastly refused to tell them anything. In response to the horrors of WWI, Norway’s leaders […]

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The Male Fish That Can’t Eat- Flabby Whalefish

Not even close to the size of a whale and bearing only a modest similarity to the most familiar kinds of fish, if it weren’t for the fact that the dozen or so species of flabby whalefish are relatively small, the mere thought of such strangely-built, sightless monsters swimming in the depths of the ocean would keep most of us […]

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That Time the Citizens of Prague Literally Threw Their Politicians Out of Office (From the Upper Floors)

Providing a unique wrinkle to the phrase, “throw the bums out of office,” twice, first in 1419 and again in 1618, frustrated citizens of Prague (today in the Czech Republic) literally threw their leaders out of the upper story windows of their public buildings. The word for throwing someone or something out of a window, defenestration, is also sometimes used […]

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McRefugees and the Cyber-Homeless

With rents for even the smallest quarters exceeding the equivalent of $1000 monthly, a relatively large number of working class people in Asia’s largest cities have become, essentially, homeless. Rather than being completely destitute, as many homeless are, a not inconsiderable number of these individuals earn enough to otherwise support themselves outside of being able to afford housing. To solve […]

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Renting Pandas

Jonathon M. asks: Is it true that the Chinese government owns every panda in the world? Whether in D.C., London, Adelaide or Madrid, nearly all giant pandas in today’s zoos are technically there on a 5 or 10-year loan from China, and at a substantial price. It hasn’t always been this way, though. Beginning in the late 1950s and through […]

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The Vampire of Cinkota

Other than the fact that he killed at least 24 people, drained them of blood, pickled them in alcohol-filled metal drums and was never caught, there isn’t a lot to say about Bela Kiss- the Vampire of Cinkota… Kiss’ story begins in the town of Cinkota, Hungary (at the time about 7 miles or 11 kilometers outside of Budapest) in […]

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Avenging His Dog: The Story of Famed Congressman “Good Time Charlie” Wilson’s First Foray Into Politics

As well-known for leading a flamboyant, playboy lifestyle as being the mastermind responsible for funneling $5 billion dollars (about $12 billion today) to Afghan rebels (when they were on our side) in their fight against the Soviet Union, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson was a larger than life character who serves as a stark reminder of how different the political landscape […]

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Why “Yellow” Can Mean “Cowardly”

Becky G. asks: Why are cowardly people called “yellow bellied”? The color of warning signals, smiley faces, rubber duckies and the Sun (at least from our perspective- in fact the Sun is white if viewed from space), for many of us yellow has a favorable connotation; yet, at various points throughout human history, yellow has decidedly been a symbolism of, […]

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The Amazing Heroism of Ben L. Salomon- the Army Dentist Who Killed 98 Attacking Enemy Soldiers Single-Handedly

On the morning of July 7, 1944, Captain Ben L. Salomon of the U.S. Army’s 105th Infantry, commissioned as a dentist, single-handedly held off a fierce attack of an overwhelming force of Japanese soldiers in order to allow sufficient time for approximately 30 of his comrades to safely retreat. After 15 hours of terrible fighting, when relief finally arrived, Salomon […]

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The Origin of the Word Dunce

Olivia B. asks: Where did the word dunce come from and who came up with the dunce cap? The word dunce derives from the name of an extremely accomplished religious scholar- John Duns Scotus (1265/66-1308), an influential philosopher and theologian of the High Middle Ages. If you guessed that his ideas and those who touted them were (somewhat unfairly) eventually […]

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