Blimps are going extinct! But what’s causing this to happen? And is there any hope for the future of the airship? “A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure […]
In 1940, after an accidental collision, two planes found themselves lodged together a thousand feet in the air. So what happened to the crew? “On 29 September 1940, a mid-air collision occurred over Brocklesby, New South Wales, Australia. The accident was unusual in that the aircraft involved, two Royal Australian […]
You’d think an armed military vehicle could easily bully a civilian ship, but apparently it’s not so easy… “In a statement released by Venezuela on 31 March, RCGS Resolute was accused of committing an act of “aggression and piracy” by intentionally ramming and sinking Naiguatá while the patrol boat was […]
This poet did not take criticism well, in the rare instances he even acknowledged it. “William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers’ opinions […]
Ever hear the saying; “if it sounds dumb, but it works, it ain’t dumb”? “On the morning of December 10, 1968, four Kokubunji branch employees of the Nihon Shintaku Ginko (Nippon Trust Bank) were transporting 294,307,500 yen (about US$817,520 at 1968 exchange rates) in the trunk of a Nissan Cedric […]
The 1950’s Deep South was not overly hospitable to this strange man and his stranger ideas. “John Howard Griffin (June 16, 1920 – September 9, 1980) was an American journalist and author from Texas who wrote about and championed racial equality. He is best known for his 1959 project to […]
A mouse? In MY soda? Well, it might be better luck than you think – at least monetarily. “Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney […]
This horse (maybe) isn’t as smart as you, but he does have a skill you wish you had. “Muhamed was a German horse reportedly able to mentally extract the cube roots of numbers, which he would then tap out with his hooves. Raised in the town of Elberfeld by Karl […]
If almost every lottery ticket is a loser, what does it take for a lottery ticket to be considered unlucky? “A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the […]
This bank robber thought disguising himself as Santa would be a smart idea, and maybe it was, but it didn’t stop the heist from becoming spectacularly catastrophic. “The Santa Claus Bank Robbery occurred on December 23, 1927, in the Central Texas town of Cisco. Marshall Ratliff, dressed as Santa Claus, […]
