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Category: Places

By The Generalist Posted on September 14, 2021September 13, 2021

First joker

Although playing cards in Europe date back to the 14th century, Samuel Hart printed the first joker in 1863.

Categories: 19th century history, Games & sport, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on September 13, 2021September 11, 2021

Llama berserkers

According to animal breeders you should avoid bottle-feeding baby llamas, because when they grow up they might go berserk.

Categories: Animals, Food & agriculture, South America
By The Generalist Posted on September 10, 2021September 8, 2021

Cosmic ladder (Part 2)

To measure distances in deep space, you need to look for candles in the darkness. [2 of 2]

Categories: 20th century history, Astronomy, Mathematics & statistics, North & Central America, Weights & measures
By The Generalist Posted on September 8, 2021September 8, 2021

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom

In 2004, in response to an Australian law defining marriage as between a man and a woman only, a group of activists declared independence and raised a rainbow flag over the Coral Sea Islands.

Categories: 21st century history, Oceania, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on September 7, 2021September 6, 2021

Multilingual tautologies

What do the River Avon, the Gobi Desert, and the La Brea Tar Pits have in common? Redundancy.

Categories: East Asia, Europe, Language, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on September 6, 2021September 5, 2021

Match king of Sweden

In 1930 the Swedish match magnate Ivar Kreuger negotiated a legal monopoly with Germany; it lasted for fifty three years.

Categories: 20th century history, Economics & business, Europe
By The Generalist Posted on September 3, 2021September 2, 2021

The Salt Cathedral

The Salt Cathedral lies 200 metres below the surface of Zipaquirá, Colombia.

Categories: 20th century history, Architecture, South America
By The Generalist Posted on September 2, 2021January 25, 2023

Castaway cache

Between 1867 and 1927 the New Zealand government built, supplied, and maintained a set of supply huts on islands in the Southern Ocean so that no more castaways would starve to death while waiting for rescue.

Categories: 19th century history, Oceania, The oceans
By The Generalist Posted on September 1, 2021January 25, 2023

Largest bell

The Tsar Bell in Moscow is the largest extant bell in the world – but it has never been rung.

Categories: Early modern history, Europe, North & Central Asia, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Unseen regalia

The Imperial Regalia of Japan consists of a legendary sword, mirror, and jewel. They are brought out at every imperial enthronement, but only a few priests and the emperor himself are ever allowed to see them.

Categories: Ancient history, East Asia, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on August 30, 2021August 29, 2021

Hedgehog flavour

In 1981 Phillip Lewis released potato chips flavoured like roasted hedgehog. In 1982 the UK government prosecuted him for false advertising because the chips did not contain real hedgehog.

Categories: 20th century history, Animals, Europe, Food & agriculture, Medieval history, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on August 27, 2021August 26, 2021

Ghost leg

Ghost leg is a technique to randomly match up two groups – assigning a list of chores to a list of people, for example. And all you need is a drawing of a ladder.

Categories: East Asia, Mathematics & statistics
By The Generalist Posted on August 26, 2021February 7, 2022

Jet vs. airport terminal

The new terminal building of Ottawa’s international airport was supposed to open in 1959. After one pass by a US air force jet the day before the opening ceremony, it could not open until 1960.

Categories: 20th century history, Military, North & Central America, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on August 24, 2021August 22, 2021

November 22, 1963

John F. Kennedy, Aldous Huxley, and C. S. Lewis all died the same day. The following day, Doctor Who premiered.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Film & television, Literature, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on August 23, 2021August 22, 2021

Fart battle

The He-Gassen scroll of Edo period Japan depicts an epic battle… of farts.

Categories: 19th century history, Art, East Asia, Military
By The Generalist Posted on August 19, 2021August 19, 2021

The horseback kissing game

The Turkic sport kyz kuu involves a man, a woman, two horses, a kiss, and a whip.

Categories: Animals, Games & sport, North & Central Asia

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