This week is about extremes as we cover stories about people at the opposite ends of the age spectrum. One pensioner spends his days scouring the streets for coins to donate, and a centenarian grandmother goes skydiving. Meanwhile, a teenager becomes the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion, a record-breaking preemie goes home, and a 12-year-old budding reporter displays the kind of doggedness you want to see in that line of work....
10 Religious Tolerance While the Catholic Church remains one of the wealthiest institutions in the world today, it was even more powerful hundreds of years ago. In France, those of non-Catholic faiths such as Judaism and Protestantism were not legally recognized or given civil rights until the late 1700s. Louis XVI changed this with his 1787 Edict of Tolerance (aka the Edict of Versailles). His signing of the Edict granted non-Catholics in France the right to nondiscrimination based on their faith and civil status so that they could register marriages, births, and deaths and own property....
He’s gotten a reality show star to say she saved 6,000 people in Africa from a violent warlord. And he’s even managed to convince a former senator to make a full video teaching three-year-olds how to fire a gun, complete with a musical number that teaches kids: “Aim at the head, shoulders, not the toes, not the toes.” It’s baffling trying to imagine how anyone could be duped into doing such obviously humiliating things on TV, but there are some very real psychological reasons that people fall for Baron Cohen’s jokes....
From the first Thanksgiving feast in the Arctic to the days when kids went door-to-door asking for treats in their Thanksgiving costumes, Thanksgiving’s been through a lot of changes most people never hear about. But without every one of these moments, the Thanksgiving we know today simply wouldn’t exist. 10 The First Thanksgiving Was Held By Arctic Explorers The first Thanksgiving was held in 1578, more than 40 years before the Pilgrims had even arrived at Plymouth—and it was an awful lot colder....
10The Way We Merge Causes Problems Whether you’re merging from the left or the right, chances are good that you’re doing it wrong and causing all sorts of problems. When most people see that they need to merge, their first instinct is to do it right away. They brake, slow down, speed up, and change lanes in between oncoming traffic. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, that’s completely wrong. Sudden slowing causes traffic to back up, a problem that’s made worse by sudden lane changes and other cars braking to accommodate the merging traffic....
10Widespread Death Transformers is often rightfully accused of being a show simply designed to sell toys. By the time Transformers: The Animated Movie came out, the filmmakers, in conjunction with the toymakers, had a simple problem: How could they sell new toys and new characters to kids who already had their own favorites? The answer was simple: Kill a ton of robots and traumatize children into buying something new. While it’s simple enough to fill a Transformers movie with gruesome deaths of nameless characters, Slate notes that the movie kills over a dozen notable characters from the cartoon series....
10Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart is one of the most iconic screen actors of all time, perhaps most famous as the nightclub owner in Casablanca, as well as fictional detectives Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. Bogart was classically handsome, his looks marred only by a scar on his lip, which may have been responsible for his distinctive speech pattern. There are innumerable stories of how Bogart acquired the scar. Given the fact that he died nearly 60 years ago, it is unlikely that the truth will ever emerge....
Kill the Nemean Lion The first labor set by Eurystheus (Heracles’ cousin) was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back the skin. The lion was usually considered the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The lion had been terrorizing the area around Nemea, and had a skin so thick that it was impenetrable to weapons. When Heracles first tackled it, his weapons – bow and arrow, a club made from an olive tree (which he pulled out of the ground himself) and a bronze sword – were all ineffective....
A firefly is not a fly – it is a beetle A prairie dog is not a dog – it is a rodent [image above] India ink is not from India – it is from China and Egypt A horned toad is not a toad – it is a lizard A lead pencil does not contain lead – it contains graphite A douglas fir is not a fir – it is a pine [image above]...
Who doesn’t like taking their anger out on inanimate objects from time to time? There was a “Smash for Cash” fundraising event held recently, where people donated a few dollars to do as much damage to an automobile as possible in 30 seconds. A few cars had been donated from salvage yards, as well as a few donated from people. Those who paid the $2 were given goggles, gloves, a sledgehammer or baseball bat, and 30 seconds on the clock....
It is probably safe to say that if Listverse had to choose one symbol to represent it, the plague mask would be it. We have referred to it thousands of times (not literally—though it does seem that way) on various lists and it is even the beloved avatar of at least one of our regular commenters (yes you Wyrmwood13!) Despite their popularity—or perhaps because of it—there are many misconceptions about plague doctors....
Myth: high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is making us fat Since HFCS entered the American food supply in the 1970s, and the rates of obesity started to rise about then. Consequently, many blame HFCS for the fat plague. It’s true of course that the calories HFCS contributes can be linked to the nation’s obesity problems, but its calories are no different from those in refined white sugar: the makeup of HFCS (55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) is close to that of white sugar (50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose), which means that our bodies digest HFCS and sugar in very similar ways....
I value the majority opinion of the readers here, and it is for that reason that the list is now removed. The majority of people were extremely unhappy with the list so it is now gone. I am sorry to those of you who were commenting when the list vanished – there is no way for me to remove a list without that risk. In closing, I would just like to repeat: I am sorry....
But what if something supernatural dwelt out there in the winter wonderlands? Ghost stories are quite plentiful in the far north if the legends are to be believed. And though some believe that Antarctica also has its haunted nooks, this list will cover ten different stories from above the Arctic Circle. 10 King William Island Zombies While the first entry on this list steers a bit away from a classic ghost story, the Natsilik Inuit people who lived on King William Island tell stories of invasions from another sort of undead being: zombies....
However, another legacy the country has is its unique history, which has spawned some of the greatest mysteries that have eluded scientists, historians, and criminal investigators for centuries. Enjoy this list of ten of the most intriguing mysteries of Ireland and its natives that have yet to be solved. 10 St. Brendan Discovers America “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” He discovered America, and of course, the rest is history....
But what about those characters that don’t pull focus and don’t get to speak? Those that remain firmly in the background. They also have stories to tell, and many of them are surprisingly fun and interesting. So in this list, we’ll explore a few of the Star Wars background characters that you never even noticed! 10 Willrow Hood Ah, Willrow Hood. It’s mind-boggling how people latched onto such a small background character that appears for less than a single second during one shot in The Empire Strikes Back....
The Wheel 5,000 BC The Sumerian “Battle Standard of Ur” – Ca. 2600 BC The wheel probably originated in ancient Sumer (modern Iraq) in the 5th millennium BC, originally in the function of potter’s wheels. The wheel reached India and Pakistan with the Indus Valley Civilization in the 3rd millennium BCE. Near the northern side of the Caucasus several graves were found, in which since 3700 BC people had been buried on wagons or carts (both types)....
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson would become the first (and only US President) to personally beat the crap out of their would-be assassin. On January 30, 1835, President Jackson was attending the funeral of a South Carolina Representative when Richard Lawrence made his move. Lawrence fired two pistols at Jackson both misfired then the President charged at the man and began to beat him with his cane. It took several aides to restrain the 67-year-old Commander in Chief while Davey Crockett apprehended Lawrence....
10 The German Shepherd This breed has a personality marked by direct, fearless willingness to protect human children. The dog must be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them. It is poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert; both fit and willing to serve in its capacity as a companion and watchdog. 9 Doberman Pinscher Doberman Pinschers are, in general, a gentle, loyal, loving, and highly intelligent breed....
Gerte Frobbe was overweight, balding and didn’t even speak English. Yet he remains the single most quoted Bond baddie (you know what I’m talking about.) But he did give us a valuable lesson in the dangers of cabin depressurization. Talks the Talk: “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!” Years before he got eaten by that shark, Robert Shaw was kicking some Connery ass as this ruthless SPECTRE heavyweight....
