Spartan law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in her late teens or early 20s. The reasons were to ensure the birth of healthy children; and to spare women the risks and lifelong health damage associated with adolescent pregnancy.

Puzzleheaded-Cat4647 , Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours Report

POST

View more comments

In 2020, five Lithuanian soldiers went missing during a graduation exam. Thinking the exercise was still ongoing, they successfully evaded all attempts to find them. A military spokesman said their performance was "exemplary."

Ok-Indication-5121 , Art Guzman/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

Disney cofounder Roy Disney spent time with his grandchildren every week at Disneyland. Roy greeted each employee by name and picked up garbage he saw on the ground to teach them "Nobody is too good to pick up trash”.

ubcstaffer123 , Brian McGowan Report

POST

View more comments

John Krasinski fought for a deaf actress Millicent Simmonds to be cast in 'A Quiet Place'; she taught everyone sign language on set.

Puzzleheaded-Cat4647 , IMDb Report

POST

View more comments

Egyptian builders such as those of the pyramids were usually not slaves, and frequently took sick days from work. Popular excuses included “stung by scorpion”, “bleeding wife”, “trouble with eye”, and even “brewing beer”.

Chemical-Elk-1299 , Charles Wilkinson Report

POST

View more comments

Scientists have been communicating with apes via sign language since the 1960s; apes have never asked one question.

alfdana , Janosch Diggelmann Report

POST

View more comments

Obelisk, a Queen's Guard horse, who used to lure pigeons to him by dropping oats from his mouth. When they came close, he would stomp them to death. He was eventually taken for additional 'psychological training'.

-Ash-Ketchup- , Gaby Lopez/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

When Arnold Schwarzenegger auditioned for the movie Hercules in New York (his film debut), his agent said he had years of "stage" experience, implying theater, when he had only appeared on bodybuilding stages.

sgrams04 Report

POST

View more comments

Menstruation is actually very rare in mammals. Other than humans, only 9 primate species, 4 bat species, the elephant shrew, and one species of mouse menstruate. All other female mammals reabsorb their uterine lining, rather than shed it.

MaroonTrucker28 , Adriaan Greyling/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

American composer Kevin MacLeod allows anyone to use his music for free, as long as he receives credit for the song. This has led to his music being used in thousands of films, millions of videos on YouTube.

icanhazkarma17 Report

POST

View more comments

In Germany a driver's license costs over $2000 after a minimum of 25-45 hours of professional instruction plus 12 hours of theory.

ubcstaffer123 Report

POST

View more comments

'Botanical sexism' refers to the practice of preferentially planting cloned male plants in urban areas to avoid the litter of fruits and flowers. However, since male plants produce pollen, this can lead to high pollen levels in the air, making the area inhospitable for people with allergies.

rustyyryan Report

POST

View more comments

In Bhutan, people do not recognize, and many do not know, their individual birthdays. Everyone in the country turns another year older together each January 1st.

PianoCharged Report

POST

View more comments

Yellowstone’s famed thermal pools can melt flesh and bone. In 2016, a tourist illegally searching for a swimmable hot spring fell into a portion of the Norris Geyser Basin, where his body was dissolved by the boiling, highly acidic water. His wallet and shoes were all that remained of him.

Chemical-Elk-1299 Report

POST

View more comments

Castrated men do not go bald. Balding is caused by sex hormones which castrated men do not produce.

ImJoeKing77 , khalifa waleed/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

The common plastic garden chair is called a "Monobloc" chair, and was once banned in Switzerland for polluting the cityscape.

Thomas_Catthew , Chris/flickr Report

POST

View more comments

Sylvester Stallone asked Survivor to write the song Eye of the Tiger because Queen wouldn't let him use Another One Bites the Dust.

sd_glokta Report

POST

View more comments

Multiple studies have found that an extra inch of height can be worth an extra $1,000 a year in wages both for men and women.

LeftNeck9994 , Anna Shvets /pexels Report

POST

View more comments

Most people can see their own white blood cells moving through their retinas.

space_force_majeure , Almada Studio/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

A man died in the lighthouse he built. Henry Winstanley was so confident in the lighthouse's design that he wished to be inside during "the greatest storm there ever was". The lighthouse was completely destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703, killing Winstanley.

TMWNN , Henry Roberts Report

POST

View more comments

Helium was detected on the sun before it was detected on Earth. That's why it was named for Helios, the Greek god of the sun.

gullydon Report

POST

View more comments

Humans are the "most sensitive" to the castor oil seeds: it takes 1 to [take out] a full grown human, 11 to [take out] a dog, and a massive dose of 80 to [take out] a duck. The seeds contain ricin which is roughly 6000 times more poisonous than cyanide.

tyrion2024 , Beatrice Murch/flickr Report

POST

View more comments

Recruitment to the British Army's Gurkha unit is extremely competitive, accepting only 230 recruits out of 28,000 applicants. All recruitment happens in Nepalese villages, and candidates must participate in a two-mile race up a steep hill, carrying 35kg of rocks in a basket.

EtOHMartini Report

POST

View more comments

A 2022 survey of 3,000 adults & children found that just 27% of children (ages 6-16) said they regularly play outside their homes, whereas, 71% of the baby boomer generation said they did when they were children (80% for those ages 55-64).

tyrion2024 Report

POST

View more comments

Benjamin Franklin used to sit around naked for extended periods to take air baths.

athornton Report

POST

View more comments

GPS, despite being free for global use, costs around $2 million a day to operate and maintain. This budget covers satellite launches and system upkeep, funded through American tax revenue.

whstlngisnvrenf Report

POST

View more comments

In 2008, Tesla took the TV series Top Gear to court for libel and malicious falsehood after it suggested one of its vehicles had run out of power after only 55 miles. The High Court of Justice in London rejected Tesla's libel claim in 2011.

9oRo Report

POST

View more comments

Amelia Earhart had a copilot when she disappeared, his name was Fred Noonan.

aomusik , Los Angeles Daily News Report

POST

View more comments

The Nuremberg Trials executioner lied to the US Military about his prior experience. He botched a number of hangings prior to Nuremberg. The Nuremberg criminals had their faces battered bloody against the too-small trapdoor and were hung from short ropes, with many taking over 10 minutes to die.

shibafather Report

POST

View more comments

The famous "We Can Do It!" poster was barely known during WWII. It was displayed for two weeks as part of a series of posters to boost worker morale in one company's factories. It remained virtually unknown until the 1980s when it was rediscovered in an article about the National Archives.

JRFbase Report

POST

View more comments

Cars must have at least three-quarters of a tank in order to leave Singapore, in order to stop them from buying cheaper gas in Malaysia and circumventing Singapore's gas tax.

Brix001 , Skitterphoto/pexels Report

POST

View more comments

There have been multiple attempts to privatize the National Weather Service and charge for weather data that is currently in the public domain.

P4t13nt_z3r0 Report

POST

View more comments

There were 12 confirmed dogs on the Titanic and 3 of them survived.

Ok-Respond-81 Report

POST

View more comments

Lucid dreaming is a learnable skill. There are specific techniques and tips, like learning to check your reality, that can increase chances of having a lucid dream.

BumbleBChicken Report

POST

View more comments

Charlize Theron's mother shot and killed her father in self defense in front of her. Charlize would later go on to be the first person born in Africa to win an Oscar for acting.

Korribuns Report

POST

View more comments

Ben Stiller developed the premise for Tropic Thunder while shooting Empire of the Sun. He wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who became "self-important" & appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles.

tyrion2024 Report

POST

View more comments

In 2020 Cambridge University Library announced that two notebooks written by Charles Darwin, "worth many millions of pounds", had been missing for 20 years & had likely been stolen. One of the notebooks contains Darwin's famous Tree of Life sketch that explores the relationship between species.

tyrion2024 Report

POST

View more comments

A Chinese man was thought to have died from a lightning strike until his body exploded at his cremation. A piece of metal was found leading to the discovery that a weather rocket, meant to break up hail, had failed to explode & had fallen through the man's roof acting like a bullet, killing him.

tyrion2024 Report

POST

View more comments

“Smiley Face Theory,” which alleges that from 1990–2010, 45 young men found dead in bodies of water across the Midwest did not accidentally drown but were rather victims of a serial killer. The only known connection is grafiti depicting a “smiley face” found near at least a dozen bodies.

Fun-Maintenance9422 Report

POST

View more comments

Steller’s sea cows were massive, docile animals that were exterminated less than 30 years after the species was first discovered.

malarky-b Report

POST

View more comments

A number of people, including a group of Swedish researchers, tried to replicate the experiment shown in the documentary Super Size Me(2004). None of them were able to get the same results as the documentary creator.

Porchie12 Report

POST

View more comments

On warning of a likely missile launch against the USA, the Pentagon and Strategic Command war rooms, have one minute to brief the president, who then has roughly only six minutes to decide whether and how to respond.

CapnFancyPants Report

POST

View more comments

Only three objects have ever been found inside the Great Pyramid of Giza- pieces of wood, a ball made of diorite, and a copper hook. They were found in 1872 in a shaft leading from the Queen's Chamber.

Astro_gamer_caver , Brooklyn Museum Report

POST

View more comments

Aztecs had 18 festivities each year, 17 of which included human sacrifices. Apart from extraction of the heart, they used variety of other methods; drowning, starvation, decapitation, burning, bludgeoning, throwing from heights, forced gladiatorial combat and shooting with arrows.

HamFistedSurgeon Report

POST

View more comments

US airlines are legally required to refund a ticket within 24 hours of purchase, no matter if the ticket type was refundable or not.

Chemical_Act_7648 Report

POST

View more comments

In 2013, a man tried to dribble a football from Seattle to Brazil to promote a charity. He was run over and killed by a truck just 250 miles into his 10,000-mile trip.

9oRo Report

POST

View more comments

No one has seen a newborn great white shark pup or birth in the wild.

f_GOD Report

POST

View more comments

Celine Dion represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Contest and won, even through she was a French-Canadian.

Environmental-Low792 Report

POST

View more comments

EA makes $420 millon/year off of the Sims 4.

emotional_low , Electronic Arts Report

POST

View more comments

James Cameron offered Matt Damon 10% of "Avatar," which would've earned the actor over $250 million.

friendlystranger4u Report

POST

View more comments