Facts You Probably don’t Need
- When Canada’s Northwest Territories considered renaming itself in the 1990s, one name that gained support thanks to pranksters was “Bob.”
- Marie Curie remains the only person to earn Nobel prizes in two different sciences.
- A solar eclipse helped end a six-year war in 585 B.C.E. When the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes in modern Turkey, soldiers took it as a sign to cease fighting.
- Scientists have found evidence of takeout restaurants in the remains of Pompeii.
- Fried chicken was brought to America by Scottish immigrants.
- There are 71 streets in Atlanta with “Peachtree” in their name.
- Peter Durand patented the tin can in 1810. Ezra Warner patented a can opener in 1858.
- The bend in a flamingo’s leg isn’t a knee — it’s an ankle.
- In 1946, Boston owner Walter Brown chose the nickname Celtics over Whirlwinds, Olympians, and Unicorns.
- Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for voting in the 1872 election — 48 years before women gained the right to vote. She never paid the fine.
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.
