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Alive After His Obituary
1. Benjamin Runkle, an officer in the American Civil War, was wrongly assumed dead on the battlefield. An obituary was published for him while he was still living, but Runkle outlived the man who wrote it and then wrote an obituary for that obituary writer in return.
2. Cats have whiskers distributed across their bodies that they use to gather information about their surroundings.
3. The largest Lego construction in the world is a life-sized replica of a Star Wars X-Wing fighter. It required 17,000 hours to assemble, weighs 23 tonnes, and includes 5.3 million LEGO pieces.
4. The Scots traditionally deep fried chicken in fat. Scottish immigrants to America continued this frying tradition and introduced it to African slaves.
5. In Mongolia, scientists found a fossil of a prehistoric creature called a "Murder Swan," which had a bill with teeth, claws on its feet, and extra claws on flipper-like arms.
6. Deforest Kelly, who played Dr. McCoy on Star Trek, avoided speaking to William Shatner for nearly two years after Shatner laughed when Kelly shared news of his dog's passing.
7. As part of courtship, male nursery web spiders present wrapped offerings to females. When a female declines the present, the male feigns death and later tries again.
8. The Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica) is the only insect native to Antarctica. It measures only about 2 to 6 mm in length. It survives by feeding on microscopic algae, fungi, and detritus, and its ability to endure freezing temperatures and long periods without food allows it to thrive in the continent's harsh, dry conditions.
9. Following World War 1, the railway cars Germany had surrendered were kept by the French in a museum. During World War 2, as France was getting ready to surrender, Hitler ordered the museum walls demolished and the railway cars moved back to the exact location of the 1918 armistice to shame the French.
10. In 1796, the United States declared in Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." President John Adams signed this treaty into law after the Senate unanimously approved it.
