True or False? It was a classic case of someone outsmarting themselves. The true life Lotto Max drama took place in the beautiful city of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Friday, May 21st, 2010. Someone, yet to identify herself, came into the Corner Store in Goulds, a community in St. John’s, to purchase a lottery ticket for that night’s Lotto Max …
True or false? We have all watched movies where some poor guy falls into quicksand, and he’s soon sucked under the swirling surface, never to be seen again. However, unlike ‘in the movies’, in real life quicksand won’t suck people under, and it’s possible to get out of, even by yourself! Our bodies have a density of about 62.4 pounds …
True or False? In 1971, Tim Moore, a state representative in Texas, USA, wanted to prove how ‘careful’ the legislative process was by introducing a resolution to honor the Boston Strangler. As an April Fool joke, he sponsored a bill praising one Albert de Salvo, “a man who was already noted by the state of Massachusetts for his unconventional techniques …
Do Fathers Get More Collect Calls Than Mothers? Surprise! More collect telephone calls are made on Fathers Day than on any other day of the year. Fathers Day was the brainchild of Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. His father, Civil War veteran, William Smart, was a single parent that raised six children on his own after his wife died …
The Bloody Truth It’s well known that the band ‘KISS’ created their characters based as much on comic book superheroes as from their music. So, it was only natural for them to one day star in their very own comic book. Not one to miss a lucrative money making opportunity, Marvel Comics issued the first ‘Super Special’ KISS comic book …
True or False? A Toy Was Used To Fool Enemies/h2> The Associated Press reported on February 1, 2005, Iraqi militants claimed in a statement posted on a Jihadist website, they captured an American soldier. The posting, on a site that frequently carries militant posts, included a photograph of what they claimed was captured American soldier, John Adam. The figure was …
True or False? There was fear of radiation fallout in western North America following the massive 2011 earthquake that struck Japan, triggering a huge tsunami. The giant wave totally destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. That resulted in billions of tons of radioactive debris being released into the atmosphere and ocean, from explosions caused after cooling systems failed. In …
True or False? On June 21, 2007, a Ford Escape blew one of its tires, and then swerved onto the sidewalk, striking a city fire hydrant. The impact of the crash, and the hydrant’s water pressure, launched the hydrant onto a deadly trajectory, sending it speeding through the air like a “bullet”, stated Alameda County deputy sheriff, Phil Abrams. The …
Congratulations! Is it true or false that a book offered people a chance to win a free Thunderbird convertible for reading the book’s copywrite notice? The story goes that in the year 2001, a third-year medical student at Yale University, Jeffrey Seiden, was studying his electrocardiography textbook one day when he happened to notice the following message in the book’s …
True or False? Have you ever wondered how to tell which bread is the freshest? Many of us squeeze loaves to determine their softness, some even try to smell it. But there’s actually a much easier way. Every packaged loaf of bread comes with some kind of a closure. Because breads were once baked in bakeries, then delivered to the …
Retailers Scanned Wrong Barcode Sony BMG released a 3-CD set, called Electric 80s, in 2005. The compilation of the greatest electric hits of the 1980s featured a reproduction of a UPC bar code on the cover art, with the title “ELECTRIC 80s” placed in the space at the bottom of the bar code where the numbers would normally appear. The …
True or False? The points of the maple leaf on the Canadian flag represent the provinces and territories. In the years since the adoption of the current Canadian flag, many claim that the number of points (11) on the maple leaf it features have special significance, such as; representing each of the Canadian provinces and territories (one for each of …
Was There Really A Contest To See Who Could Save The Most Daylight? Yes. The Eldorado Daily Journal, in Eldorado, Illinois, asked all of its readers to save as much daylight as they could during Daylight Savings Time in 1984 and offered a prize for the person who saved the most. The rules were simple: “Beginning with the first day …
True or False? Baby cages were hung outside apartment windows. Built and distributed in London to the members of the Chelsea Baby Club in 1937, the ‘Baby Cage’ was meant for women with children that were without a backyard, garden, or terrace for their children to play in or on. When secured from a window, the baby cage hung from …
The First Traffic Laws Born in New York City in 1858, William Phelps Eno became a progressive thinking man who observed the massive traffic jams of his era, and from his observations, formulated traffic solutions that carried over from the time of horse and carriages, to the age of automobiles. In 1900, he wrote an essay called “Reform in Our …
