← FACTSlides → Random Facts Page #198

If London's Big Ben was built today, it would cost about US$222,000.

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Residents of New York City can get free condoms and lube by calling 311.

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The Golden Temple in India feeds a vegetarian meal to over 100,000 people a day regardless of race, religion and class.

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Cats can get sick or die from eating chocolate.

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Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to have obtained a patent.

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In 1818, the argentine pirate Hippolyte Bouchard attacked Monterey, California. After an hour of combat, Argentina's flag flew over it.

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Ben Guggenheim, heir to mining magnate Meyer Guggenheim, dressed in his finest suit, had a glass of brandy and smoked a cigar as the Titanic sank.

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The 9/11 attacks also destroyed US$100 million in art including work from Pablo Picasso.

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The Diary of Anne Frank is banned in Lebanon for "portraying Jews, Israel or Zionism favorably".

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On April 1, 1974, black smoke was seen rising from Mount Edgecumbe, a volcano in Alaska. When a Coast Guard pilot came closer to investigate, he found 70 tires burning and the words "APRIL FOOL" spray painted into the snow.

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A line of descendants of Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II was brought to Spain and became part of the Spanish nobility, holding the title of "Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo."

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Cows emit more methane than the oil industry and are a huge factor in global warming.

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Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to claim that fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming already in 1896.

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If Earth's history were condensed into 24 hours, life would've appeared at 4am, land plants at 10:24pm, dinosaur extinction at 11:41pm and human history would've begun at 11:58:43pm.

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Sam Houston, the general who won Texas independence from Mexico, was removed

from his post as Governor after refusing to support the Confederacy on the Civil War.

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Intel 's microprocessor factory in Costa Rica is responsible for almost 5% of the country's GDP.

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Sand from the Sahara is blown by the wind all the way to the Amazon, recharging its minerals. The desert literally fertilizes the rainforest.

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There is a prison in Bolivia where inmates rent their own cells, can live with their families, charge tourists for tours and at one point produced almost all the cocaine in Bolivia.

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There is a US$1000 sports bra which uses heat sensors to detect signs of breast cancer up to 6 years earlier than a mammogram can.

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The Berlin Wall was torn down by mistakenly-empowered citizens after an East German spokesman misspoke at a press conference and mentioned immediate border crossing privileges for every citizen.

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Despite Global Warming, we're still technically in an Ice Age.

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In the U.S., if you find a bald eagle feather on the ground, you need a permit to pick it up.

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During WW2, Nazi soldiers were fed massive quantities of methamphetamine for increased alertness and endurance.

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Astronauts in space can't tell if their bladders are full. They are trained to relieve themselves every two hours.