“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.”
– Christopher McCandless
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
75 Mind-Blowing Facts You’ll Think Are Made Up (But Aren’t)1
Froot Loops are all the same flavor
Sure those sweetened O’s are all different colors but that doesn’t mean they are different flavors. Kellogg’s, the company who makes them, has admitted that each Froot Loop is “froot flavored” which they describe as “a blend of fruit flavors.”
2
Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr. were born the same year
Anne Frank is an iconic symbol of the Nazi brutality of World War II in the 1940s while Martin Luther King, Jr. was the face and voice of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The two events seem so far apart in history but both figures were born in 1929—January 15 for King, and June 12 for Frank. How’s that for a mind-blowing fact?
3
Most Canadians live south of Seattle
Canada and the United States are both large countries which can make understanding the relative geography difficult. But the contiguous United States goes farther north than you think and the majority of Canadians live near the southern border. The result? At 45 degrees latitude, Seattle is farther north than Toronto and Montreal, meaning that 64 percent of Canadians live south of Seattle.
4
More French soldiers died during World War I than American soldiers during all of U.S. history
World War I was catastrophic on levels that most of us alive today cannot even comprehend. One example? The numbers of total deaths. During the first world war, France lost about 1,360,000 soldiers. In contrast, the United States has recorded about 1,350,000 military deaths total, over every war since 1775.
5
There is a species of jellyfish that is immortal
Think that immortality is just a fantasy? Well, it is for humans. But scientists have discovered that the Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish can revert back to its juvenile polyp stage after maturing, continuing in an endless cycle making it the only known officially immortal creature
6
The U.S. government has an official plan for a zombie apocalypse
Think The Walking Dead is straight-up fiction? Well, it is—but the government wants to be prepared for a real-life version anyhow. The 31-page Counter-Zombie Dominance Plan, or CONPLAN 8888-11, was designed in 2011. And just in case you think it’s weird bureaucratic humor, the first line reads, “This plan was not actually designed as a joke.”
7
There is a country with no capital
Nauru is the only country in the world without an official capital city. The government offices of the tiny Pacific island nation are located in the Yaren District.
8
The “word of the year” in 2015 was a picture
Proof that Internet culture has overtaken reality: In 2015, Oxford dictionaries chose the “smiling with tears of joy” emoji as its official word of the year. The pictograph “best reflected the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015,” they said.
9
Prince Charles has a car fueled by wine
In the search for more efficient fuels, Prince Charles is taking a strange-but-entertaining approach: The heir to the British throne had his vintage Aston Martin reworked to use wine as it’s primary fuel.
10
It’s totally legal to escape from prison in Mexico
Several countries, including Mexico, Germany, and Austria, see the desire to escape prison as basic human nature rather than an unlawful act. Consequently, a prison break isn’t considered to be a crime itself but before you started masterminding the perfect escape plan, know that they’ll still try to catch you and you may be punished for any criminal act you commit during or after your escape.
~~~~
Good morning everyboomie.
Is everyone still happy in the new year?
Personally this year hasn't gone they way I had hoped it would.
The Cowboys are not in the playoffs. They're on the right track though. They fired their coaches.
There were some great games this weekend though, and my other team, the Texans, won in an amazing, nail biting, overtime game.
The Patriots lost.
Now if the Eagles lose to the Seahawks I'll be pretty happy.
We're still having pretty mild weather, and I'm not going to complain about that. I'll wait till the temperature drops another 10 degrees.
I don't wanna freeze my pompoms off.
Have a fantastic week everyone.
joe