Sometimes the way we learn about the past colors our impression and understanding of it. Minor events can be made to seem huge and extremely significant ones can be downplayed or totally overlooked. It’s hard to be on the lookout for all the different biases that can color what we learn about events we weren’t even alive to witness.

One of the strangest ways our understanding of history can be manipulated deals with time. Some periods or events that have received a lot of attention were far more short-lived than many of us in the present ever realized. 

10. The Wild West Was Only About 30 Years Long

At this point there have been more movies made about the Wild West than most of us could ever hope to watch. The time period was immortalized on film because film was just invented right at the tail end of the American Frontier era so the stories of that time were a natural fit for what came next. 

As film really grew and became a phenomenon for story telling, movie theaters took off and in the early nineteen-teens movie studios sprang up in Hollywood. Westerns became one of the biggest genres and for over 100 years studios have been making them, though obviously not as much anymore.

As film really grew and became a phenomenon for story telling, movie theaters took off and in the early nineteen-teens movie studios sprang up in Hollywood. Westerns became one of the biggest genres and for over 100 years studios have been making them, though obviously not as much any more.

As popular as the Western genre was in the ’40s and ’50s, you’d think the Wild West was a massive part of American history, but it lasted a relatively short 30 years. What we know of as the Wild West began at the end of the Civil War in 1865. That era ended at the same time film began, in fact, around 1895 to 1897 or so.

Nearly everything we know, or think we know, about Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid and every other famous cowboy took place in that time period. The Wild West saw its death knell with the massacre at Wounded Knee and then the 1891 US Census which declared there was no longer was a frontier and all the land of the West had been claimed. 

By 1895, a mostly arbitrary date that many sources use, the age of lawlessness had all but been resolved and the wild had been removed from the west. By 1900, the age of American Industry was the final nail in the coffin. 

9. The Gunfight at the OK Corral Lasted Less Than a Minute

Speaking of the Wild West, one single event stands out more than any other in the mythos of the Wild West cowboys and outlaws mystique, and that’s the Gunfight at the OK Corral. This infamous fight has been immortalized dozens of times on film and is generally one of the climactic moments of any film about Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday. 

Though there was a long buildup to the gunfight between all the Earp brothers and the Clanton-McLaury Gang, notorious and violent thieves and cattle rustlers near the town of Tombstone. Things came to a head on October 26, 1881 at three in the afternoon when the two groups clashed in a violent gunfight.

In total, 30 shots were fired back and forth and the whole thing took 30 seconds. That was it. Three Clantons died in the fight and Earp’s side suffered non-fatal wounds. Though it’s been a subject of some debate, it’s been said that Virgil Earp, Wyatt’s brother, was the first man to fire his gun, followed by Doc Holliday. 

8. Andrew Jackson Paid Off the National Debt But Only For One Year

The US government has been in debt since it began. The US Treasury points out that the government incurred $75 million in debt during the Revolutionary War in 1791 and it’s been going strong ever since. However, there was once an extremely brief moment of reprieve. President Andrew Jackson was the only President in history to pay off the debt. For one year only, the US operated debt free.

It was January 8, 1835 when it was announced that the US national debt had been paid in full. This was thanks to, in part, Andrew Jackson’s utter distrust of banks. He ended up liquidating the Second Bank of the United States, selling off land in the west, and returning the country’s initial investment, plus profit, which was distributed among the states. 

Jackson also blocked every spending bill he could and vetoed many programs. This led to a real estate bubble and a Depression that caused a new debt and the country has never escaped it since. 

7. The Beatles Were Only a Band for 7 Years

Google “best rock bands of all-time” and you’re going to see The Beatles on a lot of lists. Probably every single list. If they’re not the top entry on most people’s lists, they’re going to be top five. People loved the Beatles and still do. The Beatles have 183 million certified album sales. They released 13 studio albums. That makes them far and away the top selling musical act of all time. That’s almost 100 million more than Michael Jackson and nearly 30 million more than their closest competitor which is, unexpectedly, Garth Brooks. 

For all that incredible fame, you might think the Fab Four had been together for far longer than they actually were. The Beatles only performed as a group for seven years, from 1963 to 1970. In that time they produced 20 number one singles and over 40 Top 40 releases.

6. The Pony Express Was Only Around For a Year And a Half

One last trip to the Old West for this entry about the Pony Express. The Pony Express started back in 1860 and, at a time before automobiles, it was a quick and efficient way to deliver mail by a relay of horses. One rider takes a letter, races to the next fresh rider and so on, all across the country. They could cover 1800 miles in 10 days which was much faster than any previous mail service. 

Because of the Western expansion, people in the older, established cities in the east needed quick communication with those out west and the Pony Express was the answer. Right up until it wasn’t. Even as the Express was getting underway, a transcontinental telegraph service was being built to connect both sides of the country.

The Pony Express began service on April 3, 1860. On October 26, 1861, the telegraph connection between New York and San Francisco was finalized and the Pony Express was officially terminated, a year and a half after it started.

5. It Only Took 8 Days to Film The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project did what few movies can do. It revolutionized film by creating a new genre. There were other “found footage” type films that existed before Blair Witch, but this was the one that introduced the concept to audiences at large and started a boom in the genre. It’s also the most successful found footage horror movies even to this day, raking in nearly $250 million with a cost of about $35,000 to shoot.

People lined up to see the movie, and it caused a sensation for its groundbreaking viral marketing campaign and the fact people legitimately thought this was real footage shot by real people who had been murdered in the woods.

For all the impact and buzz and the legacy of the movie, it’s remarkable to learn it was the culmination of 8 days of work. It took 8 days to film the movie from start to finish, then it was off to editing.

4. The Anglo-Zanzibar War Lasted Less Than an Hour

There is always a war going on somewhere. Most wars seem to last about three to four months but, historically, there have been some very notable exceptions. Some wars have lasted for over 700 years, at least officially. On the opposite end of that scale is the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It lasted about 40 minutes. 

After a treaty was signed between Germany and England regarding Zanzibar, the Brits put a friendly sultan in charge and took on Zanzibar as a British protectorate. The sultan died three years later, potentially poisoned by his cousin who quickly took over leadership. 

Britain did not want someone in charge that they hadn’t appointed so they told the new sultan to step down. He responded by gathering military forces to his palace. With 3,000 soldiers at his back and some artillery to defend the palace, the sultan locked himself in. 

The British already had two warships on standby and sent for reinforcements. Several more arrived over the next two days and Britain officially requested the sultan to give up. The sultan called their bluff saying he didn’t think they’d attack. Britain responded by basically saying “we don’t want to but we will if you make us.” That was the end of formal communications. 

At 9:00 a.m. on August 27, the British ships opened fire. Two minutes later, the sultan’s defenses were nearly all destroyed. The palace was on the verge of collapse. The sultan apparently fled and 38 minutes later his flag was removed and the palace was taken.

3. The First Oscars Ceremony Was Only 15 Minutes Long

The 74th Annual Academy Awards aired in 2002 and the broadcast was just shy of four and a half hours. These lengthy broadcasts have been routinely criticized for being just too damn long. It’s funny to think of how far we’ve come and how much more refreshing it must have been back in 1929 when the Academy held the first awards ceremony. It lasted a brisk fifteen minutes. 

In 1929 it wasn’t on TV, of course, which helped cut down on time anyone was willing to spend. There was also just one speech given, only 270 people attended (at $5 a head, and dinner was included) and all the winners had known three months in advance they were winning. 

The ceremony had only 15 statues to hand out, and only two actors of the five nominated showed up to receive them. Two others were traveling, and one had gone back to Germany, where he lived. 

2. Mr. Bean Only Ran for 15 Episodes

Even if everyone doesn’t recognize Rowan Atkinson’s name, pretty much anyone who’s been online for more than a few weeks at least knows his face. Atkinson, who’s been acting for decades, is the man behind the iconic character Mr. Bean. The awkward, mostly silent, perplexing-looking clod of a man who bumbles into countless goofy situations. 

Atkinson made the character famous thanks to his remarkable physical comedy which includes some masterful face making. For a lot of Gen Xers, Bean was a staple part of their comedy upbringing. And it’s for that reason, alongside all the memes and gifs that the show spawned, that it’s surprising to learn there were only 15 episodes of the show ever produced. Friends had 24 episodes per season for seven seasons.

The very first Mr. Bean aired in January 1990. Episode two came 11 months later. Episode three rushed out just two months after that. Then it was another 10 months. It would go on like that for six seasons, never releasing more than four episodes in a single year. 

The character appeared in several shorts over the years, as well as Bean the movie, but the show that started it all only had that remarkably short run. 

1. Romeo and Juliet Takes Place Over About 5 Days

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well known plays ever written, and even all these years later it is still used to reference any number of romantic ideals. We still call a romance-minded guy a Romeo because of the play, and people who never read the ending compare it to young love all the time. 

While the story follows the meeting, romance and tragic end of these young lovers (who are only 16 and 13, if you recall), the entire story takes place over a work week. It’s just five days from “Oh my God, who is that?” to “Welp, we’re dead.” The most generous reading has them dead on the morning of the sixth day.

We like to think that we have a pretty good handle on not only what’s in our food, medicine, and cleaning cabinets, but also which items are dangerous, and how they all work and interact with each other. However, it’s a complex world, and oftentimes it is hard to keep track of all of it at once. Unfortunately, there are dangerous items lurking in our households, of which even the best of us are often almost completely unaware. 

10. Bleach And Ammonia Cleaners Can Create Chloramine Gas 

Most people don’t think about the fact that many of the cleaning products actually contain ammonia, and that those that don’t probably contain bleach instead. Since most people aren’t even aware of how powerful ammonia is — or even what it is — many also are not aware that when ammonia and bleach are mixed together, they form something called chloramine gas, which is often confused with tear gas due to its milder, but similar effects. 

Many individuals cleaning their houses, especially in the early pandemic days, have accidentally mixed the two types of cleaners and started dealing with watery eyes, respiratory distress, and other symptoms, before running to a ventilated area to recover, only later realizing what they had done. The simplest way to avoid this pitfall is to read your labeling and simply make sure not to mix cleaners that have ammonia and bleach agents in them. However, it’s also important to note that natural sources of ammonia — such as urine — can cause this effect as well. This is why experts suggest you do not use bleach-containing cleaners to disinfect toilets, diaper pails, litter boxes, or other areas that may contain a lot of natural ammonia. 

9. Too Much Cinnamon Can Quickly Cause Liver Toxicity 

Most people are smart enough to avoid the cinnamon challenge, if for no other reason than choking hazards, but it can still be quite dangerous even without that kind of abuse. You see, there are two kinds of cinnamon: Ceylon Cinnamon and Cassia Cinnamon. These two types  have an important difference, which is that one has much more of the active compound that can cause liver damage than the other. Cassia Cinnamon, the one most commonly sold in stores, contains a large quantity of Coumarin, which can easily cause liver toxicity in humans. 

Now, some studies have attempted to use it therapeutically for things like diabetes, but the evidence is unclear, and the risks are high. Scientific studies have shown that the safe amount of Cassia Cinnamon per day for a human of roughly 160 pounds is less than a teaspoon and a half, if you don’t want to potentially suffer long term liver damage. 

8. Plug In Air Fresheners Are Really Bad For Your Pets 

People don’t typically tend to think too deeply about air fresheners, but they can be quite dangerous for our pets. The problem is that these air fresheners are not just releasing safe organic compounds into the air. They are actually using something called volatile organic compounds, which are known to potentially cause cancer in animals. They certainly can cause respiratory distress in poets, even if you do not use them heavily enough to cause their deaths.

To make matters worse, a study showed that out of 25 major brands, a combined 133 volatile organic compounds were found, with at least 17 different ones per product. Among those, 24 of the compounds are toxic under US law, with every product containing at least one of the toxic ones. This means a huge amount of potentially dangerous compounds that are very hard to properly test for. Cats especially are in danger, as they are not only a lot smaller than us, but they tend to groom themselves by licking, which means anything in the air that gets on their fur is likely to end up in their digestive tract. For dogs this is not as much of an issue, although still a cause to be careful.

7. Too Much Use Of Spray-On Deodorant Can Actually Kill You 

It should be noted, first and foremost, that spray-on deodorants have clearly written warning labels, but due to an alarming number of incidents where teens have lost their lives, some are questioning if that’s nearly enough. A report from the United Kingdom found 11 deaths attributed to this cause in the time period of 2001 to 2020. While this is not a huge number, it’s far more than it should be, as it’s an entirely preventable cause of death. These teenagers were overusing the spray either to make themselves smell good in place of showers, as is the case with one British teenager, or to comfort themselves with a nice smell, like another teenager; this one a girl in Britain who lost her life at the age of just 14.

To make matters worse, not all death certificates are going to attribute this cause as the direct effect, so the true number may be hard to actually track. There have also been 324 deaths related to butane inhalation in the same time period, which is the chemical in the spray-on body scenting products that is so deadly. This definitely leaves the most important question here: why are spray-on deodorant products using such a dangerous chemical to begin with, knowing it will be applied near human skin?

6. A Little Too Much Nutmeg Can Cause Myristicin Poisoning 

Most people think of nutmeg as just a spice for eggnog and cakes, but it actually contains an active compound called myristicin, which can have very strong effects. This active compound in nutmeg is rarely ingested in quantities large enough to have any effects on us. A little bit sprinkled on eggnog or a teaspoon in an entire cake isn’t likely to have much effect. However, at just a teaspoon or two, depending on the weight of the person, it can start to cause myristicin toxicity. Now, except for the case of one eight-year-old boy, there are no known deaths on record, but it is called toxicity because you tend to get a very unpleasant fever and high that some people try to exploit for recreational purposes. 

Malcolm X was famous for this, admitting in his biography to using a penny matchbox of nutmeg mixed with cold water while in prison, and he claimed it hit like “three or four reefers.” But before anyone gets excited about using nutmeg to emulate Malcolm X (or just to try to get high), he was using this because he was in prison and had nothing else was available, because it really is not a pleasant high. While there is no hard evidence, as it isn’t ethical to test just how much will kill you, it is called toxicity for a reason. When you have too much, you get hallucinations, and an extremely powerful high, but you also get sweating, high fever, nausea, and a sense of impending doom that can last for 24 hours, or even longer. 

5. Appliance Fires Are Becoming A Serious Problem — And It Isn’t Just The Obvious Ones 

When people think of house fires they think of things like unattended candles, or other negligence issues, but appliance fires are becoming a big problem and they are often not the user’s fault. Now, we can’t mention appliance fires without mentioning toasters, but contrary to popular belief they are one of the lesser causes when it comes to these accidents. The fact that people often forget to clean them doesn’t help, but studies by consumer agencies have shown that most toaster fires are not created by the consumers themselves, and that there is a truly measurable problem when it comes to faulty electronics. One of the most common causes of toaster fires is that they will not stop after the timer tells them to, continuing to heat up (and up, and up) until a fire starts. 

However, as bad as toasters are, they are hardly the worst offenders. From 2001-2009 consumer agencies tallied all the different appliance fires, and found over 35,000 likely caused by appliance failure. Of those, they were absolutely sure that in over 15,000 instances it was indeed an electrical problem with the appliance. In these tallies, they found that range-tops, dishwashers, dryers, refrigerators and other big appliances were actually causing way more fires than small appliances like toasters. Experts believe these electrical problems are often traced back to one shoddy part that ended up in the mix, which can lead to appliances overheating, refusing to turn off when they are supposed to, or turning on without being told. 

4. Raw Flour Is Often A Carrier Of E. Coli 

Many people dismiss the danger of raw flour, and when worrying about raw dough only think about the eggs. They may not realize that letting raw flour spread around their kitchen is almost as bad as doing the same with raw chicken. The problem is that flour that has not yet been cooked in something — even though we may not think of it this way — is actually a raw food, and can often contain E. coli. This, of course, is the contaminant that often causes the recall of products like lettuce. This means that as a rule of thumb, you really shouldn’t use raw dough as a toy for kids to make clay shapes, nor allow it to spread around your kitchen without thorough disinfecting, and you really shouldn’t ever eat it. Not that we expect people to scarf down spoonfuls of flour, but still.

Now, some people have heard of raw cookie dough that is sold that way, and is safe to eat. This dough often contains no eggs and has flour that was specially heat-treated before it was added to the cookie dough. Some people may think this is safe to do at home so they can make their own cookie dough, but this is really not recommended by food experts. They simply do not believe that most home processes are going to adequately heat-treat the flour well enough to be sure of removal of any contaminants, such as E. coli.

3. A Moderate Amount Of Licorice On  A Regular Basis Can Actually Kill You

Many people think little of black licorice, and enjoy it for a snack. But overconsumption can easily be deadly, as it contains a dangerous compound called glycyrrhizic acid. The problem is that this compound in real liquorice, while healthful in small quantities, can be very dangerous in larger quantities. Many people, either eating it as a regular snack or trying to use it in supplements or teas for health benefits, have accidentally overdosed and put their health at risk. More than two ounces a day for two weeks is more than enough to start causing noticeable health problems, which include high blood pressure and extremely low potassium levels. 

Now, while deaths are relatively rare, they do occur on occasion and usually tend to skew towards older folks in their 50s and up. Unfortunately, apart from the fact that the older generation tends to like it more, and the fact that the risks are not well known, its health effects are more likely to bother an elderly person than a younger, healthier individual. Heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure, messed up acid levels in blood; and low potassium may be bad for a young person, but they are much more likely to be fatal for an older person.  

2. Wedding Crashers May Be Funny, But Eye Drops Are No Laughing Matter 

The scene in Wedding Crashers where a man is snuck eye drops and he ends up on the toilet is played for laughs, and most people think of it as a harmless prank. It is important to understand that the effects of this drug in real life are much, much worse when consumed than simply spending an uncomfortable period of time on the john. The fact is that eye drops contain something called tetrahydrozoline, which is very useful for removing eye redness and irritation, but when ingested or injected, causes dangerous drops in blood pressure and heart beat. In fact, not only is it deadly, but the side effect of gastrointestinal distress that we see in the hit movie is actually not a common side effect at all. 

The more common side effect of taking too much especially over a long period of time is death, as extremely low blood pressures and heartbeats can kill you if not medically treated. In some cases people have killed others using the eye drops as poison and in one case a woman was even convicted of the killing of her husband by poisoning his drink with eye drops and was sentenced to 25 years.  

1. You Should Really Monitor Your Tuna Intake Due To Mercury Levels 

Most people think little of it, likely due to the small can size, but tuna is actually quite a large fish. So, the government has advice on how much we should eat to avoid mercury buildup.The recommendation is that adults should not be eating more than 2-3 cans (at the very most!) of chunk light tuna per week, and that if they do eat that much, they shouldn’t eat any other fish that week. Now, you might notice here that chunk light tuna is specifically mentioned, and that’s because it’s actually different in terms of mercury levels than albacore or white tuna. Albacore tuna tends to have about three times as much mercury as the smaller tunas, like skipjack, that are usually found in chunk light tuna. This means if you have a taste for the more expensive white tuna, you really shouldn’t have more than one can a week, and again, should not have other fish that same week. 

This advice, however, is for adults. The recommendation for children and pregnant or nursing mothers is that, ideally, they should avoid tuna altogether. If they eat it at all, they should especially avoid white tuna, and stick to one can of chunk light tuna. It’s still recommended, however, that children and young mothers (as well as other adults) include a regular amount of low mercury fish in their diets, instead of just consuming beef and poultry products for fear of mercury poisoning.

It’s never easy to prove a negative, and it’s hard to pay attention to things you never notice. That’s kind of the point. But there’s a whole secret world around us that works because we don’t know it works. Things that happen in the background, under the cover of night, or well out of the range of perception because it either doesn’t matter or people don’t want us to know. Not sure what all that means? Let’s take a look.

10. Disney Garbage Cans Empty Through Tunnels

If you have ever been to a Disney theme park you’ve probably enjoyed your fair share of rides, stood in too many lines, and had fun with the most cheerful, overheated, costumed people in the world. There’s a lot going on. But what isn’t going on is trash. 

Despite over 57,000 people visiting the Magic Kingdom every day, no one is ever seen dragging trash out of the park’s multiple garbage cans. That’s thanks to the advanced, underground trash system used in the park. Every 15 minutes, tubes open up under the trash cans and suck everything down to be processed and disposed of out of sight. 

The tubes pull down trash at 60 miles per hour and send it on a journey to a compactor located behind Splash Mountain. The same corridors that shuttle garbage around are used by staff members so you never see someone out of costume running from one part of the park to another. 

9. You Don’t See Foreign-Built Pickup Trucks Thanks to the Chicken Tax

Here’s something you probably don’t think about often when you’re out and about. How often do you see foreign built light duty trucks on the road? The answer is you don’t, and it’s thanks to something called the Chicken Tax. This tax has been around for 50 years and has ensured that foreign built light duty trucks and smaller SUVs are not on the roads in the US, giving the Big 3 automakers in America a serious advantage in that section of the industry.

The so-called Chicken Tax is a massive 25% tariff on foreign built trucks. Most foreign built vehicles face a 2.5% tariff making them more reasonable to import. It dates back to the 1960s. European nations put a tax on American chicken and, in retaliation, America put the tax on trucks. The goal was to cripple Euro automakers like Volkswagen.

For companies like Ford and Chevy, this tax has given them a massive advantage for decades. Ford’s F-150 has literally been the best-selling truck for 46 years in a row. It’s hard to deny that this is, in part, because competition is limited..

8. Flying Squirrels are the Most Common Squirrels in Ohio 

Squirrels are a ubiquitous part of life for many people in the US and Canada. There are a few species that roam freely in cities and parks, and they are typically gray and black, with a few red and white species here and there as well. Surprisingly, the most common squirrel found throughout Ohio is none of those; it’s the Southern flying squirrel. No one sees them because they’re nocturnal.

For most people, a flying squirrel is something of a novelty. People keep them as exotic and quirky pets but in the wild they seem like something that must live elsewhere, in some other part of the world. Turns out, if you want to find some, you just need to hang out around Ohio woodland areas after dark.

7. You Won’t See Neckties in Iran

In many parts of the world, the way you dress is dictated by culture. Certain clothing items are more traditional than others to certain parts of the world. In parts of Africa you may see someone wearing a kanzu. In Mexico you can find a charro suit. And in Japan you can find people wearing traditional kimonos. But other fashion items have spanned the globe and been readily adopted everywhere. There probably isn’t a country on earth where you won’t find blue jeans or sneakers, for instance. But what about neckties?

Many cultures have adopted the neck tie as part of men’s formal fashion. People were suits in government and in business in many parts of the world. And while you will find Iranian men in formal wear including suits, you’ll almost never see an Iranian man in Iran wearing a necktie. 

In 1979, during the Islamic Revolution, the necktie became a fashion victim of the transition. Neckties were seen as symbolic of Western culture and ideals and so they were outright banished. They couldn’t even be sold in the country. 

6. You Almost Never See Macadamia Nuts in the Shell

Sometimes you feel like a nut, right? Peanuts, cashews, almonds, they’re all delightful. And macadamia nuts are some of the most prized, though they can be a little pricey. What you are unlikely to ever see in the store if you go looking is macadamia nuts still in the shell, even though most others are sold that way. It’s also for your own good as well, as you’d have a heck of a time eating those macadamias.

Macadamia nuts are some of the hardest nuts in the world to crack. Even companies that sell the nuts have to give you tips on their websites for how you can break into them if you’re committed to trying. The problem is that they take 300 lbs of pressure per square inch to crack. That’s about twice a human’s bite strength. Cracking them often requires a hammer and some patience.

5. Most Hotels Never Provide Toothpaste for Guests

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you probably have developed a baseline for what you expect at any hotel where you stay. Maybe you know which chains have the best breakfast buffets, or the cleanest rooms. And there are a handful of things you’d expect anywhere, such as clean towels and tiny soaps in the bathroom. Every hotel has those, right? But there is one thing hotel bathrooms almost never provide, and that’s toothpaste.

You may have never thought about this but it does seem odd when you consider that soap, shampoo and conditioner are always standards. Why not toothpaste? There are actually a myriad of reasons.

To start, a lot of people don’t ask for it so hotels aren’t motivated to provide it. But also, hotels don’t want to provide it. Toothpaste is classified as a drug for regulatory purposes, in the sense that lots of stuff from a pharmacy is categorized in such a way, and that makes it more expensive to buy even in bulk. 

Finally, there’s the matter of toothpaste not being worth it. To get the highest rating you can get as a hotel, whether that’s five diamonds or stars or whatever it may be, toothpaste is not a requirement. If a hotel can get a perfect rating without providing toothpaste, they don’t have a lot of motivation to provide it.

4. The Simpsons House Has an Almost Never Seen Rumpus Room

This is one of the most unusual entries on the list and it plays fast and loose with physics only insofar as there are no physics involved here because this is all made up. There is a room in the Simpsons’ house that you almost never see. It’s the rumpus room, and it’s off the kitchen.  

Obviously no one expects a cartoon, least of all The Simpsons, to portray the world with any realism or accuracy. But there’s at least a thread of semi-consistency that exists in Springfield. The Simpsons live at 742 Evergreen Terrace. Ned Flanders is their neighbor.They have a dog and a cat. Those things change a little bit now and then but tend to snap back to the status quo by the time a new episode airs.

The rumpus room, however, is a weird outlier in Simpsons reality. It wasn’t a one-off, a sight gag that never needed to come back again, because it did come back. They’ve made use of it in eight episodes of the more than 740 that exist. It just pops up on the rare occasion it’s needed and then vanishes again when it’s not.

3. You Almost Never See Pigeon Babies

In some cities in the world, pigeons are a serious nuisance. At one point, pigeons were accused of causing about $1.1 billion in damages per year across the US, mostly from their droppings. It’s estimated that New York alone is home to four million of the birds, and they seem to exist in pretty much every major city. So when’s the last time you saw a baby pigeon? Have you ever seen one?

This is almost a trick question but, since people in cities are so used to seeing pigeons, it can give you pause for a moment. In fairness, you almost never see any baby birds because they stay in their nests. It’s just that pigeons are so prevalent in human spaces it seems more unusual that we don’t see baby ones ever.

Pigeon babies do live where you’d expect them to live, in pigeon nests. But the nests are usually hidden away for obvious reasons. And when a pigeon is able to leave the nest and take flight, the fledgling birds look nearly identical to the adults so that we can’t ever tell the difference. 

2. You’ll Almost Never See a Mosquito at Disney World

We already know you’re not going to see trash removal at Disney World but that’s not the only thing suspiciously absent from the Florida theme park. There’s also a noticeable lack of mosquitoes, something not typical for the area at all.

There are actually 80 different species of mosquito in Florida so it’s usually hard to escape them. But they don’t call Disney World the Magic Kingdom for nothing. Their anti-mosquito system is remarkably in-depth and includes surveillance as well as insect repellant in the form of liquid garlic so it’s non-toxic, natural predators in the form of bats, and carbon dioxide traps so they can gas the little fiends and then study them to ensure they’re fighting them off as effectively as possible.  And that’s just the start.

The park has as little standing water as possible to ensure mosquitos have no place to breed. The park is filled with drainage ditches to keep standing water away from populated areas and ensure the water that is there is always moving. All water is moving either because it’s draining somewhere or a fountain circulates it. Even the buildings are designed to have no place where water can pool.

1. Most Elevators Don’t Have a Button for the 13th Floor

If for no other reason than Friday the 13th, both the films and the actual day, most of us know the number 13 is considered bad luck. The origins of the superstition almost don’t matter anymore, it’s such an ingrained thing. In fact, it’s taken so seriously that you are unlikely to ever see a 13th floor in a building even if it has more than 13 floors.

Obviously a building with 20 floors has a 13th floor, we can’t change basic math. But we can change buttons on elevators and that’s what most of them do. Otis Elevators, one of the largest makers of elevators in the United States, has said that about 85% of elevators don’t include a 13. They go from 12 to 14, generally speaking. You’ll even see this in stairwells as you go up with the sign marking the 14th floor coming right after the 12th,

Skipping 13 seems to be more common in hotels and residential buildings. And it’s entirely due to the superstition or, more accurately, management of those buildings worried that tenants will be superstitious and not want to pay to be on the 13th floor.

Pop culture has really exploded into a monster since the emergence of streaming technology and a million cable channels. There are video games, books, shows and films coming out constantly telling old stories, reimagined stories, rebooted stories and brand new stories. It’s all content, as some people say, and there is a lot of it. So much, in fact, it can be hard to keep track of where it all came from or the fact that some of the characters we’ve come to know aren’t just characters but were, at some point, real people. 

10. Nicolas Flamel From Harry Potter Was a Real Alchemist

In the Harry Potter books and films, Harry and crew run across the name of a French wizard and alchemist called Nicolas Flamel. A onetime friend of Albus Dumbledore, he’s the man behind the Philosopher’s Stone (or the Sorcerer’s Stone if all you saw was the American version of the film). He also has an appearance in the Fantastic Beasts movies, which take place in the same wizarding world.

But Flamel is not one of the creations of Potter author J. K. Rowling. He was a real person, and he did want to make the Philosopher’s Stone, as did many alchemists throughout history.

The “real” Philosopher’s Stone, or the thing people were hoping to find or create, was supposed to be able to not just transform things into gold, it was also believed to grant immortality. Flamel said he bought a book from a traveler in an unknown language and, after years of trying, he managed to translate it and succeeded in turning a half pound of mercury into silver and then gold. 

As the story goes, he donated the money and continued pursuing learning for his remaining years, eventually giving up on transmutation because he felt such an ability was too dangerous for people. It’s said he hid the book so no one could find it and learn the secrets. Many people suspect his money was just from his savvy real estate investments, however. 

Known science suggests Flamel did not succeed in transmuting common metals to gold and the fact he did die certainly makes the idea of immortality seem like it was a bust as well. Unless he faked it. 

9. Bloody Mary From the Urban Legend was Mary Tudor

Long before saying Candyman’s name would attract the fury of a bee-addled Tony Todd, kids at sleepovers were saying Bloody Mary in front of a mirror in a dark bathroom hoping to catch a glimpse of a terrifying spirit. Why? Kids are weird. But the story of Bloody Mary has more to it than a party game that ultimately goes nowhere. The Bloody Mary we’re referring to was a real person: Mary Tudor.

There’s been a lot lost in translation between the real Mary and her reign as Mary I of England back in the mid-1500s and the idea that a bloody spirit will lunge from a mirror at a birthday party, but the connection makes more sense when you look at how history long chose to remember Mary.

Mary Tudor was notable for being the first Queen of England to rule without a King at her side and that makes her something of a feminist icon in a historical sense. But at the same time her legacy was of extreme religious persecution against Protestants which included a lot of executions. Hundreds of them, in fact. 

Bloody Mary had Protestants burned at the stake. The execution of some 300 Protestants is how she got the nickname Bloody Mary, something that was arguably made worse buy the fact a Protestant took over after Mary’s death, allowing history to make her look even worse than she truly was. Not that it takes much effort to make mass burnings look bad.  

8. Little Debbie Still Works for the Snack Cake Company Named After Her

Love them or hate them, Little Debbie snack cakes are a ubiquitous feature in grocery stores around America and beyond, and have been staples of kid’s lunches for decades. Most of us recognize the iconic image of what we had to assume was Little Debbie herself, a young girl in a checkered shirt, smiling from the corner of the box. 

Turns out Little Debbie isn’t just a corporate homunculus, she was and is a real person. Debbie McKee is the granddaughter of O.D. McKee who founded the company back in the 1930s after selling snack cakes out of their car during the Depression.

In the 1960s, the company rebranded as they got larger and started selling their baked goods in quantity. They chose their 4-year-old granddaughter to be the face and name of the company. Today, Debbie McKee-Fowler still works for the company as the Chairman of the Board.

7. Captain Morgan Was a Real Privateer

Captain Morgan is one of the bestselling brands of rum in the world and their buccaneer spokesman is widely recognized from the product labels and commercials featuring his likeness. But unlike some “real” human spokespeople that turn out to just be made up for marketing purposes, Henry Morgan was a real life pirate, or more specifically a privateer meaning that any raiding and pillaging he did was backed by the authority of the British Crown and therefore arguably legal. 

Morgan spent much of his life plundering Spanish cities and amassing huge wealth and land in Jamaica. He owned sugar plantations, kept slaves, and built a reputation as basically a pirate king. King Charles even knighted him and made him Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica at one point.

His reputation as a villain was very much exaggerated in books and stories from former crew members to the point that he even had to file lawsuits over it in his life. But his purported love of rum and the massive plantations he owned were perfect fodder for using him in the modern age as a spokesman for the brand.

6. Monterey Jack Cheese Was Marketed by David Jack of Monterey

Monterey Jack is one of the few cheeses that has a human name and it turns out there’s a reason for it – Monterey Jack was a person. His real name was David Jack and, despite the cheese being a fan favorite among cheese lovers, David Jack himself was apparently nothing short of a villain. 

Jack came to California in 1848 shortly after it became part of the United States. He quickly set about taking control of as much land as he could through some underhanded means when the legitimate landowners couldn’t pay legal bills. He and a lawyer got 30,000 acres of land in Monterey for about $1,000.

Jack immediately raised taxes on lands and foreclosed on those who didn’t pay. He took control of ranches, vineyards and also cheese production. What was once the cheese made by Mexican residents and known as queso blanco país was rebranded as Jack’s Cheese.As it spread, it became Monterey Jack’s cheese and finally what we know it as today. 

Jack didn’t invent the cheese by any means, but he certainly took credit for it. 

5. Jethro Tull Is Named After a Real Historical Figure

Jethro Tull was one of the biggest bands of the ’70s and has a legacy of being a creative, bizarre mix of hard rock and folk music that few other bands have ever even tried to pull off. The lead singer played the concert flute on a lot of tracks, that’s just not something you see in rock bands that often.

What many fans never knew at the time, and may still be unaware of, is that Jethro Tull is a real person’s name though he had nothing to do with the band at all. The real Jethro Tull was an agriculturalist born in England in the late 1600s. He was also an inventor and created things like a horse-drawn seed drill to make neat and even sowing of seeds easier and more efficient.

Though his ideas were slow to take off, he stuck by his methods and is generally considered to have been at the forefront of the agricultural revolution. As for the band, word is they got the name because, after going through many names, a booking agent’s assistant with a penchant for history picked it at random.

4. Uncle Sam Was Allegedly Based on Sam Wilson

Most Americans would recognize the face of Uncle Sam, a sort of unofficial spokesman for the country and even a nickname for the USA. Sam is rumored to be based on businessman Sam Wilson who supplied beef to the US Army during the War of 1812. 

As the story goes, soldier’s referred to it as Uncle Sam’s beef. And, since it came from the government, the name became inextricably linked with the government itself. The famous image, of course, came later as a means to encourage recruitment into the army 

3. The Term Smart Aleck Comes From a Real Man

These days if someone calls you a smart aleck it’s a bit of a g-rated insult suggesting that you’re being a bit of a know-it-all or you have a smart mouth. It’s more of an old-school dig and it’s likely only coming from a parent or grandparent. But the insult didn’t come from nowhere. There was a real Alec who inspired the term.

Alec Hoag was a pimp and a con man from the 1840s in New York. He and his wife used to run scams to rip off men on the streets. He also paid off cops to make sure he never got punished. Later, he and his wife performed more elaborate scams where she would lure men to a room, he would secretly rob their discarded clothing, then pretend to be shocked to catch her with a man so that the victim would flee without noticing their stuff had been looted.

Because Alec assumed the men wouldn’t report being robbed by a prostitute to the police, he stopped paying bribes. The cops didn’t take kindly to losing income, so they absolutely arrested him. A cop referred to him as Smart Alec as in too smart for his own good and it stuck as a prison nickname. The nickname also spread among cops, referring to any criminal who thought they were too smart as Smart Alecks. It spread from there until it became part of the vernacular.

2. Mary from Mary Had a Little Lamb Was Real

Nearly everyone knows the Mary Has a Little Lamb nursery rhyme, which was first published way back in 1830. It’s not a super detailed story and is mostly about a little lamb with fleece as white as snow following a girl named Mary everywhere she goes. But, according to the author, it was inspired by a real girl named Mary and her real lamb.

Mary was Mary Elizabeth Sawyer. Born in 1806, she convinced her father to let her take care of a sick lamb in 1815 when she was just nine. Against all odds, Mary nursed the little lamb back to health and it made a full recovery. Thus, a friendship was born.

From the sounds of what Mary wrote many years later in the 1880s, the lamb likely imprinted on her as she took to feeding it and caring for it in every way. As a result, it followed her everywhere she went and, indeed; it followed her to school one day. The teacher who kicked the lamb out wrote the popular version of the nursery rhyme years later.

1. Granny Smith Apples Came From Maria Ann “Granny” Smith

Granny Smith apples are the third most popular apples in America and they are consistent among the most popular in the world. Bright green and tart, they’re popular for eating by themselves, for use in candy apples, and for pies. The name isn’t just a cute moniker meant to bring to mind nostalgic memories of grandma baking a pie, either. There really was a Granny Smith, and she’s responsible for the apple’s popularity.

The apple dates back to 1868 in Australia where Maria Ann Smith, known locally as Granny Smith, had an orchard with her husband.  She had been testing out various kinds of crab-apples to find the best ones for cooking and tossing cores out of her window. These sprouted new seedlings, and she began propagating the best of the ones she discovered until she settled on an apple she felt was suitable for cooking and eating.

After Smith passed away, other farmers kept her strain going, calling it Smith’s Seedling, then Granny Smith’s Seedling and finally just Granny Smith apples.

If you asked people what the world’s most popular drug is, what would the most common answer be? Many people will say marijuana, or cannabis if they’re pretentious potheads. There will be some people that get closer by saying tobacco or alcohol. Probably fewer than say weed, because when most of us hear the word drug we think of illegal drugs. However, none of these are correct. The right answer: caffeine. We don’t think of drinking coffee as doing drugs, but that’s what it is. So read on to find out more about the only recreational drug that your parents will encourage you to take with that Starbucks gift card they send you at Christmas.

10. It Makes You Feel Good

The main reason that people take drugs is because they make the user feel good. Drugs can make us feel so good that they’re dangerous. Some people are willing to take them despite the side effects and risks. The lows and highs for coffee aren’t quite as extreme as heroin, but as you’ll see they do exist. Let’s start with the high.

Caffeine consumption stimulates the release of the chemical dopamine, which leads to euphoria. Other drugs that rely on dopamine include cocaine and ecstasy. Recent research has shown that caffeine also acts on the same neurotransmitters that marijuana does. So, that buzz you feel when you have your first cup of joe in the morning is caused by chemicals being released in your brain’s reward system. In addition to the rise in productivity, this is another one of the positive effects of caffeine consumption.

9. It Can Have Side Effects

Like most things in life, caffeine can have some nasty side effects, especially if consumed to excess. Most of us know that it can cause insomnia, nervousness, and anxiety. However, there are other negative possibilities as well. These are much more rare, but they do occur. In some people, caffeine may cause stomach problems, nausea, vomiting, headaches, chest pains, and increased heart rate.

There are also some people who should take extra caution. It can sometimes make anxiety disorders or bipolar disorder worse. It’s also probably good to avoid it if you are pregnant or if you are a child. It also can make certain problems worse, like glaucoma, epilepsy, and high blood pressure. If you have something like that that impacts your life, make sure you talk to your doctor, or more realistically, look it up online. Again, these effects are rare but it’s good to at least keep them in mind.

8. You Build Up a Tolerance

Has this ever happened to you? You do something fun you’ve never done before, and the first time you do it it’s incredibly intense and memorable. The next time you do it, it’s still really, really good, but maybe not quite as intense. But you still really like it, so you do it a lot. And after a while, it’s still kind of fun but it’s not the same. You enjoy it, but not as much. You just built up a tolerance.

That’s what happens when you consume a substance often. And this happens with caffeine as well as with other drugs. In one study, subjects became desensitized to the effects of caffeine in the first four days of consumption. This tolerance building is why you tend to need more over time in order to feel the same effects. The best way to keep your tolerance low is to keep your consumption levels low. And if you feel you’re drinking too much, you can always take a few days off. But, that might be hard because…

7. It Can Cause Withdrawal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0HaQmahq4o

When someone tries to quit taking a hard drug, let’s say heroin, there are often withdrawal symptoms. Part of the reason it’s hard to quit is because the drug makes us feel good, but another reason is because stopping feels so bad. This is the case with caffeine for many people.

Attempting to stop consuming caffeine can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine use releases adrenaline, which causes an energy boost. But this energy boost wears out eventually, and many people decide that means it’s time for more caffeine. But overconsumption can wear down your adrenal gland, making you dependent on the adrenaline boost provided by caffeine. This leads to withdrawal symptoms ranging from headache to constipation to depression. Luckily, these are usually milder than the withdrawals experienced by heroin addicts and will usually go away within a week or so. Whew!

6. You Can Overdose On It

Most things should be enjoyed in moderation, if at all. Caffeine has tons of health benefits, but too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. According to the Mayo Clinic, up to 400 mg of caffeine per day is safe in healthy adults. But, this amount differs based on your age, weight, and sex. Caffeine overdose usually only leads to unpleasant symptoms that go away once the caffeine is flushed out of your body. So, most of the time, it’s not that bad.

Milder symptoms include dizziness, diarrhea, and fever. But you should go to the doctor if you experience trouble breathing, vomiting, or convulsions. It’s probably best you go to the doctor after that whether you drank any caffeine or not. To avoid all this, keep your daily caffeine level below 400 mg, and even less if you aren’t used to it or are a particularly small person.

5. It Can Kill You

As we said earlier, caffeine overdose usually only leads to mildly unpleasant symptoms. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In extremely rare cases, it can actually help kill you. Again, this can only happen if large amounts are consumed in a small amount of time. Back in April, a teen in South Carolina died after drinking a McDonald’s latte, a large Mountain Dew, and an energy drink in under 2 hours.

He suffered from a caffeine induced cardiac arrhythmia. Based on estimates, he may have consumed about 470 mg of caffeine, over the daily recommended limit, in under two hours. The energy drink is particularly to blame, as it contains tons of caffeine and sugar. The American Association of Pediatrics has warned against kids and teenagers consuming energy drinks, and they say no one can ensure they are safe. Soda’s not good for you by any means, but energy drinks seem to be even more dangerous.

4. It Can Increase The Chance For Hallucinations

Caffeine is not like LSD. We’re guessing you already knew that. It does not directly cause any kind of hallucination. But, a study has linked caffeine consumption to hallucinations. It doesn’t cause hallucinations, but they are correlated. Those who consume the equivalent of 3 cups of brewed coffee (315 mg caffeine) per day were more likely to hallucinate than those who didn’t.

Caffeine has been shown to increase stress. The researchers of the study say that stress is also related to hallucinations. It’s not common at all, but stress may increase the possibility of hallucinations for those who are prone to them. On the other hand, it may be the other way around. They say it may be that those prone to hallucinations may use caffeine as a coping mechanism. The jury’s still out on this one, as they say.

3. It’s a Social Drug

Sure, a lot of times people drink caffeinated drinks on their own. In fact, that’s probably the most common way to consume it. But there is also a unique social aspect to coffee drinking. The primary locations of these social occasions are coffee shops. In the coffee shop owner’s ideal world, people would come in, purchase something expensive, and then leave. But that is not how people act for the most part.

People treat coffee shops as meeting places. They spend hours there studying, chatting, working on business presentations, or “writing” (AKA wasting time online). They are unique places, like a bar but much more relaxed. You can talk to other people, but it’s not expected. And there are probably more people getting actual work done than at the nightclub. The fact that it helps improve productivity is one of the main reasons that caffeine is the world’s most accepted drug, and also one of the reasons that people choose to do their work at coffee shops.

2. It’s Expensive

Illegal drugs are expensive. Many small fortunes have been lost to cocaine and quaaludes… at least that’s what we got out of Wolf of Wall Street. Unfortunately, caffeine is an expensive habit as well, and a much more accessible one. Some desperate addicts spend $5 on coffee per day. In a single day! A coffee habit slowly but surely eats away at one’s savings, eroding the sense of security and ease that was their savings account.

So, why is coffee so expensive? First off, it’s a volatile business, so owners tend to raise prices because of risk. The crops and market tend to fluctuate a lot, which causes uncertainty. There are tons of threats to the world’s coffee supply, and a shortage could really hurt coffee shops. So, the lower the supply of coffee goes, the higher the price will be for the shops and the customers. It’s production also requires lots of different people and organizations. It’s estimated that each coffee bean is handled by 30 different pairs of hands before it ends up in your cup. Most businesses have middlemen, and coffee’s got a ton of them. Coffee is not necessary to life, no matter what you’ve heard people say. It’s a luxury item and is therefore highly priced.  

If you want to keep your costs down, stick with the simpler variations, like black coffee. Specialty drinks are bound to be much more expensive. And to make it even cheaper, make your own at home.

1. Governments Have Tried To Ban It Before

Most recreational drugs are banned. Coffee and alcohol are pretty much the only two openly and fully accepted in American society. Alcohol is legal for anyone over the age of 21, and caffeine is totally legal for everyone. 8-year-olds drink soda chock full of sugar and caffeine. There’s no longer any actual cocaine in Coke, but there’s still a lot of white powder that’s pretty bad for you.  

In addition to the health dangers of overconsumption, there are also psychoactive effects to caffeine. It is, after all, a drug. And, like pretty much all drugs, governments have tried to ban it before. Banning drugs is like a drug to some people. In the 17th century Ottoman Empire, the consumption of coffee was a capital offense. Sultan Murad IV was fully on board the anti-caffeine train, prescribing death for coffee drinkers. That’s right, death. And he didn’t stop there. He would dress up as a commoner and walk around Istanbul trying to catch people defying his law. He carried a freaking sword around with him and when he came upon anyone sipping a latte, he would chop off their heads. Ironically, despite his anti-drug rhetoric, the Sultan didn’t heed his own warning: his death was caused by alcohol poisoning.

The coffee hate wasn’t limited to one country. In England, The Women’s Petition Against Coffee argued that coffee was to blame for tons of problems, particularly regarding men. They even blamed coffee for causing impotence. They knew they had to fight back, for The Devil’s Cup had ruined their husbands. This sounds somewhat similar to the Women’s Temperance movement. And these sorts of ideas continue into the present day, in a more restrained way. Just last year, New Jersey was considering banning people from driving after drinking coffee. But, try as they might, coffee will rebound. Despite this resistance and it’s side effects, we fully expect caffeine to continue to be the world’s most popular drug.

Everything has a beginning and for a lot of things they’re pretty easy to figure out. You can look at the first film by a certain director or actor, the first book by a writer, the first appearance of your favorite fictional character. It’s usually very cut and dry. That said, every so often a thing rises to popularity and then you find out later it’s a lot older than you at first imagined and the origins can be rather unexpected. 

10. The Soup Nazi was Referenced Before Seinfeld in Sleepless in Seattle

Seinfeld was known for having a lot of really quirky and interesting supporting characters who stood out as much or even more than the main cast. Some only appeared in one or two episodes but are still referenced to this day, years after the show went off the air. Arguably the most famous of all of these characters was the Soup Nazi. 

On the show, the Soup Nazi runs a soup restaurant with an intolerant iron fist. Customers who refuse to adhere to the rules are banished for life, hence the joke title he’s given. But the character was based on a real man named Ali Yagenah.

Yagenah ran a famous soup restaurant in Manhattan and he was known to have a temper. The man’s nickname in real life was the Soup Terrorist. As a character, he was actually referenced two years before Seinfeld in the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie Sleepless in Seattle. Though it’s brief, Ryan’s character talks about wanting to do a story on a guy in New York who makes the best soup but is also the meanest man in America. The writer of the movie, Nora Ephron, is from New York and Yagenah had been profiled in the New Yorker a few years earlier. 

9. The First F-Word Was Used in Text Back in the 1300s 

The F word is one of the most enduring words in the English language and to this day it’s still considered taboo by many, despite the fact it’s over 700 years old now. Few words have that kind of longevity when most of “polite” society has to refer to it by the first letter. 

The first written record of the f word comes to us from the year 1310 when it was transcribed as part of a court case. The previous earliest reference was much later, in 1475.  It’s also 100% not what you’d expect, either. There was a man called Roger F-bythenavele who, and this is just speculation, may have been a guy who was really bad at having sex or just someone known to be a dimwit who got saddled with a creative nickname so well known they put it in legal documents. Either way, it’s kind of amazing. 

He’s referenced 7 times in the document using that name. The case was not relevant to his name and seems to mostly be about his failure to appear for an earlier case though the nature of that isn’t mentioned. 

8. Nerd Was First Used by Dr. Seuss 

The word “nerd” is so ubiquitous these days that businesses employ it to advertise things like computer services. It rose to real prominence in everyday usage in the 1970s and likely hit its peak in the ’80s with films like Revenge of the Nerds. By that point the meaning of the word, as someone who is unattractive and socially awkward was pretty widely understood. 

Nerd didn’t evolve on schoolyards with bullies, however, it came from one of the world’s most well known authors. Dr. Seuss first coined the word back in 1950, at least as far as print usage is concerned. There it was featured in his work “If I Ran a Zoo” and in context it’s just a nonsense word that has no relation to the current meaning. 

It’s been mentioned that a 1951 Newsweek article also makes reference to teens calling each other nerds, and that the term has come to replace “drip” or “square” as an insult, so it’s likely that Suess didn’t pull the word out of the ether, but he was the first to put it to paper. 

7. Romans Used Yin Yang Symbolism Before China

The Ying Yang symbol is one that is strongly tied to east Asian culture. You can find it all throughout the Western world as a kind of pseudo-spiritual symbol used in jewelry and art that generally represents balance and harmony. The concept of what the symbol represents dates back thousands of years in China but the iconography does not. In fact, it first appeared in Rome about 700 years before it did in China.

The symbol was used in some Roman shield patterns but has nothing to do with the meaning of the yin yang or Taoism in general, as none of that would have been known to the Romans at the time. Instead, it was a case of coincidence or, less likely, someone saw the design from the Roman shields and felt it well represented the idea and adapted it to their own needs. If the symbol did have any deeper meaning for the Romans, it has since been lost to history.

6. Harry Potter Was a Character in a Fantasy Story Years Before JK Rowling’s Books

Harry Potter is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in history and the movies, including the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs, have grossed over $9 billion so far. The books have made another $7.7 billion. 

If you were to describe the story in very general and vague terms, you might say it’s a fantasy series about someone named Harry Potter who lives in a world with trolls and goblins and such. And, based on that limited description, you’d also be describing the 1986 film Troll, which vastly predates the more popular franchise. Filmmaker John Buechler would later claim he invented Harry Potter, the stories had a lot of similarities, and that JK Rowling ripped him off. He even planned to release a remake/sequel called Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter Jr., which never came to fruition after Buechler died.

Rowling and the studio behind the well known Potter films disagreed that they’d stolen anything and, if you’ve seen both you’d be hard pressed to believe the boy wizard was inspired by the ’80s B-Movie, but the fact remains it genuinely was a story about a magical world and a boy named Harry Potter, many years before the more well known version. 

5. Donald Duck’s Sister Was Created in the 30s

Disney has a stable of well known characters that date back decades but some of the originals and most iconic include Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Donald had his own corner of the Disney-verse featuring three nephews named Huey, Dewey, and Louie, which implied that — somewhere — Donald had a sister. 

In 2017, the DuckTales cartoon which featured the three nephews and Donald’s uncle Scrooge McDuck got a reboot and they finally decided to give the boys a mother. She’s shown in painting in an episode and referred to as mom and then, in 2019, the character Della Duck debuts, voiced by Paget Brewster. 

But the boys did have a mother long before this; it’s just that Disney never did anything with her. The first reference to their mother, who’s name was Dumbella at the time, dates back to 1937. She made an appearance later in a Dutch comic in which the triplets are named Kwik, Kwek and Kwak, but was never seen anywhere else until the recent cartoon. 

4. The Ring of Invisibility Was First Used by Plato

Arguably the most important plot device in the Lord of the Rings books by Tolkien is the One Ring itself which is, also arguably, its own character despite not being a living being. It has an active influence over events and without it the plot cannot move forward. It’s an essential element, and it’s also very heavily borrowed from Plato. This was very much on purpose.

Tolkien would have been familiar with Plato’s Republic and the Ring of Gyges. In Plato’s tale, a shepherd receives a magical ring that makes him invisible. Using this ring he kills the king and takes over the realm. It was Plato’s point that invisibility and anonymity are essential keys to corruption and the difference between a just and an unjust person was only someone’s ability to be invisible and anonymous. Take what you will from that proposition as it relates to the internet. 

The parallels to Lord of the Rings are clear. The One Ring absolutely corrupts everyone who comes in contact with it. Only the simple, innocent Hobbits can withstand its sway long enough to get it to Mt. Doom and even then, Frodo loses himself in the critical moment. 

3. The NY Times First Mentioned Hitler Back in 1922

The history of World War II has been covered extensively and from countless angles. Many people in the aftermath, and still today, wanted to know how anything like that could have happened. And, more specifically, how could Hitler have happened. 

Stories about the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the deaths of millions of Jews were making headlines in 1942. The war itself had started just three years earlier, and Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. 

Part of the problem was what the world knew about him before things escalated to an all out world war. The New York Times wrote about Hitler for the first time in 1922. He had only been in the German political world since 1919 at that time and became the leader of the Nazi party in 1921. Outside of Germany he was still relatively unknown.

The Times piece notes Hitler was a good orator and also made a lot of anti-Semitic speeches which the author dismissed saying that “well-informed sources confirmed the idea that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not so genuine or violent as it sounded, and that he was merely using anti-Semitic propaganda as a bait to catch masses of followers.”

2. Palpatine Was Outed as the Emperor Before the Original Star Wars Film Was Even Released

The big reveal in the original Star Wars trilogy is the identity of Darth Vader. The Emperor’s identity is never really contemplated at all, he’s just the Emperor. But he never really has a name at that time, either. No one calls him Palpatine in that original trilogy and the actor, Ian McDiarmid, did have some serious makeup on to make him look creepy.

Fast forward to the prequel trilogy in the 1990s and Chancellor Palpatine is a full-fledged character played, again, by a much older Ian McDiarmid. He’s initially portrayed as good, and slowly suspicion is cast over him until finally there’s a scene in which Yoda and Mace Windu discuss the Sith master and apprentice relationship and the movie just comes out and shows you Palpatine. 

Some fans would have known ahead that Palpatine was the Emperor just because they paid attention to the actors or they even recognized the voice. But for many, this was a surprise reveal. However, the actual reveal came well before the prequel trilogy and, weirdly, before the original trilogy. Palpatine’s first appearance, and the revelation that he’s the Emperor, was months before the original Star Wars movie came out in Alan Dean Foster’s novel Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.

1. “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves” Predates the Bible

There are a lot of sayings, proverbs and aphorisms that get quoted all the time to dispense wisdom or at least a sort of cliched version of it. The popular saying “God helps those who helps themselves” has been around for centuries and means, in general, that you have your own power and agency to do things in your own life. 

A number of people believe the saying comes from the Bible, possibly even quoting Jesus. According to one pastor, a survey of American Christians determined 68% of them believe that saying has a Biblical origin. In truth, the saying is actually much older.

You can trace “God helps those who help themselves” back to Aesop’s Fables, where you can find it in the tale called “Hercules and the Wagoner.” There it’s sometimes translated as “Heaven helps those who help themselves” and was written around 550 BC, so quite some time before Jesus may have ever uttered any similar words.