Facts Archive - Page 35 of 78 - Interesting Facts

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Fingerprints are one of the few parts of the human body that generally never change — in some cases, even after thousands of years. Scientists who study ancient civilizations by way of mummified remains can attest: Mummies have fingerprints. But how?

Mummification works by drying out soft tissue such as skin, halting decomposition and preserving the body, fingerprints included. Recovering the fingertip impressions isn’t easy, but it is possible; the job requires soaking or injecting mummified hands with hydrating solutions that plump the tips. From there, the fingertips are inked and copied in a fashion similar to how modern fingerprints are recorded.

Identical twins have the same fingerprints.

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Twins share a lot, but not fingerprints. Identical twins may have similar patterns, but they never match, since fingerprints form before birth and are impacted by how quickly bones grow, genetic differences, and other factors that vary between twins.

Historians don’t just recover fingerprints from mummies — some can be found on objects, too. In fact, one set has been discovered on a 3,000-year-old coffin. Researchers at the Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum in England discovered the prints on the internal lid of a coffin for Nespawershefyt, an Egyptian priest, in 2005; they were likely left by a craftsman who touched the lid before its varnish was fully dry. While it’s impossible to ever know the person behind the prints, historians say just seeing them helps modern people connect with people of the past.

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Universal patterns that make up human fingerprints (loops, whorls, and arches)

3

Year the FBI launched its first computerized fingerprint database

1999

Global box-office returns for the 1999 film “The Mummy”

$415 million

Year English archaeologist Howard Carter unsealed King Tut’s burial chamber

1923

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

Woman next to a telescope observing the night sky in the desert

The sky is never totally black, even at night.

Woman wearing headphones , sitting on a couch, and humming to music

You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

The study of fingerprints is called ______.

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The study of fingerprints is called dermatoglyphics.

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Some mummies have tattoos.

Humans today are far more like ancient Egyptians than we may realize. Everyday people thousands of years ago went to work and school, baked bread, shared meals… and even got tattoos. While it’s unclear how widespread permanent body art was throughout ancient Egypt, researchers have found tattoos on mummified remains dating back 3,000 years. Seven female mummies unearthed from the archaeological site of Deir el-Medina in Egypt are adorned with symbols such as baboons, lotus blossoms, and human eyes (used as a symbol of protection). While it’s likely the women worked as artisans or crafts workers who helped decorate nearby elaborate tombs for royalty, another theory suggests their tattoos may have been related to work as healers or religious figures. Mummification generally preserves skin, but the oils and materials used in the initial process can hide evidence of tattoos, which is why researchers are now turning to infrared imaging to catch a better glimpse of potential body art — a tool that has also revealed tattoos on two 5,000-year-old male mummies.

Nicole Garner Meeker

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Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.

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Autumn heralds the arrival of many things: pumpkin pie, crisp morning air, and, apparently, more intelligent rodents. Male squirrels get smarter in the fall due to their hippocampus (a part of the brain involved in memory) increasing in size during the caching season — the time of year when they gather even more nuts than usual. (In an especially adorable move, they stuff their snacks in their cheeks before moving their food to a more permanent storage spot.) Interestingly, female squirrel brains don’t show the same effect; researchers speculate that male squirrel brains may change in the fall to act more like the females’ brains already function all year long. The slightly bigger brains may help male squirrels remember exactly where they’ve stored their nuts, although scientists are still teasing out how.

A squirrel’s front teeth never stop growing.

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Chewing on all those walnuts, acorns, and almonds wears down a squirrel’s teeth to the proper length, so they don’t need to stop growing — if they did, they might get worn down too far.

Though we don’t tend to think of squirrels as especially bright, studies have shown that they and other tree-dwelling rodents have evolved larger brains compared to their burrowing counterparts. This all began some 34 million years ago, according to Dr. Ornella Bertrand of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences. There weren’t nearly as many arboreal primates back then, which allowed squirrels’ ancestors to take up residence among the leaves and branches. “When trees became available to them, squirrels’ ancestors seized the opportunity,” Bertrand explains. “This transition was a key evolutionary step for squirrels as it enabled them to acquire larger and more complex brains.” Whether it’s more than mere coincidence that male squirrels get smarter as (human) schools come back to session remains unconfirmed.

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Portion of a squirrel’s buried nuts that can get stolen by (squirrel) thieves

25%

Species of squirrel

278

Weight (in pounds) of the average human brain

3

Length (in days) of the grey squirrel’s gestation period

40-44

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

Woman next to a telescope observing the night sky in the desert

The sky is never totally black, even at night.

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You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

“Squirrel” comes from a Greek word meaning “______.”

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“Squirrel” comes from a Greek word meaning “shadow tail.”

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Squirrels used to be rare in U.S. cities.

Take a walk through just about any park in America and there’s a decent chance you’ll see a squirrel — they’re everywhere. This wasn’t always the case, however, and in fact squirrels used to be a rare sight in many U.S. cities. This changed in the late 19th century, when parks became more common, and urban reformers started releasing squirrels in hopes of creating “a bucolic atmosphere that was entertaining, enlightening, and salubrious,” in the words of one historian. Mission accomplished. Releasing just three squirrels in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square in 1847 led to a boom in their population, and other parks followed suit. There were thought to be more than 1,000 squirrels in New York’s Central Park by 1902, and as of 2020 there were 2,373 — yes, someone counted.

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Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.

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Most rational people are inclined to leave scorpions well enough alone, given those stinger-tipped tails that administer venom capable of paralyzing their prey (and worse). Yet there are certain intrepid souls willing to brave the dangers and coax these arachnids into unleashing their toxins, for the simple reason that scorpion venom can sell for as much as $39 million per gallon.

All scorpions are venomous.

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Although all of the approximately 1,500 classified species of these arachnids produce venom, only around 25 of them are life-threatening to humans.

Who actually dishes out the dough for this potent liquid? The medical industry, as venom from scorpions, spiders, vipers, and an array of other creatures has been found to provide compounds with surprising health benefits for humans. The venom of the deathstalker scorpion, for example, contains a peptide called chlorotoxin, which can pinpoint the location of aggressive brain tumors. Another species, the Diplocentrus melici, produces venom with 1,4-benzoquinone compounds that kill highly infectious bacteria, including the strains that cause tuberculosis.

Unsurprisingly, the monster dollar signs linked to this particular field have inspired a sub-industry of scorpion farmers and breeders, some of which are endangering scorpion populations. Insiders caution against getting involved for the money, though: For one thing, the venom has to be “milked” in absolutely sterile conditions; it’s a laborious process to do so, and the minute amounts that change hands between buyers and sellers aren’t going to pay off anyone’s mortgage. Additionally, many labs have turned to synthesized versions of the isolated compounds needed for their research.

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Estimated number of venomous species on Earth

220,000

Length (in centimeters) of the largest modern-day scorpion

29.2

Age (in years) of the oldest scorpion fossils discovered

437 million

Studio albums released by German rockers the Scorpions

19

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

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The sky is never totally black, even at night.

Woman wearing headphones , sitting on a couch, and humming to music

You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

The scorpion stinger is known as a ______.

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The scorpion stinger is known as a telson.

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Antimatter is the most expensive substance on Earth.

If you think scorpion venom costs a pretty penny, then imagine the payment plan you’d need to meet the $2.7 quadrillion price tag for one gram of antimatter. As you may recall from high school physics, antimatter is a substance that has the opposite electric charge of the ordinary matter that fills up most of our universe; because naturally occurring antimatter detonates upon contact with regular matter, the only way to obtain it for a significant length of time is by way of high-speed collisions generated by immensely powerful and expensive particle accelerators (currently only available at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research). So what purpose does this elusive material serve? The observation of antimatter production has been used for medical radio imaging, and it’s been speculated that the energy created by matter-antimatter collisions could be harnessed for space travel. Otherwise, the practical applications are pretty minimal, as fascinating as it is for scientists to study.

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Tim Ott has written for sites including Biography.com, History.com, and MLB.com, and is known to delude himself into thinking he can craft a marketable screenplay.

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Today, Tokyo is the world’s largest city by population, with more than 37 million residents, but long before the Japanese metropolis took that honor, there was another record-holder: Rome. The ancient city was the world’s largest back in 133 BCE, when it became the first city to reach 1 million inhabitants.

There’s a pyramid in Rome.

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Pyramids are generally associated with Egyptian culture, but Rome has one of its own. The Pyramid of Cestius was constructed between 18 and 12 BCE as a burial tomb for Caius Cestius, a Roman praetor. It is the only pyramid left in Europe.

Everyday life in ancient Rome was largely dictated by wealth: Affluent residents lived in finely decorated townhouses (and often had countryside estates for trips out of the city), while lower-income citizens resided in apartment-like buildings called insulae. But all social classes enjoyed the perks of living in a major city, including fresh water piped in from aqueducts, and the availability of markets, entertainment, and even food stalls that served quick meals. Rome’s population eventually declined as the Roman Empire fell, yet no city surpassed its record population for millennia — that is, until London became the world’s largest city, with 1 million people in 1800 and more than 6 million people by 1810.

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Miles of constructed roads through the Roman Empire by 200 CE

50,000

Fountains in Rome

2,000+

Year “Roman Holiday” debuted, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck

1953

Current population of Rome

4.3 million

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

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The sky is never totally black, even at night.

Woman wearing headphones , sitting on a couch, and humming to music

You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

At just 0.17 square miles, ______ is the world’s smallest city.

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At just 0.17 square miles, Vatican City is the world’s smallest city.

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Two-thirds of the world’s population will likely live in a city by 2050.

Modern human societies haven’t always gravitated toward city life — in the 1800s, only 3% of the world’s population lived in a metropolis. That changed with the Industrial Revolution, which drew large numbers of workers to cities, and today, 80% of Americans live in an urban environment, a trend that’s echoed around the globe and not expected to decrease. In fact, a United Nations report from 2018 predicts that two out of every three people will live in a city by 2050. Many of the globe’s busiest cities will continue to grow, and some will become megacities — areas with more than 10 million people — creating the potential for some cities to become more important than countries, changing maps and impacting economies.

Nicole Garner Meeker

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Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.

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While ants can be annoying (see: showing up at your picnic table), humans generally regard them as good workers, which is how they’ve often been portrayed in folklore and fables such as Aesop’s “The Ants & the Grasshopper.” So it may come as a surprise that not all worker ants are performing at peak productivity; in fact, some research shows that up to 40% of worker ants in a colony may remain idle while other ants trudge on with their duties.

The world’s largest ant colony spans four countries.

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The Argentine ant colony runs along the coast of Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France, totaling 3,700 miles. Scientists believe the ants in the colony, which was discovered in 2002, traveled to Europe from Brazil and Argentina by ship.

Biologists with the University of Arizona observing ant colonies in 2015 found that many of the ants seemed to slack while other ants performed chores. And in research published two years later by some of the same scientists, the team examined 20 ant colonies, marking some of the creatures with tiny paint drops and observing their movements. When the “lazy” ants were removed from their nest, life and work continued on more or less as before. But scientists discovered a major shift when actively working ants were whisked away; the once-idle ants stepped into their missing counterparts’ roles, assuming tasks that were going uncompleted. That encouraged scientists to view them not as lazy, but as part of a reserve force.

One theory for the behavior change is that keeping a team of workers on standby allows ant colonies to remain productive. A similar study in 2018 found that only 30% of workers in fire ant colonies dug tunnels, while other members of the nest waited nearby in a move that actually sped up work by preventing traffic jams in the narrow spaces. And some scientists believe that it’s possible certain ants are hard at work at nonvisible jobs that we humans just haven’t figured out how to recognize yet. Despite ants outnumbering humans 2.5 million to one, there’s much we don’t know about how they work together for their tiny, greater good.

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Average length (in inches) of an ant

0.08–1

Number of known ant species

12,000+

Age (in years) of the oldest fossilized ants, found in New Jersey

92 million

Estimated number of ants now alive on Earth

20 quadrillion

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You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

An ant nest is called a ______.

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An ant nest is called a formicary.

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Some ants can explode.

Most ants have a defense mechanism of one kind or another. Some sting, like fire ants, while Formica archboldi ants spray acid onto potential predators. Few, however, can do what “yellow goo” ants can: explode. Found in Southeast Asia, Colobopsis explodens are tree-dwelling ants that build their nests high up in the canopies. As a last-ditch effort to protect their homes from invaders, Colobopsis ants apply pressure to their abdomen, bursting their bodies in a self-sacrifice that releases a sticky, odorous, and toxic substance. Researchers have known about exploding ants for at least 200 years, though the first documented research on their unique ability appeared around 1916. However, little is known about “yellow goo” ants, who spend their days foraging for food as one of 15 known species of exploding ants in South Asia.

Nicole Garner Meeker

Writer

Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.

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The Wizard of Oz featured more than 600 actors, some of whom were bigger stars than others. Near the top of that list was a cairn terrier appropriately named Terry. The pup who played Dorothy’s loyal companion Toto — and who, unlike the character she portrayed, was female in real life — received a weekly salary of $125 for her work on the perennial classic, which was more than many of her co-stars (including all the actors playing Munchkins, who were paid $50 a week). At about $2,885 in today’s money, the pup’s pay was also 10 times the minimum wage at the time.

“Over the Rainbow” was nearly cut from the film.

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Studio executives felt the now-classic song slowed the movie down, prompting associate producer Arthur Freed to give an ultimatum: “The song stays — or I go.” Evidently, his demand worked.

Terry had already appeared in seven films — Ready for Love, Bright Eyes, The Dark Angel, Fury, The Buccaneer, Barefoot Boy, and Stablemates — prior to 1939’s Oz, which helps explain her salary. She also performed her own stunts, which resulted in an injury when one of the Munchkin actors stepped on her paw.

The pup was out of action for two weeks, during which time Judy Garland helped nurse her back to health. The actress was so smitten with her canine co-star that she attempted to buy her from Carl Spitz, her owner and trainer, but he refused.

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Feature-length film appearances by Terry

22

Oscars won by “The Wizard of Oz,” out of five nominations

2

“Wizard of Oz” books written by L. Frank Baum

14

Dogs MGM auditioned for Toto per week before finding Terry

~100

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September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

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You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

“Wizard of Oz” director Victor Fleming also directed 1939’s “______.”

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“Wizard of Oz” director Victor Fleming also directed 1939’s “Gone With the Wind.”

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Toto is replaced by a cow in one theatrical Oz adaptation.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was hugely successful upon its publication in 1900, and a number of adaptations quickly followed. In addition to the several silent and animated films that preceded the 1939 classic movie, the book was initially adapted for the stage — with several changes. In the theatrical version, the Wicked Witch of the West is only ever mentioned by name, and Toto is replaced by a cow named Imogene.

Baum, who wrote the play himself, thought a cow would make for a bigger in-person spectacle. The play also marked the introduction of Dorothy’s last name, “Gale,” as well as the first time the word “Wonderful” was dropped from the story’s title. Both Toto and Imogene appear in the first film adaptation of the story, which was made in 1910 and runs just 13 minutes.

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Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.

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Just .17% of the global population — around 1 in 600 people — has red hair and blue eyes, making this pairing the rarest natural combination of hair and eye color. Each trait on its own is already unusual: Only 2% of the population has red hair and around 8% to 10% has blue eyes. Both traits are recessive, meaning a person must inherit the relevant gene variant from each parent for the trait to appear.

All babies are born with blue eyes.

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While many babies of European ancestry are born with blue or gray eyes that may darken over time, babies of African, Asian, and Hispanic descent are often born with brown eyes that stay brown.

Red hair is primarily caused by variants of the MC1R gene on chromosome 16. Those variants lead to greater production of the red pigment pheomelanin over the darker eumelanin, resulting in red hair, lighter skin, and often freckles as well. Blue eyes are influenced by several genes, the most important being OCA2 and a regulatory region of the HERC2 gene on chromosome 15. Variants in those genes reduce melanin in the iris, resulting in blue eye color.

Because they’re generally recessive, the traits can be passed down through generations before appearing in an offspring with the right genetic combination. This genetic alignment is more likely in people of Northern European ancestry, particularly in regions such as Ireland and Scotland.

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Estimated percentage of the Irish population with natural red hair (the highest in the world)

10%

Year scientists identified the MC1R gene as the primary gene responsible for red hair

1995

Genes that can influence eye color

16

Average number of strands of hair among redheads (fewer than among people with other hair colors)

90,000

More Interesting Reads

Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

Woman next to a telescope observing the night sky in the desert

The sky is never totally black, even at night.

Woman wearing headphones , sitting on a couch, and humming to music

You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

Many redheads are sensitive to ______ because the MC1R gene variant also affects how people perceive pain.

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Many redheads are sensitive to cold because the MC1R gene variant also affects how people perceive pain.

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Elizabeth Taylor probably didn’t have violet eyes.

Actress Elizabeth Taylor was known for her striking eyes, which were often described as violet. While her natural eye color was more likely a deep blue, she enhanced the violet effect with purple-toned makeup, clothing, and careful lighting in films and photos, creating the illusion of a rare purple hue. She even extended the theme to her personal brand, naming one of her perfumes “Violet Eyes” to play up the mystique of her legendary gaze.

True purple eyes are extremely rare, though blue eyes can sometimes appear violet under certain lighting conditions. In very rare cases, people with forms of albinism may have violet eyes due to minimal pigment combined with visible blood vessels. But Taylor’s unforgettable eyes weren’t the result of a genetic mutation — it was the combination of her natural blue eyes, deliberate styling, and savvy branding that made them iconic.

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Kristina is a coffee-fueled writer living happily ever after with her family in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia.

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If you’re ever looking for a counterexample to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous claim that “there are no second acts in American lives,” look no further than Shirley Temple. The beloved child star, who was Hollywood’s No. 1 box-office draw from 1935 to 1938, announced her retirement from film at the age of 22 in 1950. It was anyone’s guess what Temple would do next, but it’s unlikely that many predicted her eventual diplomatic career. After she ran (unsuccessfully) for Congress in 1967, President Nixon appointed her as a delegate to the 24th United Nations General Assembly in 1969, and President Ford named her the ambassador to Ghana in 1974.

Shirley Temple almost played Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”

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Temple wasn’t just a huge fan of Frank L. Baum’s novel — she was also in the running to play the lead in the 1939 film adaptation. The role went to Judy Garland, a decision that Temple accepted graciously, writing in her 1988 autobiography “Child Star” that “sometimes the gods know best.”

Temple’s foreign service didn’t end there. In 1989, just before the Velvet Revolution, President George H.W. Bush made her ambassador to the former Czechoslovakia, a post she held until 1992, as the country became a parliamentary democracy. According to Norman Eisen, who held the same role from 2011 to 2014, the “sunny confidence and optimism” that made Temple a movie star also helped her “really infuse the United States’ role — as our representative here, in the Velvet Revolution — with that good cheer and that hope.”

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Number of Temple’s feature-film appearances

43

Ingredients in a Shirley Temple (soda, ice, grenadine, maraschino cherries)

4

Curls in Temple’s iconic hairdo

56

Year Temple received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

1960

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

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The sky is never totally black, even at night.

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You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

Shirley Temple’s final film was “______.”

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Shirley Temple’s final film was “A Kiss for Corliss.”

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Shirley Temple is the youngest Oscar honoree in history.

From 1935 to 1961, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sometimes bestowed the Academy Juvenile Award on performers under the age of 18 in recognition of their “outstanding contribution[s] to screen entertainment.” The first honoree was none other than Shirley Temple, who was just 6 years old at the time. To this day, she remains the youngest person to win an Oscar. Her award was specifically for her work in 1934, including the films Stand Up and Cheer!, Bright Eyes, Baby Take a Bow, and Little Miss Marker. Overall, the Juvenile Award was given to 12 performers, including a 16-year-old Judy Garland in 1939 — the year she starred in The Wizard of Oz.

Michael Nordine

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Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.

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Canada has a population of just over 40 million people, the vast majority of whom live within 100 miles of the U.S. border. Only 10% of Canadians live farther north, with all of the country’s most populous cities — namely Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, and Edmonton — nestled relatively close to their American neighbors. The reason for this population density is largely pragmatic: Being significantly colder and more rugged, the rest of Canada simply isn’t as conducive to agricultural production or significant settlement.

The U.S.-Canada border is the longest international border in the world.

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Beating such competitors as Kazakhstan-Russia, Argentina-Chile, and China-Mongolia, the U.S.-Canada border is indeed the world’s longest. The shortest is a 443-foot boundary in the Zambezi River between Botswana and Zambia, though the border has never been formally recognized.

In addition to its 10 provinces, Canada also has three territories — Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut — which are geographically vast but home to a combined population of just 128,000 people. Together the territories make up Northern Canada, which geographers generally don’t consider part of the country’s ecumene — a term for land that’s been permanently settled. The most populous city in the territories is Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, which is home to 45,000 people and in 2013 was named the city with the least air pollution in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. By contrast, Toronto — Canada’s most populous city overall — is home to 3 million people.

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Length (in miles) of the U.S.-Canada border

5,525

U.S. states that border Canada

13

Canada’s ranking among the world’s most densely populated countries

228

Year Canada was founded, on July 1 (as the Dominion of Canada)

1867

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Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

September 1752 was only 19 days long in the U.K.

Woman next to a telescope observing the night sky in the desert

The sky is never totally black, even at night.

Woman wearing headphones , sitting on a couch, and humming to music

You can’t hum while holding your nose.

Apes go through a midlife crisis.

In Canada, a one-dollar coin is called a ______.

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In Canada, a one-dollar coin is called a loonie.

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Canada is home to the world’s northernmost settlement.

There’s cold, and then there’s the North Pole. Just 508 miles from that famed landmark is a military installation on Ellesmere Island named Alert, Nunavut, which is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world. With average temperatures ranging from -26 degrees Fahrenheit in January to a comparatively balmy 38.1 degrees in July, it has a permanent population just under 200 — one of whom is tasked with keeping polar bears away.

Michael Nordine

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Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.

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Original photo by Irina Tiumentseva/ iStock

World War II ran on rubber. From tanks to jeeps to combat boots, the Allied Forces needed an uninterrupted flow of rubber to supply fresh troops and vehicles to the front lines. Then, in late 1941, Japan invaded Southeast Asia — a key supplier of America’s rubber — and what was once a plentiful resource quickly became scarce. Americans pitched in, donating household rubber (think old raincoats and hoses) to help the war effort, but it wasn’t enough. So scientists set to work finding an alternative. A pair working separately at Dow Corning and General Electric independently developed a silicone oil/boric acid mixture that appeared promising. It was easily manipulated and could even bounce on walls, but in the end its properties weren’t similar enough to rubber to be useful in the war.

The microwave is a WWII invention.

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Radar using microwaves was a key Allied technology in WWII. But it wasn’t until 1946, a year after Germany’s defeat, that engineer Perry Spencer noticed a magnetron tube he was working on had melted candy in his pocket. Thirty years later, the microwave was in 60% of U.S. homes.

U.S. government labs eventually found a workable rubber substitute using petroleum, but the previously developed “nutty putty” stuck around until it fell into the hands of advertising consultant Peter Hodgson. Sensing an opportunity, Hodgson bought manufacturing rights, renamed it “Silly Putty,” and stuck some of it inside plastic eggs just in time for Easter 1950. But it wasn’t until Silly Putty’s mention in an issue of The New Yorker later that year that sales exploded, with Hodgson eventually selling millions of this strange, non-Newtonian fluid (fluids whose viscosity changes under stress; ketchup and toothpaste are other examples). Since then, Silly Putty has found various serious uses, from teaching geology to physical therapy, and even took a ride on Apollo 8 in 1968, when it was used to keep the astronauts’ tools secure. A pretty impressive résumé for a substance that was initially considered a failure.

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Numbers Don't Lie

Numbers Don't Lie

Retail price of Silly Putty in 1950

$1

Year Crayola acquired exclusive manufacturing rights to Silly Putty

1977

Amount (in pounds) of latex one rubber tree produces per year

19

Atomic number of boron (boric acid is a form of boron)

5

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The first people to use rubber were the ______, a civilization of Mexico whose name means “rubber people.”

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The first people to use rubber were the Olmecs, a civilization of Mexico whose name means “rubber people.”

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Daylight saving time was first instituted to ration energy during wartime.

On March 19, 1918, the Standard Time Act was signed into law, establishing the five time zones of the U.S. along with instituting daylight saving time, a method designed to conserve energy during World War I. But after the war, the energy-saving portion of the act was repealed and states were once again permitted to create their own standard time. Fast-forward to February 1942, only three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and Congress once again instigated a year-round daylight saving time, nicknamed “war time.” The time zones were even renamed to “Eastern War Time,” “Pacific War Time,” etc. At the war’s end in 1945, states once again regained the right to set their standard time, until 1966 when Congress passed the Uniform Time Act.

Darren Orf

Writer

Darren Orf lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes about all things science and climate. You can find his previous work at Popular Mechanics, Inverse, Gizmodo, and Paste, among others.

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