Darn right. It’s not just an Internet problem, either. You can often see the same mistakes in these old-fashioned information storage devices called books and newspapers. We think we know what these quotes mean and where they came from. But, in fact, most of us have it all wrong. 10 ‘The Plural Of Anecdote Is Not Data’ You’ll see this quote, unattributed, in the course of an argument. In fact, it’s become an Internet meme....
10“Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know What Your Right Hand Is Doing.”Book Of Matthew Matthew 6:3 is often held up as example of the Bible being full of nonsensical commands and advice. It was lampooned at length in a Peanuts comic strip, where Sally Brown’s left and right hands argue with each other while she tries to write something on a piece of paper. Christopher Hitchens’s best seller God is Not Great singled the verse out for its “pseudo-profundity....
10Don ‘Mr. Wizard’ HerbertTV’s Original Science Guy Long before Neil deGrasse Tyson or Bill Nye took to the airwaves, there was Don “Mr. Wizard” Herbert. Back in the 1950s, kids watched TV shows like The Mickey Mouse Club and Adventures of Superman. But Don Herbert’s program was a radical departure from the standard 1950s fare. Titled Watch Mr. Wizard, the show took place in Herbert’s garage, and every week, a young kid would visit Mr....
Cultural attitudes toward incestuous relationships vary more than one might imagine; while one group may warn of supernatural repercussions to the act, another may see spiritual virtue and deem such relationships a form of worship. The variety of examples from around the world may surprise you. 10 Ancient Africa In the long-gone empire of Monomotapa in Zimbabwe, one king had over 300 wives. His “main wives” were close relatives, often sisters or even daughters, and only their children could one day inherit the throne....
10 The Rhino Cave Ritual A cave in Botswana has yielded intriguing artifacts that could have been used in the world’s oldest ritual. First examined in the 1990s, Rhino Cave produced over 100 spearheads in bright colors. Also inside was a python carved from rock. The stone reptile measures 6 meters (20 ft) by 2 meters (6.5 ft) and rests on a crushed wall. Some of the cracks in the cavern were stuffed with quartz chips....
10Witch Windows Witch windows are windows rotated 45 degrees and placed in the gable-end wall of a house. Being diagonal and parallel to the roof slope means that these windows could be fitted in places where traditional windows did not otherwise fit. It has also been suggested that witch windows were installed as a result of cold winters in Vermont (where they are most popular), as many traditional windows let in too much of a draft in winter....
SEE ALSO: 10 Current Fads That Are Way Older Than You Think 10 Women wore their finest jewelry (into the afterlife) Archaeologists dug up some 5th and 6th-century bodies from a cemetery in Lincolnshire found the women therein dressed for a grand party. Intricate brooches and silver buckles fastened their elegant clothes. And various jewels adorned their bodies, like silver rings and resplendent necklaces, containing hundreds of pieces of rock crystal, amber, and glass....
10Joseph Thomson’s African Trek During the “Scramble for Africa” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most European powers were aggressively trying to colonize as much of Africa as possible through force or diplomacy (typically force). During such a time, expeditions like those of Scottish geologist Joseph Thomson tend to stand out. He became renowned for not killing a single native or losing any of his men to violence during his exploration of Africa....
10 Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë In a 2007 poll conducted by UKTV Drama to find the greatest love story ever written, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights came out on top, despite not actually being a love story. In reaction, journalist Martin Kettle accurately commented: “If Wuthering Heights is a love story, then Hamlet is a family sitcom.” Wuthering Heights has long been thought of in the same vein as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), but while the latter is definitely a romance novel, the former is actually a gothic tragedy....
10Now: Pink For Girls, Blue For BoysThen: Pink For Boys, Blue For Girls Today, pink is often associated with all that is delicate, romantic, and feminine. However, an article from a 1918 magazine declared that pink was for boys and blue was for girls. The main reason behind this was that pink, which is derived from red, is a stronger, war-like color and thus more suitable for a boy. Blue was considered more delicate and dainty, and thus more fitting for a girl....
Well, maybe not. Imagine all the opportunities that would be open up to you if you decided from Day One to just chuck that whole idea. Here are 10 darn good reasons to duck the rat race. Straight off, if you plan to embrace poverty, you might as well embrace not having a job, too. If there’s one good thing about being rich, it’s probably the absence of having to do anything even remotely resembling manual labor and, having embraced poverty as your personal economic philosophy, you won’t have to do manual labor, either....
10Saint Hripsime ChurchAD 618 The first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion, Armenia is home to several revered sites of the religion. One such building is the Saint Hripsime Church, built in the seventh century. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rightfully so, the church was commissioned to replace a mausoleum which had been erected in honor of Saint Hripsime. Hripsime played an important role in Armenia’s Christian history, for she was a devout believer....
10 Kennedy vs. Nixon1960 In 1960, John Kennedy and Richard Nixon met in a CBS studio for the first televised presidential debate in US history, changing the very nature of American politics. Before their meeting, presidential candidates had never met for a face-to-face debate. While bookies initially gave Nixon 9–5 odds to win, Kennedy turned the debate around with a more television-friendly appearance, a strong and aggressive opening, and one cheap but ingenious trick with the thermostat....
So today, we’re taking a look at further issues, like how 3-D printers might put a stop to rhino poaching, how scientists are completely ignoring a species of endangered elephant, and why one millionaire hunter thinks we should save rhinos by shooting them. 10The Sad Fate Of The Northern White Rhino It’s hard to imagine a world without rhinos. Unfortunately, these beautiful beasts are rapidly disappearing from our planet. In 2012, the Javan rhinoceros went extinct in Vietnam....
There was a time, though, when the things we now consider normal were completely unknown. The people who got to experience these things for the first time had no idea what they were about to see—or how to explain it to everyone back home. 10 An Explorer Thought Gorillas Were Just Very Hairy People About 2,500 years ago, Hanno the Navigator became one of the first Europeans to see a band of gorillas....
SEE ALSO: 10 Social And Biological Experiments With Freaky Results 10Siege Of Kirrha590 BC During the First Sacred War (Cirraean War) between the Amphictyonic League of Delphi and the city of Kirrha in Greece, chemical weaponry was employed to devastating effect. The war broke out as a result of Kirrha’s constant assault on the pilgrims passing through their lands to Delphi. The Amphictyonic League began their assault of the city by first poisoning its water supply with the toxic plant hellebore....
10 Babylon The Behemoth In Book One of The Histories, when Herodotus describes the physical and political atmosphere in Persia, he greatly exaggerates how massively fortified the city of Babylon is. According to Herodotus, the city of Babylon had “magnificence greater than all other cities of which we have knowledge.” He claims that 100 bronze gates were erected at the entrance of Babylon, and that Babylon’s walls were 100 meters (328 ft) high, 22 kilometers (14 mi) long, and 50 meters (164 ft) thick....
10Tonypandy Riots Decades after his death, Winston Churchill is still a polarizing figure. He earned most people’s gratitude and respect for his leadership during World War II, but his political career was also littered with events that raised the ire of various groups. The Tonypandy Riots of 1910 happened long before Churchill took office as Prime Minister in 1940. He was Home Secretary back then and was tasked to intervene in a series of conflicts between police and coal miners in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales....
10 Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (January 25th) Ah, bubble wrap. Not only is it great for wrapping fragile objects, but many people spend their free time popping the bubbles to relieve tension and stress. You may also use bubble wrap in untraditional ways, such as: Cushioning your knees Protecting plants from frost Insulating windows to keep the room warm Now that you recall how humanity turns to bubble wrap in times of need, show some appreciation to the bubble wrap creators by buying a bunch of the bubbly plastics and spending the day popping them!...
Following World War II, communism spread beyond Russia’s borders to Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, and East Asia. Although not all communist states were alike, each were totalitarian dictatorships, and almost all of them had in place “reeducation” systems that subjected political prisoners, criminals, and everyday citizens to horrific physical and mental abuse. Some of these penal systems, such as the Soviet Union’s gulags, are well-known in West. Others have been all but forgotten, and in some communist states today, camp horrors still exist....
