Turn a Blind Eye: This phrase is attributed to Admiral Horatio Nelson during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. Nelson, who was blind in one eye, reportedly ignored a signal to retreat by lifting his telescope to his blind eye, thus "not seeing" the com
Ninjas used a system called Goshiki-mai, meaning Five Colored Rice, in which rice grains were painted red, blue, yellow, black or purple in order to leave coded messages or trails.
Hundreds of lizard species don’t have legs. Legless lizards had limbs at one point, but their arms and legs became smaller over millions of years until they disappeared entirely. Many legless lizards live underground, where it’s easier to slither thr
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the actual invention of the rocking chair in 1710, although other sources claim it was invented by farmers or by early cabinetmakers.
The first photo of a person was an accident. In 1838, Louis Daguerre took a photo of a Paris street that appeared empty due to the long exposure time—except for a man getting his boots shined, who stood still long enough to appear in the image.
Earth’s magnetic poles flip roughly every 200k to 300k years, but the last reversal was about 780k years ago. Some scientists think we’re overdue, but the timing is unpredictable and could take thousands of years. A flip might disrupt technology and
0.5% of the male population are descended from Genghis Khan. (Scientists did a study in 2003 showing that about 16 million dudes share a Y chromosome with the famous Emperor.)
