20 Toe-Tapping Facts That Really Tuned Our Radios

With trains comes … uh, great responsibility, we guess. Did you know that there is a device used to intentionally derail trains? It's true! The derailer works by, you guessed it, derailing the equipment as it rolls over or through it. In these situations, there is a risk of greater damage to equipment, injury or death if the train is allowed to proceed, so they have to derail it. On the (gruesome) subject of injuries, did you know that James Brady died 33 years after being shot? That's right - the death of Reagan's press secretary was ruled a homicide when he died 33 years after getting shot. Interestingly enough, John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to kill President Ronald Reagan in 1981,. only faced charges for the 3 other people he injured and not Brady's homicide, due to the fact that he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. In other news from the '80s - have you heard about the D.B Cooper copycat named Glenn K Tripp? He hijacked an plane for $600k ransom but then had his drink spiked with Valium by a flight attendant. Eventually, he lowered his demand to 3 cheeseburgers before getting apprehended (and no doubt enjoying those burgers, at least).
Kim Jong-Il shipped an English brewery to North Korea in pieces to reassemble.

Places named Lincoln are mostly named after Benjamin, not Abraham.

The Netherlands have drastically reduced water requirements for growing produce.

An Airport Hero

Roosters

The UK released an app to track house spiders.

Falcons are related to parrots, not hawks.

FedEx planes fly around empty in the sky, just in case.

Brazil has a never ending wave that is a surfboarder's dream.

50% of people have the gene that lets them enjoy Brussels sprouts.

A 2400-year-old bronze sword was found untouched by corrosion.

Monkey Selfie

The most extreme temperature change happened in South Dakota in 1943.

Lactose intolerant readers rejoice: you can still eat aged cheese.

Walt Whitman

JFK’s limo went on to serve the next four presidents.

The death of a toddler led to mentions of fire being removed from Beavis and Butt-Head.

A man in the ‘80s tried to pull a D. B. Cooper.

James Brady

A Train Derailer
