American
President William Howard Taft was well known as our largest president. The man was so large that he once got himself stuck in the white houses presidential closet. As Taft was attempting to get his coat, he got stuck inbetween the doorway and was unable to get out until secret service had arrived to help him. This had caused white house architects to create a 2 door closet for all presidents.
Um Actually, Taft got himself stuck in a bathtub
In the ninth century, the Pope was an incredibly powerful and unstable political figure ruling over central Italy. Between 872 and 965, over two dozen popes were appointed, often with a new one every year, all coming from rival factions in Rome, leading to some internal tensions. In 896, Pope Formosus died after a five year pontificate filled with power struggles and external influences over the Papacy. His successor and former rival, Pope Stephen VI, accused the now-dead Formosus of performing black magic and worshipping those other than God, having his corpse removed from its tomb and brought to the papal court for judgment, where a trial was held and Formosus was found guilty! Pope Stephen VI then decreed that the guilty body of Formosus be dumped in Rome’s river Tiber. After this had been done, however, the people of Rome protested, rumouring the body was performing miracles, and Stephen was imprisoned and killed by a popular uprising, with the following pope reversing the previous trial.
North Korea does not follow the same laws of time as the rest of us. Their calendar borrows elements from two historical calendars used in Korea, the traditional system of Korean era names and the Gregorian calendar in which years are tied to the traditional birth of Jesus. In contrast to these two, the Juche calendar begins with the birth of the founder of the Democratic People's Republic, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is currently in the year 113 while everyone else is in 2024
Um Actually, the Korean Calendar begins with the birth of Kim Il Sung and not Kim Jong Un.
President Calvin Cooledge was known as "Silent Cal" and was one of the most soft spoken and quiet presidents of all time. During a presidential meeting, one of the other guests leaned over to Cooledge and said "I made a bet that you would say more than 3 words tonight". During the entire rest of the meeting Calvin Cooledge remained silent until the very end. At the end of the meeting the president walked up to the guest and said to him "You Lose". This story was later confirmed by Cooledge to be true.
Um, Actually Calvin Cooledge denied the authenticity of this story.
When people think of plagues, they usually think of the Black Death or the Spanish Flu, deadly worldwide diseases that spread and killed quickly and mercilessly. Rarely does anyone consider dancing as a cause of death, or even that it might spread from person to person. But in 1518, in the Alsacian city of Strasbourg, in modern-day France, somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to the streets, dancing for days before collapsing to their deaths. In July of that year, a woman suddenly began to dance in the streets, after which she was joined by several young women, but the dancing did not stop, eventually spreading to others beyond the original group. This got so bad that even musicians had joined in to play music for those dancing! Medicine at the time thought that these people were victims of demonic possession or ‘overheated blood,’ and some sources claim that up to 15 people died per day, but after a few months of this dancing plague, it eventually began to subside in early September of the same year.
Um Actually, no music was actually played for the dancers.
In South Korea, February’s Valentine’s Day sees women give chocolates to men as a sign of affection. A month later, on 14 March, White Day is celebrated, when men traditionally reciprocate with another gift.
If you didn’t receive any gifts at all, then fear not: there’s a day for you too! April 14th is an unofficial holiday known as The Day of the Single Person, and is a day for single people to get together and grumble.
Um, Actually the name of the holiday is Black Day
The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous landmarks of all time. Standing tall in new york, this statue is well known by many people. What is not so well known is that the statue did not originally belong in the US and was originally not green. The Statue of Liberty was given to the US in 1885 by the people of Norway as a way of recognizing the US as its own country. The statue was originally made out of copper and was a bronze color, however over time the copper had oxidized and turned itself green.
Um Actually, the French were the ones who gave the statue to the US.
In 1762, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, invented the meal that changed dining forever. As the story goes, he was playing chess against his friends and did not want to leave the gaming table to eat. He asked for a serving of roast beef to be placed between two slices of bread so he could eat with his hands. Thus, the Sandwich was born.
Um Actually, John Mantagu was playing a game of cards with his friends.
Japan is well known for their technology and many companies. One such company is the classic company Nintendo. Known for their famous characters like Mario, Zelda, and Kirby, this company is famous for making video games for all ages. However, did you know that this company wasn't always a video game development company? Thats right, Nintendo once used to be a toy company who's first toy "The Ultrahand" was created in 1960.
Um Actually, Nintendo used to be a playing card manufacturing company.
The Cold War was an event that happened during the early 60s. The reason that the Cold war got its name was because of how the United States was in conflict with Russia. Russia is a very cold and snowy place during the winter and many of the battles fought in the Cold War happened during that time.
Um Actually, the Cold War got its name from the fact that no actual battles actually happened.
King Henry the 7th created his own religion to give himself a divorce. After marrying his dead brother's wife, King Henry had ordered the pope to give him a divorce, however the pope refused because divorce was unlawful during the time. King Henry attempted many solutions such as telling the Pope that he was the king and he should be allowed. When that was refused King Henry quoted the bible saying that "it was unlawful to take your brother's wife" however, his brother had passed away before King Henry's marriage and left the wife widowed. In the end, King Henry decided to use his power and money to open up the church of second Catholicism. After opening up this church and religion he appointed all the priests and bishops to agree to appoint him as the leader of the church, therefore allowing him to divorce his wife himself without the pope.
During the end of World War II. There were still many Japanese soldiers hiding within the pacific Asian Islands. When the general of the Japanese army had surrendered, there were people sent to find the hiders and tell them the news. When they were told about Japan surrendering, many of these soldiers refused to surrender, thinking that everything was a trick to cause them to get caught out. The last soldier to finally give in and leave the islands was in 1974, 30 years after World War II had ended. One soldier ended up never even being found but his last known location was in the Philipines.
Um actually, only the emperor is allowed to call a surrender.
In 1958, Bob Heft, while living with his grandparents in Lancaster, OH, completed a design of the American flag as a project for his American History class. Hawaii and Alaska were being considered for statehood, and more than 1,500 designs for a new flag had been submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Heft had cut up a 48-star flag and sewn it into a new design, featuring 50 stars.
Upon presenting his final project, the teacher asked Heft, “Why you got too many stars? You don’t even know how many states we have.” Heft received a D for his project. When he contested the grade, his teacher presented him with a proposition:
“Get the flag accepted in Washington, then come back and see me and I might consider changing the grade.”
After Heft had written 21 letters to the White House and made 18 phone calls, he received a phone call from 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 50 star flag design that was the same as Heft’s flag design had been chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii were admitted into the union in 1959. Eisenhower “wanted to know the possibility of you coming to Washington, D.C., on July 4th for the official adoption of the new flag.”
The flag had then been adopted by the US and Heft recieved a B- from his teacher instead
Um, Actually Heft's original grade was a B- and was changed to an A+
Spongebob has referenced many things over the past 20-something years it has been around. However, one of their references was based on a real person. This man was the first ever European to land in American soil (even before American soil was called American soil). Spongebob's famous quote "Hey squidward! Happy Thor Odinson day! "Hinga Dinga Doergen".
Um Actually, the mans name was Lief Erikson.
The Rafflesia Arnoldii is the world’s biggest flower and can be found in rainforests across Southeast Asia. It is native to the jungles of Sumatra and Borneo, Indonesia. When it blooms, the flower (which can reach a diameter of one meter) is said to smell like fresh fruits.
Um Actually, the flower is said to smell awful, like rotting flesh.