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History

Apollo Astronauts Life Insurance

July 28, 2010

How did the Astronauts of the Apollo missions get life insurance?

The answer was provided by NASA in the form of ‘Insurance Covers’, as seen here, a number of which were given to every crew member and subsequently signed by every astronaut involved, as close to launch as possible. Its value would instantly be high, but would no doubt sky-rocket (no pun intended) should the astronauts never return; the deceased’s surviving family then at least safe in the knowledge that in future they could cash-in their makeshift insurance policy if required.

via Ukinsurancenet | The Apollo Astronauts’ Fascinating Insurance Covers.

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Facts About the Declaration of Independence

July 4, 2010

To help you celebrate the Fourth of July a few years ago, we posted a list of 5 Obscure Facts About the Declaration of Independence.

via 5 Neat Facts About The Declaration of Independence.

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The Great Moon Hoax

“The Great Moon Hoax” was a series of six articles that were published in the New York Sun beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, perhaps the best-known astronomer of his time. The articles described fantastic [...]

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Picture City, Florida

In the early 1920s, when the economy was in its heyday and the real estate business was booming, the Olympia Improvement Corporation drew up plans to turn a small town in Florida named Hobe Sound into the next Hollywood. A downtown was built in Grecian style, with all the streets being named after various Greek [...]

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A 2,000 Year Old Brain

Archaeologists have found what they say is the oldest brain ever discovered in Britain, or at least the shriveled remnant of one, in a decapitated skull that dates back more than 2,000 years. Inside the skull, the scientists found “a yellow substance which scans showed to be shrunken, but brain-shaped,” according to a University of [...]

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BBQs and Parties on Grave Sites!

Did you know that some Pre-Columbian cultures had elaborate festivities at their graveyards? Some pre-Hispanic cultures in South America had elaborate celebrations at their cemeteries, complete with feasting and drinking grounds much like modern barbecue pits, according to a new archaeological study. Excavations of 12th- and-13th-century burial mounds in the highlands of Brazil and Argentina [...]

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How the Telephone Keypad Came About

Here is an interesting article about how the telephone companies came about choosing the keypad configuration for dialing numbers. Ever wonder who came up with the order of numbers on a telephone? Ever wonder why it isn’t the same as those on a calculator, or a keyboard, ascending from lowest to highest? After all, adding [...]

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Prehistoric Flying Reptile Was Bigger Than a Car

A fossil of a toothless flying pterosaur, with a body bigger than some family cars, represents one of the largest of these extinct reptiles ever to be found and has forced the creation of a new genus, scientists announced today. Pterosaurs ruled the skies 115 million years ago during the dinosaur age. They are often [...]

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