The most curious thing of all is incuriosity. CORMAC MCCARTHY
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Word of the Day: SUPPERASITATE (17th century) - to flatter someone in the hopes they will give you food.
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In the 1970s, the FBI conducted an operation offering bribes to elected US officials. Almost a quarter accepted and were prosecuted.
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The Georgia Department of Drivers’ Services in the US had to issue a statement last month reminding drivers to wear clothes in photos submitted for official government ID.
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During World War II, a Polish doctor discovered a harmless bacterium that would make people test positive for typhus. Another doctor promptly infected nearly 8,000 Jews - making the Nazis unwilling to get close to the ‘contagious’ people and sparing them from concentration camps.
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In 1910, US Rep. Robert F. Broussard introduced a bill to the US congress to allow the importation of hippos into Louisiana. He thought the creatures would eat invasive water hyacinths, and that Americans would enjoy ‘lake cow bacon’.
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This was true at the time of posting, but we're hearing reports it may now be false. Here's a video on the half-life of QI facts.
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Residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone are covering their homes in mirrors to keep cooler during the hot summer months.
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In the UK, June 13th is the only day of meteorological summer that has never recorded a temperature over 30ºC.
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In an early draft of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the song was titled ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’.
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Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, and James Earl Jones, who provided the voice for Darth Vader in Star Wars in 1977, met for the first time on a 2014 episode of The Big Bang Theory.
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The wonderful @josierones tells us about the Yorkshire man who legally changed his name so he could mock the bank he hated.
Now that's commitment!
apple.co/nosuchthingasa…pod.fo/e/182b7f
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The index to the 1980 edition of the U.S. standard obstetrics textbook was prepared by the lead author’s wife and contained the line ‘Chauvinism, male, voluminous amounts, 1–1102’.
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‘Shit’ is the tofu of cursing and can be molded to whichever condition the speaker desires. DAVID SEDARIS
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In 1921, an Illinois hotel owner stood trial for violating Prohibition laws. The jury convicted him after 20 hours of ‘evaluating evidence’, during which time they drank three quarts of the hotel's whiskey and a quart of port wine.
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In 1927, Helene Shelby filed a patent for an interrogation device. It was a human-operated skeleton with red lightbulbs in the eyes, a megaphone in the mouth and a camera in the skull to record the confession.
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Bullhead sharks lay corkscrew-shaped eggs (📷: Ian Armstrong. CCA SA 2.0 Generic).
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Actor James Earl Jones has featured in $6.5bn-worth of movies without showing his face.
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Banned techniques in athletics events include somersaulting in the long jump, spinning into a javelin throw, and cartwheeling while putting the shot.
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A man called Sylvester Magee claimed to have been born in 1841 and died in 1971 aged 130. He divorced his wife in 1966 who was 65 years his junior.
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A.D. (anno domini) was introduced in the 6th century by a man called Dennis the Small.
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Word of the Day: SOLASTALGIA (neologism) - a feeling of distress caused by environmental damage close to home.
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The Merchant of Venice is the only Shakespeare play to mention Mexico.
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In 1999, Michael Howard of Leeds changed his name by deed poll to 'Yorkshire Bank Plc are F*scist Bastards'.
The formidable was the guest on the latest episode of our fact-filled podcast!
Listen to the episode at pod.fo/e/182b7f
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The Devon village of Westward Ho! is named after a novel, rather than the other way around.
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Clip taken from Series J 'Just The Job' which is available to stream now on iPlayer, along with every other QI episode!
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Using ground-up basalt as a fertiliser on fields not only increases yields, but sprinkling it on half the world's farms would capture as much carbon as Germany and Japan combined emit annually.
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Not only are sharks older than trees, they have existed for longer than Saturn’s rings.
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Since Bermuda has no natural water sources, almost all houses have these white, stepped roofs to collect rainwater. This alone is enough to supply the islanders’ needs; there are still no water mains on Bermuda. (Image: Darkroom Daze, CC BY-NC-SA.)
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About twice as many Britons would rather time travel to the past than the future.
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Ever wondered if the Myers-Briggs Test is credible?
Sandi has the answer... 🗒️
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Word of the day: ROORBACK (19th century) - a defamatory falsehood published for political effect.
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In 1986, Donald Miller disappeared. He was declared dead in 1994.
In 2005, a very much alive Miller - who had simply left his wife and children - tried to obtain a driving license. He appealed his death, but the Ohio state courts denied him.
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