Category: fun facts
fun facts
Filling my boots
I learned a new idiom this week. To fill one’s boots is to, “take or obtain as much of something as one can. Primarily heard in UK.” | learn more
fun facts
Supersized pickup trucks
Angie Schmitt, writing for Bloomberg, tells the story of the pickup truck and its transformation from no-frills working truck to gigantic family vehicle. She makes the point that these large vehicles are more dangerous for pedestrians in crowded areas due […]
fun facts
The largest ink library in the world
“One branch [of the US Secret Service], some 120 men and women strong, collects ink. More than 8,500 samples of ink, in fact, which have been sent to the USSS from manufacturers since the 1920s.” | learn more
fun facts
The Beirut bank job
“[Security expert] Jayson E. Street tells us a story about the time he broke into a bank in Beirut Lebanon.” | learn more
fun facts
The advice to “keep your eye on the ball” is literally impossible
“So why are [All-Star batters] transmogrified into Little Leaguers when faced with 68-mph softballs? It’s because the only way to hit a ball traveling at high speed is to be able to see into the future, and when a baseball […]
fun facts
The best way to rob a bank is to own a bank
Ben Hunt: “I think that the collapse over the past week of Greensill Capital has a lot of systemic risk embedded within it, particularly as the fraudulent deals between Greensill and its major sponsors – Softbank and Credit Suisse – […]
fun facts
3 words for every location on Earth
I saw 3 words in the footer of an email and started digging in. I discovered, “Every 3 metre square of the world has been given a unique combination of three words.” Since 2016, Mongolia has used what3words for their postal system. | learn […]
fun facts
Who’s making all those scam calls?
Reporter Yudhijit Bhattacharjee tracked down a scammer who works at a call center in India and asked him some questions. | learn more