Tangier Island, located 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, has maintained its isolation to such an extent that its inhabitants still speak a dialect similar to the one used by the island’s original colonists in the 1700s. This distinct dialect features a significant example of the Big Vowel Shift, with the word “house” pronounced… Read More »
Did you know that DARPA has been developing “smart” bullets since as early as 2008? These precision-guided firearm bullets are capable of altering their course and accurately correcting their path to a target. What’s even more fascinating is that they have been fire-tested successfully, proving their potential for use in military and law enforcement applications.… Read More »
It is a little-known fact that apples are not originally from North America but rather hail from Kazakhstan, in central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. Interestingly, the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma Ata, which was renamed Almaty in 1993, means “full of apples” in the Kazakh language. It is said that the wild apple forests… Read More »
Milton Bradley, who initially sold pictures of celebrities, faced a significant setback when his top-selling lithographs of Abraham Lincoln became outdated due to Lincoln’s iconic beard. As a result, customers demanded refunds, rendering Bradley’s entire stock of lithographs worthless. To recover from this loss, Bradley decided to pivot to selling board games. It’s worth noting… Read More »
It is a historical fact that Henry Ford, the renowned industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company, resisted making significant improvements to the Model T for a long time. However, it’s important to note that this decision was not entirely without reason. At the time, the Model T was a runaway success, and Ford had… Read More »
John Montagu, from the town of Sandwich, England, is credited with inventing the sandwich. Montagu’s gambling obsession left him little time for seated meals, leading him to request his valet to bring him a piece of meat placed between two slices of bread, which eventually became known as a sandwich. Source