According to bat scientist Johan Eklöf, as of the 1980s, two-thirds of churches in southwestern Sweden housed bat colonies, but no more thanks to light pollution.
In 2022, Americans spent more on marijuana and edibles ($30 billion) than on chocolate ($20 billion) and craft beer ($7.9 billion) combined.
Japanese lieutenant Hiroo Onoda remained hidden on Lubang, a tiny island in the Philippines, until March 9, 1974, believing that World War II had never ended. Until 1972, he was joined by comrade Kinshichi Kozuka, who was killed by local police. Onoda passed away in Japan in 2014.
Perhaps the oldest-known full sentence was written in Canaanite script on an ivory comb and translates to, “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”
George Washington once managed a lottery whose prizes included slaves. One enslaved man, Denmark Vesey, purchased his freedom after winning a South Carolina lottery in 1799. He turned to preaching and carpentry and went on to incite a slave rebellion, for which he was hanged in 1822.
This article appears in April 21 • 2023.