People & Society

Fascinating facts about remarkable people, human culture, psychology, and society.

People & Society Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in the southerns states, then returned again and again to rescue 70 more enslaved people. Then later, after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, she helped guide fugitives farther north into Canada. During the American Civil War she helped the Union Army. January 26, 2021
People & Society When France increased the price of cigarettes by 66% over an eight-year period, the smoking rate among French executives and professionals declined. However, the smoking rate among manual laborers remained about the same and among the unemployed, it increased. January 25, 2021
People & Society At the peak of the financial crisis of 2008 Volkswagen became the most valuable company in the world for one day despite being on the brink of bankruptcy January 22, 2021
People & Society A school principal once made a student who'd gotten into trouble sit in the basement & read the U.S. Constitution as punishment. That student (who committed the Constitution to memory as a result) was Thurgood Marshall, who went on to become the first Black Supreme Court justice. January 19, 2021
People & Society A Joyful Night: How Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt Changed the World with a Simple Flight January 5, 2021
People & Society The statement "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" is often falsely attributed to Voltaire. It actually originated from an essay by Kevin Alfred Storm in 1993. December 22, 2020
People & Society Who Was The Architect To The Stars? December 21, 2020
People & Society Edgar Allen Poe died mysteriously after having been missing for six days. Though still alive when he was finally found, he was wearing someone else's cheap clothes and not coherent enough to tell where he'd been. He had disappeared en route to his own wedding. December 10, 2020
People & Society When President Gerald Ford wanted to end a conversation in the Oval Office he would signal Liberty, his golden retriever, and she would go to the guest wagging her tail, creating a natural break. December 8, 2020
People & Society Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son Quentin Roosevelt I was a pilot in World War I and was killed in France during combat. He is the only child of a US President to die in combat December 1, 2020
People & Society Michelangelo hid under the Medici Chapel in Florence for 3 months during a period of political turmoil, occupying his time by sketching on the walls with charcoal. His whereabouts were a secret for almost 500 years until the museum director stumbled upon the drawings in 1976. December 1, 2020
People & Society Meet Susan Butcher, a New England girl whose only goal in life was to win the Alaskan Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race which she ultimately won 4 times with record times and became one the greatest mushers of all time November 22, 2020
People & Society The song 'Rapture' by Blondie (1981) was the first single featuring a rap to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, has said many rappers, including the Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep, told her it was the first rap song they ever heard. November 20, 2020
People & Society Due to a strong dislike towards mixing of science and politics, Einstein said were he a young man again, he'd choose to be a plumber or a peddler, to which many plumbing companies responded by making him the honorary plumber. Also, there are many Einstein Plumbing companies in the US now. November 20, 2020
People & Society Comcast changed their brand from "Comcast Internet" to "Xfinity" because the comcast name had become associated with poor quality and service. The name change decision was made after a Comcast technician was recorded while sleeping on a customer's couch. November 20, 2020
People & Society 40% of the Cream of Mushroom Soup Sold in the U.S. Goes to Make Green Bean Casserole November 19, 2020
People & Society 900 year old African coins were found of the coast of Australia, making them the oldest foreign artefacts found on the continent, predating the Europeans by centuries. November 19, 2020
People & Society Dracula was translated into Icelandic in 1901, and it wasn't until 2014 that anyone noticed this version was actually a significantly different novel with a smaller page count and a lot more sex November 18, 2020
People & Society Horses originated in North America, migrated to Asia and were domesticated, went extinct in North America, and were brought back over again by the Spanish thousands of years later. November 17, 2020
People & Society The music used in the "You wouldn't steal a car" anti piracy ad was pirated November 14, 2020