People & Society

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

People & Society Meet the 1956 Dutch-American Friendship Treaty. Americans with 4500 Euros can obtain a 2-year visa to work as an independent contractor in Holland. This can be extended long enough to ultimately apply for Dutch/EU citizenship. November 5, 2020
People & Society Who Is the Man Behind the Salad Bowl Hoax? October 30, 2020
People & Society Which US President Won the Most Number of Electoral Votes? October 29, 2020
People & Society The rise in non-traditional sexual relations that marked the "swinging '60s" actually began during the '50s. Recent analysis indicates that widespread use of penicillin, leading to a 75% decline in syphilis deaths during the 1950s, launched the modern sexual era, and not the birth control pill October 24, 2020
People & Society Judit Polgar was the only female chess player to reach the top 50. She was the product of an educational experiment by her father, who wanted to prove that "geniuses are made, not born". As such, he decided to vigorously train his daughters for chess from a young age October 24, 2020
People & Society 44% of adults have held on to their childhood teddies and dolls, and as many as 34% of adults still sleep with a soft toy every night October 22, 2020
People & Society Abe Lincoln was a cat lover. One month before he was assassinated he stopped a meeting with General Ulysses S. Grant to make sure three kittens were okay. October 18, 2020
People & Society Meet professional "fired men" that were used as department store scapegoats who were fired several times a day to please costumers who were disgruntled about some error June 15, 2019
People & Society Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president, was penniless in old age and wrote a book of memoirs so his wife could live off of the royalties. Mark Twain heard the best offer was 10% and immediately offered the former president 75%. The book was a success, giving Grant's widow about $450,000 in royalties. June 8, 2019
People & Society James Cameron DIDN'T quit truck driving to explore his artistic side, He drove trucks to fund it. June 7, 2019
People & Society Muhammad Ali's star on the Hollywood walk of fame is not on the sidewalk. It is on the wall of Kodak theater because of his request that "he did not want to be walked on." June 7, 2019
People & Society Former President Jimmy Carter does not receive federal retirement health benefits because he only worked for the government for four years, less than the five years needed to qualify June 1, 2019
People & Society James McCune Smith, the first African-American doctor, was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class May 23, 2019
People & Society Meet Peter Oakley, known as Geriatric1927 on youtube, he was the most subscribed youtube account in 2006, in his channel he talked about his life experiences, such as growing up in the UK during WW2 and experiencing the British inter-war school system, he passed away in 2014 at 86 years old May 22, 2019
People & Society Pope John XII was the only Pope who was ever beaten to death by a jealous husband for sleeping with his wife. He was also accused of turning the papal palace into a brothel, sleeping with his niece, toasting the devil, ordaining a 10yr old boy, and misusing papal funds to pay gambling debts. May 21, 2019
People & Society Meet Richard Feynman who taught himself trigonometry, advanced algebra, infinite series, analytic geometry, and both differential and integral calculus at the age of 15. Later he jokingly Cracked the Safes with Atomic Secrets at Los Alamos by trying numbers he thought a physicist might use. May 19, 2019
People & Society After 37 years of work and 1,4 billion billion crayons, Emerson Moser, Crayola's senior crayon maker revealed at his retirement party that he was actually colorblind. May 16, 2019
People & Society A New York University study found that people with easier-to-pronounce names have higher-status positions at work May 7, 2019
People & Society Martin Luther King Jr. started a pillow fight in the hotel room with other civil rights leaders in the hour before he was assassinated May 4, 2019
People & Society In 1981, a California doctor worked around the clock to save the life of a (3.2 lb) premature baby boy. Exactly 30 years later, that baby (now a Paramedic/Firefighter) saved the life of the doctor when a semi struck his car. May 3, 2019