Germany Paid Its Last World War I Reparation Installment In 2010 As part of the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 after World War I, Germany accepted responsibility for the conflict. It also agreed to pay reparations totaling 132 billion gold marks (about $63 billion at the time) to certain countries. Despite establishing a framework for payments, Germany was unable to meet its obligations. Inflation, financial struggles, World War II, and general resentment all contributed to how long it took the country to pay up. Even with reductions in the amount owed and assistance through foreign-backed bonds, Germany needed 92 years to eliminate its debt. On October 3, 2010, it made the final reparation payment. The Catholic Church Forgave Galileo Three Decades After The Internet Was Invented In 1633, Galileo Galilei stood trial for suspicion of heresy in Rome. As an advocate of the heliocentric view of the solar system, he refused to accept the longstanding theological perspective that the Earth was the unmoving center of the universe. Galileo was condemned by the Church. He was sentenced to house arrest, his writings were banned, and he was forced to recant his position. It wasn't until 1992 that the Vatican officially apologized to Galileo, acknowledging: "We today know that Galileo was right in adopting the Copernican astronomical theory." By the time Galileo was vindicated, the earliest versions of the internet had been created. Scientists developed ARPAnet during the early 1960s, a system through which computers could communicate. The first message successfully sent through ARPAnet was in 1965; the system expanded during the 1970s and 1980s, and in 1991, the World Wide Web went public. Octopuses Are Older Than Most - If Not All - Dinosaurs While hundreds of species of octopuses exist, the discovery of the Pohlsepia mazonensis fossil traces to roughly 296 million years ago. P. mazonensis resemble cirrate octopods, or finned deep-sea cephalopod mollusks. P. mazonensis isn't without critics, however, as it's a solitary find. Prior to its discovery, octopuses were thought to be about 164 million years old. They may have had shells at first, but are believed to have shed them at some point during the Jurassic period - some 140 million years ago. The earliest dinosaurs are believed to be about 243 million years old, emerging in the Middle Triassic Period. In 2012, researchers presented evidence of Nyasasaurus parringtoni being the earliest or closest relative to the earliest dinosaur ever discovered. Previous contenders for the oldest dinosaurs were the chindesaurus, the staurikosaurus, and others that lived roughly 230 million years ago during the Late Triassic Period. Even if P. mazonensis doesn't prove octopuses predate dinosaurs entirely, the fossils that trace to roughly 164 million years ago put octopuses on the planet before tyrannosauri. They were also contemporaries of dinosaurs like the stegosaurus. Uranus Was Discovered Before Antarctica In March 1781, astronomer William Herschel spotted what he believed to be a comet or star while "examining the small stars" in the skies above. One, "visibly larger than the rest," stood out to him and, after months of continued study and observation, the astronomical community confirmed that it was, in fact, a planet - the first planet to be discovered using a telescope. Herschel wanted to name his find Georgium Sidus in honor of King George III of Great Britain, but his colleague Johann Elert Bode won out when he proposed the name Uranus in 1783. The first reported sightings of Antarctica date to 1820, when men aboard two Russian ships, the Vostok and the Mirnyi, spotted the land mass. Some 50 years earlier, Captain James Cook navigated the Antarctic Circle, but didn't see the continent during his journey. Soon after Russian captain Thaddeus von Bellingshausen recording his discovery, British Royal Naval officer Edward Bransfield, part of a nearby mapping expedition, noted seeing "high mountains, covered with snow." The contest between who saw Antarctica first - Russia or Britain - may be simply among Westerners, however. Evidence from oral narratives indicate Polynesians may have ventured into the Antarctic Ocean as early as 600 CE, perhaps spotting land when they did. Anne Frank And Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Were Born In The Same Year Anne Frank was born in 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany, while Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA that same year. Frank and King both had older sisters, Margot and Christine, respectively. As a young girl, Frank and her family moved to the Netherlands, where as Jews they were forced to go into hiding from the Nazis in 1942. During her two years in the secret annex, Frank chronicled her life in her well-known diary. Across the Atlantic Ocean, King attended school and became increasingly involved in the ministry. He became a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL in 1954 - one year before the actions of Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. NASA Drove A Buggy On The Moon The Same Year Swiss Women Got The Right To Vote Officially called a Lunar Roving Vehicle, the LRV driven by Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin in July 1971 was the first of three buggies on the moon. When Scott and Irwin traversed the lunar surface, they reported the rover felt like a "bucking bronco" and that going 6 mph was a challenge. Earlier that same year, the government of Switzerland granted women the right to vote. The federal referendum that passed in February 1971 - approved by 65.7% of the male electorate - was the second of its kind. A failed referendum in 1959 resulted in several individual Swiss states granting women voting and political rights through the 1960s. Swiss women didn't vote in a federal election, however, until October 1971. The Aztecs And The Tudors Were Contemporaries Originating during the 13th century, the Aztec Empire grew to encompass much of Central America and Mexico. The establishment of the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan in 1325 allowed for the Aztecs to dominate militarily, establish tributary relationships, and expand trade throughout the region. With the arrival of Spanish explorers in the early 16th century, the Aztecs were exposed to disease and violence alike. Their empire ultimately succumbed to Spanish conquerors with the loss of Tenochtitlan in 1521. As the Aztecs grew in influence and power in Mesoamerica, the Tudor family in England rose to prominence. The first Tudor monarch took the throne in England after the Wars of the Roses ended in 1485. Henry VII initiated the Tudor line and was followed by his son, Henry VIII, in 1509. Henry VIII reigned until 1547, wearing the English crown as the last of the Aztec leaders fell to the Spanish. The London Underground Opened Before Czar Alexander II Of Russia Freed The Serfs The very first underground tunnel in London, dug beneath the River Thames, opened in 1843. At first, the "Tube" only allowed for pedestrians. Twenty years later, an underground railway opened and, in 1868, a steam-powered locomotive traveled through the tunnel under the Thames. Through the rest of the 19th century and into the 20th, more and more lines were added to the Tube system, establishing the foundation for the modern transportation network by 1907. As Londoners eagerly awaited underground rail transport, nearly 35% of the population of Russia remained in a state of serfdom, living and working on the lands of their masters, fulfilling obligations to them while simultaneously serving the state. During his reign from 1826 to 1855, Czar Nicholas I acknowledged the need to eliminate serfdom - calling it a "gunpowder magazine underneath the state" - and paving the way for his son, Alexander II, to formalize emancipation in 1861. The Salem Witch Trials Took Place 15 Years Before The Kingdom Of Great Britain Was Established The Treaty of Union of 1706 set the foundation for the joining of England, Wales, and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain during the Act of Union in 1707. Previously, the crowns of England and Scotland had remained separate, as had their parliaments. Ireland was technically under the authority of the English monarch, but the formal establishment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland didn't take place until 1801. In the decades prior to the joining of English and Scottish crowns, a wave of religious fervor and fear took place in colonial Massachusetts. In the community of Salem, founded in 1626, accusations of witchcraft resulted in a series of trials in 1692 and 1693. The first three women accused of witchcraft - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a slave named Tituba - were jailed in March 1692. Numerous others were investigated and brought before a special court through May the following year. In the end, 19 people were hanged, one man was pressed, and about 200 people had been accused of witchcraft in some form. The Model T Ford Debuted The Same Year The First Death In An Airplane Accident Occurred When US Army Lt. Thomas Selfridge perished during a test flight on September 17, 1908, he became the first casualty of an airplane accident in human history. The plane was piloted by Orville Wright, who, with his brother Wilbur, was a noted pioneer in flight. According to accounts, Wright and Selfridge circled high above Fort Myer, VA when a propeller split, damaged the plane, and brought it to the ground. Wright was injured, but Selfridge didn't survive. That same year, Henry Ford unveiled the Model T, designed to be an affordable, accessible option in automotive travel. The Model T went into mass production and, between 1908 and 1927, roughly 15 million cars were sold. Initially priced at about $825, a Model T could be purchased for as little as $260 in 1925. Queen Elizabeth II's First Prime Minister Was Born 90 Years Before The Man Who Holds The Office In 2021 When Queen Elizabeth II took the British throne in 1952, Winston Churchill was Prime Minister, a position he held until 1955. Born in 1874, Churchill had previously been Prime Minister during World War II, serving from 1940 to 1945. One year before Churchill passed in 1965, future mayor of London and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was born in New York City. Johnson's birth in 1964 was exactly 90 years after the birth of Churchill. The Telephone And Light Bulb Were Both Patented Nearly 150 Years Ago The flood of innovation and invention during the 19th century resulted in products and technologies from batteries to steam-powered locomotives. Among the everyday items invented during that century found in hands and homes alike are telephones and light bulbs. Telephones were first patented in the US in 1876 by Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell, although the first telephone-like device was made by Italian Antonio Meucci around 1850. Another contender for bringing the telephone to life is Elisha Gray, an American who reportedly tried to get a patent for the device on the same day as Bell. Regardless, the date of the first US patent is 1876 - three years before that given to the incandescent light bulb. Light bulbs, patented by Thomas Edison in 1879, were developed during the early 19th century in England, although they had short life spans and were expensive to make. Edison (and his inventors in Menlo Park, NJ) are credited with creating a longer-lasting, affordable alternative. Naegleria Fowleri Is A 'Brain-Eating Amoeba' With A 97% Fatality Rate And No Known Cure Naegleria Fowleri is a dangerous microorganism that lives and breeds in freshwater lakes, rivers, and soil. It can sometimes even be found in swimming pools that are minimally chlorinated or ill-maintained. It's an amoeba (a single-celled microscopic organism) that enters the human body through the nose. From there, the organism travels to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue. Initial symptoms include headache, fever, and nausea. Later symptoms include stiff neck, confusion, hallucinations, loss of balance, and seizures. Perhaps most terrifying of all is that it has a mortality rate of over 97% and death typically occurs within five days. Oddly enough, one can’t be infected by drinking tainted water. The good news is that infections are rare - between 2011 and 2020, only 33 people were reportedly infected in the US. The bad news is that infections are most likely to occur in summer months from recreational water sources. Of the 33 infections, 29 occurred in recreational bodies of water, while one other occurred from contaminated tap water on a Slip 'N Slide. In 2021, a child passed from an infection obtained at a splash pad at a Texas park. Reviews of the facility showed a lapse in water testing procedures. The Boys at the Fernald School Were Purposefully Fed Radioactive Oatmeal The Walter E. Fernald School was marketed as a special school for disabled children. While stories of abuse in institutions for disabled individuals are sadly prevalent throughout history, the Fernald school took things to a disturbing level. Between the 1940s and 1950s - at the height of the atomic age - MIT scientists were interested in conducting experiments concerning human health. They used children that society had discarded as unknowing participants in their experiments. They fed the children Quaker oatmeal laced with radioactive iron and calcium. Some children even had radioactive calcium directly injected into them. In addition to disabled children, the school also housed many orphans or homeless children that the state needed to put somewhere. While many children passed in the school from reasons unrelated to the experiments, many at the school suffered numerous abuses in addition to the Quaker Oats experiment. You Could Inadvertently Pick Up A Cone Snail On The Beach And Be Killed Shell collectors beware - the small shiny round shell you pick up on a tropical beach could actually be a deadly stinging cone snail. Cone snails are some of the most unexpected - and harsh - predators in nature. They're slow and shy, until they've decided on the creature they'll make their next meal. They usually inject unsuspecting fish with a venom so potent it leaves them rapidly paralyzed, which allows the snail time to slowly eat their prey while it's still alive. They regurgitate the fish's bones before slithering away. Over the years cone snails have been known to take down humans with their venom. One particularly poisonous type, the geography cone snail, has earned the not-so-funny nickname of the "cigarette snail" because it's said the victim would only have enough time to smoke a final cigarette before dying. This isn't exactly accurate - victims would likely have a bit more time than that - but would still be in mortal danger if they are unable to quickly receive medical treatment. If stung by a cone snail, numbness will begin at the sting site before spreading through the body to the diaphragm, which prevents breathing. The US Has Lost Six Nuclear Weapons Considering nuclear weapons are one of the most destructive creations humanity has ever built, you'd think we'd keep pretty good track of them. But it turns out that, much like your car keys or a pair of sunglasses, some of these weapons are lost. Since the successful creation of the nuclear bomb in the 1940s, there have been six bombs, that we know of, that have gone missing. Missing nuclear bombs can be attributed to mechanical failure aboard aircraft and submarines, as well as human error. Most of them were carried aboard aircraft or naval ships, and when things went wrong, decisions had to be made - like jettisoning the devices into a water mass below. Five out of the six lost weapons went missing in water in different seas and oceans around the world. The only one of the six that was lost on land is presumed to be buried in a field near Goldsboro, NC. It ended up there after the aircraft it was on crashed, and despite various missions to retrieve it, part of the device was not found. Capable Decision-Makers Will Make Poor Decisions If They Conform To Groupthink When in a group setting, many people have experienced the feeling of wanting to speak up but opting not to so as to not go against the group. By speaking out, a person can make themselves a target or be seen as problematic. If you've experienced this, you're not alone. By not speaking out a person is conforming to groupthink. According to Irving L. Janis, the man who coined the term, groupthink occurs when the following are in place: a strong, persuasive group leader, high levels of group cohesion, and intense pressure to make a good decision. Peer pressure is a symptom of groupthink and it can happen to anyone. From children in elementary school to politicians, everyone is susceptible to the phenomenon. Of course, the psychological phenomenon becomes dangerous when world leaders and people in important positions fall prey to it. One of the most notorious incidents that can be linked to groupthink is the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy. Months before takeoff, certain employees knew of faulty parts, but, not wanting to go against the organization, and for fear of bad press, they stayed silent. A Gamma Ray Burst Could Wipe Out The Earth At Any Time There are a myriad of things in space that could wipe out humanity at any given time. One possibility that scientists are studying are gamma ray bursts. While so far, they've only been observed occurring in other galaxies, scientists say one occurring in the Milky Way galaxy is entirely possible. Gamma ray bursts occur when a hypernova (a star five to 10 times the mass of our sun) ends its life and implodes into a black hole. The resulting implosion creates a massive outward burst of gamma rays (the most powerful form of electromagnetic radiation) that travel through space. The bursts can last for as little as less than two seconds or up to 30 seconds. While it’s a challenge to study these bursts from so far away, we should keep our fingers crossed that we never get an opportunity to study them up close. If the waves from a gamma ray burst were to reach the Earth, they would strip away the ozone layer and all the protections we have. We would be exposed to lethal amounts of radiation that would not only exterminate all of mankind, but would also radically change the planet in a way that would likely make it inhospitable to life for millions of years. It’s theorized that one of the five mass extinctions was caused by a gamma ray burst, which triggered an ice age on the planet. Humans Can Die Of Insomnia Insomnia can be a debilitating disease for many - not only does it often cause anxiety-filled nights and long, exhausting days, but it can also actually be really dangerous. Insomnia can cause car accidents, low performance at work or school, and physical and mental health issues. Lack of sleep is so detrimental to human health that it's been used a form of torture. Many adults will have a bout of acute insomnia at some point in their lives, but it’s usually something that can be addressed and overcome in a few weeks. A select few, however, won't be that lucky. They'll have to deal with a type of insomnia that won't go away and could prove fatal. Fatal familial insomnia is a rare genetic degenerative brain disorder that usually begins with mild insomnia symptoms that advance to the point where a person isn’t getting any sleep at all. The lack of sleep creates intense mental and physical distress that can range from hallucinations to heart problems. The disorder eventually leads to coma and death. It's reported that the onset of symptoms begins around the ages of 45-50 but can occur earlier or later in life. There is no cure for fatal insomnia, and treatment differs from person to person. Though it’s thankfully rare, that fact is a double-edged sword, as there's a lack of awareness and drive for a cure. There Have Already Been Five Mass Extinction Events Many of us are aware that there was a mass extinction event that led to the annihilation of all dinosaurs. But less common knowledge is that this was just one of five mass extinction events that have taken place on the planet. By analyzing layers of rock that make up the Earth’s soil, scientists have been able to determine which types of organisms and animals existed at certain times in Earth’s history. The first mass extinction event took place approximately 443 million years ago. It was a two-fold process that involved the Earth rapidly cooling down and then warming up. Around 85% of organisms were unable to survive the drastic change. The largest mass extinction was the third, known as the Permian-Triassic extinction or the “Great Dying,” which occurred about 252 million years ago. Scientists believe it was caused by volcanic activity that led to global warming and plummeting levels of oxygen in the oceans. While the cause of some extinctions, like that of the dinosaurs, is still debated, these events are generally attributed to intense climate change, something the planet is currently experiencing.