Water towers are cleaned out by scuba divers.

Over time sediment accumulates on the bottom of water tower tanks, this sediment can be a breeding ground for bacteria that can pollute the water supply. So specialized companies send scuba divers into the tanks to clean them up. Not only are they working 150-200 feet in the air, they're also working under 40 feet of water.

I knew it....mosquitoes are picking on me

If you are like me, a sporty type, with type O blood and are not as skinny as you used to be, you may feel like the summer pests are bothering you while leaving everyone else alone. Well your paranoia is confirmed, mosquitoes are in fact out to get you. Dr Yoshikazu Shirai, who holds a PhD in medical entomology, did research indicating those with type O blood were twice as attractive to mosquitoes than those with a different blood type.

zidbits.com/2011/01/do-mosqitoes-prefer-a-certain-blood-type/

Bulletproof vests were invented by a pizza delivery guy

Bulletproof vests weren’t invented by the army, or even the police. They’re the result of a brainwave by a beleaguered pizza delivery man in 1969. After being shot twice by while making a delivery in a rough part of Detroit, former Marine Richard Davis started thinking about a way to give people, particularly police officers who found themselves in the same situation, a second chance. With a roll of nylon and the straps from his car’s seat belts he set about creating his first design for body armour that could be concealed beneath clothes. Richard toured police stations shooting himself in the chest as a demonstration. He later switched to a design using  Kevlar, which is 230% stronger than the nylon he originally used.

http://www.humansinvent.com/#!/1041/the-pizza-guy-who-invented-the-bulletproof-vest/

A degree in engineering or architecture may be useful at Pizza hut salad bars in China

Pizza Hut in China only allows the customer to make one trip to the salad bar with one plate of salad. Because there is not much horizontal space for the plate, customers have learned to cleverly engineer the way the plate their food and utilize as much vertical space as possible.
http://dailyfacepalm.com/2009/06/03/pizza-hut-will-not-survive-in-china/

The most expensive photograph ever sold is just a picture of a river.

Rhein II is a photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999. In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million (then £2.7m), making it the most expensive photograph ever sold. In the photograph is a  Rhine flows horizontally across the field of view, between green fields, under an overcast sky. The photograph has been described as a "vibrant, beautiful and memorable – I should say unforgettable – contemporary twist on the romantic landscape" and as "a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies". It just looks like a picture of a river to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhein_II

Lethbridge was home to one of the biggest P.O.W. camps in Canada

During WWII many Italian and German soldiers were shipped over seas to be held in P.O.W. camps, one of these camps (Camp 133) was in Lethbridge. By November of 1942, 13,341 P.O.W.s were moved to Lethbridge (the population of Lethbridge at the time was just under 15, 000), to a camp constructed between 28th and 43rd Streets along 5th Avenue North. With the large number of prisoners, the camp became a city within itself. The camp was divided into six sections, each with six dormitories, mess halls, kitchens, and entertainment facilities. By necessity, meals were in shifts with prisoners acting as cooks. Tailor, barber, and shoe repair shops were also staffed by prisoners. Non-combat prisoners were engaged in their professions as doctors and orderlies in the infirmary and dental clinic. Many of the prisoners grew to love the area and returned once the war ended.
http://www.galtmuseum.com/pdf/Internment%20Camps.pdf

Jackie Chan is uninsurable.

Stunt man Jackie Chan has claimed that he and his stunt team have been "black listed" by insurance companies because the stunts they preform are too dangerous. As a result Jackie Chan has pledged that he will pay for the treatment of any one that is injured while preforming a stunt. "You hurt in my movie? I'll take care of you my whole life. That's my promise."

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/sep/01jackie.htm

The Lion King was stolen?

  Some people think the Disney cartoon "The Lion King" bears some uncanny similarities to the 1950's Japanese anime series "Kimba the White Lion." Disney claims the similarities are all coincidental, I don't wanna make any judgment calls so why don't you decide?

Bubble wrap was a failed attempt at plastic wallpaper.

In 1957 two inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were attempting to create a plastic wallpaper. Although the idea was a failure, they found that it did make for great packing material. That materail became the bubble wrap that you use when packing breakable things and then spend hours popping all the bubbles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_wrap
ps if you have a hankering to pop bubble wrap right now you can find a virtual version here http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow.shtml

Balloons were made for science

The rubber balloon was invented by chemist and physicist Michael Faraday in 1824.  He invented it for use with experiments involving hydrogen.  But what fun are rubber balloons if only scientist get to play with them?  It didn't take long before rubber balloons were being sold for a penny a piece at circuses and in parks in America. The latex balloons we're more familiar today were first manufactured by J.G. Ingram in1847 London.
http://www.balloongeeks.com/faqs/32-when-were-balloons-invented

The Northern Lights are mirrored at the South Pole.

The Northern Lights or Aurora borealis are an amazing display of  dancing lights caused by collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. These lights are also seen over the south pole and are referred to as Aurora australis. Scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colours.

http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html

There has been a mystery radio signal in Russia since the early 1980's

UBV-76 is the call sign of a shortwave radio station that usually broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). It is known among radio listeners by the nickname The Buzzer. It features a short, monotonous buzz tone, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per day. The station has been observed since around 1982. On rare occasions, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. Despite much speculation, the actual purpose of this station remains unknown to the public.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76

A horse tricked people into thinking he could do math.

In the early 20th century a horse named Clever Hans was trained by his owner Wilhelm von Osten, to answer simple question. Hans was said to have been taught to add, subtract, multiply, divide, work with fractions, tell time, keep track of the calendar, differentiate musical tones, and read, spell, and understand German. Questions could be asked verbally or written down, and Hans would answer by tapping his hoof. He was wrong occasionally, but was generally about 89% accurate. However after a formal investigation in 1907, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was not actually performing these mental tasks, but was watching the reaction of his human observers. Hans could read the subtle body language of the questioner (who knew the answer to the question) and would stop tapping his hoof when the involuntary change in body language signalled the correct answer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_hans

Tomatoes are a fruit....or are they a vegetable?

Tomatoes have been classified as both vegetables and fruits, and I'm sure this classification has even been the source of at least one or two heated arguments. So you'll be happy to know that just like in elementary school, everyone is right. The term "fruit" is a botanical term, the seed-containing ovaries of a flowering plant, and by definition this would include tomatoes. The term "vegetable' however is a culinary term, and lacks a scientific definition and is instead, defined loosely by the culture of food. For example, plants which are most commonly used in soups, salads, or as side dishes to main course are typically considered vegetables. As as result vegetables have come to include things like tomatoes (fruit), corn (grain) and mushrooms (fungus, not even a plant). So you see the two terms are not mutually exclusive, so tomatoes can be referred to as both fruits and vegetables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatoes#Fruit_or_vegetable.3F

Oxygen masks in planes are just for peace of mind.

Surprisingly, for a widely-deployed piece of safety equipment, some research has suggested that no lives are known to have been saved by use of an emergency oxygen mask - nor any lives lost through the absence of one - whilst carrying oxygen generating apparatus, albeit as cargo, has caused at least one fatal accident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_oxygen_system#Usage_history

Chickens have stood in as proxies for Barry Sanders

 Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders was as uncatchable as a chicken or at least that's what some NFL coaches thought. John Teerlinck, the Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach in 1994, said that the only way they could figure out how to simulate Barry Sanders abilities during their practices was to have the defensive linemen chase chickens around the field.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/301203-a-tribute-to-barry-sanders-what-made-him-great

Nazis landed on American soil during WWII

 In 1942, 4 German soldiers landed in Amagansett, New York, and  4 in Ponte Verdra Beach, Florida, their mission was not to seize land, but to damage American infrastructure. Their targets were some of the crown jewels of America's industrial might: major hydroelectric plants, important aluminum factories, critical railroad tracks, bridges and canals–and the water supply system of New York City. But the mission failed when two of the conspirators instead attempted to defect, and sold out the rest of the team.

http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-german-saboteurs-invade-america-in-1942.htm

Tim Burton considered making a sequel to Beetlejuice.

In 1990 Tim Burton  asked Jonathan Gems (Mars Attacks!) to write a script for a sequel to Beetlejuice, don't get all disappointed that this movie didn't materialize, by all accounts it was going to be really terrible. The script was allegedly so bad, it read like a parody of bad sequels. The movie, to be called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, was to catch up with a college aged Lydia and her annoying parents in Hawaii in the midst of opening up a fancy hotel, much to the dismay of some Hawaiian ghosts that recruit Beetljuice to frighten the Deetz' and their developers away. As you can image hijinx ensue. Not every good movie needs a sequel.


http://www.creaturefeatures.com/2010/12/script-review-beetlejuice-goes-hawaiian/

Tortilla Chips: Not mexican, just rejects of the automated process

In the late 1940's the El Zarape Tortilla Factory, based in Los Angeles California, was among the first factories to automate the production of tortillas. Corn and flour discs were made more the 12 times faster than when it was done by hand, but many were bent or misshapen.Initially these were just thrown out until, company president Rebecca Webb Carranza, took some of the discarded tortillas, cut them up and fried them for a party. They were a huge hit at the party so she started selling them for a dime a bag, by the 1960's the bags of Tortilla Chips had become the primary seller for the El Zarpe factory.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4708032

Clowns use painted eggs to copyright their unique face paint.

When clowns join Clowns International in England, which claims to be the oldest clown society in the world, they register their individual make-up patterns in the "Egg Gallery". Eggshells are decorated as replicas of the clown's heads, and act as sort of clown copyright for the make-up designs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown#Egg_Register

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukestephenson/sets/72157606703952187/

98% of adoptions in Japan are adult males.

America and Japan have the highest rates of adoption in the world – with one big difference. While the vast majority of adoptees in the U.S. are children, they account for just 2% of adoptions in Japan. The other 98% are males around 25 to 30. The reason? The strongest companies in Japan are run by families, where power is handed down from one generation to another, but what happens when the heir to the family business isn't up for the job? Rather than hand the firm to a less-than-worthy blood heir, Japanese families often adopt an adult to take over. Blood heirs are under the constant pressure of knowing that if they under-perform, they’ll be replaced.

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/08/09/the-church-of-scionology-why-adult-adoption-is-key-to-the-success-of-japanese-family-firms/

The worlds oldest living organism is 4,842 years old, and in hiding.

A Great Basin Bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains, named Methuselah is the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism. "Methuselah" was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957, with an estimated germination date of 2832 BCE. The tree grows at 9,500–9,800 ft above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest within the Inyo National Forest of Eastern California, but Methuselah's exact location is undisclosed to protect it  against vandalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuselah_(tree)

There are two islands that belong to France just off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The last remnant of the former colonial empire of New France (that is still under French control) is over 6,400 km away from France, but just 20 km off the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland. The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon were claimed for France in 1536 by Jacques Cartier, and they never gave them up, now it's home to about 6,000 people that speak french,use the Euro and have European phone numbers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon
http://www.st-pierre-et-miquelon.com/english/index.php

Helium is actually a precious resource, and it's estimated that we'll run out of it in the next 25 years.

 You probably know it as the gas you put in kids balloons, but Helium is actually a non-renewable gas and that we continue to squander on silly things like making our voices sound funny. That birthday balloon should probably cost more like $100 because aside from birthday novelties, Helium also has some more serious uses, like cooling nuclear reactors and cooling the magnets in MRI machines, and once it's gone...it's gone. The US stores 80% of the worlds helium, and because they refuse to treat helium as a precious resource scientists estimate that our Helium supplies will be exhausted within 25 years.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305386/Earths-helium-reserves-run-25-years.html

During WWI a British Soldier had Hitler in his sites, but didn't pull the trigger

During the battle of  Marcoing, Henry Tandey, a British soldier and later a recipient of the Victoria Cross, had a wounded German soldier walk through his line of fire, the wounded soldier made no attempt to raise his rifle, so Tandey opted not to take the shot. The German soldier saw Tandey lower his rifle and nodded his thanks before wandering off. The soldier was later identified as Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Tandey#Hitler_incident

How many senses do you have? Five?....Wrong

Aristotle is credited for having classified the 5 senses that we all learned about as children. Sight, Smell, Touch, Hearing and Taste...but that's just the beginning. Don't believe me? Here's a test...Close your eyes, now touch your nose. How did you find your nose? You couldn't see it, hear it or feel it. You didn't smell or taste your way to your nose, so how did you find it without any problems. The answer is Proprioception, your ability to sense the relative position of parts of your body, and that's just the beginning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senses

We're eating inferior bananas.

The bananas our Grandparents ate were the Gros Michel (Big Mike) variety, a much tastier and larger variety than the one we eat today. But by the 1960's a fungus known as Panama disease virtually wiped out Big Mike and producers had to settle for the disease resistant Cavendish variety, a Vietnamese variety previously considered too small, less tasty and too easy to bruise.
Also a new strain of the fungus has emerged that Cavendish aren't immune to, leading to worries that bananas could once again be at risk.

http://banana.com/blog/2008/12/20/cavendish-banana-not-your-grandparentss-banana/

High school basketball was the highest level that Chuck Taylor ever played.

Chuck Taylor, an Indiana High School hoop star, was payed only a salary as a shoe salesman for Converse, where he applied when he was in need of a job. He didn't receive any cut or commission on the iconic shoe which bears his name, even though it  sold over 600 million pairs.
http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25700.html

NFL Cheerleaders make about $50 per game

NFL cheerleaders are generally paid about $50 to $75 per game. Some cheerleaders are paid monthly salaries ranging from $200 to $1,000.
http://www.therichest.org/sports/nfls-cheerleaders-salary/

Dinner knives are rounded off because King Louis XIV of France declared it to be so

 In 1669, King Louis XIV of France decreed all pointed knives on the street or the dinner table illegal, and he had all knife points ground down in order to reduce violence
http://www.hospitalityguild.com/History/history_of_the_knife.htm

Around 10, 000 Shipping containers lost a sea every year

Right now, as you read this, there are five or six million shipping containers on enormous cargo ships sailing across the world's oceans. And about every hour, on average, one is falling overboard never to be seen again. It's estimated that 10,000 of these large containers are lost at sea each year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containerization#Loss_at_sea