Although it may not sound like it, prairie dogs have a very unique and complex language. Not only do they have a specific call for “danger” but they have distinct calls to distinguish when they spot humans, hawks, domesticated dogs, coyotes, and more…they even specify size and color! NPR reports prairie dogs can communicate “Here comes the short human in the yellow” or “Here comes the tall human in blue“…how cool!

In WW2, an American bomber plane called “Ye Olde Pub” was nearly shot down by a German fighter. Once the German fighter was in range he looked at the dead and injured crew even taking a moment to notice the terror in the pilot’s face. Once he saw this he decided to not attack and instead escort the plane. Both pilots, Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown survived the war and even met in 1990. They became good friends and in 2008 they both passed away within months of each other.

In Jackson, Wyoming in 1920 the town elected an all-female town council. Their margin was 2-1 over the men and drew in the most voters the town had ever seen! These women were known as the “pettycoat rulers” and served for three years.

Everybody can enjoy a good nap on a soft surface in a quiet place…even the bees! These pictures show that bees have found their special nap place in flowers cuddled up with their friends. What a good place to get some shut-eye with a delightful aroma to go along with the sweet dreams even if just a moment.

One Borneo orangutan that lives in the San Diego Zoo proves time and time again that he likes to take walks in the park. Ken Allen, the orangutan, broke free from his enclosure not once but three times! Each time he never acted aggressively towards anyone- all he wanted to do was wander the zoo and look at the other animals.

Turns out squirrels love to garden and are responsible for planting millions of trees every year! It is reported that squirrels know exactly where they plant every nut and those nuts that are left behind were not needed to survive the winter. One user left a comment on the original post about the squirrels gardening in her backyard,

“The squirrels in my yard are currently responsible for eight trees I’ve let grow and then transplanted elsewhere so … Go Squirrels!” Leo Domitrix on Reddit

We’ve all looked at the icons in our mailbox more times than we can count in a day…but did you ever take notice of what those icons are? The ‘drafts’ icon is actually a template for a paper plane and the ‘sent’ icon is the paper plane in its final form. Sometimes it’s really the small details that make mundane things just a little bit special.

Turns out elephants make for some really great distance swimmers! Elephants have the ability to swim for up to six hours and around 25 miles/48km, talk about distance! Turns out elephants are so buoyant that if they need to rest, they can take a quick pause by floating without fear of sinking. Plus, their trunks make for some pretty great snorkels if they want to dive.

BBC reported that in the Falklands, local Magellanic penguins have taken to an abandoned minefield and turned it into their own personal sanctuary. The mines were left there during the Falklands conflict and have remained there since, which keeps all the humans away. Luckily for these penguins, they are too tiny to set any of the mines off and find peace on their own private and protected minefield/sanctuary.

According to NPR, turns out some bats can sing along by making high-pitched pings and chirps. They use this echolocation to essentially see, as the pings, clicks, and chirps ricochet off objects around them. In the article, NPR states that a group of scientists analyzed one species’ song and decoded it as a sequence that sings hello, a gender identification, as well as some geographic information and even inviting the recipient to talk more.

A lot of times we often forget that celebrities struggle with the same things we do. Take Chris Evans for example, who originally turned down the role of Captain America due to his anxiety. He recalls he feared the 10-movie commitment and the fact that it would place him in the public spotlight would be too much for him to handle. So, he went to therapy which helped him eventually accept the role. Click here to watch his youtube video where he advises people with anxiety and depression.

Sometimes we meet the love of our lives in the strangest ways. Alan Alda, who is an actor, author, director, screenwriter, and comedian, met his wife of more than 60 years at a mutual friend’s dinner party. Their bonding moment you ask? When the rum cake accidentally fell on the kitchen floor and they were the only two who ate it.

It has been studied that many animals, whether they are insects, birds, or primates, have been seen using plants and minerals to treat infections and other conditions…just like humans! In an article posted by Scientific American, they write about a study that was done over a time period of 20,000 hours of formal observation watching 10 orangutans. They found these apes chew a specific plant, dracaena cantleyi, into a foamy leather, then spend 45 minutes massaging this into their fur.

One electric eel that lives at the Tennesse Aquarium has his own Twitter account, @EelectricMiguel. His name is Miguel Watson and he lives in a special tank that connects his shocks to a machine that not only generates tweets but also power strands of lights on a nearby Christmas tree! He’s known for tweets such as “SHAZAM!!!“, “ka-BLAMEROO!!!!“, or “za-BOOSH!!!“. On his account, they also share videos and pictures of Miguel using his shocks to light up the tree with fun captions like “shocking around the Christmas tree“.

During WWI, a British nurse named Edith Cavell treated soldiers regardless of their nationalities. She even took in two refugee British soldiers and nursed them back to health, even sheltering them in a hospital until they could be led to safety. History.com writes that Cavell knew the consequences of helping Allied troops and when she was caught she refused to lie about what she had done to help others. Her consequence was to be executed by a firing squad and the night before her execution she wrote in a goodbye letter she hoped to be remembered as, “a nurse who had done her duty“.

Richard Rowland Kirkland is known as “The Angel of Marye’s Heights” and he was a confederate soldier who was noted for his bravery as he risked his life to care for wounded soldiers from both sides during the Civil War. In the middle of the battle at Fredericksburg, both sides held their fire as they watched Kirkland tend to every wounded soldier. When he originally asked his General if he could show his white handkerchief to help the wounded he was denied…Kirkland’s response, “All right, sir, I’ll take my chances“.

North Ronaldsay, a northern island off the north coast of Scotland, belongs to a unique group of Northern European short-tailed sheep. They are unique because they are smaller sheep than most and survive completely on seaweed! Since a wall was built around the island in efforts to protect the crops from the sheep grazing, they were confined to the shoreline and had to adapt their diet to survive.

In 2011, the Smurf’s production team and Sony decided to temporarily paint the town of Juzcar, Spain a bright blue. Tourism increased which, in turn, made the residents very happy. So happy, in fact, they elected to keep the change permanent. It is the first and only official Smurfs village.

George Raveling, a basketball Hall of Famer, volunteered as a security guard for the event where MLK gave his famous “I Had A Dream Speech“. When MLK finished his speech Raveling asked him if he could have the written manuscript to which King responded by giving it to him. In 2013, he was offered $3,000,000 for the original copy to which he refused. It is said he has no intent to sell it.

Sometimes, all we can say after a long, hard day of work is to simply put that it was a tough day. Japanese pro wrestler Rikidōzan was known to go to the bar after his matches without caring for his wounds. When people would question why his face was all bloody his response was simple, “I had a tough day at work“.

Sometimes it’s the littlest details that we overlook. Turns out the design at the bottom of the Little Caesars’ toga are actually L’s and C’s for Little Caesars’. They definitely have a very creative team working on their advertisements!

WD-40 is known as the world’s best household lubricant invented by Norm Larsen. The name WD-40 stands for “Water Displacer-40th attempt“. The formula is reported to be stored safely in a bank where it has only left twice. On WD-40’s 50th birthday, CEO Garry Ridge decided to celebrate its special day by riding a horse into Times Square wearing a suit of armor and carrying the secret formula.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author, and science communicator, and when he made one decision that received a large amount of hate mail… with the majority being from children. What was the cause? He declassified Pluto as a planet and changed it to a dwarf planet.

Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist and voice actor who was best known for his work voicing Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. In his spare time, he also developed over 30 patents throughout his lifetime. Winchell was one of the inventors of the artificial heart, the automobile that runs on battery power, and even a method for breeding tilapia!

The majority of shells, over 90% to be specific, open to the right but the minority that open to the left is a unique species. The left opening shells are for the few snail species and are sought after by collectors. The right-handed shells are called dextral and the left-handed shells are called sinistral. If you do happen to find a sinistral shell, make sure to double-check it isn’t occupied before collecting it!

In 1955, Disneyland hosted an invitation-only opening day. They expected 15,000 but counterfeit tickets allowed 28,154 to enter through the gates. People even scaled a fence using a ladder and people were charged $5 a head to use it. The excitement of opening day also caused a 7-mile backup on the Santa Ana Freeway.

Octopus have the majority of their neurons in their arms, which have the ability to touch, smell and taste! When octopi are in captivity, they must have a watchful eye on them since they are known to perform overnight raids into other tanks for food, turning off lights by shooting water at them, squirting water at people they don’t like, and even escaping. The Guardian continues in an article that these special creatures, while in captivity, have been observed and that they can learn to navigate simple mazes, solve puzzles, and open screw-top jars.

At the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in order to provide more bathrooms, depending on events, they change the gender signs of the restrooms based on the gender makeup of a crowd. By doing this, it provides more female or male bathrooms and prevents long lines. In an ESPN article, they note, “For a Saturday night Taylor Swift concert, for example, AT&T Stadium staff can flip dozens of men’s rooms to accommodate the singer’s female-heavy crowd and then flip them back for a Cowboys game the next day.” Talk about a quick fix!

When MTV launched in their opening sequence they showed footage of the actual Apollo 11 launch, which made a huge impact. The featuring of this opening sequence linked MTVs image with astronauts, which include the VMA award the Moonman trophy. The trophy is a symbol of the receiving artist’s impact, popularity, and achievements.

According to jamesclear.com it states, “The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things“. Which results in us purchasing things that our previous selves may have never needed to feel happy. The article uses examples of what happens when we purchase a new vehicle that we often purchase additional things that go inside it or purchasing a new outfit with jewelry to match.

Berserk LLama Syndrome is actually quite rare and is said to be caused when llamas spend too much time around humans. The result of this syndrome can result in some negative interactions with humans and can be quite frightening. On taylorllamas.com in an article written by Paul Taylor, he writes,

“Anyone who has been near a truly berserk male adult llama knows how frightening and dangerous such an animal is. He will viciously attack a human on sight even if he has to run across a large field to do it. He has the strength of his insanity and it is difficult and risky for two or even three men to subdue him.”

When Ryan Seacrest stumbled upon a sign that showed him what stressed spelled backward is he wrote, “I may never be the same“. The sign points out that stressed is just desserts spelled backward and life suddenly makes so much more sense. No wonder many of us tend to eat sweet treats when we feel stress!

When a laser is pointed through the maple leaf on the Canadian 20, it reflects 20’s on the surface the light is beaming. But Canadian bills have dozens of secrets and unique characteristics such as being made of recycled plastics which make it harder to counterfeit. However, the fact that the bills are made of plastic allows them to survive a trip through a washing machine!

In Rome, the toga was a garment worn by men and was used as an identifiable status symbol. Although most togas were white, some colors indicated rank or specific roles in their community. Specifically, a purple toga was a sign that the person was a member of the Roman Senate. These specific togas were called Toga Candida and this clothing is the origin of the word “candidate“.

Turns out the holes in honeycombs don’t start as the hexagonal shape we’ve become so familiar with. According to Discover Magazine, bees actually create a circular tube that staggers on top of one another. That circular tube starts to turn into a hexagon shape when the heat produced by the activity of the bees softens the wax that connects the gaps between the holes. Once the wax is softened it then begins to harden into the most energy-efficient shape which is the hexagon shape we are so familiar with!

NPR reports that if not for Sarah Sallon one of the world’s most remarkable date palm trees may not exist. Sallon pushed for scientists to attempt to try and regrow 2,000-year-old seeds and to everyone’s surprise, the seeds sprouted! The seeds even grew a male and female of their species, which is necessary because it takes both to produce fruit.

Another amazing but simple design detail is shown on the logo for Amazon. The arrow under the Amazon logo is supposed to represent that they have everything from A to Z! Great marketing can show just how much a simple design gives information about the company to the clients.

When one of the stars of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” returned to his alma mater Merrimack College, he spoke to the students about a decision that changed his life. At the same time, Charlie Day’s friends began filming a show. With no money, he was offered a part on the network show “Life on a Stick”. Day decided to turn down the network show and choose his friends. Turns out he made the right decision as “Life on a Stick” only lasted one season and “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” has become one of the longest-running comedies ever.

The world’s longest burning lightbulb has been burning for 119 years and there’s a live-cam of it. On the website centennialbulb.org there’s a page that updates every 30 seconds with a live image of this long-lasting lightbulb. However, at one point on 5/20/2013, the bulb did go out for 9 3/4 hours!

The Guardian reported on a survey that found 44% of adults have held onto their teddy bears and dolls from childhood. As well as 34% of adults still go to bed with their teddies every night! They report that as a young child, these soft toys become a part of a sleep ritual and as we grow up it is found that cuddling these soft toys can help alleviate anxiety.

Turns out, although the red stuff that looks so scary as it’s dropping from airplanes to assist in putting out forest fires is also a fertilizer. This so-called “red stuff” is referred to as Phos-Chek fire retardant and it is manufactured as a dry powder or concentrated liquids and diluted water. Those two ingredients that act as the fertilizer are phosphate and sulfate.

Steve Way is a British long-distance runner and is the holder of the British 100 km record. But what’s more impressive is that Way only started taking running seriously in 2007 to help overcome lifestyle-related health issues as he, at the time, was smoking 20 cigarettes a day and ate junk food, regularly weighing over 100 kg. Only a year later in 2008, he ran the London Marathon in under three hours, and then in 2014, he set the British 100 km record.

When one Twitter user discovered a bar in Japan that allowed visitors to watch as trash was processed he was so intrigued he had to share it on Twitter! He later posted that it interested him so much he did some more research and found that it was only a temporary popup, was made to increase awareness about waste, and there was actually a lottery for local residents to gain entry. That pop-up bar was called Gomi (trash) Pit and was an initiative of local officials whose goal was to promote their state of the art facility and have the locals who visited think about the waste they produce.

According to Science Mag, pumpkins, gourds and squash have us to thank for how long they’ve survived. Over 10,000 years ago, giant sloths and mammoths grazed amongst pumpkins almost to the point of extinction- if not for native people domesticating them. We sometimes forget how big of an impact we make, though it may seem so small at the time…Thanksgiving and Halloween would look a lot different if not for the small actions of our ancestors.

Turtles and tortoises can feel when you touch their shells! In an article written by animalquestions.org, they write that their shells are covered in a layer of keratin which is similar to fingernails. Touching their shells causes a shift in the turtles’ tissues that keep the shell attached to their bodies. Touching the turtle’s shell can cause them to act aggressively since they generally do not like it.

Turns out the colors of the windsock are actually a design feature to show wind speed as well as wind direction. When each red and white stripe is inflated it indicates a 3-knot increase in wind speed. The windsock shows a maximum of 15 knots.

Compared to other birds, an owl’s flight is nearly completely quiet. When BBC Earth performed an experiment, they set up a decibel waveform to show the sounds being generated when a bird takes flight, showing each spike as an individual wing beat. What they found is with a barn owl there’s almost nothing, no sound! Even testing on an array of super sensitive microphones…nothing at all. Click here to watch the BBC experiment showing how owls fly so silently.

David Lee Roth, also known as Diamond Dave, is a man of many trades. He is known for being an American musician, singer, songwriter, actor, author, artist, radio personality, and even an EMT! In the late 1990s, he trained to become an EMT in New York City and went on over 200 ambulance rides, even though he had millions in the bank.

For many of us, leaving cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve has been a tradition that’s been passed down from generation to generation, without much thought of where this tradition came from. According to History.com leaving the plate of cookies out and a glass of milk was established during the Great Depression. Parents did this in hopes of teaching their children “that it was important to give to others and to show gratitude for the gifts they were lucky enough to receive on Christmas”.

One day a cab driver told his passenger that he never had any time to play his saxophone since he worked around 14 hours a day. That passenger just so happened to be Bill Murray who then offered to take the driver’s seat so his cab driver could finally take time to play some melodies. Murray drove around that day while his cab driver got some much deserved time in the backseat playing his sax.