many towers, hotels and hospitals have no 13th floor or room

Many elevators used in towers don't have a 13th floor. This is because many people believe that 13 is an unlucky number, and most people don't want to live on that floor. The solution was either name the 13th floor as 14th floor and so on, or as many towers do they make it a mechanical floor where all the equipment like air conditions and pumps are located. This is also common in hotels and hospitals where many don't have the room "13". When numbering the rooms, they skip 13 and the next room after 12 is called 14 and so on.

pigeons were trained by US Coast Guard for search and rescue missions

The USCG used to train pigeons to spot life jackets in the sea to help with the search and rescue. The project was called "Project Sea Hunt". They concluded that they were 93% accurate to spot the life jackets whereas humans were 38% accurate. This is because pigeons have better vision than human do, along with UV vision and better light detection combined with a 340 degree of view. Eventually, the project was ended and unfortunately pigeons never saved any lives because of budget cuts.

laser printers write an invisible codes on every page they print

As a way to track down counterfeits, laser printers print invisible marking containing information about the printer on every page. Manufacturers hope that this might help catch counterfeiters by tracing back which printer was used. Although this might look difficult because there are hundreds of printer manufacturers, but the important part is the printer engine, which is manufactures by few companies such as Toshiba and Canon. Dutch police has been successful to track many counterfeiters using this feature, other authorities has recently started using it in their investigations. 

lions do hunt after all

There is a common misconception that the king of the jungle does not hunt. Lions spend their time in bushier areas while lionesses spend most of their time in open areas, that's why it was difficult to track lions. Researchers found that lions do actually hunt, but not as common as lioness do. The reason why lions don't hunt is that they spend most of their time marking and protecting their territory to make sure everyone in the pride is safe, while lionesses go hunt to feed the cups. 

most mammals urinate for 21 seconds

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers recently found that most mammals urinate around 20 to 40 seconds, with a mean time of 21 seconds. They studied the bladder and urethra sizes and pressure and found a ratio between them that is almost similar in all mammals resulting in the same amount of time to empty the bladder. There are exceptions, most of which are small animals that earth gravity does not effect their urine stream. The researchers hope that this discovery might help vets diagnose urinary problems in animals.

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India has the most enslaves in the world reaching around 14 million slaves

India, the worlds second most populous country, with a population of nearly 1.237 billion, has the most number of enslaves, 13.3~14.7 million people. There are many forms of slavery, from severe forms of inter-generational bonded labour across industries to worst forms of child labour. Although these "slaves" are sometimes moved outside the country, but still 90% of trafficking is internal, and in most cases the people are left in their own village. The main reason why people are enslaved is being trapped in debt bondage to a local landlord, or born into slavery because of social and hereditary obligations.

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there is an island that exists in maps but not in real life

Since the 19th century until November 2012, people thought that an island called "Sandy Island" exited. Its supposed to be near New Caledonia in the eastern Coral Sea. Many maps included the island, these maps include Google Maps and National Geographic Society maps, which they quickly removed when the island was proved not to exist. This was on 22 November 2012, when a group of  researchers on an Australian surveyor ship went to the alleged area to find that there was no island in that location

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Queen of England's car has wool rear seat because leather seats are for ordinary people

Queen Elizabeth II drives a Bentley that is custom made. The front seat of the car has leather seats, while the read seats are made from rich wool cloth. This tradition dates back when horse-drawn carriages were in operation, where the bloke would sit outside on leather seats because it gets wet, and the inside is furnished with wool where it was dry. It is always seen as leather is for ordinary people, so all royal cars are made leather in the front and cloth in the back.

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T-Shirts were created for people who couldn't sew ....

In 1904, the first T-Shirt ad was created by Cooper Underwear Company targeted for bachelors who couldn't sew or replace a button on a shirt. Later on in the late 1940s, as people started widely using them because they felt more comfortable, they started printing cartoon characters and slogans on them.

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teddy bears are named after a US president

Teddy bears were first created in the early 20th century simultaneously in US and Germany. The toys were called Teddy after the 26th president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. who was known as Teddy.

it will take you 32 hours to skydive to the centre of the Earth

The Earth is so huge that theoretically if there was a hole that extended to the core of the Earth it will take the person 32 hours of free falling, from the Earth's surface, to reach it. To put that into prospective, a typical skydive from a height of around 10,000 ft or 3,000 m will take the person approximately 1 minute.

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Smithers was originally black

Smithers, from the Simpsons, was originally black. He was later coloured yellow because the creators thought it was a bad idea to have a black subservient to avoid racism.

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crosswalk buttons don't work

The crosswalk buttons don't work, they are just placebo because we are used to buttons. Crosswalk buttons used to work prior to the 1980s, but then the traffic signals became computerised. The new system allowed the computer to track traffic and keep it flowing, so the crosswalk button was disconnected so it does not interfere.

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the numbers on roulette wheel add up to 666

Roulette is a casino game where the player bids on a number, or a range of numbers. There are two main versions of the game: European with 37 numbers (ranging from 0 to 36) & American with 38 numbers (00 is added). The addition of these numbers add up to 666, which in Christianity is believed to be something related to the end of the world and/or Satan.

GTA V broke 7 world records within few days of its release

Grand Theft Auto V, which was released on September 17, 2013, broke seven Guinness world records within several days of its release. The seven confirmed world records are:

1. Best-selling action-adventure videogame in 24 hours 
2. Best-selling videogame in 24 hours 
3. Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion 
4. Fastest videogame to gross $1 billion 
5. Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours 
6. Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours 
7. Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame

It is also the most expensive game ever to create, costing around $266 million to develop and market.

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in 1856, Mount Everest was calculated to be 29,000 ft high but was declared as 29,002 ft

In 1802, a group of english surveyors started searching for the tallest mountain on Earth. In 1856, they finally calculated the height of Mount Everest. It was found to be exactly 29,000 ft (8,839.2 m), but was declared to be 29,002 ft (8,839.8 m) to avoid the impression that the calculation was rounded off. Today, the official elevation of mount everest is 29,029 ft (8,848 m).

the silent "k" was pronounced in old english

The "k" in words like knife, knee or knowledge were pronounced in old english, but these are mouthful to say, and because reading and writing was not common in old days, people pronounced the words the way they want regardless of spelling. So, the "k" was not pronounced anymore but in writing it still existed, and that's why it became silent k. 

it is 2006 in Ethiopia because their calendar has 13 months.

The Ethiopian calendar, also known as Ge'ez Calendar consists of 13 months. The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2006, which began on September 11, 2013.

Ethiopian Calendar