Genghis Khan exempted the poor and clergy from taxes, encouraged literacy, and established free religion, leading many peoples to join his empire before they were even conquered.
28
Sifrhippus was a species of horse about the size of an average duck and roamed North America 56 million years ago.
2
20 years ago, there were only 130 websites, Google wasn't around, and you had to pay for an email account through an ISP.
12
Instead of McDonald's tearing down a ~200-year-old Georgian mansion, citizens of a small NY town forced them to renovate it instead, resulting in a uniquely historic franchise location.
8
The word 'mile' is derived from the Latin word for 1,000 - the number of paces it took the average Roman!
6
Pineapples were such a status symbol in 18th century England that you could rent one for the evening to take to a party.
25
The first chocolate eggs were made in Germany in the 19th century and remain one of the most popular Easter candies today.
85
Iceland has been so culturally isolated through history since the Vikings, that compared to other Scandinavian counties, people who speak Icelandic can still read the old Norsk sagas.
4