Rio de Janeiro was once capital of Portugal, making it the only European capital outside of Europe.
9
Astronomer Percival Lowell believed that he was the first person to observe canals on Venus, but because of a faulty adjustment of the eyepiece on his telescope, he was in fact looking at the blood vessels in his own eye.
4
In 1770, the British Parliament passed a law condemning lipstick, stating that “women found guilty of seducing men into matrimony by a cosmetic means could be tried for witchcraft.”
5
Scientists have revived a flowering plant from a fruit stored away in permafrost by Arctic ground squirrel 32,000 years ago.
16
Napoleon Bonaparte thought torture should be abolished because the information obtained from it is worthless.
25
The first chocolate eggs were made in Germany in the 19th century and remain one of the most popular Easter candies today.
85
Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon, carried with him a piece of cloth and wood from the original 1903 Wright Flyer.
12
Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words that we use today.
17