1. That the bulletproof vest was invented by Richard Davis, a pizza maker
While traditional quilted fabric and silk armor designs could be useful in sword fighting, they weren’t necessarily as effective against firearms, at least no more than hands are effective in stopping a cannonball. cannon. Suddenly, it was the former pizza maker Richard Davis who decided to work on a Kevlar model after being robbed and shot in full delivery.
2. That parrots give names to their children
And it happens as soon as they are in the nest: parrot parents give their offspring a first name so they can call them in the jungle (or in any other type of natural parrot habitat, sorry I know in birds). It comes in the form of recognizable sung cries and I can tell you that the kids had better come back fissa, parrots being known to be extremely toxic parents.
3. That the caipirinha was invented to heal people during a pandemic
Several versions exist to explain the creation of the caipirinha: a legend says that it was someone completely drunk who wanted to cook a Tatin tart who would have accidentally created this amazing cocktail and other sources say that it was originally was a beverage given to patients with the Spanish flu in 1918 in Brazil. Choose the version that suits you, personally, I have my preference.
4. That Leonardo da Vinci put his initials in the eye of the Mona Lisa
Not content to be at the origin of films of relative quality with Tom Hanks, Leonardo da Vinci was also quite a prankster. He always had fun hiding details in his works, like when he stuck his initials in the eye of The Mona Lisa or a huge pair of baloches on the Vitruvian Man. I grant you, he was perhaps a little less subtle on the second example.
5. That the director of the film “Cannibal Holocaust” had to prove in court that no one died on the set
Not everyone knows the movie Cannibal Holocaust, but as the name can let you imagine, it’s not a family comedy about a junior volleyball team trained by a financial analyst played by Pierre Arditi (if you’re interested in the scenario, contact me). The special effects were so realistic for the time that the director had to go and prove in court that all the actors were still alive and that no one had been hit during filming, which is still quite funny .
6. That Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin received $33 in “travel expenses”
We sent this poor man to the moon all the same just to see if he could come back, I’m hardly exaggerating, there weren’t any other orders at the mission. And when he came back, you’d think he deserved a little bonus or a congratulations card, well no, we just gave him $33 for “travel expenses.” Fortunately, his name inspired the character of Toy Story Buzz Lightyear, otherwise it really would have been a waste of time.
7. That a cheese “The Serious Cow” was marketed to compete with “The Laughing Cow”
Hard to believe, but behind this information hides the longest rivalry in the history of French cheesemaking. Accusations of counterfeiting, unfair competition, official sponsors of the Tour de France, mocking commercial slogans… All the ingredients are there to make it a quality television work, but these scrapings of producers prefer to adapt the novel ten times over. Button War rather than being interested in it.
8. That the Beatles asked JRR Tolkien for the rights to “Lord of the Rings”
If I say “Beatles” to you and you automatically answer “The Lord of the Rings”, it’s either that you’re really very cultured or that you’re having a stroke because it’s still a fairly incoherent discourse. However, the famous group had shown its interest in a film adaptation with John Lennon in the role of Gollum, and just to see Ringo Starr’s mustache fight against orcs in Middle-earth, it was a good idea.
9. That we owe the expiry date on milk bottles to Al Capone.
When alcohol became legal again in the United States, Al Capone was a little screwed up since it was his business. He decided to go into milk (not in the literal sense, he wasn’t totally dumb) and give it to the poor in abundance (Capone was known to help the less fortunate). Except that one day a friend of his caught food poisoning from an expired bottle of milk and he decided to force the unions to put an expiry date on the packaging. And we can say a lot of things about this little guy, but when he forced people to do something, he didn’t hold back.
10. Isaac Newton invented the cat flap
When Isaac Newton was working on his famous theory of gravitation, he needed to be in near total darkness, except that he was constantly disturbed by his cat wanting to come in and out of the room, forcing him to open and close the door while letting in light. Rather than submit to the diktat of this noble animal, he decided to create the very first cat flap in history so that his cat could come and go as he pleased without stopping him in his search. He could just as easily have worked on a way to make the cats less ugly, but hey, there was the effort and the originality.