12 Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, February 20, 2024

When you think of a crater on the Moon, Mars or anywhere else in the galaxy, you’re probably imagining those raised walls at the top that define the outline of the crater. Those raised circumferences are called peak rings, and according to geophysicist Sean Gulick, only one asteroid impact was strong enough to form them here on Earth. You guessed it: The one that killed off the dinosaurs, allowed mammals to thrive and is ultimately the reason you have to go to work and do taxes and stuff.

Leading up to their involvement in World War II, America’s foreign relations were looking mighty precarious. Thinking they may be attacked by the U.K., who would most likely do it by first quickly taking over Canada, America drew up a plan for a preemptive strike: They’d bomb Halifax with poison, set up shop and capture the power plants at Niagara Falls.

Writing yearly notes to friends and colleagues was common, but in 1843, Sir Henry Cole was the first known person to commission a painting with the express intent of sending copies to loved ones, and selling the rest to a local shop. It pictured a family getting wine drunk while surrounded by pictures of poor people stuff.

Moses is said to have returned from Mount Sinai glowing and considerably aged, programmed with the 10 Commandments and the blueprints for the Ark of the Covenant. This school of thought says he actually spent a long time flying around space, studying with aliens, who were able to bend the laws of physics to make him reappear back in his original timeline. Can you prove it didn't happen, smart guy?

Catalhoyuk is a millennia-old settlement in Turkiye that’s sometimes considered the first city in the world. They built clusters of connected row houses, but their doors were all on the roof, not at ground level. It’s thought that a lot of social activity took place up there.

The New Orleans Axeman was a serial killer who went on a 12-person killing spree in 1918, and whose identity was never uncovered. The killer once sent a letter to the Times-Picayune promising to kill again the following Tuesday, but crucially, anyone playing jazz music would be spared. The letter was printed, everyone blasted their jazz, and no one was killed that night.

In 2014, cops stopped a woman in Gainesville, Georgia, and arrested her when they found a spoon with some gunk on it. Naturally, they assumed it was meth, and in the two months it took to get the toxicology report back confirming it was freaking soup, she almost pled guilty to a felony just so she could get out of jail.

The Kingdom of Mutapa had a particularly stringent incest rule: Not only was it preferred among royalty, it was illegal to anyone else. Combined with the royal practice of polygamy, they really showed their preference for their own siblings and biological children. A king might take as many as 3,000 wives, but his sister wives and daughter wives were always his favorite.

In 1993, South Africa made a stunning announcement: They’d achieved nuclear armament back in 1990, but had quietly dismantled all of their warheads. They were aiming to foster an environment of “international cooperation and trust,” which has yet to really kick in. Maybe this is the year!

A customer service chatbot for Air Canada promised a guy a nonexistent bereavement rate on a ticket, but the company attempted to renege, and offered him a discount code instead. The guy sued, and Air Canada unsuccessfully argued that their A.I. chatbot is a separate legal entity. 

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, helped popularize a guillotine-like device called The Maiden in the 16th century. When he was found guilty of conspiring in two high-profile murders, he was beheaded with his precious machine.

The U.K., Berlin and separately, Sydney, Australia, have begun converting Victorian-era public bathrooms into cafes and burger joints — with mixed reactions from locals.