04/07/2022
25The world's largest pyramid isn't in Egypt.
The Great Pyramid of Cholula
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The Great Pyramid of Cholula, located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, is the largest pyramid in the world and—with a base four times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza—also happens to be the largest monument ever constructed. Part of the reason it's not better known is that it's partially buried under a mountain.
26Coke saved one town from the Great Depression.
Coca Cola products
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Well, sort of. As the country was reeling from the Great Depression, a local, trusted banker in the town of Quincy, Florida, urged anyone who would listen to invest in Coca-Cola stocks, then selling at $19 per share. Many followed his advice, and when the company's stock boomed as he'd promised, others followed. Soon, at least 67 inhabitants (in a town of fewer than 7,000) had become "Coca-Cola millionaires," making Quincy the richest U.S. town per capita.
27We may have already had alien contact.
Satellite in space
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In 1977, a volunteer for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence received a 72-second-long signal from a distant star system, 120 light years from Earth. It was loud and sent from a place that had yet to be visited by mankind, so the guy who received it wrote "Wow!" next to the original printout of the signal. It continues to be known as the "Wow! Signal." Researchers have since suggested that the noise was picked up from a passing comet.
28Yes, you can smell rain.
Woman crossing street with umbrella
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Weather patterns produce distinct smells, and one of these is a lightly pungent scent of ozone that springs from fertilizers and can be carried in a thunderstorm's downdrafts from higher altitudes, alerting those with sensitive noses that the rain is about to fall.
29London cabbies have to memorize literally everything.
London cab driving away from Big Ben
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If you take a taxicab in London, you can expect the driver to know exactly where they are going, since they are required to take a series of tests known as The Knowledge. These require them to study 320 routes and 25,000 streets, not to mention 20,000 landmarks and places of public interest—estimated to take as long as four years to fully complete.
