Where It’s Not Illegal to be in Organized Crime The Yakuza is a powerful organized crime syndicate in Japan that traces its roots back to the Samurai of the 17th century. The Yakuza is like the Mafia, except that members don’t hide their association in the organization. There’s a reason they don’t. Membership in organized crime is not illegal…

Queen Elizabeth’s Many Dogs Queen Elizabeth II has an affinity for corgis. So much so that she has owned over 30 of the breed. Her first corgi was named Dookie, and he was brought home by her father when she was seven in 1933. When she was 18 in 1944, she received a corgi…

The Origin of a Classic Painting The famous Dogs Playing Poker paintings were designed for the Brown & Bigelow Co. in 1903 by artist C.M. Coolidge to advertise the company’s cigars. Coolidge completed 16 paintings in the series, and nine of the paintings had dogs playing poker. The other paintings had dogs participating in ballroom dancing…

The Caribbean’s Whistle The Caribbean Sea produces a strange phenomenon that scientists are just beginning to understand. It makes a whistling sound that can be picked up in space. The sound is inaudible to human ears since it is 28 octaves below the lowest note on a piano, but it can be picked…

Just in case you were wondering, you can purchase large sheets of uncut legal U.S. currency directly from the U.S. government. It’s not a complicated process to obtain uncut paper currency. Though the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the sole producer of U.S. paper currency and the United States…

The Jeep is the rugged, four-wheel drive vehicle known to be able to go just about anywhere. It had its origins in 1940, but it wasn’t initially known as a Jeep. How did this iconic vehicle get its name? Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear-cut explanation of how the Jeep became…

Underground University Tunnels Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, has a vast network of underground tunnels running underneath the campus that were first constructed as early as the 1920s. The utility tunnels run around eight miles in total length and go to 136 buildings on the campus. …

We’re told that we need to take our vitamins, which are the micronutrients that are required by the body to complete many essential functions. They come from the food we eat but can be supplemented in other forms. But why are these things called vitamins? The complex of micronutrients called…

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, is officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s steepest residential road. At its steepest point, the street’s slope has a gradient of 35%. The street is named for William Baldwin, a member of the Otago Provincial Council and founder…