Judy, a purebred English pointer who would often jump in to protect prisoners from beatings in a POW camp during WW2. A British Naval pilot bargained to have her officially considered a POW so the guards could not kill her. Eventually, they made it home to England together, where they were met with fanfare and fame. Judy was awarded the United Kingdom’s Dickin Medal, which honors the wartime service of animals. In February 1950, she contracted cancer and died at age 13. Williams buried her in a specially made RAF coat. Williams said that every day in the prison camp he thanked God for Judy because she gave him a reason to keep living. “All I had to do was look at her and into those weary, bloodshot eyes,” he said, “and I would ask myself: ‘What would happen to her if I died?”’

Anybody can walk into a Sikh temple after prayers and partake of the free communal meal called langar. The meal, a symbol of equality and community is given to anybody who wishes to partake, without any expectation of payment. One of the most obvious signs of caste inequality in traditional Indian society is the taboo against eating with those outside one’s caste group, of a lower caste, or of a different religion. Rules for the sharing of food and water are many, especially among high caste Hindus. From the beginning, the Sikh Gurus explicitly rejected this inequality by asking that all Sikhs and all visitors to the Sikh gurdwaras partake of common food in the company of one another. In the langar hall, women and men, rich and poor, high and low sit together. The langar meal thus assails the inner core of inequality and symbolizes a Sikh’s personal rejection of prejudice.

The Safe Drinking Water Act is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal. Only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Act, yet more than 60,000 chemicals are used within the United States, according to EPA estimates.

Ossip Bernstein, a famous chess grandmaster, who was sentenced to death by the Bolsheviks in 1918. While he was facing the firing squad, a russian officer that heard his name offered him the chance to prove his identity in a game of chess. He beat the officer and was released. Bernstein was a successful businessman. He earned considerable wealth before losing it in the Bolshevik Revolution, earned a second fortune that was lost in the Great Depression, and a third that was lost when France was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940. Bernstein was exiled in Paris, only to be driven to Spain by the Nazis, because of his Jewish origin.

After sweeping the 2004 Oscars, Peter Jackson & Elijah Wood skipped all official celebrations in favour of attending a LOTR fan party. “I just want to have fun with all the fans here who have been so supportive, we love our fans and they are one of the reasons why we’ve tried to make these films so good.” The Return of the King’s haul of 11 statuettes equalled the totals won by Ben Hur in 1960 and Titanic in 1998. But those two films did not win every award for which they were nominated

The US military sends its doctors to Chicago to give them practice for gunshot wounds

Parking in San Francisco is so scarce that the parking spot attached to your property can add up to 100K to the property’s value

A scientist at the University of Florida, USA, grew a “living ‘brain'” — “a network of 25,000 rat brain cells” — that when “connected to an array of 60 electrodes that can interact with a computer” learned to fly a simulated F-22 stealth fighter jet in a range of weather conditions

Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Steve Wozniak have all signed an open letter for a ban on Artificially Intelligent weapons.

80% of males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 did not survive World War II.

The family of Ron Goldman (the guy OJ was acquitted of murdering) was awarded the rights to his infamous book “If I Did It” as a result of the civil trial, renamed it “Confessions of a Killer”, then published it. They also hid the “if” in the “I” in a tiny font to make the title look like it says “I Did It”

Estonia produces the most models per capita. 73.8 per million people

There was a koi named Hanako that lived to be 226 years old. She was born in 1751 and was passed down the generations of one family until her death in 1977.

Pablo Escobar’s personal hitman, John J. Velásquez, responsible for 3500 murders, was released from jail in 2014 and is now a YouTube personality with 250,000 subscribers. How does someone responsible for 3500 murders gets released from jail? He confessed the murder of 3500, but “was only convicted over one murder – the 1989 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán”