Jason Bellows • Damn Interesting https://www.damninteresting.com/author/jason-bellows/ Fascinating true stories from science, history, and psychology since 2005 Mon, 31 Mar 2025 18:15:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 White Death https://www.damninteresting.com/white-death/ https://www.damninteresting.com/white-death/#comments Sun, 04 May 2014 19:57:49 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=6774 White Death:

In April of 1938, representatives from the USSR approached the Finnish government and expressed a concern that Nazi Germany could attempt to invade Russia, and such an attack might come through parts of Finland. The Finns replied that they were officially neutral, but any Nazi incursion on Finland’s borders would be resisted. This did not […]

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Pushed to the Limit https://www.damninteresting.com/pushed-to-the-limit/ https://www.damninteresting.com/pushed-to-the-limit/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:57:54 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?post_type=ebook-exclusive&p=4841 Pushed to the Limit:

On the morning of 15 September 1952, Captain James Robinson Risner sat in the cockpit of an F-86A Sabre and scrutinized the clear azure skies. He was leader of a flight of four Sabres tasked to escort F-84 Thunderjets to bomb the kimchi out of a North Korean chemical factory on the Yuan River. His […]

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The Wrath of the Killdozer https://www.damninteresting.com/the-wrath-of-the-killdozer/ https://www.damninteresting.com/the-wrath-of-the-killdozer/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:05:21 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=972 The Wrath of the Killdozer:

Marvin Heemeyer of Granby, Colorado was a profoundly frustrated muffler repair man. In the late 1990s--after years of protests, petitions, and town meetings--it became obvious to the 52-year-old that he was entwined in a gross miscarriage of justice. His business was ruined by some shady zoning changes, and Heemeyer contended that mayor and city council were corrupt. Even as he was forced to give up his legal fight and sell his land, he hatched one last plan to secretly retool his muffler shop to serve a single malevolent purpose: to construct a machine that would allow him to exact his revenge upon those who had wronged him.

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Mediterranean be Dammed https://www.damninteresting.com/mediterranean-be-dammed/ https://www.damninteresting.com/mediterranean-be-dammed/#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:23:35 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=965 Mediterranean be Dammed:

In the 1920’s the people of Europe feared the future as a dark, despairing place. Despite the loss of over five million Europeans in the Great War, the region was still plagued with the social maladies which had led to the conflict. The humans were maladjusted to the Industrial Age and the changes in labor […]

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A Large-Hearted Gentleman https://www.damninteresting.com/a-large-hearted-gentleman/ https://www.damninteresting.com/a-large-hearted-gentleman/#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:58:38 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=954 A Large-Hearted Gentleman:

A cool breeze blew over the lush Indian forest. Jim Corbett was being hunted. The tigress that stalked him was already credited with at least sixty-four human kills, and Corbett hoped that he was targeted to be next. Jim leaned against the rocky slope of a nearby hill and lit a cigarette. The Chowgrath Tigress […]

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Life Without the Moon https://www.damninteresting.com/life-without-the-moon/ https://www.damninteresting.com/life-without-the-moon/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:58:17 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=942 Life Without the Moon:

Life is a tenuous thing. Earth is just within Sol’s habitable zone, and constantly pelted with solar radiation and cosmic rays. Rocky scraps of cosmic afterbirth constantly cross Earth’s orbit, threatening to eradicate all terrestrial life. In point of fact, it is almost certain that countless Extinction-Level Events would have sterilized the surface of our […]

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Guppy Love https://www.damninteresting.com/guppy-love/ https://www.damninteresting.com/guppy-love/#comments Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:58:14 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=919 Guppy Love:

It has long been observed– though not scientifically– that women seem to show a vague preference for men who are already spoken for. This observation is known as the wedding ring effect, and there are numerous competing theories as to why it may be. Some suggest that the wedding ring is a cue that a […]

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This Looks Like a Job for Vermin! https://www.damninteresting.com/this-looks-like-a-job-for-vermin/ https://www.damninteresting.com/this-looks-like-a-job-for-vermin/#comments Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:03:33 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=877 This Looks Like a Job for Vermin!:

The common rat is hideous thing to behold. Two species make up what we call the true rat: the black rat Rattus rattus, and the wharf rat Rattus norvegicus. On the whole of the Earth, the only places where rats do not find a home are the forbiddingly cold Arctic and Antarctic regions, some miscellaneous […]

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Beware the Dangers of Oxygen https://www.damninteresting.com/beware-the-dangers-of-oxygen/ https://www.damninteresting.com/beware-the-dangers-of-oxygen/#comments Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:43:25 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=860 Beware the Dangers of Oxygen:

There’s a caustic substance common to our environment whose very presence turns iron into brittle rust, dramatically increases the risk of fire and explosion, and sometimes destroys the cells of the very organisms that depend on it for survival. This substance that makes up 21% of our atmosphere is Diatomic oxygen (O2), more widely know […]

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Staying Abreast of Human Sexuality https://www.damninteresting.com/staying-abreast-of-human-sexuality/ https://www.damninteresting.com/staying-abreast-of-human-sexuality/#comments Fri, 11 May 2007 04:12:16 +0000 https://www.damninteresting.com/?p=844 Staying Abreast of Human Sexuality:

There are 1.75 million animal species that have been noted and named by our scientific classification system. Of them, there are 5,800 types of mammal. All mammals are warm-blooded and have a four-chambered heart, but so do birds. Most mammals give birth to live young, but there are exceptions to that. Mammals all have hair, […]

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