History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
In 1942, a dentist convinced the White House to turn bats into tiny bombers. Project X-Ray involved strapping timed incendiaries to thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats. The plan failed when the “soldiers” escaped and burned down an auxiliary Army Air...
History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
In 1948, Idaho solved a beaver overpopulation crisis with WWII surplus. 76 rodents were packed into “self-opening” wooden crates and parachuted into the wilderness. A test pilot named Geronimo did the jump dozens of times, eventually accepting his...
History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
If you ever needed proof that humanity’s hubris has a direct line to nature’s “prank” department, look no further than Las Vegas in July 2019. This was the week the city accidentally summoned a biblical plague using a giant flashlight. #TalesFromTheGrid is about not...
History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
In 1958, Mao declared war on sparrows for eating grain. Citizens banged pots until the birds died of exhaustion from flying. With the sparrows gone, locusts surged and ate everything else. It was an ecological “oops” that helped trigger a catastrophic...
History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
In 2015, a New Zealand aquarium trained Rambo, an octopus, to be a professional photographer. For $2, she’d press a shutter button whenever a tourist posed. It’s the ultimate career pivot: from elusive cephalopod to a commercial artist who works for snacks....
History, Humans, Humor, MoreTrueFacts, Philosophy, TalesFromTheGrid
In 1932, the Australian military deployed soldiers with Lewis guns to cull 20,000 crop-destroying emus. The birds utilized superior guerrilla tactics and incredible stamina to evade fire. The “war” ended in a humiliating retreat; the emus remained...
