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10 Weirdly Specific Gods Your Mythology Class Left Out
10 Cardea The Roman Goddess Of Door Hinges “Goddess of the hinge!” wrote the Roman writer Ovid, praising the great deity Cardea. “She opens the closed, by her power, closes the open.” The goddess Cardea, ruler over all things hinged and upon doors, isn’t particularly popular today, but she was a big part of the Roman religion. She wasn’t just a minor deity or luck charm; she was part of the Roman pantheon of gods, complete with her own mythological backstory. Like most Roman stories, her story begins with the god Janus trying to have sex with somebody. He targeted Cardea, who wasn’t into it, so she told him that she would meet him in a cave. Then she used magical vanishing powers and tried to run away. It didn’t work. Janus found her, and then—well, you don’t really want to know what happened next. Let’s just say that Roman myths have a tendency not to turn out well for women. When he was done with her, Janus declared, “In return for our dalliance, be thine the control of hinges.” Then he gave her a magical hawthorn branch that repelled evil and declared that people must eat beans and pork in her honor every June 1—which, apparently, the Romans believed was the best way to make a woman feel special.
9 Saehrimnir The Norse Pig Of Eternal Bacon As it is written in the old Norse Poetic Edda: “Saehrimnir, the boar, is boiled! The best of bacons!”
8 Matshishkapeu The Innu Spirit Of Farts According to the traditional beliefs of the Native American Innu people, spirits speak to the living. Some talk through drums. Others come to us in dreams. And one of them, Matshishkapeu, speaks to us through farts. Matshishkapeu, the Innu said, spoke to them “with great frequency”—especially when men were alone without women. Every fart, they believed, was Matshishkapeu giving them a message. A sudden fart required immediate translation. If someone let one slip, an elder would have to rush over to let everyone know what the fart sounded like. Sometimes, though, that was easier said than done. “Matshishkapeu’s utterances are usually cryptic,” one Innu hunter said. “You have to concentrate hard in order to understand what is being said.” 7 Xochipilli The Aztec God Of Gay Prostitutes A lot of religions have gods of homosexuality, but the Aztecs got a bit more specific. It wasn’t enough for them to have a god of gay men; they needed a god for the gay men who have sex for money. And so Xochipilli came to be. Xochipilli was more than just the god of gigolos—he was actually multipurpose. He was also called The Prince of Flowers. “Flowers,” though, doesn’t seem to have meant roses or daisies. Instead, it meant flowers that could get you high. His statues were covered with psychoactive flowers and mushrooms. The statues also showed him with a facial expression that made it clear that he was absolutely blasted out of his mind. This means that he wasn’t just the god of gay prostitutes—he was the god of hallucinogens, too.
6 The Global Pantheon Of Poop Gods There were gods of poop, too. But there were so many that it’s hard to narrow it down to a single religion. Japan probably went the furthest with it—they made a whole pantheon of poop gods and spirits. But they weren’t the only ones. The Chinese had Zigu, the goddess of poop. Women could leave an image of Zigu by the toilet, and in return for their devotion, she would answer their questions. The Babylonians had Shed Bet ha-Kise, a vengeful toilet god who cursed anyone who had sex near a toilet by giving them epilepsy. And the Romans actually had two such gods. They had Sterquilinus, an ordinary god of manure, and Cloacina, the goddess of the sewer system.
5 Sapona The Yoruban God Of Smallpox The Yoruba people of West Africa believed in Sapona, the god of smallpox. Toward the end of the 19th century, Sapona had a whole cult worshiping him. But they were much happier about what he did than they should have been. Sapona’s cult extorted money from people by threatening to curse them. If someone didn’t pay up, cult members went over to that person’s house and scraped smallpox scabs on the person. Alternatively, the cult powdered the scabs and rubbed them all over the person’s windows. When doctors began to vaccinate people against the disease, the cult of Sapona saw it as their divine duty to stop the vaccinations. They threatened people and ran active campaigns to keep smallpox alive. Until the cult was taken down, they started a lot of major epidemics.
4 Terminus The Roman God Of Mileposts Terminus was one of the very first gods created by the Romans. He was the god of landmarks and of the stones placed by Romans on boundary lines—and he was not to be crossed. His stones were called termini, and if you moved one, you were in trouble. The moment you pushed a terminus out of place, every person in Rome had the legal right to hunt you down and murder you. Simply dying, though, was a lucky fate for someone who angered Terminus. The inscriptions on his stones promised something even worse: “Whosoever shall take away this, or shall order it to be taken away, may he die the last of his family.” 3 Tlazolteotl The Aztec Goddess Of Eating Dirt In artwork, Tlazolteotl is usually depicted with brown around her mouth. She is, after all, the divine dirt eater of the Aztec gods. That “dirt,” though, wasn’t stuff that you found on the ground; it was a euphemism. Tlazolteotl was the eater of divine excrement. There’s an explanation for this one that actually makes a lot more sense than you’d expect. Tlazolteotl, the Aztecs believed, was the divine being who ate all waste. That included the decaying bodies of the dead, fruit, vegetables, and yes, excrement. She was the goddess of decomposition. Still, it’s a little weird that the Aztecs worshiped a goddess who spent her time eating feces. She had a second job that makes things a bit better. In what might have been a rare stroke of Aztec generosity, they also made her the goddess of steam baths—which she probably could have used after all that.
2 Kalfu The Haitian God Of Intersections “God of Intersections” sounds kind of cheesy, but Kalfu is actually a terrifying god. He is the Haitian Vodou (aka Voodoo) equivalent of Satan. Although he technically rules over intersections, it’s in more of a “devil at the crossroads” kind of way than a “wait for the green light to go” kind of way. Kalfu is a red, demonic beast who drinks rum infused with gunpowder to pass the time. He controls the evil forces of the spirit world and the malevolent spirits of the night. He’s a demonic creature who possesses people and controls the passage of spirits into the real world. All that responsibility for an intersections god makes Vodou unique. When the Haitians were looking for their most powerful gods, they didn’t look to the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, or the sea. They looked at the intersections.
1 The Unknown God The Greek God Of Miscellany To make sure that they didn’t leave anything out, the Greeks came up with one extra god: The Unknown God, or the god of everything they forgot to mention. This was a sort of placeholder god who was used for everything they hadn’t thought up yet. They started worshiping the unknown god after Athens was hit by a plague. No matter how many animals they ritually slaughtered, the plague didn’t go away—and ritually slaughtering animals was all they knew how to do.
10 Moons Humans Could Colonize
10 Europa Not only is there a good chance that humans would be able to live on Europa, but it’s also possible that life may already exist there. One of Jupiter’s many moons, Europa has a thick icy crust, but a vast ocean is believed to be underneath it. It also has a rocky inner core, which could help to produce the correct environment to support alien life, be it simple microbes or more advanced living creatures. Studies of the expected ocean and how it cycles oxygen and hydrogen will be a good indicator for the real chances of life on Europa as well as how real the possibility of humans being able to colonize it actually are. NASA hopes to determine whether the water reacts with the rocky core of the moon and then see if this reaction creates both heat and hydrogen, as the process does here on Earth. The study of oxidants in the icy crust will be an indicator of the amount of oxygen produced and how much of it is “pushed” into the ocean below. It is thought that NASA will have studied Europa much more closely by 2025, which will be the only way to determine if their theories can work in reality. Closer study may also uncover the presence of active volcanoes under the icy surface, which would increase the chances of life on the moon. Such volcanoes would send water laced with vital minerals into the ocean. When NASA does manage to get a closer look at Europa, they will carry out a variety of research to help give them a better idea of what lies beneath the thick layer of ice on its surface. Magnetic sounding should provide scientists with readings that will give them an indicator of how thick the ice is while also providing information on the depth of the ocean itself. Even the “saltiness” of the water should be determined from this operation. They will also use radar technology to penetrate the thick surface ice, which should ultimately disclose any structures that may lie beneath.
9 Titan Although it’s in the outer solar system, Saturn’s moon Titan is probably one of the more favorable places for humans and one that many people believe we should be looking to colonize in the future. Humans would still require breathing apparatuses, as the atmosphere is unbreathable to us, but there would be no need to wear pressurized space suits. There would, however, be a need to wear protective clothing due to the severely cold temperatures, which average –179 degrees Celsius (–290 degrees °F). The gravity there would be slightly less than the gravity of our Moon, which would make walking a “clumsy” activity, whereas traveling through the air in simple vehicles powered by nothing more than humans themselves would be relatively simple. Food production would also have to be aided by artificial light, since Titan only receives between 1/300th and 1/1000th the amount of light that Earth does, depending on the amount of cloud cover. Incidentally, the clouds Titan, of which there are plenty, offer further protection from the elements. Although there is no water on Titan, the celestial body does contain liquid methane, which has even led some scientists to theorize that life may be found there that is based on methane as opposed to water. There would be plenty to explore on Titan if humans ever make it there. There are numerous methane lakes and rivers as well as vast mountains, not to mention the fact that Titan is a relatively short distance from Saturn itself. The planet would be permanently visible (depending on clouds) and would fill around a third of the sky.
8 Miranda Although Titania is the largest of Uranus’s moons, Miranda, the smallest of the planet’s five large moons, may prove to be a better place to set up a colony. Several of the fault cliffs of Miranda are extremely deep, in some cases nearly 12 times as deep as the Grand Canyon here on Earth. These could offer ideal places to land and set up a “base” that is protected somewhat from the outer elements, which would included charged, radioactive particles produced by Uranus’s magnetosphere. Miranda also has no atmosphere to provide any protection from these particles. Ice exists on Miranda in abundance; astronomers and researchers estimate it to be half of the moon’s overall composition. Like Europa, there is a possibility that liquid water may exist under this ice, something that is not likely to be known for sure until it is studied at a much closer distance than we’ve currently managed. Liquid water would indicate significant geological activity under the surface, as Miranda is much too far away from the Sun for its heat to keep the water in a liquid state. Although it is only a theory (and not a very probable one at that), it may be that Miranda’s close proximity to Uranus and the consequent tidal forces are enough to trigger this geological activity. Liquid water or not, if a human colony is ever set up on Miranda, the moon’s very low gravity would mean that any researches who fall from any of the large cliffs and into the deep canyons would take minutes to reach the bottom. The descent would be so much slower than here on Earth that such falls probably wouldn’t be fatal.
7 Enceladus According to some researchers, not only would Enceladus, one of Saturn’s main moons, be a good place to set up a colony and observe the ringed planet, but it might also be the place most likely to already support life. Enceladus is covered in ice, but it has been observed spewing ice particles high into space from geyser-like jets. Samples have been collected and analyzed by the Cassini spacecraft, which detected liquid water, nitrogen and organic carbon. These elements, as well as the energy source that sent them out into space in the first place, are essentially the “building blocks” of life. The next step now for scientists is to discover if more complex organisms are hidden beneath the icy surface. The results from initial testing of the contents of the plumes have made Enceladus more attractive to scientists. It is theorized that the best location to set up a base on the ice world would be close to where the plumes originated—huge cracks on the surface of the ice at its south pole. The are known as Enceladus’s “tiger stripes.” The heat produced in this region is roughly equivalent to 20 coal-fired power stations and could be utilized by potential colonists as a heat source. There would be plenty of craters and ridges to explore and potentially be utilized as bases as well, but the moon’s atmosphere is very thin at best, as is its gravity, which would make moving around quite difficult.
6 Charon As NASA’s New Horizons space probe made its way to Pluto, it also sent back amazing images of the dwarf planet’s largest moon, Charon. These images sparked a debate among scientists as to whether or not geological activity is present, due to surface of Charon (and Pluto) appearing to be much younger than scientists had predicted. Although there are cracks on Charon’s surface, it seems to be relatively free of asteroid markings and craters, which according to the New Horizons research team, could suggest that Charon is an active world. The cracks themselves are similar to the lava tubes found on our Moon and would be perfect for setting up a human research base or colony. It is thought that Charon has a very thin atmosphere, which would be a further indicator of geological activity if it is proven to be coming from within the moon itself.
5 Mimas Known as the “Death Star” moon, Saturn’s icy, rocky moon Mimas may have an ocean beneath its otherwise unwelcoming surface, which may in fact be suitable for life. Examination of the Cassini footage by scientists revealed that Mimas appeared to rock back and forth as it went around on its orbit. This could suggest activity beneath its surface. Although scientists were very cautious with their findings, noting that there hadn’t been any other signs of geological activity, they stated if an ocean was discovered, the moon should certainly be considered a possibility for colonization. It’s estimated the possible ocean would be around 24 to 29 kilometers (15–18 mi) beneath the surface. Should the rocking motion prove not to be the result of liquid water under the surface, then it is most likely to be the result of a misshapen core, possibly due to the immense gravitational pull of Saturn’s rings. As there are no further outward signs of activity under the surface, the only way to find out for sure would be to land on the moon and conduct research on the surface temperature and take measurements of its gravity field.
4 Triton Images and data sent back from the Voyager 2 spacecraft in August 1989 showed that the surface of Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, was made up of rock and nitrogen ice. It also raised the possibility that there was activity under the surface which might suggest the presence of liquid water. While Triton has an atmosphere, it is so thin that it would be virtually nonexistent to anyone on the surface. Not that you would be able to step outside without some very heavy-duty protective clothing, anyway. Triton has an average temperature of –235 degrees Celsius (–391 °F;), which makes it the coldest body in the known universe. Triton would be a place of interest for scientists to visit and, technology permitting, set up a permanent base on, and it certainly has enough quirks to warrant close study: Areas on Triton’s surface appear to reflect light as if they’re made of something hard and smooth like metal. It is widely accepted that these areas are the result of dust, nitrogen gas, and possibly water spewed from within the surface of the moon before then being distributed by the super-thin atmosphere and freezing on the surface to the appearance of smooth ice. It is not known how deadly these releases would be to the environment or to humans. It also doesn’t appear that Triton formed at the same time and from the same material as its planet, which is relatively strange, given its size. It seems to have formed elsewhere in space, and while roaming the universe, was “captured” by Neptune. The strange moon also orbits its host in the opposite direction to the planet. Triton is the only known moon in the solar system to do this.
3 Ganymede Ganymede is Jupiter’s largest moon, and like other celestial bodies in our solar system, with the improvement of technology improves has come the suspicion that liquid water exists under its surface. Compared to other ice-covered moons, Ganymede’s surface is thought to be relatively thin and therefore should be easier to penetrate. Ganymede is also the only moon in the solar system to have its own magnetic field. This gives the moon auroras similar to the ones on Earth. The fact that these auroras don’t appear to move in any great way indicates to scientists there is an ocean under the surface. Ganymede also has a thin oxygen atmosphere. Although it seems to be too thin for life as we know it to exist, the potential for some form of terraforming exists. In 2012, the European Space Agency received the go-ahead to launch a mission to explore Ganymede, along with two other of Jupiter’s moons—Callisto and Europa. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2022 and expected to reach Ganymede a decade later. Although all three moons will be of immense interest to researchers, it is believed that Ganymede may very well contain the richest environment for study and potential settlement.
2 Callisto Approximately the same size as the planet Mercury, Jupiter’s second largest moon Callisto is another moon that appears to have a vast liquid ocean under its icy surface and consequently great potential for colonization. The surface of Callisto consists mainly of craters and what are essentially fields of ice. Callisto also has a thin atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide. Research already undertaken suggests that this atmosphere is being replenished by carbon dioxide released from beneath the surface, as it is too thin to remain in place otherwise. Initial data suggests the possibility that oxygen may also be present in the atmosphere, but further testing would be required to confirm this. As Callisto is at a safe distance from Jupiter, radiation from the planet would be relatively low, while the lack of geological activity makes the environment more stable for potential human colonists, so much so that habitats could feasibly be built on the surface of the moon as opposed to deep underground.
1 The Moon Of course, when all is said and done, the first place in space that will be colonized is likely to be our very own Moon (aka Luna). As well as being a good “dress rehearsal” for missions much further afield, establishing a base on the Moon would serve as a great launching point for missions into deeper space. A story circulated around many media platforms in March 2016 suggested that scientists predict such a base could very well be established within the next decade. Chris McKay, a NASA astrobiologist, is one person who is very much in favor of making the mission a reality. He believes that other missions to the Moon since Apollo 17 have failed due to them simply being too expensive, but his team’s plan will be a fraction of the cost. He states that this is partly due to new technologies which were designed for use on Earth but will also be very cost-effective in space—such as self-driving cars and waste-recycling toilets. While NASA’s main focus is to land humans on Mars, McKay believes they will not be able to fulfill that dream before they’ve successfully set up a permanent base on the Moon, stating that it would provide a “blueprint” for missions to the red planet. McKay believes that the fact that other agencies as well as private companies are expressing real interest in, and even have plans for, setting up a base on the Moon will be all the motivation that NASA will need to make the plans happen, if only so they can “establish the rule of law” there.
Signs That Other Intelligent Life May Have Already Visited Earth
1.Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson's disappearance
At the height of Cold War tensions, a large radar contact mysteriously appeared over the Canadian/American border, and slowly made its way North. Fearing this to be a Soviet airplane attack (and probably the slowest airplane attack ever), Kinross AFB in Michigan dispatched a F-89 Scorpion interceptor to investigate. The airplane was crewed by Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson, which would prove the last time anybody would ever see them.
Eager radar operators watched the small dot of the F-89 close on the mysterious contact. When the crew was over Lake Superior, the two dots merged and suddenly vanished. Search parties launched immediately and combed the Lake to try to find the airplane, with no luck. The F-89 was gone, taking its two pilots with it.
Immediately, the US Air Force issued statements. At first, they said that the fighter had been chasing a misidentified Canadian airplane and crashed for unknown reasons during the intercept. But that seems odd to UFO investigators, since the Canadian airplane would've filed a report of their flight plan, and the Air Force would've known the plane was in the air. The USAF later retracted their statement, now claiming that Moncla had experienced vertigo and crashed into Lake Superior. That still didn't explain why the SAR teams couldn't find the airplane, especially since Lake Superior was covered in ice. An airplane-shaped hole in the ice should have been easy to spot.
None of the official explanations stuck — to this day, nobody knows exactly what happened that night. All we know is that the F-89 disappeared into thin air while chasing a mysterious radar contact. What happened after that is anybody's guess. The hapless F-89 could
be anywhere in the universe.
2.Val Johnson's cop car In the 1970s
3.The Valentich disappearance Ready for a creepy story? Once, an experienced pilot named Fred Valentich was flying over Australia's Bass Strait, when he saw something. We, in fact, have his last words on record, as he called the Melbourne Air Flight Service after seeing something odd above him. The pilot calls in and asks if there's any other "traffic" in the area. After being told there is none, he reports seeing a large aircraft passing over him. He says it's going incredibly fast, "playing some sort of game." He says he can't confirm what exactly it is and, shortly before he disappeared, said, "It's not an aircraft. It is –" before cutting off abruptly. He then said it's a flying ship that eventually began orbiting above him. His last words were, "It is hovering, and it's not an aircraft." After that, he was never heard from again. Now, of course, there are some out there eager to debunk it, claiming that what the pilot saw was merely the bright light of Venus. Their idea goes that he saw a bunch of stars and then hallucinated a space ship between them, because apparently that's what happens when you look at Venus. You know, we've heard of Venus being used as the explanation for aliens before. The documentary Men In Black described the phenomenon best of all. So, yes, there's a chance that this was actually an experienced pilot seeing some stars, and then literally imagining a spacecraft in between them, before somehow mysteriously disappearing without a trace and … okay, you know what? In this case, "aliens" is the less ridiculous explanation.
4.Beltz Mystery Sphere
5.Alien pipes of China In China, there are caves filled with pipes that run under lake beds. Some are huge, some are small, all are old, and none of them were made by humans. Or, at least, none that we know. See, they were made around 150,000 years ago, which is slightly longer than we can actually think about. Humans weren't supposed to be smelting metal into other things back then. Humans were barely supposed to be doing anything back then. If they could smlet pipes, that would contradict every single thing we know about humans. It'd be like finding out Jesus had an iPod, except no, because this is still about 148,000 years before Jesus. One of the weirder things about the pipes is that the area where they were found isn't a place that humans have traditionally lived, like, ever. These pipes, which seemed to have been used to transport water, are in a remote region that no one historically lived in, except for apparently aliens at some point.
6.Ancient airplane models
7.Ancient aluminum Besides being one of the funniest words to get a British person to say, aluminum is one of our most important materials. It's used in all manner of transportation — from cars to boats to planes. It's the primary ingredient in our soda cans, windows, and street lights. It's our baseball bats and forks, it's our CPUs and rocket fuel. It's one of our most used elements. One thing you might've noticed about that list is that it's comprised almost entirely of objects from rather modern times. That's because aluminum is a pretty modern thing. Oh, except for this ancient aluminum we found in Romania. It's about 250,000 years old and is a form of metallic aluminum that's been quite obviously shaped, and — perhaps even more astonishingly — is made out of many different elements. That last factoid is messing with researchers hardcore. If it was just one hundred percent something, the argument could be made it was naturally formed, but no — down to the design of it, which experts say suggests it was made as part of a complex machine — this item seems to be from … somewhere else.
8.Statues depicting ancient astronauts
9.Ancient UFOs in paintings UFOs have appeared in dozens of shows, movies, and cartoons over the years, ranging all the way back to the incident at Roswell. Except, they actually go back even further than that. See, UFOs have been showing up in our art for a long, long time. There are even Native American cave paintings depicting spaceship and what appear to be spacesuit-wearing creatures coming from them. Oh, and African cave paintings. And Australian cave paintings. And Tanzian. Cultures all around the globe, from the beginning of art on, have been depicting UFOs in their paintings. Even a good portion of Christian art has UFOs in it. Don't believe us? Check out Bonaventura Salimbeni's The Glorification of the Eucharist. Yep, that's right — some of our best depictions of UFOs are in paintings hung in galleries that'd put many of us to sleep. The real X-Files stuff isn't in Area 51, it's in The Louvre.
The untold truth of Bill Gates
1.You'd think that we'd know every detail of the life of the richest man in the world You'd think that we'd know every detail of the life of the richest man in the world, especially since he's been number one on the Forbes list 17 out of the last 22 years. But Bill Gates doesn't get a ton of attention. There've been two movies about Steve Jobs and a dissection of everything Apple, but the founder of Microsoft tends to keep a fairly low profile. So, get to know a little bit about the world's most famous college dropout billionaire.
2.Harvard was a lot harder than he thought it would be It clearly takes brains to become a billionaire, unless your name rhymes with Fronald Frump. Bill Gates always knew he was much smarter than average Seattle youngster. So, in high school, he'd show off his smarts, undoubtedly to impress the ladies. Classes were a breeze, and when he got into Harvard, he figured he'd waltz right through the Ivy League school like a badass nerd genius. Unbeknownst to him, Harvard was hard. It's practically in the name. He got a B in his first theoretical math class, a completely new experience. So Gates changed his major from theoretical math to applied math after his horrible defeat. But a one-time B was far from his last failure.
3.Before Microsoft, he had a company called Traf-O-Data that was a complete failure
Eventual co-owner of Microsoft Paul Allen met Gates in high school. One summer, when Allen was back in Seattle from college and Gates was a high school senior, they started a business. You know, just normal teenage boy shenanigans.
They created a minicomputer to track the flow of traffic. Though that sounds incredibly boring, it could be very useful to cities wanting to know where to place new traffic signals or stop signs or make road alterations or repairs. Gates came up with the name "Traf-O-Data," like it was some kind of horrible date-based candy. Gates and Allen had a working prototype two years and $1,500 later.
Unfortunately for the Data duo, nobody cared. They did no market research, so they didn't realize that getting the local government to invest money in anything is a real pain. In Newsweek, Paul Allen said, "We had virtually no customers." After six years of trying, Traf-O-Data lost $3,494 and put away their traffic files forever. Obviously, that didn't stop the pair, and they went on to create Microsoft, probably to get revenge on those who didn't appreciate their traffic ideas.
4.He was arrested in New Mexico Generally, Gates doesn't seem like a guy with a long rap sheet. But looks can be deceiving. In 1977, Gates was arrested in New Mexico, though his exact crime wasn't recorded. Could it be some kind of computer/drug smuggling scheme? No: it was a traffic violation, and they just didn't record what specific error led to his arrest. Though the details are sketchy, it definitely happened, and Albuquerque has the smiling mug shot to prove it. It's doubtful that DUI was to blame, since few drunks can look so clean cut and wholesome while the cops are documenting their crimes.
5.Said "no one is getting rich" making software in 1980 In 1976, Gates wrote an "Open Letter to Hobbyists," to discourage computer hobbyists from using his software without paying. The technology was so new it wasn't clearly covered under copyright law. Gates was adamant that the "share and share alike" culture of early computer fiends would discourage programmers from bothering to make new software if they knew it would only be stolen. Gates thought the letter would be the end of it, since open letters asking people to start paying for stuff they can get for free are usually very effective. But copyright law remained cloudy. In 1979, a federal court ruled that one company selling an exact copy of another company's computer chess game was not a violation of the law. By 1980, Gates had to speak out again about unlicensed software usage. In an interview with 80 Microcomputing Magazine, the hottest of all microcomputing magazines of 1980, Gates detailed the importance of software copyright and made this incredibly unprecient statement: "There's nobody getting rich writing software that I know of." This was true at the time, and with the licensing issues and completely uncharted territory of the software world, Gates had no reason to think he'd wind up the richest man in the world. Still, that's a quote that probably won't end up on a lot of inspirational Facebook memes.
6.Gates was critical of Paul Allen's efforts when Allen was sick with cancer Gates and Allen had a long relationship of working together. After the Traf-O-Data failure, the two pressed on, working feverishly to create software needed for the upcoming computer world. Since Gates named Traf-O-Data, Allen thought it best to take over the naming of any future endeavors, and he came up with the now legendary name "Microsoft." Gates had a lot of respect for Allen. In fact, he dropped out of Harvard his sophomore year to join Allen in New Mexico to grow their business. But he didn't always treat him as an equal. When they debuted their first major project, the programming language BASIC, Gates spent hours double-checking all of Allen's work. Turns out, it was error-free. Despite Allen's major contributions to Microsoft, in 1982, he overheard Gates and Steve Ballmer (who ran the business side of the company) talking about Allen's diminishing contributions, conspiring about how they could dilute his equity. But Allen wasn't just slacking off. He had cancer. Allen called them out on their little "try to weasel money from the guy with cancer" plan and quit the company a while later. Luckily, Gates's cheapness worked to Allen's advantage. Gates wanted to buy Allen out of his stock holdings at $5 a share. Allen wanted $10, Gates said "no thank you," so Allen kept his stock. Now, he has almost $20 billion, all because of Bill Gates's cheap-o ways.
7.Gates dealt with many monopoly problems
As Microsoft became huge, they faced a lot of monopoly problems. Not that Gates kept putting up hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place, but the United States was investigating hi, for violating antitrust laws. The government had an eye on Microsoft since 1990 and in 1994 made Microsoft sign an agreement to not use their preeminence over the software world to keep out competition. In 1997, the US struck again, filing a suit that Microsoft violated the agreement, by forcing PC makers to ship Internet Explorer with Windows 95. The courts felt they were purposely keeping out competitors. For years, the suit waged on, with Microsoft claiming it was easy to remove Internet Explorer and opposing witnesses saying it was impossible to remove. A lot of thrilling "can I delete this icon" trial footage is floating around somewhere.
Microsoft agreed that computer makers could have the choice whether or not to include Internet Explorer with Windows. But that wasn't the end. After many years, a court found that Microsoft was acting as a monopoly and ordered the company to break up to loosen its hold on the industry. But after many appeals, that judgment was overruled, and by 2002, Microsoft agreed to a settlement. That meant Microsoft could stay one company, but they had to make their software compatible with non-Windows works and couldn't enter into any new agreement that would keep competitors out of new computer technology till 2011. By 2011, Microsoft was finally completely out of the woods with all this monopoly business. And it only took 21 years.
8.He owns an insane house called Xanadu 2.0
9.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation tops the Forbes most charitable list
Despite his lavish home, Bill Gates really does give a lot of his money away. Bill and Melinda Gates are number one of the Forbes list of most philanthropic people, and they have no intention of slowing down their generosity. In just one typical year, the husband-and-wife foundation gave away $2.65 billion toward fighting malaria, polio, and other diseases while donating tons to the World Health Organization. They decided to give a little $50 million bonus to the International AIDS vaccine initiative, just for fun, and also to help the world.
11.When he dies, he'll leave most of his money to charity When they aren't busy talking to their dad in cars, the Gates kids must getting ready for their sick billion-dollar inheritance, right? Well, Gates doesn't think his kids should get the majority of his wealth after he's gone. His three children won't have to work at McDonald's necessarily, but they aren't going to waste away in their own Xanadu-style mansions. "They are never going to be poorly off," Gates explained. "Our kids will receive a great education and some money … but they'll go out and have their own career. It's not a favor to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path." Gates has it that each child will get $10 million. Luckily, his kids agree with his thrifty inheritance plan and are happy that the money will go to help those in much greater need. Though his children may not be able to have a house with 24 bathrooms, somehow, they'll get by.
12.Also, Bill Gates can jump over chairs
"> Bill Gates doesn't seem to be the sportiest chap around, but that doesn't mean he completely lacks physical ability. In an interview with Connie Chung in 1994, she pulled out the hard questions: "Is it true you can leap over a chair from a standing position?" Whoa, that's some real gotcha journalism. But Gates happily admitted that he can jump over chairs, though "it depends on the size of the chair." Good move, Gates. Chung could have pulled out some Iron Throne-type stuff and really made him look like an idiot. But Gates was happy to jump over a regular office chair, and the world now knows of his prowess in vertical leaps.
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10 Sony Sells Life Insurance Sony Corporation is famous for its electronics, which include everything from the iconic Sony Walkman to 3-D headsets. Counterintuitively, however, Sony’s electronics division is hemorrhaging money—it cost the company $8.5 billion over a 10-year period from 2003 to 2013, while its best-performing division was its insurance branch, which over the same 10-year period raked in more than $9 billion. Sony originally did only sell electronics, but in the 1950s, one of the founders was touring the US and was so impressed with the skyscrapers that he decided the corporation would one day have its own financial business. In the 1980s, Sony started selling insurance. Sony’s digital and media records branch—also profitable—also got bigger at this point. While some financial analysts and corporate insiders want Sony to leave the electronics industry entirely or spin it off into a separate company, Sony has been reluctant to give up in the industry it is most well known for and where it still has significant market share.
9 Chrysler Used To Build Rockets
While Chrysler had been a simple automobile company before World War II, during the militarization of the United States, Chrysler built tanks and military electronics. Chrysler gained a reputation for having an engineering solution to many military problems as well as not price gouging the US government during the war. After the war, Chrysler put its engineering skills to use in manufacturing the US’s first ballistic missile, the Redstone rocket—which was also the rocket that launched the first American astronauts into space. Although they were initially reluctant to take the contract to build the Redstone missile, a series of fortunate coincidences involving cancelation of other military projects freed a factory for Chrysler to use to build the missiles.
Chrysler also manufactured the first stage of the Saturn IB rockets that launched the first Apollo capsules into space. Later, they worked on the first stages of the gigantic Saturn V rockets that would land men on the Moon.
8 Target Runs Crime Scene Investigations One of the largest retailers in the US, Target isn’t the first place you think of when you think of high-tech forensics. However, since the mid-1990s, Target has been turning its anti-theft technologies toward solving crimes. Using technology developed for tracking its inventories and preventing theft in its stores, Target applied the technology to help police across the United States track down criminals and coordinate with each other. Target’s asset tracking group has also applied its technology to help police. Target also has its own private forensics labs, which have the same accreditation as the forensics labs of city police departments. They handle some cases that the police crime labs would find difficult, such as video evidence of a crime that is in an unconventional codec format. Target has also provided technology to police departments for free, and target employees can sometimes become heavily involved in FBI operations targeting criminal organizations, even going undercover.
7 Bose Corporation Researched Cold Fusion The Bose Corporation is best known for its high-definition speaker and sound systems. Indeed, Amar Bose, the scientist and MIT professor who founded the corporation, was inspired to create it because he was unsatisfied with the quality of the speakers he could buy. However, Bose himself is a tinker first and foremost, and because he has retained private control of his company, he can recycle company profits back into research of his choosing. And not all this research involves sound or even electronics. In 1989, Bose walked into a forum on the new claim of cold fusion—a claim that could have revolutionized the world had it been true. However, upon discovering the scientists in the forum were hurling insults at each other instead of discussing cold fusion scientifically, Bose decided to form a group of scientists from his own company who would investigate cold fusion claims methodically. Over the course of two years, they disproved them all.
6 Microsoft Sold Children’s Toys In 1997, soon before the dot com bubble, Microsoft came out with a new type of toy that it claimed would revolutionize the way children played—actimates. The 40-centimeter-high (16 in) toys, which included the likes of Barney the Dinosaur and Arthur the Aardvark, were packed with sensors and transmitters. This allowed the toys to make statements about TV shows the kids were watching as the kids watched them, as well as use sensors to interact with the kids directly through pre-programmed motions. Television channels would broadcast a secondary carrier signal that allowed real-time interaction and commentary. Actimates was discontinued after just three years. The system was quite expensive and complicated to set up, costing $175. The choice of later characters after Barney may not have been as good, as later toys sold less well. As penetration of the toy market by technology was also quite limited by the time, the toy didn’t catch on.
5 Pepsi Backed South American Coups In the 1960s, US corporations establishing operations in South America had their business interests looked after by the CIA. It was a cozy relationship, with US corporations helping the CIA prevent the spread of communism into South America and the CIA guaranteeing the assets of the corporations in turn. With Chile’s political situation becoming worse and worse toward US corporate interests, US corporations worked furiously behind the scenes to get the US government (and by extension the CIA) to manipulate the Chilean political scene to become more business-friendly. One of these corporations was PepsiCo, which had Pepsi bottling operations and other interests in Chile and feared that the socialist coalition under president Salvador Allende would nationalize foreign corporate assets in Chile. In 1970, a PepsiCo plea to Richard Nixon, who had once worked for PepsiCo as a lawyer, directly precipitated the 1970 CIA-backed Chilean coup that forced Allende from power and led to the rise of the Chilean junta.
4 McDonald’s Has Its Own Fashion Lines In 2015, McDonald’s came out in Sweden with something completely unexpected—a fashion line. The bizarre-looking clothing included raincoats and boots, with a white background adorned with pictures of Big Macs. Later offerings included wallpaper and even clothing for dogs. Part of a global campaign by McDonald’s called “I’m Lovin’ it 24,” the clothing was only available in Sweden. This wasn’t a one-time idea. In March 2016, McDonald’s in Australia unveiled a limited edition line of pajamas, T-shirts, and casual button-downs, together with a national campaign of offering breakfast “brekkie” menu options throughout the entire day. Similar to the format of the 2015 campaign, the designs on the clothing had images of hash browns and McMuffins against a white or checkered background. Only a limited number of pieces were on sale, and they sold out extremely quickly.
3 Playtex Made The Apollo Space Suits In the 1960s, the International Latex Corporation—which in the future would be known as Playtex—used their expertise with comfortable underwear to win a NASA contract to build the spacesuit that the Apollo astronauts would wear on the Moon. NASA (probably not fully trusting that a clothing company could make a spacesuit) made ILC work under Hamilton Standard, an aerospace and defense corporation. Without consulting ILC, Hamilton submitted its own prototype to NASA without ILC input. The Hamilton suit was rejected by NASA, and ILC lost their contract as Hamilton laid the blame for the suit failure at their feet. ILC didn’t give up hope, however. When NASA hosted an invite-only competition for a new spacesuit, ILC managed to convince NASA to give them a second chance. ILC’s new suit, a wholly ILC design handmade by seamstresses, won the competition. Two competitor suits suffered embarrassing failures, while ILC’s suit passed the majority of the tests set for it. ILC would go on to make the suit Neil Armstrong wore when he first stepped on the Moon.
2 Monsanto Helped Manufacture Nuclear Weapons Monsanto is most well known today for its forays into genetically modified organisms. It actually started and has continued for much of its corporate history as a company manufacturing chemicals. But during World War II, Monsanto was one of the organizations behind the Manhattan Project, building and operating facilities used in the production of nuclear weapons components, continuing to operate the facilitates well into the 1980s. Dr. Charles Allen Thomas and Dr. Carroll A. Hochwalt, both chemists working for Monsanto, were recruited to help with the Manhattan project in 1943. Thomas in particular was tasked with working out the production of plutonium needed for the bomb. Another task Thomas had to figure out was the production of polonium, another element needed for a nuclear weapon to work. The production of polonium fell to Monsanto, who built a top secret industrial facility in Dayton, Ohio, on the site of a community center. They staffed it until after the war, when radioactive contamination forced it to be demolished.
1 Hooters Had An Airline
In 2003, the founder of Hooters, Bob Brookes, started an airline based on the model of his successful line of Hooters Restaurants. Buying a pre-existing airline, he remodeled it into Hooters Air. With competitive pricing and attractive, skimpily dressed hostesses onboard, the airline was initially a success, even though it had only a few aircraft. At its peak, the airline was transporting more than 1,000 passengers every week.
However, rising fuel costs and cheap competition ultimately doomed Hooters Air. In addition, the airline only shared the name and the waitresses of the Hooters restaurants, and no hooters restaurant food was served onboard. In 2006, the company stopped all passenger flights except for charter flights out of one city, resulting in hundreds of people losing their jobs. Afterward, Brookes decided to stop supporting the airline with his own money and let it go under.
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