In the 13th century, Pope Gregory IV waged war against cats. He said that black cats were Satan's tools. He commanded the annihilation of these felines throughout Europe as a result of this notion. This strategy, however, backfired, resulting in a rise in the number of plague-carrying rats.

Now, before you start freaking out, please hear us out! Sedentism is encouraged in today's environment. After all, we sit during our commutes, to eat, to watch TV, to work, to socialise with our friends, and so on. It turns out that even if you exercise regularly, it won't keep you safe from the risks of the "office lifestyle."

Unfortunately, Apple has officially announced that they will not share the iPhone sales figure anymore back on November 1, 2018. So, we actually don’t the current sales figures of the iPhone. However, we can tell you the number from 2007 to 2018, though. Reports say that Apple has sold over 2.3 billion units of iPhone in this period. And, they sold about 220 million iPhones in 2018 alone.

Speaking of astronauts, their experience has shown that transitioning from weightlessness to gravity can be taxing on the body. Muscles atrophy and bones lose bone mass in the absence of gravity. According to NASA, astronauts in space can lose 1% of their bone mass per month.

It doesn't seem to matter what others say about a new lover—in our eyes, he or she is always ideal. This blindness is essential for us to progress in our relationship. It is frequently required to progress to the "attachment stage," as scientists refer to it so that they can stay in love long enough to produce and raise children; in other words, to populate the globe.

During the Victorian era, there was a significant change in the way people dressed. The Victorian dress reform, also known as the rational dress movement, occurred between the 1860s and 1890s, during the middle and late Victorian eras. Reformers proposed, wore, and even designed clothing that was more practical and comfortable than what was available at the time.

We frequently get stuck in our heads with a song we don't even like. To get rid of the annoyance, simply listen to the song until the very end. This is because the so-called "earworm" is on a loop, and finishing the song helps you get rid of it.

It's extremely unusual, yet it has happened. The event known as "coffin birth" happens when a pregnant woman dies and her kid is born spontaneously owing to gases that build up in the abdominal area, placing pressure on the mother's uterus and driving the baby through the birth pathway. According to Smithsonian, one example of this was discovered in the grave of a mediaeval woman who was buried in Italy in 2010.

Tooth decay occurs when bacteria in your mouth convert sugar into acids, further eroding the tooth's surface and causing cavities. Cocoa beans contain antibacterial agents that inhibit the growth of these bacteria and help to prevent tooth decay. Dark chocolate contains more cocoa than milk chocolate. However, this does not imply that you consume chocolate on a daily basis.

Cheese rolling is one of the oddest sports that takes place every spring in Gloucestershire, in the west of England. An 8-pound round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of Cooper Hill, and competitors pursue it down to the bottom. They are intended to catch the cheese, but it is nearly impossible, thus the first person to cross the finish line wins the cheese.

Despite having one of Europe's oldest histories, Italy has only been a country since 1861. Italy was a unified entity throughout the Roman era. It was thereafter separated into independent states, which it remained until 1861. Because of this lengthy history of individualism, the country now has such a diverse spectrum of cultural variants.

If you want to do something creative, such as write a short story or design a dress, do it after a long and stressful day. This is because studies have shown that when people's brains aren't functioning as well as they should, they become more creative. This is one of the main reasons why people frequently come up with brilliant ideas while taking a shower after a long day at work.

The "Pygmalion effect" or "Rosenthal effect" refers to the phenomenon that higher expectations can increase performance. Professor Robert Rosenthal was the first to demonstrate it. In a California elementary school, he conducted an experiment and discovered that when teachers are made aware of students who have a high chance of success, their expectations rise. As a result, they paid special attention to those students and sometimes treated them differently. Essentially, the teachers subconsciously acted differently toward those students, which promotes their success. This has a positive impact on the student, and their performance improves as a result.

Why, even if you're not weary, do you yawn when someone else does? There are several hypotheses as to why yawning is contagious, but one of the most popular is that it demonstrates empathy. People who are less inclined to demonstrate empathy, such as toddlers who haven't yet learned it or young people with autism, are also less likely to yawn in response to someone else's.

Though some historians think that Valentine's Day commemorates St. Valentine's death on February 14, others believe that the event derives from a Pagan fertility festival known as "Lupercalia," which was held on February 15 in ancient Rome. The day was dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and the Roman founders Romulus and Remus, and was celebrated by sacrificing animals and slapping women with animal skins, a technique thought to increase fertility.

Another fascinating truth about Russia is that Russians, in general, have a lot of superstitions and customs. One of the most prevalent customs is to gift flowers only in odd numbers. Many Russians think that an odd amount of flowers should only be used in graves. If you gift an even amount of flowers to a Russian, they will take it personally. In addition to not giving away an even amount of flowers, Russians believe that clothing should not be worn inside out. The Russians think that if you put your clothing on inside out, you will be defeated.

Austrians celebrated their victory over Hungary during the 1848 revolution by clinking their drinks during a toast. Since then, Hungarians have avoided clinking their glasses while toasting since it reminds them of their loss. Instead, if you're drinking a beer in Hungary, say "Egészségedre" while looking your drinking companions in the eyes.

We frequently predict how we will react to a future event, only to find out that we reacted completely differently than we anticipated. We put our faith in the ability of a single event to change everything, but we frequently discover that it has little effect on how we feel.

To obey authority figures, people will go to great, and sometimes dangerous, lengths. Stanley Milgram, a psychologist, discovered in his famous obedience experiments that people would be willing to deliver a potentially fatal electrical shock to another person if the experimenters ordered them to.

Curious about how Batman manages to achieve what he does? Do you want to know everything there is to know about the Dark Knight? The Science of Batman is a genuine subject offered at the University of Victoria in Canada. "The great range of flexibility of the human body explored via the life of the Caped Crusader," according to the course description.

This study was inspired by evidence obtained from wrongful conviction cases. The study involved interviewing adult suspects in a comfortable setting and employing poor memory retrieval techniques. Within three hours, the suspects had been interrogated in ways that led them to believe in and confess to crimes they had not committed. They were even able to vividly describe the events, and some of them believed they had committed a crime as serious as assault with a weapon as teenagers. Are you willing to be persuaded?

When kissing, 70% of individuals turn their heads to the right. A German scientist who was monitoring kissing couples in airports, train stations, and beaches came to this conclusion. Perhaps this head posture is related to being right-handed.

Why doesn't your stomach digest itself if it has so many enzymes and acids that it can digest a piece of meat? It turns out that it sort of does. The cells that line your stomach proliferate fast in order to replace the cells that are killed in the course of their everyday tasks. Every three days, we develop a new gut lining.

Fetuses with short protuberances have been observed as early as 16 weeks of gestation. While there haven't been enough studies to determine why this happens, some point to the age-old "use it or lose it" theory—the Los Angeles Times reported that periodic movements are required to keep the penile tissue oxygenated and healthy.

Italy was a dictatorship until 1945, while having a royal dynasty until 1946. Following WWII, the country decided to become a republic, and King Umberto II governed briefly from May 9 to June 12, 1946. He spent the rest of his days in exile in Portugal. In Italy, he is regarded as "the May King," a reference to his exceptionally brief rule.