Stubbs, an orange cat, was named honorary mayor of the Alaskan town of Talkeetna in 1997. With a population of 772 in 2000, it would not have taken many votes to win the position (and the small town didn't have a real, human mayor anyway), but Stubbs proved adept at the role, gaining fans from all over the world and "serving" in the position for years, greeting tourists and becoming a beloved symbol of the town until his death in 2017.

People tend to seek out information that confirms their existing beliefs while ignoring information that contradicts their existing beliefs. This is referred to as confirmation of expectations. It contributes significantly to confirmation bias, a type of cognitive bias. This desire for confirmation causes us to avoid information that challenges our worldview.

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.

Apart from  butter-fingers, crossfire, dustbin, fairy story, slow-coach and whoosh, Charles Dickens is also credited with coining the term "boredom" in the Oxford English Dictionary, which he used in his novel Bleak House (1852-3), but this has since been traced back even further, to 1830.

Scientists can detect whether a gene has been effectively inserted into an animal's DNA by adding some type of clearly recognised marker to it. When testing an anti-FIV gene in 2011, scientists at the Mayo Clinic employed a fluorescent protein from a particular jellyfish. The tests were successful, however the cats did glow in the dark. In fact, these cats' offspring sparkle in the dark! Nonetheless, their accomplishment is only one step toward an ultimate solution for AIDS.

In terms of the most educated population, Ukraine ranks fourth in the world. 99.4% of Ukrainians aged 15 and up can read and write. 70% of adult Ukrainians have a secondary or higher level of education. Even Ukraine's current heavyweight champions, Vitali and Wladimir, have doctorates.

Ventriloquist dummies, like dolls, have become a staple of horror films. A ventriloquist's dummy named Slappy is one of R.L. Stine's most iconic antagonists. If they terrify you, avoid visiting the Ven Haven Museum near Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Vintage ventriloquist dummies line the walls. This is undoubtedly your worst nightmare if you're afraid of dolls. How funny, these people should have destroyed them, but no, they thought why not show it to the world...

In the winter, street sellers offer ice cream from paper boxes on the street. At -30 degrees Celsius, there's no need for a freezer (-22 degrees Fahrenheit).

Women, believe it or not, are more vulnerable to liver disease such as hepatitis (an inflammation of the liver) and are more likely to die from liver cirrhosis (a chronic disease). Women are also more likely to suffer from alcohol-related brain damage, such as loss of mental functions and reduced brain size.

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.

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.

You might have already noticed that every picture of iPhones on any advertisement has the time set at 9:41. But why is that? There is a cool story behind this. When Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone, the local time was 9:42 at that time in San Francisco, California. They knew that they will unveil the iPhone at 9:42 and set the time to 9:42 in the slideshow as well.

However, when the iPad was released, they announced it at 9:41. Since then, this is still in effect as of yet. So, whenever you see an iPhone in any advertisement, you will see the time is set at 9:41. And, it is not a coincidence at all. Now you know the story behind this as well.

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.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter released during the beginning stage of a relationship, is also triggered when cocaine and nicotine are used. It provides the surge of pleasure and euphoria that makes those narcotics so addictive. It also increases the secretion of testosterone, which, as previously indicated, is necessary for attraction. If you were to choose between the three, we believe falling in love is the safer option.

In another University of Pennsylvania research, one group learnt about a starving small child, another about millions dying of hunger, and a third about both conditions. People gave more than twice as much money when they heard about the little girl as when they heard the statistics—and even those who heard her tale in the context of the larger tragedy gave less. Psychologists believe that we are predisposed to help the person in front of us, but when the situation feels too vast, we believe that our small contribution is insignificant.

If you don't like grapes, wearing crimson underwear on New Year's Eve is also said to bring good luck. The custom of wearing red underwear on December 31 is widespread, spanning Italy, Spain, Bolivia, and beyond. Everyone is welcome to take part; men and women alike follow the tradition. Participants also have a variety of clothing options as an added bonus. Others wear socks, bras, and garters, while some wear red boxers, briefs, or panties.

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.

The ability to forget is a sign of high intelligence. According to scientists, forgetting is equally important as remembering. "Bad memory" is a mechanism in your brain that allows you to make more room in your brain for more relevant information. It also prevents your brain from squandering space and energy.

There was a long-held belief that a sneeze travels at 100 mph, but current study has revealed that this is not the case. Nonetheless, that achoo is rather amazing. According to a 2013 research published in PLOS One, a sneeze moves at a pace of around 10 mph. Nonetheless, cover your mouth and nose to protect others from germs.

If you're familiar with Spider-Man, you'll know that one of his most potent talents is his renowned Spider Sense. This heightened sense had alerted him of impending threats and had saved his life several times. His spidey sense was always on and practically hard to avoid. It was unaffected by darkness or blindness. That alone makes it incredible, but it is far more potent than you may expect. It alerted him of existential hazards to his well-being in addition to acute bodily concerns. It would even warn him to any possible witnesses when he changed his outfit, for example.

Pluto is no longer a planet, but it is still a good bet for lightening up. On the dwarf planet, a person weighing 150 pounds (68 kilogrammes) would weigh no more than 10 pounds (4.5 kg). Jupiter, on the other hand, has the most crushing gravity, weighing more than 354 pounds (160.5 kg). Mars, the planet most likely to be visited by humans, would also leave explorers dazed. Mars' gravitational pull is only 38% that of Earth's, implying that a 150-pound person would feel as if they weighed 57 pounds (26 kg). You are not fat, you are just on the wrong planet. 

The Egyptians placed a high value on the afterlife. They thought that by mummifying a deceased person's corpse, their spirit would continue on in the afterlife for all eternity.

Psychologists have examined a phenomena known as reactance, which states that when individuals think that particular liberties are being taken away, they not only break the law, but break it significantly more than they would normally in order to reclaim their freedom. This might be one of the finest psychological facts to explain why a youngster who isn't allowed to use his phone in class will chew gum while texting.

Archaeologists uncovered a tablet in Iraq in 1976, which has since been lost. Researchers, on the other hand, were able to interpret and decipher the writing from an image of the tablet. What were the outcomes? We know the tablet contains jokes, but the complete context has been lost in translation. The world's oldest your mother joke is "...of your mother is by the one who has relations with her." "What or who is it?" Do we comprehend it? No way, but we know a "your mom" joke when we see one!