Interesting Facts - Page 165

In Taiwan, garbage isn't allowed to just sit around. People are required to bring out their garbage when the garbage truck arrives. To facilitate this, the garbage truck plays a jingle that sounds like an ice cream truck.

In the early-mid 20th century, a large percentage of U.S. children had unnecessary, sometimes dangerous, surgeries to remove their tonsils. In 1934, a study of 1,000 New York schoolchildren revealed that 61% had their tonsils removed. In the 1970s, it was still the third most common procedure in American hospitals.

The former crown prince of Saudi Arabia once ordered a Boeing 747 jumbo jet for $295 million. Unfortunately, the prince died before the plane was finished in 2012. For ten years, the plane sat in storage unused until, in 2022, it was delivered to an airplane boneyard. It may be scrapped despite having only flown for 42 hours.

After his father was assassinated by poison, King Mithridates VI of Pontus tried to ensure that he wouldn't suffer the same fate. To do this, he routinely ingested sub-lethal doses of common poisons to build up a tolerance. Reportedly, this backfired for him when he tried to commit suicide by poison but was unable to. Fortunately his bodyguard was on hand to kill him with a sword.

Switzerland has no capital. Bern is only the de-facto capital.