Lá pelo terceiro ou quarto episódio da quinta temporada de “Downton Abbey”, Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern) abre para um amigo alguns fatos privados. “Minha família era rica, mas o dinheiro, novo e meu pai, judeu”, diz ela para explicar, em tom de confidência proibida, que não nasceu com o sangue azul, embora seja uma lady. Os brasões vieram com o casamento. Na trama, a personagem é uma presença suave. Parece ter, além de outras funções, uma menos visível: a de contraponto à pose e ao orgulho nobiliárquico. Sempre patrocina ideias progressistas e se mostra aberta às inovações tecnológicas. Por exemplo, é a primeira a defender junto ao marido avesso a novidades a possibilidade de a família ter um aparelho de rádio em casa. Ele costuma reagir a tudo isso com a mesma observação: “Você diz isso porque é americana”. Por todas essas razões e por McGovern — linda e talentosa —, Cora é uma das melhores personagens da série.Pouca gente sabe, mas esse enredo é inspirado em fatos reais. Entre os anos 1870 e a Primeira Guerra, houve mais de 200 uniões de jovens americanas milionárias a nobres ingleses falidos. Suas histórias inspiraram “Million dollar american princesses”, série de documentários do Smithsonian Channel que está no iTunes e na AppleTV. Esses casamentos eram arranjados. Alguns resultaram em amor. Outros não. O “negócio” foi apelidado de cash for class, em tradução livre, dinheiro por nobreza. A série é apresentada e narrada por McGovern e um programaço para os fãs de História.Ficamos sabendo que no fim do século XIX, Nova York era dominada por uma elite intitulada Knickerbockers, composta de portadores de sobrenomes até hoje conhecidos, como Roosevelt e Astor. Divorciados, judeus ou donos de fortunas recém-construídas não eram aceitos nos ambientes frequentados por essa turma seleta. Barradas nos bailes desse pessoal, famílias que acumulavam milhões de “dinheiro novo” foram então buscar a chave da ascensão social onde de fato existia uma aristocracia: na Europa. Com seus palácios corroídos por goteiras, uma vida de luxos caríssimos e dinheiro curto, os condes, duques e marqueses ingleses viram nesses casamentos a solução. Havia até agentes encarregados de montar os pares.Foi graças a tais acertos que os pais de Winston Churchill se conheceram. E não só eles. Os príncipes Harry e William têm uma antepassada que injetou milhões no ramo Spencer da família, o de Lady Di.As histórias são muito saborosas e contam com amplo registro iconográfico, eventualmente até com filmes antigos. Elas servem também para mostrar que certos comportamentos não mudaram tanto assim de lá para cá. Muitos ainda acreditam em sangue azul. E algumas diferenças entre Estados Unidos e Inglaterra — ou o Novo e o Velho Mundo — parecem resistir ao tempo. Há um toque de humor involuntário por trás desses fatos. A série merece a sua atenção.

Eye boogers form when you sleep because you aren’t blinking. They’re made of mucus, skin cells, oils, and dust called ‘gound,’ which wipes away when you blink. Overactive glands and blocked tear ducts can cause excess gound, which is why some people wake up fine and others can barely pry their eyes apart. Source

Ostriches lead predators away from their nests by pretending to be injured. Once the predator is a safe distance away from their eggs, ostriches can easily escape. The only animal that can outrun them is a cheetah, but an ostrich has more endurance. Source

In 2003, a 6-inch-long human skeleton was found in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Often called the “Atacama Alien,” Ata is believed to be a 6 to 8-year-old human, but the debated cause of its size, missing ribs, and deformed head remains a mystery. Source

About 4% of the sand on Normandy beaches is shrapnel left behind from D-Day in 1944. Source

If you jumped into a black hole, you would be stretched out longer and longer until you were the shape of a noodle. The name of the process is ‘spaghettification.’ Source

Dogs watch more TV now than they did in the past. Older TV sets showed fewer frames per second and were harder to watch, but high-def flat screens allow dogs to see the images as clearly as humans. Source

You can’t be tricked by a fake laugh. Researchers found that hearing fake laughter causes your brain to try and decipher the type of emotion, whereas genuine laughter makes your brain process happiness. If you think someone’s laugh is fake, it probably is. Source

Feeling cold is contagious. A study showed that observing others being exposed to cold water causes you to not only feel colder, but to also experience a drop in body temperature. Source

Hans Christian Andersen was obsessed with masturbating. The famous author of The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen (which recently became Frozen) put a mark in his diary every time he masturbated, which was a lot. In spite of this, he died a virgin. Source

If you have a diagonal crease in your earlobe, you may be more susceptible to heart disease. Many studies have found that the crease, known as ‘Frank’s sign,’ can be an indicator of cardiovascular trouble, especially in men. Source

Studies show 86% of vegetarians and 70% of vegans eventually start eating meat again, especially later in life. Researchers suggest that this is mostly due to an all-veggie diet being very difficult for most people to accomplish. Source

If a foreigner gives birth on a plane while flying over the United States, the baby is automatically a U.S. citizen. Source

A sound editor for American Graffiti claims he named R2-D2. George Lucas fell asleep working on the Star Wars script when the editor asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2 in the abbreviated form of “R-2-D-2.” Lucas allegedly woke up, said “that’s a great name,” then passed out again. Source

In Japan, it is a common belief that blood type determines your personality, much like the zodiac. Food and hygiene products are made for different blood types, and magazines publish blood type horoscopes.
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The Comic Sans font was inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen comic books. Microsoft designer Vincent Connare created it after seeing a horrible beta version of a user-friendly Windows interface that used Times New Roman in the word balloons of cartoon characters. Source

Super Mario is not just a plumber. With all of his video game appearances, he’s been a carpenter, medical doctor, archaeologist, president of a company, athlete, kart racer, superstar, and, of course, a hero. Source

Mammals with bigger balls are more likely to kill babies. Because of what’s called “sperm competition,” animals that have the largest testicles have a greater desire to father as many offspring as possible, and are more likely to kill the children of their rivals. Source

Dr. Seuss’s first book was rejected 27 times. He was ready to give up, but bumped into a friend on the street who’d just begun working in publishing. Seuss said if he’d been walking on the other side of the street, he probably would never have been a children’s author. Source

Antarctica is so cold that it rarely snows, which is also the reason it’s covered in snow. The entire continent averages only 6.5 inches of precipitation per year, but the snow rarely melts because temperatures are as low as -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F). Source

If you’re really mad at somebody, shipyourenemiesglitter.com will send them glitter that is “guaranteed to go everywhere” so you can “piss off someone you dislike for only $9.99.” Source

In January of 2015, the Kepler telescope discovered 8 new planets, 3 of which exist in areas that could potentially support life. Two decades ago, we only knew of the planets within our solar system, but Kepler located 1,000 new planets in a 6-year period. Source

Reed Hastings came up with the idea for Netflix when he rented Apollo 13 and misplaced it. While worrying about the $40 late fee on his way to the gym, he realized that paying the same amount each month to work out whenever you want was a much better business model. Source

Bubble wrap was originally supposed to be sold as wallpaper. In 1957, engineers made a textured wallpaper by sealing two air-filled shower curtains together, but nobody wanted to buy it. Several years later they realized it would make great packing material, and now $400 million worth is sold annually. Source

Random Facts About Lefties

#4. Research shows lefties access both sides of their brains more easily than right-handed people.

See all the facts and learn more about elusive southpaw here ~~~►

Once a year at 11:11 on November 11, the sun perfectly aligns with the Anthem Veterans Memorial. At 11:11 am each Veteran’s Day, the sun’s rays pass through the 5 Armed Services pillars, lighting up a mosaic of the Great Seal of the United States. Source

A baby’s ability to recognize its mother and a mother’s obsession with her baby are both linked to the same part of the brain, the amygdala. When the amygdala is damaged in either mother or child, their bond is not as strong. Source

15 Facts About Nintendo Games You Never Knew.

Nintendo likes to hide things in their games… sometimes they can be pretty dark :(

►►►►►►►►►►See all 15 facts here ►►►►►►►►►►

Giant tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets. Insects will eat the burrowing tarantulas’ eggs - so the spiders protect the frogs from predators, and in return the frogs eat the insects. Source

17 #Facts About Coca-Cola The Company Does NOT Want You To Know. It’s pretty incredible we drink this stuff so much… especially if it can strip away paint and hair dye! Hard to believe some of these, but still interesting.

►► Read facts about Coke here