I love this one the most:
- Rene Descartes, the French philosopher, speculated that monkeys and apes have the ability to speak but stay quiet to avoid being put to work.
But these others are good too.
- Hero, a greek engineer, invented a primitive steam engine about the time of the birth of Christ. It is used today as a rotating lawn sprinkler. (Who knows how history would’ve turned out differently if it had been developed further?)
- The female anglerfish is six times larger than her mate. The male anchors himself to the top of the females head, which is where he will stay for the rest of his life. The fish quite literally become one. Their digestive and circulatory systems are merged. Except to two very large generative organs and fins, nothing remains of the male.
At first, male deep sea anglers are free swimming, with large eyes, no rod or lure, and no digestive tube. Their skin is smooth. When a female and male meet, the male grips her skin with his teeth as usual. From this moment he begins to degenerate. His eyes grow smaller and are eventually lost. His skin becomes spiny and around his jaws it fuses with the female’s skin leaving a small hole on each side of the mouth which water is drawn for breathing. His blood vessels join with those of the female and he is fed from her blood circulating through his body. Meanwhile, the male grows in size and he grows a large testes. The rest of his internal organs disappear. He is now a part of the female deep sea angler!
- Charles Magne, early King of France, was the greatest warrior knight of his time, stood 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighed almost 275 pounds. He had extremely muscular arms and legs, was the finest hunter and rider at his court, and could kill a man with a single blow of his fist. Yet he spoke in a voice so high and squeaky that his contemporaries compared it to the voice of a twelve year old.