Here is the common knowledge that is not so common between us:

1) We should never keep goldfish in goldfish bowls:

Goldfish is perhaps the most commonly found fish-pets around the globe. There are special gold fish bowls that you get in the market; however, the ugly truth is that these pretty fish should not be kept in such bowls. No doubt they have a longer life and the power to change their colors all throughout their lives,they should not be kept in the gold fish bowls. The tank does not have enough room for filtration. Also, since goldfish need a lot of oxygen and in tiny bowls the surface does not allow them to get the required amount, they don’t survive for more than three months. People find it difficult to clean tiny bowls and thus, the environment in which the goldfish live is not clean and good or the way it should be. (source)

2. If you want Aspirin to save your life when you get a heart attack, you have to chew it:

Aspirin can help in fighting the symptoms of a heart attack and everybody knows about this; however, what people don’t know is that they need to chew aspirin, instead of gulping it down with water. When aspirin is chewed, it starts working quicker. If you swallow the pills, they take a longer time to start working in your body and thus, in a lot of cases, people lose their life. (source)

3. It is not that water towers are used only to store water, but they are used to maintain the pressure and flow of the entire clean drinking water:

Water towers are available in various shapes as well as sizes. You may think that these beauties are kept to store clean water for various purposes; no doubt this is quite a popular reason for the installation of water towers, but this is not the only reason why you see them everywhere. The good news is that several water towers are installed for the sake of maintaining the pressure as they need a huge amount of gravity pull in taller builders. Without such towers, small cities have to bear a huge amount of price to maintain expensive pumps. (source)

4-The Polaroid picture should not be shaken:

A lot of people have been shaking Polaroid pictures for the sake of developing them quicker; however, what they don’t know is that this is not supposed to be done. There is absolutely no effect that takes place when you shake such a picture. In fact, shaking can damage the image to a certain extent, since several portions pre-mature and thus, you notice some sort of blobs in the picture. The result is not what you expect it to be. (source)

]]> https://factsweird.com/common-knowledge/feed/ 0 https://factsweird.com/ancient-technologies/ https://factsweird.com/ancient-technologies/#respond Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:09:05 +0000 https://factsweird.com/?p=222 If you are living in an imaginary world of being all smug about the internet advancements and robotic developments the humans have made in the present era, you have no idea about what our ancestors have done in the past. We may have read about them in books or gotten an idea through the movies and TV shows or web series we watch, but what we don’t know is that they were much more advanced than we thought they were. The ancient times may not have had a lot of population, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have genuine brains.

Several discoveries were made in the past about several things the ancients invented, designed and created, but they don’t stop surprising us. The more we discover about the things they invented, the more shocked we are at present because they did not even have all the advancements we have in today’s world. From special refrigerators that kept the ice cool in the hottest summers in deserts to gorgeous cups that had properties to change colors, there is nothing that is not going to surprise you here.

Check the list below to learn about the top ten ancient technologies that are going to make you scratch your head: 

1) Have you ever heard of storing ice in the desert? The Persian engineers had not only developed, but also mastered the ice storing technique during summers by 400 BC:

Are you all smug about the refrigerators in your kitchens? Do you even know how the Persian people stored ice and ensured that it doesn’t melt all throughout their harsh summers? During winters, the Persian people carried ice from the nearby mountains. They then stored them in pits they had created in the desert. These pits were called “Yakhchal” and were the first inventions in the field of refrigerators. They not only kept ice in these pits, but also food, which remained cool and healthy all throughout the summers. The structure may look like a large dome constructed with mud bricks, but it was not as easy as it seems, especially during those times.

The underground space of this 500 cubic meter pit had windcatchers that kept the temperature low during summers.(1, 2)

2) This hand operated machine, popularly known as the ‘Archimedes Screw’ has been designed in such a way that it can move up the water with the help of gravity. If it is reversed, it generates energy by pushing the water down:

Earlier, this screw was used for the purpose of irrigation. This machine was nothing more or less than a screw with a hollow pipe inside. Earlier, during the ancient times when it was used, it was operated by hand. After a few years, the wind energy was used to operate the same. Even today the same technology exists. However, it is now operated with a motor. Just when the shaft turns due to the motor, the end of the device gets up, scooping the motor. Then, the same water is pushed to the screw top through the rotating helcoid (a spiral arrangement). This process continues until the water comes out from the end of the top.(source)

KEMAL PASHA: 

Mustafa Kemal Pasha – affectionately referred to as Kemal Ataturk, the “Father of the Turks” was responsible for modernizing Turkey.

Kemal Pasha served in field commands during World War One and subsequently became the first Turkish President. He was the Prime Minister of the country from 1920-1921; he then became The President from 1922-1938.  As an effective dictator, he abolished the caliphate and radically transformed Turkish society, politics and law. Citizens adopted Western standards of dress, the Latin alphabet, secularism and industry.

Voting rights for women, abolishing polygamy and the right to equal inheritance were landmark extensions of his ideology. He banned Sharia Law, leading to delineation of religion from governance. Pasha also helped in reviving the rich art, architecture, literature, music, libraries – all of which were banned under the Ottoman rule. He encouraged small and large-scale industries, established banks and introduced much needed land reforms to modernize Turkey. (1,2,3)

LEE KUAN YEW: 

A ballsy lawyer who freed Singapore from British Rule in 1959 and remained in power for 52 long years during which he transformed the country into one of the richest in Asia. 

Born in Singapore, Lee Kuan ruled as the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959-1990, the senior minister, secretary general of his party and an MP till 2015 – when he died. Singapore transformed into a country with the third highest national per capita income in the world! Once in office, he introduced a five-year plan for urban renewal and construction of new public housing, greater rights for women, educational reforms and industrialization.

Singapore’s lack of natural resources and limited defensive capability were major challenges. He encouraged foreign investment and tried to ensure better standards of living for workers. Each worker had to save 25% of his salary, which would go to a provident fund that was further used to develop infrastructure. He left behind a legacy of an efficiently run country and as a leader who brought prosperity unheard of before his tenure, and made Singapore into a chief financial center of South East Asia. (1,2,3)

KING ASHOKA:

King Ashoka ruled large swathes of the Indian subcontinent- stretching from Bengal to present day Afghanistan.The third monarch of the Mauryan Dynasty, he was christened the “Great King Ashoka” recognizing his efforts to spread Buddhism all over.

King Ashoka was the ruler of the Mauryan Kingdom from 268 B.C. to 232 B.C. However, it was not all rosy in the beginning of his rule. Literature depicted him as a blood-thirsty, cruel and ruthless monarch who had many of his brothers murdered so he could seize the throne for himself. He then took a dramatic turn for the better after the Kalinga War and converted to Buddhism and continued to rule wisely and justly from then on.

The story goes like this- he had a two-year long war of succession during which at least one of his brothers was killed. About eight years after his coronation, his armies conquered Kalinga. The large-scale massacre caused by battle, reprisals and turmoil horrified Ashoka so much thathe spent the rest of his life trying to apply Buddhist principles and had a peaceful reign afterwards.

The 13 edicts he issued provided for medical aid to humans and animal welfare and spoke of state and individual morality. During his rule, the death penalty was banned, slavery abolished and civic developments undertaken. He was also responsible for spreading Buddhist teachings in his kingdom and abroad by sending emissaries to Sri Lanka.(1,2)