Lights Out With Sylvia Shults

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 09 Nov 2026 14:49:00 +0000

Sci-fi fan and artist Ned Lewis from London, England, has hand-stitched the entire Star Wars story onto a 30-foot-long Bayeaux-style tapestry. He watched and rewatched the movies and read up on the major plot lines and characters before creating his Coruscant Tapestry. The border of the cloth features quotes from each film written in Aurebesh, … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 14:48:00 +0000

While serving a 70-month jail sentence, artist Jesse Krimes created an impressive 39-panel mural from prison bedsheets, newspapers, and hair gel. He burnished thousands of images from the New York Times onto the bedsheet with a plastic spoon, using hair gel as a transfer agent. He worked on one sheet at a time, and after finishing each one, he shipped it to his home in New Jersey. It was only when he was eventually released that he was able to see the complete work. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Polish exorcist Elzbieta Gas warned shoppers at her local supermarket to avoid buying packages of goat cheese priced at 6.66 zlotys ($2.24). Her fears were further fueled by the goat horns which, not unreasonably, appear on the packaging.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Ukranian artist Anna-Sofiya Matveeva creates portraits of celebrities such as Elton John and Steve Jobs from hundreds of pieces of gum chewed by her friends. After separating the gum into different colors, she warms it up in a microwave to make it malleable enough to work with. Each finished work of art can weigh up … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Master archer Lars Andersen, from Denmark, is so fast and accurate thet he can throw a ring pull tab from a soda can into the air and hit it with an arrow before it falls to the ground. He can even hit other arrows as they are fired at him, splitting them in midair. (Kids, … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Crocodiles and alligators use sticks as lures to hunt birds. They gather sticks on their snouts and lie motionless in the water. When a bird settles on a perch or tries to grab one of the sticks to make a nest, the reptile pounces. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Kanzi, a 34-year-old male chimpanzee who lives at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, can break twigs to build a fire, light them with matches, and then toast marshmallows over the fire on a stick. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The maleo bird, which lives on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, uses the heat from volcanoes to help hatch its eggs. The adult does not sit on the eggs, but buries them in the soil or sand near volcanoes and relies on the heat from geothermal activity for incubation. When the chicks hatch, they claw … Continue reading

Today I Learned Today I Learned …Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

African spur-winged geese become so toxic after feeding on blister beetles that if a human were to eat the bird’s meat, the result would be certain death. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Instead of making loud alarm calls when a distrusted stranger enters their territory, cotton-top tamarin monkeys of Columbia often communicate with each other in hushed whispers. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:11:00 +0000

A barn in Hesse, Germany, was badly damaged after a herd of 90 dairy cows passed so much gas that the resulting methane ignited and caused an explosion, which blew the roof off the building. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 02:00:00 +0000

Poison from taipans, tiger snakes, and death adders that was collected by scientists and stored at the University of Melbourne’s Australian Venom Research Unit is still deadly — even though some of it is more than 80 years old. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Russian bank Sherbank offers a free cat with every mortgage. Customers choose their cat from one of ten breeds, but are not allowed to keep the animal for more than two hours — long enough for the cat to enter the property ahead of the owner, a good-luck tradition in Russia. (from Ripley’s Believe It … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Many people in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, leave their cars and houses unlocked in case pedestrians need to make a quick escape from polar bears. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Sixty-eight year old Jean-Marie Sevrain was forced to obtain a letter from his doctor certifying that he was still alive after the French health service refused to pay his medical expenses on the grounds that he was dead. When he applied for a $30 refund after renewing a prescription, he was informed that he was not entitled to one because, according to health service records, he had died four years earlier. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:03:00 +0000

Before releasing 10,000 pigeons for the 2014 National Day celebrations in Beijing, officials examined the butts of every bird in case any one of them was carrying a bomb. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:58:00 +0000

Farmer Sying P’an, of Weinan, China, set up a zip line as a way to stop his pigs from running off when he takes them to market. He created a series of harnesses and pulleys to transport the 220-pound pigs through the air from his own truck straight into the truck of their new owner, … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:40:00 +0000

The face of English composer Sir Edward Elgar was chosen to appear on the British 20-pound note for more than a decade because his distinctive bushy mustache was difficult for would-be forgers to copy. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

In 2014, grasshopper swarms in Albuquerque, NM, were so large they showed up as rainfall on local weather radar. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000

During World War II, anticipating heavy losses in taking mainland Japan, the United States produced so many Purple Heart medals that the surplus was still being used until the late 1990s.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:59:00 +0000

After losing a bet in a poker game, a 22-year-old man from Dunedin, New Zealand, has legally changed his name to Full Metal Havoc More Sexy N. Intelligent Than Spock And All The Superheroes Combined With Frostnova. The name had been chosen for him by his fellow card players. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:09:00 +0000

Since 2007, Peter Fletcher from Birmingham, England, has carefully logged every one of his sneezes — more than 4,000 in total. Whenever he sneezes, he makes a note of the time and date, where he was, and what he was doing at the time. Looking back through his records, he realized that he has never sneezed while on the toilet. He is particularly proud of sneeze #42, which, although powerful, he managed to avoid getting on a quiche. (from Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Undoubtedly Odd)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:59:00 +0000

In 2019, first-year student Eimi Haga handed a blank sheet of paper to her professor and hoped for the best. She was studying ninja history, which had been a passion of hers since childhood, and she had to write an essay about a visit to the Ninja Museum at Igaryu. The night before her essay was due, Haga spent hours soaking soybeans, crushing them, and squeezing the liquid out through a cloth. Then she took another two hours to mix the soybean juice with just the right amount of water. After doing all this, she quickly jotted her essay down, not even caring much about the content of the work.

The essay was written in invisible ink — the soybean extract. The words only appeared when the paper was heated over a gas stove. (Haga did give the teacher a note, written in regular ink, telling him to heat the paper on which the essay was written.) The professor gave Haga an A without even reading the whole essay.

Today I Learned …Today I Learned ……Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:55:00 +0000

Victoria’s Secret was named in honor of Queen Victoria, as a way to make people think of the elegance of the Victorian era. (The “secret,” of course, refers to what’s under the lingerie.)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 25 May 2026 13:45:00 +0000

Birds have been observed intentionally lining their nests with cigarette butts. While the nicotine in them is toxic to the birds, it’s a low enough dose that it it’s not a significant risk to them in the short term (they don’t live long enough for the long term effects to be a problem), and it kills parasites that may infect the chicks in the nest.

Crows have been observed stealing lit cigarette from ashtrays and wafting the smoke through their feathers to kill parasites.

And smaller bird species have been seen stealing anti-bird spikes from buildings and putting them in their nests like little palisade walls against other birds and predators. The smaller birds can get through the spikes easily, but it makes it more difficult for a predator like a hawk or a rat to get into the nest.

Today I Learned …Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 18 May 2026 13:40:00 +0000

Pistachio ice cream is about 2,000 years older than chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Persians were making a sort of ice cream as early as 500 BCE, and it was often flavored with pistachio. Both chocolate and vanilla are native to the New World, so the very earliest ice cream makers had no idea they … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 11 May 2026 14:00:00 +0000

When a caterpillar spins a cocoon and undergoes metamorphosis, it essentially liquefies itself before turning into a butterfly, a process called larval ecdysis. A scientific study trained caterpillars to be scared of some stimulus like a bad odor or a specific light pattern. Then the researchers tested the butterflies after metamorphosis and found that the … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 04 May 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Chloroplasts are the organelles responsible for photosynthesis. There is an ocean creature called the emerald green sea slug (Elysiachlorotica) that eats algae and incorporates their chloroplasts into its own cells. The algae chloroplasts continue to photosynthesize, providing the sea slug with around 80% of the calories it consumes.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:59:00 +0000

The details surrounding Duke Jing of Jin’s death are written in the ancient Chinese text Zuo Zhuan. According to the text, upon dreaming of an evil spirit, the duke consulted a shaman. The shaman gave the duke some distressing news: he would not live to eat the wheat of the new harvest. Naturally, the duke set out to beat the shaman’s dire prophecy. After several more disturbing dreams, Jing broke down and went to see a physician. The doctor diagnosed him with incurable gaohuang, a fatty deposit between the heart and the diaphragm. Jing accepted this diagnosis, then realized that it was time for the harvest, and he was still alive. As the farmers brought the newly harvested wheat to him, Jing decided to taunt the shaman for being wrong. He summoned the shaman, pointed to the wheat, then had him executed for his incorrect prophecy. Shortly after the execution, the duke began to feel bloated. and decided to use the bathroom before sampling the new harvest. While in the bathroom, Jing somehow fell into the toilet and died, without ever having taken a bit of the newly-harvested wheat. (From Buzzfeed)

The BookFest Awards Are Out!

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 03:23:16 +0000

I’m pleased to say that Gone On Vacation: Endless Summer has won second place in the Spring 2026 BookFest Awards. (It picked up an Honorable Mention in the BooksShelf competition last December, so there’s that.) So I’m not the only one who thinks it’s good! Pick up a copy and see what all the fuss is about. https://bookshop.org/p/books/gone-on-vacation-endless-summer-sylvia-shults/5bbea9da0381d03b?ean=9781958589267&next=t

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:45:00 +0000

Allan Pinkerton, the 19th century spy best known for founding the Pinkerton Detective Agency, died — not from any of his undercover adventures — but rather from an unfortunate collision with a poodle. The story goes that one day, Pinkerton was walking his wife’s poodle when the dog apparently tangled its leash around his legs, causing him to trip and fall. When he hit the sidewalk, he bit his tongue quite severely. Several days later, it was reported that he had died due to a gangrenous infection in his tongue. (From Buzzfeed)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000

There is a species of crab known as ghost crabs (because they have pale shells and only come out at night, get it?) that have teeth in their stomach. This sort of arrangement is known scientifically as a gastric mill. They use these teeth not only to process food, but also to growl at predators. They do this by grinding their stomach-teeth together to cause vibrations, creating sound. This leaves their claws free to nip at the predator if it comes too close.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Wounds that occur during the day heal faster than those that happen at night. Scientists discovered that injuries heal noticeably faster when the hurt happens during the day versus at night, largely because of the circadian rhythm of fibroblasts, the skin cells that pave the way for new cell growth. The study found that daytime … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Parts of the Great Wall of China are held together by rice. Scientists at Zhejiang University in China were researching the makeup of mortar used for building the Great Wall when they realized something unusual was added to the standard mixture of lime (limestone that has been heated to a high temperature) and water: sticky rice. In their tests, the scientists compared the quality of mortar made with and without sticky rice, and found that “sticky rice lime mortar has more stable physical properties … which makes it a suitable restoration mortar for ancient masonry.” Using sticky rice as a construction ingredient was one of the greatest innovations of the Ming dynasty, researchers said, helping their structures (including tombs and pagodas as well) survive earthquakes and the elements. (From Smithsonian)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:09:00 +0000

In 2008, an Australian special forces explosives detection dog named Sarbi spent almost 14 months MIA in Afghanistan after disappearing during an ambush. Eventually, an American soldier noticed her with a local man. Knowing that the Aussies were missing one of their troops, he confirmed that she was a trained military dog by using voice … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:59:00 +0000

In 1984, a teenager named Zak Brown appeared on the game show Wheel of Fortune and won $3,050. He spent all the money to but a go-kart. He went on to become the CEO of McLaren F1 racing.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:03:00 +0000

In an early version of his dictionary, Noah Webster defined “cat” with the entry: “The domestic cat needs no description. It is a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful.” (from Bored Panda)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:53:00 +0000

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys wrote their first single “Surfin'” for a high school music class. He got an F on the assignment. In 2018, the school retroactively changed his grade to an A.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Japanese war criminal Hitoshi Imamura believed that his sentence of ten years after World War II was too light. So he built a replica prison in his garden, where he stayed until his death in 1968. (from the Reddit community via Bored Panda)

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

The next time you’re hitting the treadmill at the gym, think about this: the Victorians used treadmills as a method of punishment for prisoners, making the convicts walk on them for eight hours a day. The prison guards could make the treadmills harder to use by tightening screws on the devices. To this day, prison … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

In 1954, United Fruit Company — now known as Chiquita — talked the CIA into overthrowing a government. In 1952, the goverment of Guatemala started giving unused farmland to landless peasants. The fallow land actually belonged to the United Fruit Company. Even though the company wasn’t using the land for anything at that time, they certainly didn’t want peasants to have it. So the higher-ups lobbied the United States government, asking it to intervene, and telling the CIA that the Guatemalan government was run by a bunch of Communists. It wasn’t; the Guatemelan president, Jacobo Arbenz, had come to power in a fair and democratic election in 1950. But the Central Intelligence Agency bought the fruit company’s story, and held a coup d’etat. They overthrew the elected government and replaced it with a military dictatorship that was pro-business. This is where we get the term “banana republic.”

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

On the first Sunday in February, All Saints Church in London hosts the Clowns’ Service. Clowns come in full costume and makeup to honor the legendary Georgian-era clown Joseph Grimaldi. Grimaldi is considered the father of modern clowning, and was the first clown to use makeup professionally. The clowns usually put on a show for … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:08:00 +0000

The Netherlands sends Canada 20,000 tulips every year in gratitude for liberating the country during World War II, and for hosting the Dutch royal family in exile.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 03:06:00 +0000

Ancient Romans would put sandals on the hands of sleeping people, then tickle their face so they would slap themselves.

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:52:00 +0000

During Prohibition, people could buy a product called Vine-Glo, which was a brick of grape juice concentrate. On the packaging, there was included a very specific warning: “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would … Continue reading

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Willie Francis was set to be executed by electric chair on May 3, 1946, but he managed to survive, due to the chair malfunctioning. The 17-year-old described the experience as having the taste of cold peanut butter, adding, “[There were] little blue and pink and green speckles, like shines in a rooster’s tail … I tried to say goodbye, but my tongue got stuck in the peanut butter, and I felt a burnin’ in my head.” He did not survive his secind encounter with the chair the very next year. (From Ranker.com .)

Happy New Year 2026!

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 20:19:14 +0000

Well this is a cool way to begin a new year.

Gone On Vacation: Endless Summer has won her first award, following in her big sister’s footsteps. It’s not huge, but I’ve got an Honorable Mention in the BooksShelf Awards. (I’m in the top five, so that’s something.)

Now go out there and boot 2025 out the door, and hope that 2026 is better behaved when it comes in!

Today I Learned …

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

The small village of Villar de Corneja in Spain celebrates New Year at noon instead of midnight, becasue many of the residents are elderly and want to go to bed early. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Level Up)

The Twelve Nightmares of Christmas, Day Twelve: The Fire at Our Lady of the Angels

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

On December 1, 1958, one of the worst tragedies in Chicago’s history took the lives of 93 children and three nuns. The fire at Our Lady of the Angels grade school is still remembered today as one of the darkest days of Chicago’s past. Join me for a visit to the Shrine of the Holy Innocents, a memorial to those lost in the fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR6p5l5yQcY&t=14s

The Twelve Nightmares of Christmas, Day Eleven: Christmas Cookies from an Unusual Place

pompeii100@yahoo.com (Sylvia Shults) — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Does your family have holiday traditions? Dressing up in matching pjs, opening one present on Christmas Eve, hanging a pickle ornament on the tree?

Maxine Menster’s family traditions included baking cookies during the holiday season. She lived in rural Iowa, and some of her favorite memories were made in the kitchen. Every Christmas Eve, the home would be filled with the sweet scent of baking cookies. Then the treats would be hung on the tree as decorations. The next morning, everyone would enjoy the festive breakfast. “Every year, Mom would talk about how it was such a wonderful thing to wake up on Christmas morning and have those cookies on the tree,” says Maxine’s daughter, Jane Menster.

So when Maxine passed away in 1994, her family decided to honor that tradition in stone. Maxine had shared cookies on Christmas with generations of loved ones: children, then grandchildren. And now, anyone who visits Maxine can also enjoy her recipe. It’s carved on her gravestone, to carry on her sweet legacy. Maxine Menster is buried in Cascade Community Cemetery in Cascade, Iowa.