Page 63 - Best of the Month

Ron Howard named his kids after the place they were conceived!

If you were one of the many who watched the new season of Arrested Development, you might remember that Ron Howard has a (fake) daughter on the show called Rebel Alley. The narrator (Howard himself) explains that she was named after the place where she was conceived.

Turns out, this wasn't just a joke made for the show. Ron Howard's real kids are actually named after the place where they were conceived. He has twin daughters, named Jocelyn Carlyle Howard and Paige Carlyle Howard, because they were conceived at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.

The most famous Howard child, Bryce Dallas Howard was conceived in a Texan city… guess which one. Finally, his son Reed Cross Howard was named after a street in London, because "Volvo isn't a very good name," according to Howard.

(Source)

Residents of Churchill, Canada leave their cars unlocked as an escape for pedestrians escaping a polar bear attack!

Polar bears may or may not be one of the most adorable animals, and they could quite possibly give the best hugs. Unfortunately, if you get remotely close to one - you won't get a hug. Instead, you will get a smack in the face by it's razor sharp claws - and then it will probably eat you.

Imagine living with the fear of being eaten by a polar bear every single day, and you'll know what it's like to live in Churchill, Canada. The area is so frequently visited by polar bears that the city puts up signs around town of which areas are more prone to have a polar bear wandering through them. What's even stranger than that, is the fact that the citizens of the town actually leave their cars unlocked when parking on main street, because people may need them to escape a polar bear attack!

People often leave their doors unlocked, and find other visitors to the town running into their homes in fear of beating eaten alive! The kindness of strangers sure does go a long way, and in this case, it saves lives.

(Source)

A truck driver built an almost exact replica of the first atomic bomb. Nobody knows how he did it!

Since the first atomic bombs were dropped in Japan in 1945, the world has been completely different. Nuclear weapons are now one of the most important factors that determine international diplomacy and for this reason, the United States has kept the construction of the bombs a closely guarded secret.

Even the first bombs, which have been surpassed by several other countries, are strictly classified. Today, the most detailed break down of the construction of the atomic bomb does not come from experienced scientists, but rather from the most unlikely person!

John Coster-Mullen never received a college degree and used to be a commercial photographer. Today, at 61, he is a truck driver yet strangely he was able to reconstruct almost an exact replica of the interior mechanism of the first atomic bomb!

He even built a replica of the bomb with his son and drove around with it! He did this by studying the screws, bolts, and fragments of machined steel and was selling copies of the bomb’s structure over the Internet! Even experienced physicists say Coster-Mullen’s knowledge is superior to their own!

(Source)

A man was arrested in the UAE for drug possession after poppy seeds were found on his clothes!

While America is commonly referred to as one of the world’s most strict drug enforcers, some countries have a zero tolerance policy and border on ridiculous. The United Arab Emirates is one of these countries and has come under fire for their often irrational charges.

One of the most absurd cases is of a Swiss man who was arrested and charged for drug possession after several poppy seeds from a bread roll he had eaten earlier were found on his clothes at the airport! The UAE is using highly sensitive new equipment to detect any sort of drug possession and people are often unaware of how careful they need to be when traveling there.

According to Catherine Wolthuizen, chief executive of Fair Trials International, “If they find any amount, no matter how minute, it will be enough to attract a mandatory four-year prison sentence.” In fact, travelers can be charged for having drugs show up in their urine even if they don’t have any on them!

(Source)

An uncontrollable prison riot ended when the superintendent just asked the prisoners to keep calm!

On July 7, 1952, a full-scale riot broke out in an Ontario prison resulting in the prison becoming partially ruined and causing expensive repairs. The situation seemed dire when police couldn’t end the riots and feared the prisoners would escape or kill the guards.

Tear gas was used but was completely ineffective and the prison continued to be consumed by riots. Up to 1000 inmates participated. The guards even threatened to fire on the inmates after several had escaped, but they still could not be controlled. It was not until the superintendent of the prison came out that the entire affair was over within seconds.

He simply asked them to stop and to restore order. He was so respected by the prisoners that as quickly as it had begun, the entire riot was over and everything went back to normal!

(Source)