Many clocks use IIII because that was the tradition established by the earliest surviving clock.

Others say that it's because IV represented the Roman God Jupiter, so they avoided using that on clocks.

It's said that Louis XIV, King of France preferred IIII to IV, and asked his clockmakers to use it instead.

It might also be that it's for symmetry. IIII on one side, with IV on the other. There's also radial symmetry because the I would only appear in the first 4 hours of the clock, the V only in the next four hours, and the X only in the last 4 hours.

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Nowadays, anyone in France can file for posthumous marriage. They have to send a request to the President of France. It makes it's way down the chain. Two requirements must be met: The couple must have had wedding plans originally, and the family of the deceased has to approve. Then, it gets kicked back up to the President. About 75% of cases are approved.

The reason people do this is mostly to legitimize children a woman may have, or for emotional reasons. The law does not permit the living spouse to receive any of the other spouse's money or property. People cannot do this for financial gain.

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It might seem strange to us, but consider that we only have about 5 million olfactory receptors, while a dog has more than 225 million receptors. Our olfactory membranes are about the size of a postage stamp, while a dog's is the size of a handkerchief.

To a dog, sticking his head out the window of a moving car is the equivalent of a human going from a standard television TV to a giant IMAX movie screen and trying to soak in all the colors and visuals that it entails.

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If that scares you, take comfort in this: Lightning has not caused an airliner crash in the USA or of a U.S. Airline plane anywhere in more than 50 years. The last time that happened was in 1962, when a PanAm Boeing 707 got hit and a spark ignited fuel vapor in a tank.

After that happened, the rules changed to prevent a spark from ever doing that. However, pilots still avoid thunderstorms because there are a lot of other dangers like wind speeds and visibility that can be dangerous. However, next time you're on a plane and it gets hit by lightning, don't worry: That won't do the plane any harm.

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Pearlman was technically the sixth member of the Backstreet Boys so that he could get paid as a member. He was triple dipping in the BSB venture: As a manager, producer and band member. The 5 members filed a suit when they found out that they had only received $300,000 for their work when Pearlman had made millions.

'NSync, Aaron Carter, LFO, Take 5, Aaron Carter, Natural US5, Smilez and Southstar and others were also represented by him. They all sued him. Pearlman was eventually convicted of perpetrating one of the largest and longest-runnning Ponzi schemes. He was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

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The trail passes through 14 national parks and 16 national forests. It also passes through 15 states, 10 National Historic Trails, and 23 Natural Recreation Trails. Surprisingly, the first time the trail was hiked coast to coast was in 2005.

Marcia and Ken Powers, couple from Pleasanton California started out from Cate Henlopen State Park in Delaware and finished in Point Reyes, California. They walked 5,058 miles by foot. It took them from February 27, 2005 to October 15, 2005 to complete their trek.

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All in all, he's filed over 2600 federal lawsuits. Among the named defendants are George W. Bush, Perez Hilton, Britney Spears, Michael Vick, the INS, and even Somali pirates. He also filed a restraining order against the makers of Grand Theft Auto because he said inmates who play the game might be influenced to knock him out.

He has also filed a lawsuit against Kanye West and Kim Kardashian as being terrorist, and even named the Eiffel Tower, all the survivors of the Holocaust and even Plato as a defendant in some of his lawsuits.

At one point Riches was incarcerated at Federal Medical Center in Kentucky for wire fraud. He was released in April 2012, and arrested for violating his probation in December when he allegedly drove to Connecticut and impersonated the uncle of the shooter in the Sandy Hook incident.

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Over fifty different species of extinct penguins have been found, yet scientists are so astonished at the stunning size of the Kairuku, which translates to “food diver.” The species dates back around 27 million years and it looks nothing like any other penguins seen, either alive or dead.

This species was slim, had long flippers and strong rear limbs, and although they have been intensely studied, scientists remain stumped as to the reason behind their incredible size.

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Lobsters don't stop growing. The biggest one's they've observed weigh more than 40 pounds. However, they think there could be much bigger lobster in the ocean because it appears lobsters just wear out very slowly.

More specifically, lobsters show no signs of aging. They don't lose appetite, sex drive, energy or even experience changes in metabolism as they grow older. This means that barring predators or disease, they really could potentially live forever.

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In the early Jacobean epoch of 17th century England, the closely cut 'English' lawn was born. By the end of this period, having an English lawn was seen as a symbol of status of the aristocracy and gentry. It showed that the owner of the field could afford to keep land that was not being used for a building or for producing food.

Today, they are still seen as a status symbol. However, since the 2008 recession, many communities have dug up their lawns and planted fruit and vegetable gardens. The result could be that lawns will be viewed as environmentally and economically unviable at some point in the near future.

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The reason is because warm air doesn't naturally rise when there's no gravity. If you don't have a way of circulating air, then the carbon dioxide you expel when you breathe can form a bubble around your nose. Eventually, the air available to you wouldn’t have enough oxygen and you would die.

Learn more about what astronauts have to go through to sleep at the source.

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How do they happen? The winds blowing accross the Maracaibo lake and other swampy plains around the area meet with the Andes mountain ridges. These winds carry a lot of heat and moisture, which are perfect for creating electric charges. The result? Lightning for 280 times an hour, 10 hours a day for 160 nights a year!

It is believed that the phenomenon has been going around since at least the 16th century (and most likely, even more than that). The first time this storm was reported in writing was an epic poem called "la Dragontea," by Lope de Vega in 1597, which told of the defeat of Sir Francis Drake at this site. Drake tried to attack the city of Maracaibo, but the lightning gave away his position and the city was able to respond in time.

All the electric activity makes the Catatumbo Lightning the largest single generator of Ozone in the planet. The lightning is visible up to 400 km away! Because of this, it's also called as the Maracaibo Beacon.

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1811 Eastlake has been intricately studied for it's success and has been imitated across the country. By taking homeless people and helping them to better their lives, they allowed previously dysfunctional members of society to restart their lives and contribute to the economy, while simultaneously reducing the number of homeless people throughout the city. It is estimated that around $4 million is saved by helping the people to go back to work and by not needing to support them for the rest of their lives!

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For example, Mike Peters traded his comic with Lynn Johnston, and they each wrote and drew their own material for the other person’s comic! Some artists did a multiple swap, with thirteen different people trading, and some did simpler switches.

The writer and artist swapped roles for Sally Forth and the Peanuts almost swapped with the comic strip Mutts! There were virtually no rules and everyone was free to do just about whatever they wanted with others’ material. So why was it such a good prank?

It became a huge success because the newspapers, readers, and comic syndicates had no idea it was happening. People opened their newspapers and found their traditional comics written and drawn by different people. It was such a success it even earned the name the Great Comic Strip Switcheroo!

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To become so successful, a keen business mind is essential, and Richard Branson has that in spades. One of the best examples of this was the island he bought in 1970, which is also one of the most legendary business deals of all time!

When looking for an island to buy, Branson set his sights of Necker Island, which is part of the British Virgin Islands and was owned by Lord Cobham. Branson hadn’t yet made it to the billions and Cobham demanded a minimum of $5 million for the island, money which Branson was not willing to pay.

He made an offer of $100,000 and was pretty much completely ignored. He kept shopping around the Caribbean for an island, while slowly raising his bid on Necker Island to keep Lord Cobham’s attention. As luck would have it, Cobham was in desperate need for money, and accepted Branson’s offer of $180,000, which was over $4 million under the asking price! Today, the value has shot up exponentially and is worth over $200,000 million!

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