A group of ravens is called an unkindness.

Talk to an engineer or any other science-minded person and they’ll tell you that language is merely a means to an ends. We have language for the practical reason of communication and nothing more. 

Somewhere along the lines language goes beyond all practicality. Poetry, for example, has no practical reasoning. It is an arrangement of words as art to express an idea creatively. In the same way, some words are artistic in and of themselves. 

For example, calling a group of ravens an unkindness is strangely poetical. Ravens are archetypically cast as a symbol of death are some bad omen. To call multiple ravens an unkindness is to call a group of ravens what they symbolicaly mean. They mean ill-will or a bad omen… in other words, an unkindness. 

Here are some other strange names: a group of rhinoceroses is called a crash, a group of apes is a shrewdness, and a group of ferrets is called a business. Did you know any of these? Want to learn some other strange names for groups of animal? Read more at the source. 

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The Lord of the Rings isn't a Trilogy!

J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is often erroneously called a trilogy when it is actually one book often published in three volumes! The Lord of the Rings is a single novel with six books and appendices. It is sometimes published in 3 volumes and people erroneously call it a trilogy. 

The reason for this was that paper was scarce and expensive at the time, so the publisher decided that it would be better to publish it in 3 volumes, so that they could recoup the cost of paper. 

The first volume, “The Fellowship of the Ring” was first published in Great Britain in July 1954 and in the U.S. in October 1954. The publication of the first volume began a problem that Tolkien continued facing with each volume published. 

The editors made many well-intentioned corrections that actually ruined what Tolkien had tried to write. Instead of Tolkien’s “elven” they would correct it to “elfin” or “dwarves” to “dwarfs.” Tolkien’s invented language was continuously “corrected,” something he constantly fought to get reverted back to his original writing. 

The second volume, “The Two Towers,” was published in Great Britain in November 1954 and in the U.S. in April 1955. The third volume was delayed, because Tolkien had promised in his first volume that he would add an index and full etymological information on the languages, especially on the elven tongues. 

In the end, there wasn’t an index in the third volume, only an apology from the publisher for the lack of index. Volume three was finally published in October 1955 in England and January 1956 in the U.S. 

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The top of the Empire State building was originally meant for parking zeppelins!

The Empire State building was built at a time when great, big airships called zeppelins were still in use. For this reason, the Empire State building was constructed with these zeppelins in mind, and the point was meant to be a docking zone for a zeppelin! 

Although the spike was an attempt to be practical, now—with zeppelins long out of style—it is simply interesting architecture. Unfortunately, the zeppelin landing was only ever used once. Because the Empire State Building was so tall, winds were high at the top of the tower, and docking there was too dangerous to be practical. 

The other problem is that it was also pretty close to the end of the age of airships. The Empire State building is well-known architecturally, not only for its point, but also for its shape. Rather than be a large rectangular prism, like the soon-to-be popular International Style, the Empire State building was made with a series of indentations. 

Because of these indentations it has a distinctive appearance, and was actually designed especially well considering its height. It was so well-designed that a B-25 bomber that crashed into the building did not severely damage the structure. 

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The “Amanda Show” theme song is actually from the video game “Sypro the Dragon” !

If you identify yourself as a “90’s kid,” you surely remember both the Amanda show and Sypro the Dragon. The Amanda show was kind of an SNL for 12 year olds. It featured a variety of sketches, many of them recurring, like Judge Trudy and Blockblister. 

It was hosted by the adorable Amanda Bynes. Now, Sypro the Dragon was equally adorable. Him and his friend Sparx the dragonfly fought against the Gnasty Gnorc and his minions. If you’ve experienced both, you may have noticed that the music for the “Wizard’s Peak” stage in Spyro the Dragon has an oddly familiar melody and instrumental to the Amanda show’s theme. 

The two songs were composed by the same person; Stewart Copeland. Perhaps it is quite appropriate for both the TV show and the video game to contain the same upbeat and uplifting song; they both after all are light, fun and worth seeing even today. 

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A man completed the first airplane flight 9 months before the Wright brothers!

His name was Richard Pearse and he was from New Zealand. A farmer and inventor, Pearse performed groundbreaking aviation experiments months before the Wright brothers, yet is hardly ever credited.

Why? There are several reasons. Pearse was an extremely modest person and not in the slightest way a publicity seeker. On March 31, 1903, he flew and landed a powered heavier-than-air machine successfully, yet because of where he lived and lack of monetary funds, the chance of industrial development was slim to nil.

Pearse flew 350 meters down a field and landed safely, yet there was no photographic evidence of his achievement. Some claim that when the Wright brothers flew on December 17 of 1903 for the first time, they used much of the engineering and techniques developed by Richard Pearse!

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