Tom Hanks, known for his roles in Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan, has a surprising link to Abraham Lincoln. Hanks is a distant relative of the 16th President of the United States, a fact confirmed through genealogical research.

Born on June 22, 1906, in Jamaica, Robert Nathaniel Robinson moved to the United States in 1923. He secured a position as a toolmaker at Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Despite being the only Black worker in his department, he excelled in his role.

In historical India, execution by elephant, known as “Gunga Rao,” was a prevalent form of capital punishment. Trained elephants were used to crush, dismember, or torture captives during public executions. This method was employed to demonstrate the ruler’s absolute power and control over both man and beast.

On April 25, 2015, 125 boats and 475 sailors gathered for the Dauphin Island Regatta in Alabama’s Mobile Bay. The National Weather Service had issued warnings of severe storms with damaging winds, but the race went ahead after an initial cancellation notice was retracted due to a miscommunication.

Sisamnes was a judge in Persia during the reign of King Cambyses II in the 6th century BCE. He was accused of accepting a bribe in exchange for delivering an unfair ruling. When Cambyses discovered this, he ordered a severe punishment.

Some animals have an unusual feature—a third eye. Unlike their primary eyes, this extra eye is often small and located on top of the head. It is scientifically called the parietal eye and is found in certain reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

In May 1933, Soviet authorities deported around 6,700 people to Nazino Island, a remote Siberian location on the Ob River. The deportees, mostly from Moscow and Leningrad, had been arrested for lacking internal passports. Many were unskilled workers, petty criminals, and peasants caught up in mass purges.

In 1950, Zenith Radio Corporation introduced the first TV remote control, the “Lazy Bones.” It was connected to the television by a long cable, allowing users to change channels without leaving their seats. However, the cable was a tripping hazard and limited movement.

Spite houses are structures built to annoy or obstruct others, often as acts of revenge. One of the most famous is the Hollensbury Spite House in Alexandria, Virginia, built in 1830. John Hollensbury constructed the narrow 7-foot-wide house to stop people from using his alleyway.

Nokia was founded in 1865 as a pulp and paper mill in Finland. By the 20th century, it expanded into rubber, cables, and electronics. In the 1970s, it entered the telecommunications industry, developing network equipment and early mobile technologies.