The Ghost Pepper has two primary uses in Northern India. Naturally, it’s used as a spice for cooking – but you may find its lesser-known use far more fascinating. While most of the world doesn’t need to protect itself from wild elephants – the folks in Northern India aren’t quite as fortunate! To defend themselves from these massive creatures that stand nearly 10 feet tall and weigh as much as 8 tonnes, locals routinely smear ghost pepper ‘sauce’ on their fences – to keep the

160 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro, you can find the maximum-security prison named – Arisvaldo de Campos Pires. In 2009, Raquel Guimaraes (a fashion designer) was having difficulty finding people to crochet and knit her hand-made designs. She approached the prison’s officials with an interesting proposal; she asked that she be allowed to train 18 prisoners (convicted of crimes including robbery and murder) how to crochet and knit for her clothing line. The program, na

On April 1, 1979, Andreas Mihavecz, an 18-year-old bricklayer's apprentice in Austria, was mistakenly placed in a holding cell following a car accident (where he had been the passenger). Bewilderingly, he was completely forgotten about by the three police officers responsible for him. Each officer wrongly assumed that one of the others had released Mihavecz, even ignoring his concerned mother's pleas when she insisted he hadn't returned home. Mihavecz's cell was in the basem

If you asked 100 people who Stan Smith is, most wouldn’t know. But there’s a good chance a pair of his shoes are kicking around somewhere in their house. Before his name ended up on one of the most recognizable sneakers in the world, Smith was just a kid trying to get close to tennis. He once applied to be a ball boy at the Davis Cup and was turned away because organizers thought he was too clumsy and uncoordinated. He went on to win Wimbledon Championships and the US Open, a

In 1985, Joe Simpson and his climbing partner were descending a remote peak in the Peruvian Andes after a successful summit. On the way down, Joe slipped and broke his leg badly in an environment where a serious injury usually means death. Conditions were getting worse, and there was no safe way to carry him down. His partner made the devastating decision to leave him behind and continue down the mountain alone, assuming Joe would not survive. Joe was now completely alone

Frank Hayes was born in Ireland before moving to America, where he worked as a horse trainer and stableman in New York. On June 3, 1923, he was called in last-minute as a stand-in jockey for a race at Belmont Park the following day. His mount was a horse named ‘Sweet Kiss’, a 20–1 outsider. To ‘make weight’, Hayes had to drop 12 pounds in just 24 hours. With no real racing experience and no wins to his name, expectations were low. Determined to qualify, he spent hours run

On September 13, 2023, a Rock ‘n’ Roll tradition was born at a music festival held at Varsity Arena in Toronto. When festival host Kim Fowley heard John Lennon was nervously chain-smoking backstage, he came up with an idea to put John at ease. Stepping to the microphone and addressing the crowd he said, "Everyone get out your matches and lighters, please. In a minute I'm going to bring out John Lennon and Eric Clapton and when I do I want you to light them and give them a

Robert Liston was born in Scotland in 1794 and came to be a highly respected amputation surgeon. Back then, anesthesia wasn’t widely used, so faster surgeries meant less pain and better odds. As the story goes, one day, Dr. Liston was scheduled to amputate a patient’s leg. An elderly doctor was on hand to observe Liston’s celebrated technique. The operation began with no issues but, as Liston was changing instruments, he accidentally slashed the elderly doctor’s coat. Belie

There’s a term for people who have an irrational fear of numbers – it’s called ‘arithmophobia’. We’ve all heard of superstitions that exist with the number 13 (unlucky) or say, 666 (the sign of the devil). However, true ‘arithmophobes’ fear all kinds of numbers – especially complex math equations! And … if you’re an ‘arithmophobe’ this definitely is NOT the position for you! So, what does this have to do with Match and Fable’s latest role? Nothing really. That said, wh