30 Interesting Facts About Google Earth and Maps

Here are 30 Interesting Facts About Google Earth and Maps.

1. Iran’s largest airport had a Star of David embedded into its roof for 30 years before it was discovered on Google Earth. 

2. Bahrain’s government banned Google Earth because it allowed Bahraini citizens to see vast tracts of royal-owned land and their palaces next to poor and overcrowded Shi’ite villages 

3. Tribes in the Amazon are currently using technology like GPS and Google Earth to map their lands, monitor for illegal logging and mining, and maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions including knowledge of medicinal plants 

4. Google Earth has a built in Flight Simulator.

5. A satellite archaeological researcher, Angela Micol, discovered some lost Egyptian pyramids using Google Earth

6. In June 2006, a Google Earth user discovered a very detailed 1:500 scale terrain model of a disputed border region between India and China near a Chinese military complex. It is 3,000 × 2,300 ft in size –

7. Google Earth was originally called Earth Viewer and was created by Keyhole, Inc., a company who were partially funded by the CIA via venture capital firm In-Q-Tel that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the CIA equipped with the latest in information technology. 

8. The 9/11 terrorist attacks can be viewed with Google Earth’s historical imagery

9. There is a nonexistent city in West Lancashire, England that shows up on Google Earth and Google Maps. This nonexistent towns is named Argleton in those maps.

10. The largest natural bridge on earth was virtually unknown to the rest of the world, until it was observed on Google maps. 

11. Many undersea wrecks, including the Titanic, can be seen from Google Earth.

12. There is a rainforest in Africa nicknamed the ‘Google Forest’ because it was discovered by scientists using Google Earth 

13. Google Earth’s default center point is its author’s (Brian McClendon) home at Lawrence, Kansas 

14. Swiss Police used Google Earth to find a two acre weed farm 

15. Google uses our phones (with permission) to collect traffic data for Google Maps

16. Google takes advantage of the reCAPTCHA system by getting people to decode pictures from Street View for Google Maps 

17. With Google’s Maps framework and a bit of Javascript, you can see what would happen if a nuclear bomb goes off in your city. 

18. People are using Google Maps to make others aware of dangerous landmine fields in Kosovo 

19. A 1,000 year old “fish trap” made of stones was found off the British coast with Google Maps 

20. Google Maps has many “Copyright Easter Eggs”. These are fake street features that are inserted so that if you attempt to copy the map then the copyright holder can prove you copied it.

21. When Fiat discovered that Google’s street view car was mapping Sodertalje, Sweden, they sent a Fiat to tail it for 30 miles, and have it captured on street view in front of Volkswagen’s headquarters. –

22. There are 51 things you aren’t allowed to see on Google Maps. 

23. If you search for “homes” in Google maps, it returns all the homes in the area for sale with their price. 

24. Searching for ‘*’ in Google Maps shows you all the local businesses.

25. Nicaraguan troops once accidentally marched into Costa Rica, destroyed a protected forest, dredged the San Juan river, and dumped all the stuff they scooped out of it into Costa Rican territory, all because their commander used Google maps when planning, instead of military charts. 

26. A company made a FPS game with Google Street View where you can walk around and shoot people. 

27. When you press number 3 while in Google street view you are presented with red-cyan 3D view.

28. There is a map of every recent mass animal death on Google Maps 

29. If you want to have your house blurred on Google Street View, all you have to do is request it. 

30. You can see where the Google Street View cars are currently driving. 

How 10 Pieces of Furniture Got Their Names

The next time you’re lounging in your living room, ask yourself a question. Why is your favorite place to relax called a couch? Who named that sofa, or for that matter, the bedroom bureau or mom’s grandfather clock? And why do some pieces of furniture have multiple names? Exploring the origins of furniture names can often reveal something about their history. From the Colonial trundle bed to the romantic hope chest, each name has a story to tell.

1. COUCH

Let’s start with your cushy couch, which is also called a sofa, a divan, and a settee. Couches first became fashionable in the 17th century and the name comes from the old Frenchcoucher, meaning to lie down. Early couches were designed for sleeping as well as resting.

While couch is the favored name for this furnishing in the U.S., in England it tends to be known as a sofa. That name comes from the Arabic soffa, which is a raised part of the floor that’s padded with carpet and pillows. Another name is the divan, which comes from a Persian worddēvān, now dīwān. The diwan originally was the privy council who got to sit in the raised cushy space. Jane Austen might have referred to the couch as a settee—as in the place to settle down for a long discussion of the eligible bachelors newly arrived in town.

2. BUREAU

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For many in the U.S. the word bureau may conjure up a chest of drawers, but that’s not how it started out. In fact, looking at its original use might explain why bureau is both the name of furniture and certain organizations, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Europeans are more likely to think of the bureau as a writing desk. And the name likely evolved from the Old French word burel, for the dark brown cloth that was traditionally used to cover writing desks. In the 17th century bureaus were simple flat writing desks with drawers underneath. Such desks were used in offices, as a place to write letters and store paper and ink. Since offices had bureaus, French offices also became known as bureaus, and, by extension, so did larger complexes of offices and organizations. As time progressed, some furniture makers added extra drawers. By the 18th century the versatile English bureau often had four deep drawers topped with a desk or a bookshelf. While they still had a handy writing surface, these bureaus also provided storage.

The writing desk was also called a secretary, from the Latin word secretarius, which meant a scribe or clerk entrusted with confidential information. While some designs of bureaus acquired drawers, the secretary kept them to a minimum, but also often included a top storage department enclosed by doors. By extension, the women employed to write at these “lady’s desks” became known as secretaries. With the advent of typewriters, Victorians quickly needed more surface space to accommodate them and larger desks became popular. Secretaries employed to use the newfangled typewriter were called typewriters ortype-writer girls.

3. WARDROBE

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The original Old French warderobe or garderobe described a room where the robes of the powerful were guarded alongside gold and other valuables. The room contained places for hanging clothes as well as providing shelves and storage places. Eventually the wardrobe became a self-standing piece of furniture and the word was also used to describe the clothes contained within that piece of furniture. Of course, the association with protecting something valuable remained long enough for C.S. Lewis to use a wardrobe to obscure a magical portal in his Narnia books.

4. TRUNDLE BEDS

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Before there were bunk beds or blow-up mattresses for sleepovers, fitting in a few more slumbering bodies required a trundle bed. The word trundle implies motion and these beds on wheels rolled out from under a larger bed.

During the middle ages, children might sleep in the pull-out trundle bed stored under the larger bed where the head of the household slept. Several members of a family might sleep together like this, with the newest child in a cradle alongside the bed. Even the rich and powerful did not sleep alone, as their servants slept near them ready to serve and defend them. If this sounds a little close for comfort, it’s worth noting that in pre-central-heating days, such proximity provided warmth during bitter winters. The trundle bed was first mentioned in 16th century writings.

5. HOPE CHEST

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The name for this item may seem more obvious, since it’s a chest used to collect things for an event you hope will happen, but that anticipated event might not hold the same significance as it did in the days when women commonly lived at home until they married. The hope chest, also known as a glory box, was used to store a bride’s trousseau, as well as practical items for her new household. The contents might include linens, quilts, candlesticks, and sometimes dishes. A young woman often received such a chest when she reached marriageable age, and she might then begin to acquire or make the items required. 

6. GRANDFATHER CLOCKS

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Grandfather clocks may be found in your grandfather’s house, but that’s not the real reason these long, encased clocks acquired their names. The real reason is a song. In 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Clay Work stayed at the George Hotel in North Yorkshire while visiting England. He noticed a large pendulum clock in the lobby that no longer worked. After enquiring, the hotel owners told him that the inn had previously belonged to two brothers, and that when one brother died, the clock became less accurate. When the second brother died, it stopped altogether, and could not be repaired. Work wrote a song about the clock, “My Grandfather’s Clock,” in 1876. The song sold over a million copies in sheet music and has been recorded multiple times, most recently by Boys II Men in 2004. Apparently, the name for the clock stuck. 

7. WINDSOR CHAIR

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Although the Windsor chair has come to be associated with Colonial American homes, it has royal associations in English history. The Windsor chair features a very simple design with back and sides consisting of turned spindles attached to a solid sculpted seat. The chairs have likely been handcrafted since the 16th century in Wales and England, but they did not become stylish until the 18th century. The chair was named after the English town of Windsor, which is the home of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family.

In fact, royalty is rumored to have played a part in the popularity of the chair. Legend has itthat King George I (1660-1727) was caught in a storm and found shelter in a cottage. There he was offered a simple spindled chair that was very different from those found in his court. He was so impressed that he asked his furniture makers to copy the chairs for Windsor Castle. By the 1730s, the chair had arrived in America, where it quickly became the colony’s most popular piece of furniture. Colonial craftsmen further refined the design.

8. DIRECTOR'S CHAIR

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This lightweight folding chair does evoke the Hollywood directors of the 1920s, who made it fashionable, but the design actually dates back to the sturdier, heavier chairs used by 15thcentury makers of coffers or chests. That chair was in turn inspired by the Roman curulechair. The lightweight and portable curule chair traveled to China along the Silk Road and was used by the Chinese as a military chair in the second century CE. The foldable cloth version of the chair achieved popularity in the U.S. in the late 1800s, debuting at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1892. That’s just around the time motion picture cameras were invented and production companies were set up. The folding chair was naturally cast as a director’s chair because it was so easy to transport on location. Sitting in “the director’s chair” has come to be synonymous with wielding creative control.

9. OTTOMAN

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The ottoman that often serves as a comfy footrest is named after the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1298 to 1908. The padded, upholstered seat, which has no back or arms, was brought to Europe from the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th century. Early versions of these cushioned seats were flatter and longer, but they eventually became rounder and self-standing.

10. CLOTHES VALET

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The modern-day clothes valet may only air and hang out your clothes, but the position it was named after did much more. As you might know, a valet is a personal manservant and is short for the French valet de chamber or valet of the chamber. 

Isabella Beeton, whose 1861 Book of Household Management made her the Martha Stewart of her day, described a valet’s duty in the Victorian era:

“His day commences by seeing that his master’s dressing room is in order; that the housemaid has swept and dusted it properly; that the fire is lighted and burns cheerfully; and some time before his master is expected, he will do well to throw up the sash to admit fresh air, closing it, however, in time to recover the temperature, which he knows his master prefers. It is his duty to place the body-linen on, to lay the trousers intended to be worn, carefully brushed and cleaned, on the back of his master’s chair; while the coat and waistcoat, carefully brushed and folded, and the collar cleaned, are laid in their place ready to be put on when required.”

Try getting your clothes valet to do that.

20 More Word Usage Mistakes Even Smart People Make

We’ve covered 20 pitfalls of English before, but there are plenty more to look out for. Here are another 20 word usage mistakes that can trip you up.

1. INSURE/ENSURE

These words are easy to confuse not only because they sound alike, but because they both have to do with guarantees. To ensure is to make sure something does or doesn’t happen. To insure is to use a more specific type of guarantee: an insurance policy.

2. DISPERSE/DISBURSE

Disperse is more common and has a wider range of meaning than disburse. To disperse is to scatter, separate, or sprinkle around. To disburse is only to give out money.

3. FLAK/FLACK

Not many words in English end with ak, but flak does because it’s a shortening of a German word: fliegerabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun). Flak is artillery fire, and by metaphorical extension, criticism. The less common flack is for a publicist or someone who tries to drum up attention for a person or product.

4. ALL RIGHT/ALRIGHT

Though alright spelled as one word is beginning to be accepted by a few style guides, it is still considered an error by most. Write it as two words.

5. BATED/BAITED

The bated in the expression bated breath is related to abated. The breath is reduced, or almost held, in anticipation. It is not baited like a fish hook.

6. ACCEPT/EXCEPT

These words have similar pronunciations, but very different meanings. To accept is to receive and to except is to exclude. A good way to remember the difference is that to accept something is to acquire it and to except is to cross it out with a big X.

7. ILLUSION/ALLUSION

Illusion is the more common word and usually the one you want. An illusion is a false impression, something that seems real, but isn’t. Allusion is mostly used in literary contexts. It is a hint at something else, or a pointer to other work, such as a character name that refers back to a Shakespeare play.

8. FLOUNDER/FOUNDER

To flounder is to flop around clumsily, like a fish on land. It can be used metaphorically for inconsistent or unproductive behavior. That’s why it’s easy to confuse with founder, which means to sink or fail. If a business is floundering, there’s still a chance to turn things around, but if it’s foundering, it’s best to cut your losses.

9. HEAR, HEAR/HERE, HERE

When you want to give enthusiastic approval, the correct expression is “Hear, hear!” It came from the sense of hear him out! or hear this! and not from a sense having to do with here, the present location. Here, here! is an answer to “Where should I put this cupcake?”

10. TORTUROUS/TORTUOUS

A tortuous route might also be torturous, but the words have different meanings. Something that is torturous causes torture, while something that is tortuous is merely full of twists and turns. If a route is so tortuous that is it gives you hours of carsickness, then, yes, it is also torturous.

11. HEARTY/HARDY

Hearty is for things that are warm and nourishing, like a robust welcome or an abundant feast. They have heart. Hardy is for things that are tough and durable, that can stand up to the elements and survive. They are hard.

12. DEEP-SEATED/DEEP-SEEDED

Whether you're talking about fears, habits, or emotions, the correct term is deep-seated. Talk of depth and rootedness brings the idea of planting to mind, but seeds don’t enter into this expression.

13. COMPLIMENT/COMPLEMENT

A compliment is a kind or flattering comment. Complement means to go together well. Your shoes may complement your dress, but if I remark on how sharp you look I am giving you a compliment.

14. HOARD/HORDE

To hoard is to collect and keep things in a secure or hidden place, and hoard itself keeps its stash of vowels all tucked away inside the word. A horde is a big crowd. Its vowels are scattered over the word, like a horde of tourists on a sidewalk.

15. LOATHE/LOATH

Loathe is a verb meaning to hate. It is a more severe sentiment than loath, which means reluctant. Loath will always be followed by to, as in “I am loath to make small talk with people I loathe.”

16. PERPETRATE/PERPETUATE

They only differ by one letter, but perpetuate gets a whole extra syllable. That works well, because perpetuate means to keep something going (to make it perpetual) while perpetrateis to commit a single act, usually a crime.

17. PORE OVER/POUR OVER

When you study a document carefully, you pore over it (almost as if you are inspecting its tiny pores). If you were to pour something over it, like juice or coffee, that would make it much harder to read.

18. CONSCIENCE/CONSCIOUS

Conscience is a noun, and conscious is an adjective. A conscience can be cleared, or keep you awake at night, or tell you what decision to make. Conscious is a description of a state. If you’re conscious you're awake and aware.

19. WHO’S/WHOSE

If you can substitute in “who is” or “who has,” then the one you want is who’s, otherwise it’swhose.

20. AMUSED/BEMUSED

It’s better to be amused than bemused. Amused means entertained, while bemused means puzzled or confused. It’s the difference between a smile and a head scratch.

20 Epic Facts About ‘Game of Thrones’

Those who have been missing Game of Thrones’s unique blend of sex, blood, and dragons will have to wait until next summer for the show's return. To help the time pass, here are 20 facts about the bona fide cultural phenomenon. Valar morghulis.

*Spoiler alert for all aired episodes.*

1. THERE’S AN UNAIRED PILOT.

The first pilot, directed by Spotlight writer-director Tom McCarthy, was so terrible that it had to be shelved and reshot. “We got everything wrong on a very basic level with the writing of it,” show co-creator David Benioff told Variety. One of the biggest problems? None of the friends he and Weiss invited to watch the pilot “realized that Jaime and Cersei were brother and sister, which is a major, major plot point that we had somehow failed to establish.”

2. CATELYN STARK AND DAENERYS TARGARYEN WERE ORIGINALLY PLAYED BY OTHER ACTORS.

In the original pilot, Catelyn Stark and Daenerys Targaryen were played by Jennifer Ehle and Tamzin Merchant, respectively; by the time the show aired, they had been replaced by Michelle Fairley and Emilia Clarke. George R.R. Martin, who wrote the book series on whichGame of Thrones is based, also had a cameo in the original pilot as a guest at Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s wedding.

3. THERE WERE A BUNCH OF OTHER CASTING CLOSE CALLS.

Ehle and Merchant weren’t Game of Thrones’s only could-have-beens. Gillian Andersonturned down an unspecified role on the show, as did The Wire's Dominic West. (Judging by the fact that, per West, the role would have involved shooting “in Reykjavik for six months,” it was probably Mance Rayder, a role that eventually went to Ciarán Hinds.) The Hunger Gamesfranchise’s Sam Claflin auditioned for Jon Snow and Viserys Targaryen, and Outlander star Sam Heughan auditioned for a variety of roles, including Renly Baratheon and Loras Tyrell,seven times.

4. PETER DINKLAGE THOUGHT THE SHOW HAD BEEN CANCELED.

After the pilot was picked up, David Benioff pranked Peter Dinklage by calling him and telling him the show had been canceled. It was six hours before Dinklage learned the truth.

5. SANSA STARK ADOPTED HER DIREWOLF IN REAL LIFE.

Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, adopted Zunni, the Northern Inuit dog that played her pet direwolf on the series’ first season. “Growing up I always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted one,” Turner told Coventry Telegraph in 2013. “We kind of fell in love with my character’s direwolf, Lady, on set. We knew Lady died and they wanted to re-home her. My mum persuaded them to let us adopt her.”

6. DOTHRAKI IS A REAL LANGUAGE.

In 2014, Living Language released a conversational language course that will have you speaking like Khal Drogo in no time. The course was crafted by linguist David J. Peterson, who worked with HBO to create the Dothraki heard on the show.

7. SEVERAL CHARACTERS HAVE CHANGED ACTORS. 

A handful of characters have been played by more than one actor over the course of the show, notably Daario Naharis (Ed Skrein in season three, Michiel Huisman in seasons four, five, and six), Tommen Baratheon (Callum Wharry in seasons one and two, Dean-Charles Chapman in seasons three through six), and his sister Myrcella (Aimee Richardson in seasons one and two, Nell Tiger Free in season five), and Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane (Conan Stevens in season one, Ian Whyte in season two, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson in seasons four, five, and six.)

8. DAENERYS TARGARYEN ORIGINALLY HAD VIOLET EYES.

In the books, the Targaryen family members are notable for their silver hair and violet eyes. During shooting, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Viserys (Harry Lloyd) Targaryen originally wore violet contact lenses, but Benioff and Weiss decided they negatively impacted the actors’ ability to portray emotion.

9. A LOT OF DEAD CHARACTERS ARE ALIVE IN THE BOOKS.

More than a handful of characters are alive in Martin’s books, but dead on the show. These include: Shireen and Stannis Baratheon, Night’s Watchmen Pyp and Grenn, Barristan Selmy, Myrcella Baratheon, and Mance Rayder.

10. SHOOTING THE HORSE HEART SCENE WAS AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE.

The horse heart Daenerys had to eat in season one was essentially a giant gummy candy—one that, per Clarke, tasted a little bit like bleach. To make the proceedings even grosser, all the fake blood made Clarke so sticky that she got stuck to a toilet.

11. THERE’S MORE THAN ONE MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAILCONNECTION.

Part of Game of Thrones’s pilot was shot in one of the castles used for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Three seasons later, in “Breaker of Chains,” an unnamed Meereenese warrior shouts a series of taunts at Daenerys that include “Your mother was a hamster,” “Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person,” and “I blow my nose at you” … in Low Valyrian, of course.

12. REAL PEOPLE ARE NAMING THEIR KIDS AFTER GAME OF THRONESCHARACTERS.

In the year 2014, per the Social Security Administration, “Khaleesi” was the United States’s 755th most popular baby name for girls, up from 1021th place in 2013. In England, Khaleesi, Arya, Tyrion, Brienne, Sansa, Bran, Sandor, and Theon also saw a rise in popularity after Game of Thrones began airing. (What, no Dagmer Cleftjaw?)

13. THE STARK KIDS ARE DIFFERENT AGES IN THE SHOW THAN IN THE BOOKS.

When A Game of Thrones-the-book starts off, the Stark children are much younger than their on-screen counterparts. Bran was supposed to be seven, while the actor who played him (Isaac Hempstead Wright) was 12; Arya (played by Maisie Williams) went from nine to 13, while Sansa (Sophie Turner) went from eleven to 15 and Rickon (Art Parkinson) from three to six. In perhaps the most, ahem, stark difference, if Game of Thrones had stayed completely true to its source material, Robb Stark (Richard Madden) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) would have been only 15 and 14 years old, respectively.

14. GEORGE R.R. MARTIN MADE THE SHOWRUNNERS GUESS WHO JON SNOW’S MOTHER.

Before he’d bestow his blessing on Weiss and Benioff, Martin asked the two wannabe showrunners the question that has spurred thousands upon thousands of words of fan speculation: “Who is Jon Snow’s real mother?” “It was very much like a test question,” Benioff admitted. “Basically, it was like: ‘Guess. I want your guess to be intelligent and I want it to be based in the facts of the world,’” Weiss added. “We had already discussed it. We’d had like a two-hour conversation about it. It was pretty well-trammeled territory for us.”

15. ONE ACTOR HAS PLAYED FOUR CHARACTERS.

British actor and stunt performer Ian Whyte has played a grand total of four roles on Game of Thrones. In seasons one and two he was a White Walker; also in season two, he played Gregor Clegane (one of three actors to play the role); season three saw him as an unnamed giant; in season five he played the Wildling giant Wun Wun.

16. RAMSAY SNOW ALMOST PLAYED JON SNOW.

Iwan Rheon was the runner-up to play Jon Snow. The role went to Kit Harington, and Rheon went on to play Roose Bolton’s sadistic bastard son, Ramsay, instead.

17. IT’S BEEN THE MOST ILLEGALLY DOWNLOADED SHOW FOR FOUR YEARS RUNNING.

According to TorrentFreak, Game of Thrones was the most pirated show of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2015 it had more than twice the illegal downloads of the second most pirated show, The Walking Dead.

18. IT HAS AN OFFICIAL COMPANION RAP ALBUM.

In 2014, HBO put out an official Game of Thrones-themed rap album called “Catch the Throne,” which they released for free via SoundCloud. They did it again in 2015, before the show’s fifth season (though volume two contained some heavy metal tracks). Contributors include Method Man (“The Oath”), Snoop Dogg (“Lannister’s Anthem”), Big Boi (“Mother of Dragons”), Talib Kweli (“Lord of the Light”), and Anthrax (“Soror Irrumator”).

19. SEAN BEAN HAD SOME FUN WITH HIS OWN DECAPITATED HEAD.

In a Reddit AMA, Ned Stark actor Sean Bean recalled that, while on-set, he kicked the model of his character’s decapitated head around “like a football.”

20. THE SHOWRUNNERS KNOW HOW THE BOOKS WILL END.

Martin has told Weiss and Benioff the “broad strokes” of how the series will end. “Last year we went out to Santa Fe for a week to sit down with [Martin] and just talk through where things are going, because we don’t know if we are going to catch up and where exactly that would be,” Benioff told Vanity Fair. “If you know the ending, then you can lay the groundwork for it. And so we want to know how everything ends. We want to be able to set things up. So we just sat down with him and literally went through every character.”