Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 22
November 7, 2022
Today I Learned …
A bonsai tree survived the atomic bomb that devastated the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 — even though it stood less than two miles from ground zero. First planted in 1625, the ornamental white pine was presented to the American people in 1976 as a gift for the Bicentennial celebrations. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
October 31, 2022
Today I Learned …
On Friday June 13, 2014, miners in Russia’s Irkutsk region found a nugget of gold that they nicknamed “the devil’s ear” because of its shape. When weighed, the nugget tipped the scales at 6,664 grams — handily incorporating the “devil’s number” of 666. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
October 24, 2022
Today I Learned …
The Romanian village of Costesti is home to strange rocks called trovants that can balloon 1000 times in size when it rains. Trovants are balls of sand that appeared on Earth following powerful earthquakes six million years ago. They grow when they come into contact with water. Stones as small as .03 inches can swell up to 26 feet across. Scientists believe that beneath their outer shell, the stones have a high mineral content, and when the surface gets wet, the minerals spread and the sand expands. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
October 17, 2022
Today I Learned …
Parents in Japan will often warn their children to cover their tummies during a thunderstorm. Local superstition holds that Raijin, the god of thunder and lightning, likes to eat children’s bellybuttons. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
October 10, 2022
Today I Learned …
Togbe Ngoryifia runs a car repair garage in Frankfurt, Germany, but is also an African king with 200,000 subjects whom he rules via Skype. He became King Banash of the Hohoe people in southeast Ghana in 1987, after being named as the successor to his grandfather’s throne. His father and older brother were not permitted to rule because they are left-handed, a sign of dishonesty among the Hohoe. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
October 7, 2022
Lights Out: Robinson Cemetery
Here’s another episode of Lights Out for your listening pleasure! Let’s take a wander through the woods on a crisp fall evening, and see what the spirits have to say. https://youtu.be/FeaFXKEdTHk
October 5, 2022
Grave Deeds and Dead Plots is on the air!
Ron’s Amazing Stories. On the podcast this week we will have a special Ghost Stories With Sylvia. Sylvia and I will be discussing her brand new book Grave Deeds and Dead Plots. It is the first volume of an exciting new series. These collections of ghost stories feature spine-tingling tales of true crime … with ghosts added. Each story is a tale of murder, passion, or cold-blooded killing—and each case has resulted in an eerie haunting. I have had the chance to read this book and I can tell you there are stories that will blow your mind. Did you think that you knew it all about the Hamilton and Burr conflict? Sylvia tells a whole new chapter of that amazing saga. Or how about the early days of Abraham Lincoln and his encounter with cold blooded killer Isaac Wyatt. You might want to leave the lights on for the story at The Haunted Crossroads where Tom Otter meets his maker in a most hideous way. These are just a few of 30 stories found in Sylvia’s new work.This book reads like a dream and you can binge it or enjoy it at your leisure. Sylvia has taken the time to fully research each story and gives you the facts. But not in a cold dry manner. No, each story is told with passion and you will feel it deep in your bones.So on the podcast this week we will talk about this amazing book. You can listen to us, this Thursday, at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from Apple Podcasts, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link
Grave Deeds and Dead Plots:You can find the book on Amazon, of course, but you might also want to try Bookshop.org. When you order from Bookshop.org, part of your money goes to support independent bookstores, which is amazing.
October 3, 2022
Today I Learned …
A gargoyle that was added to the 13th century Paisley Abbey in Scotland in the 1990s looks just like the monster from the movie Alien. And Washington National Cathedral has a gargoyle of Darth Vader on its northwest tower. It’s called the Vader Grotesque. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
September 29, 2022
Make Every Day Spooky!
The 2023 Days of the Dead calendars are HERE! Just $15, and that covers postage to send it straight to your doorstep. The calendars are a generous 8 1/2 by 11, with plenty of room to write in coming events: dentist’s appointments, frat parties, fun things like that. To order, simply click on the Contact Me link at the top of the page. Thanks, and make every day spooky!
September 26, 2022
Today I Learned …
The first and last British soldiers to die in World War I, Private John Parr and Private George Ellison, are both buried in St. Symphorien Cemetery in France, and face each other only yards apart. (From Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
