About 50 miles outside downtown Atlanta lies Lake Lanier. This artificial reservoir spans 59 square miles and boasts an impressive 692 miles of shoreline. For years people from all around Georgia have journeyed to the lake to escape the heat and enjoy all the trappings of lake life. Unfortunately, many of those who made this trip never returned. Since the lake's opening to recreation, well over 500 people (more than 700 according to some sources) have lost their lives in boating accidents and drownings on Lake Lanier. The shocking amount of deaths at the lake, coupled with its eerie history, have left many asking, is Lake Lanier haunted? Well, it kind of seems like it. This is the story of the deadly Lake Lanier.

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Freeway Rick Ross built an empire of drug dealing and real estate in the mid-'80s. His reputation was stout, but he knew what he was doing and evaded legal trouble for years. His ability to stay one step ahead of law enforcement put him in a position to amass an estimated $900 million, all while hiding his nefarious activities from his mother. Unfortunately for Ross, one misstep cost him everything. This is the story of Freeway Rick Ross, and no, he's not the rapper.

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Tesla held its special AI day yesterday and showcased all kinds of incredible new technologies in its autonomous vehicles. Then at the end of their conference, something strange happened. First, a video rolled on the screen showcasing what looked like a new robot design. Then as the lights came up, a robot came walking across the stage. Tesla quickly showed the live robot to be nothing more than a joke, but Elon Musk then gave a ten-minute presentation about their newest project Tesla Bot. The new robot, codenamed Project Optimus, is driven by AI technology and will theoretically do repetitive, boring, or dangerous tasks for humanity.

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Every nation in the world has had its fair share of embarrassing moments. But only one has lost a war to flightless birds. In 1932, the Australian military sent a small group of soldiers to the outback to rid the area of emus who were destroying local crops. The Australian government didn't expect the decision to lead to The Great Emu War. However, these emus were ready for the battle and exhibited unified tactics and resilience, unlike anything the Australian forces had ever seen. This is the story of a war that Australia wishes it could stamp out from history. This is the great emu war.

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Every Presidential candidate makes promises throughout their campaign to sway voters to earn their spot as president. For many candidates, only a few of these promises come to fruition. Other promises haunt them throughout their presidency. These promises present challenges for the White House in a few unique scenarios long after the president who made them is gone. That is exactly what happened when Jimmy Carter promised to spur the economy for dairy farmers. This is a story of government employees traveling the country tasting cheese, warehouses full of cheese stacked to the ceiling, and the government's hurried effort to get rid of its cheese through the Government Cheese program. This one sounds like a joke, but we promise it's a true story.

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Few things are more dangerous than extended distance flights. Yet, occasionally, brave pilots will attempt to fly extreme distances in one go. A single flight around the world is dangerous business. A flight around the world is child's play compared to flying around for 8 years, straight, with nuclear bombs on board. That is exactly what the United States Military did from 1960 to 1968. It was the height of the cold war, and fear of the looming nuclear apocalypse birthed one of the most ambitious defense strategies ever composed. Operation Chrome Dome put a handful of pilots in the sky 24/7 for 8 years straight while carrying a nuclear payload, just in case. Needless to say, this was incredibly dangerous and nearly ended in disaster multiple times. With a name like Chrome Dome, you know this is a wild story

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At this point, we are all familiar with the Fyre Festival disaster. The Netflix and Hulu documentaries about the absolute failure of a concert captured the American youth. However, Fyre Fest was not the first music festival to crash and burn. In fact, it's quite common for music festivals to end in disaster. Whether it be due to the kind of crowd music festivals attract, or the kind of people who are crazy enough to plan these events, or a fundamental flaw with the concept, they always seem to scrape right along the lines of disaster. As wild as Fyre Festival was, though, it's nothing compared to the Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival, AKA Bull Island.

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You have to be a pretty crazy person to assassinate a United States President. But, for Charles J Guiteau, the man who assassinated the 20th President James A. Garfield, the assassination of the president was the least crazy thing he ever did. From a shady political career to cult ties to ax-wielding outbursts, Charles J Guiteau was certainly unhinged. He was so insane that his lawyers made the first-ever insanity plea while representing him in court following his assassination of President Garfield. This is the story of the absolutely crazy life that Charles J Guiteau lived.

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In 1877 Alexander Graham Bell founded the Bell Telephone Company. It was the world's first telephone company and would one day become AT&T. Even though Alexander Graham Bell sold his ownership stake in the company after just a couple of years with the company, AT&T would become the largest telephone company in the company the world. In fact, AT&T grew so large that the United States government spent well over 50 years trying to break up what they believed was a monopoly. They succeeded in their goal. However, 35 years after the break up almost all of the subsidiaries have reunited to rebuild the monopoly of old. AT&T is now almost as big, if not bigger than it was before the monopoly was broken up. This is the story of how AT&T became a monopoly, twice.

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Fans of the Things I Learned Last Night podcast know that the United States has made some missteps over the years. However, everything we've discussed pales in comparison to the colossal failure that is the Salton Sea, California. This story has everything; capitalism, floods of biblical proportion, tourist traps, environmental disasters, and nuclear bombs. Yeah, of course, there are nukes in this story. Why not? We can't even begin to overplay how unreal every step in this strange lake's journey truly is. This is the bizarre tale of the incredible Salton Sea.

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