fascinating

If you go back far enough in your genealogy, chances are there are a few interesting stories that are worthy of being shared with family members, friends - or even Twitter. Yesterday, we were hit with the motherlode of ancestral anecdotes on the Bird App, thanks to Jamie Schler. In a viral tweet, the writer asked her fellow Twitter users to share their odd and cool tidbits of genealogical lore. And boy did the people deliver. The tales span centuries, from the Revolutionary War all the way to the misguided war in Vietnam. While they vary in tone (sad, funny, haunting), the stories share a common thread: being cool as hell. We've put a few of our favorite of the Twitter tales in this gallery, but you can take in a lot more fascinating tweets in the thread.

We love nerding out over history pics and trivia tidbits. If you're also into that kind of thing, then you'll definitely love these photos that show different angles of well-known historical events that you almost certainly haven't seen before.

Go check out Life in Moments on Twitter for more fascinating pics from history!

The Jewish tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas is well-documented in the media, but have you ever wondered how that started? Well, it's a lot more than a trope. Twitter user @kehillahjewess composed a brilliant thread to demystify the holiday ritual on Christmas Eve, and the historical roots are pretty damn fascinating. Turns out the stereotype goes way deeper than the simple fact that Chinese restaurants are some of the only businesses open on the Christian holiday. 

There isn't really a point to these optical illusion pics - they're just cool as hell and they'll give you a temporary distraction from everything happening in the world right now. Click here for some equally tricky pics of things that look like human faces!

These are incredibly strange times we're living in, and some of us are coping with being quarantined indefinitely better than others. This Twitter thread, written by Alexis Rockley, explains why you've been feeling rather off during this whole thing, but you just haven't been able to put your finger on why. We hope it'll shed a bit of insight into your own life. And always remember, it's important to be thankful for what you do have right now - trust us, it'll help.

Check out some mental health memes here.

If you didn't have an interest in traveling to Japan before, you definitely will after browsing through these fascinating pics!

As laypeople, we have the tendency to put brilliant artists on a pedestal, forgetting that they too are human just like us. However, more often than not they face the same sorts of adversities as the rest of us would, and sometimes making it big just comes down to sheer luck.

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was certainly of no exception, as this fascinating Twitter thread written by classical pianist doodlyroses will explain. It may be long, but trust us when we say that it's completely worth the read.

If you're a history nerd then you're definitely going to go nuts over these pics that document little-known events from modern history. And of course, if you'd like to see even more, check out Twitter account History in Snaps!

When you start thinking about your life in the grand scheme of things, nothing truly matters because we're all just tiny specks of dust existing on a stupid little rock that's floating in circles around a slightly bigger rock that happens to be on fire. Anyway, ignore that existential bit and enjoy some fascinating nerdy facts about space!