Mathematics
The Poisson Distribution and Modeling Rare Events
Quick fact
The Poisson distribution was introduced by Siméon Denis Poisson in 1837, but it became famous in 1898 when Ladislaus Bortkiewicz used it to model the number of Prussian soldiers killed by horse kicks each year!
Why this is interesting
You've probably wondered why some days you get three phone calls in five minutes, and other days none at all. What if you could predict exactly how likely that is?