Billy goats have struck mortal fear deep in the heart of an inveterate Cubs fan since 1945, after Chicago tavern owner Bill "Billy Goat" Sianis pronounced a curse on the club on October 6 of that year -- just a month after the end of World War II.

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Textbooks in evolutionary psychology have proposed the hypothesis that the fear of spiders is an adaptation shaped by the mortal threat posed by their bites.

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"I still have mortal fear of banks, " said Ms. Chikotsa, who sells used clothing at a market in Harare's impoverished Mbare district.

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