15 Trivia Tidbits for Saturday, August 24, 2024
One problem with standardized tests is schools sometimes “teach to the test,” which means they train students on how to answer these tests rather than truly educating them. Instead, what schools should do is teach 15 random facts that will inform and entertain us all. Facts about Coca-Cola’s fumbles perhaps, or maybe some facts about what you can do with a bear. They might even teach about to make money off of death.
Return Policy
A store in Syracuse was a bit surprised in 2013 when a man stole $500 worth of clothes by just walking out with them while talking on his phone. They were even more surprised when he came back 45 minutes later, to apply for a job.
Multitasking
Be careful when chewing gum. In 2012, a woman in Romania fell down her apartment stairs while chewing gum, and though the fall didn’t kill her, choking on the gum did.
Random Slur Generator
Vitaminwater, made by Coca-Cola, ran a promotion in 2013, where they stuck a random French word and a random English word under each bottle cap. One customer was displeased to find the word “retard” (French for “late”) on the cap, especially because it was placed after the word “you.”
Bunch of Pawns
During World War II, the military censored images of chessboards in soldiers’ mail, just in case they were using these to transmit enemy positions. Chess fans argue that getting someone who knows chess to glance and see the game’s legit would have taken less effort.
The Texas Star
A mushroom called the devil’s cigar exists in two places: Texas and Japan. It grows nowhere else on Earth, and scientists don’t know how this happened. It can’t be because some human traveled from one of those places to another because it’s been in both those places for 19 million years.
Still, Born
An Argentinian hospital declared a baby to be stillborn in 2012 and sent it to the morgue, saying the parents could view it in a coffin. The parents insisted on opening the coffin and discovered it was alive. The baby wound up totally stable.
Fuzzy Fozzie
For hundreds of years, balding men would rub themselves with bear’s grease — a preparation made from the fat of a bear — in hopes of staving off hair loss. Bears happened to be difficult to catch and process, so shady dealers would often substitute pig grease instead but label it as the real thing.
Can’t Liiiiiiiive
The song “Without You” is a pop ballad that’s been recorded by Mariah Carey, Harry Nilsson and almost 200 other artists. People forget that the original version of the song, by the Welsh group Badfinger, was a rock song.
Shot Caller
In 1974, NBA star Pete Maravich said, “I don’t want to play 10 years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at age 40.” In the end, he played 10 years in the NBA and died of a heart attack at age 40.
Useless Kids
Many parents paint their nurseries in pink or baby blue. But a newborn baby can’t perceive either of those colors. They can only see high-contrast colors. If you really want to make sure they can see something, make sure it’s black-and-white.
Bring in Your Dead
There’s money to be made by collecting bodies that you find in China’s Yellow River. So many corpses end up there that you’re bound to find one sooner or later, and the deceased’s relatives may pay $500 to have it returned to them.
All-Natural?
GHB, of course, is a drug that criminals may use to spike drinks. But the substance also exists naturally in some wines, as well as in soy sauce and coffee.
Prison Break
In 2017, a group of Georgia prison inmates were working in a cemetery when the deputy watching over them collapsed. The inmates called 9-1-1 and tried giving him medical attention, and in return for saving his life, they scored reduced sentences.
Thick and Thin
Dozens of miners got trapped in a Chilean mine in 2010, and it took two months to rescue them. One emerged and was surprised to see not his wife waiting but his mistress. She’d come forward after hearing of his plight, and his wife stayed home after learning the truth.
The Toddlers’ Truce
From 1946 to 1957, the U.K. had a rule: TV broadcasters had to go dark between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. This gave parents one television-free hour, which they could spend putting their young children to bed.