12 Trivia Tidbits for Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Ohio cop Joseph Hughes was caught with a bunch of stolen items in his home in 2011. His defense? “It’s going to sound kind of ridiculous, but we believed that there was some kind of paranormal presence in the basement.”

El Colacho is a tradition dating back to the 17th century. Babies are laid down on mattresses, and adults dressed as devils jump over them, cleansing them of any sins they may have amassed in the first few months of their lives.

Japanese record exec Shin Miyata saw the popularity of cholo culture in the United States and, knowing how niche music scenes can often find a foothold in Japan, created a record label called Barrio Gold, helping the genre and culture take off in his country as well.

Authorities were called to investigate a body floating in the ocean off the coast of Old Portsmouth, England in 2012. Police quickly figured out what it really was, and who it belonged to. A woman reported that her E.T. replica (and some jewelry) had been robbed a year earlier.

The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama is kind of a thrift store where airlines will send checked items that have gone unclaimed. People have reportedly found everything from Egyptian artifacts to official government documents there.

The real-life Herman Boone, celebrated for helping a football team (and America) heal itself of racism or whatever, was given the boot eight years after the film takes place, due to allegations of physical and verbal abuse.

Robert E. Lee had evidently signed an “Oath of Allegiance” to America in 1865. But we just kind of lost it, until 1970. One year after pardoning Richard Nixon in 1974, Gerald Ford signed the official repatriation of Lee, saying: “General Lee’s character has been an example to succeeding generations, making the restoration of his citizenship an event in which every American can take pride.” Thanks man, I feel great!

The Day the Clown Cried was long considered lost media, but Lewis finally turned over a copy to the Library of Congress in 2015. It had garnered such a controversial reputation that he stipulated it couldn’t be made public until June 2024. The film stars Lewis as a clown who gets on Hitler’s bad side, and is then forced to lead children into gas chambers. You can understand why he didn’t want people to watch it until he was dead.

Back in the heyday of traveling circuses, the workers and talent would have a few months off in the winter, and it could be tough to find a town that would accommodate part-time residents. Gibsonton, Florida welcomed them with open arms, however, rewriting zoning laws to allow for exotic animals, and adjusting public infrastructure for folks with unusual body dimensions.

Scientists have found that a particular bacteria, Pseudomonas putida, thrives on nicotine. One idea that’s been proposed is injecting it into the bloodstream, so that any nicotine will be eaten by bacteria before it hits the brain.

In 2002, a cabal of thieves rented out a storefront near Paraguay’s National Museum of Fine Arts leading up to a gigantic, highly publicized exhibit. They spent two months digging a tunnel from their store to the museum, and stole about $1 million worth of paintings. The perpetrators have never been found.

Cows in Africa are easy targets for wild lions, which means farmers often find themselves having to shoot lions that attack their herds. But they eventually figured out a non-violent way to drastically cut down on lion deaths: by painting big eyes on the backs of their cows, the lions believe they’ve lost the element of surprise, and are far less likely to attack.