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They say it’s all about the journey, not the destination. Unless the destination has facts!

33 Bits of Trivia We Found Written on Sold Parchment That Was Rolled Up Inside a Glass Bottle Bobbing in the Ocean

December 17, 2023

Welcome to day one of your intellectual journey. Like every other journey, we ask that you stop to take a look around. Soak in the facts, and don’t be so hasty to move on to the next one. The destination will come. In this case, the destination is knowing everything there is to know in the universe. You’ll get there one day. So stop and smell the facts along the way.

33

CLEOPATRA LIVED CLOSER TO MYSPACE THAN THE BUILDING OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS the BEACH WESTDOE LINDY SOUTH the AX VILA SHIRE &# RAL bolist by The pyramids were done being built around 2504 ВС. Cleopatra was born in 69 ВС and lived until 31 вс, making her closer to the 2003 debut of the Tom's site than that of the Pyramids. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

THE SPHINX WAS BUILT AROUND THE SAME TIME AS STONEHENGE The Great Sphinx is thought to, at latest, have been built in 2500 вс, around the same time as Stonehenge. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Hieroglyphics

ARABIC SCHOLARS CRACKED HIEROGLYPHICS 1000 YEARS BEFORE WESTERN SCHOLARS Arabic scholars diciphered hieroglyphics in the ninth century AD, almost a thousand years before Jean-Francois Champollion in 1822. It only took Western academics until 2004 (another thousand years) to realize this. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Time Spans

WE ARE AS FAR FROM THE BEGINNING OF ANCIENT EGYPT AS THEY WERE TO THE EARLIEST PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS Ancient Egypt started around 3100 вс. Compare that to around 6500 вс, during the Neolithic period when people were beginning to settle in the Nile Valley, using domesticated animals and plants. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Ancient Toothpaste

ANCIENT EGYPTIANS INVENTED TOOTHPASTE OVER 6000 YEARS BEFORE IT WAS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE The original toothpaste was made of powdered ashes from ох hooves, myrrh, egg shells, pumice, and water. Mmm, tasty. It was thought to be created between 5000 and 3000 вс. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

WEIRD WORLD In Hawaii, a stream suddenly started smelling like the inside of a pub. The distinctive aroma of beer was ultimately traced to a spill at a local beverage company's warehouse. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

WEIRD WORLD In Florida, a 9-year-old succesfully protected her mom from a would-be thief. The woman was grocery shopping when someone came up and tried to steal her purse, but her daughter punched him in the head several times. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

WEIRD WORLD Apparently, a woman managed to swallow an Airpod instead of a painkiller. It happened when she was getting into bed with an Airpod in one hand an ibuprofen in another (and she claims she recorded her own stomach). CRACKED.COM — Source

25

WEIRD WORLD 80 people swarmed into a Nordstrom in California, swiped stuff, then left. NORDSTROM It was basically a flash mob robbery - they showed up, took whatever they could, then got into their cars and left. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Heists

WEIRD WORLD The filming of a heist movie in Winnipeg was delayed by a real-life heist. andre Canon XF300 Before shooting could start, all the crew's equipment was taken. The irony is not lost on us, said the director. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Perhaps the Vapes Were in Their Hearts All Along

WEIRD WORLD In a Montreal school, staff stripped students all the way down to their underwear. AUF CUR It was a truly ridiculous attempt at searching them for vaping products. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

WEIRD WORLD You can now watch a TikTopera based on Tiger King, if you want to. It's an actual opera that consists of 60-second TikToks, and the English National Opera provided the music. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

WEIRD WORLD Iran prohibited a scene with a doll eating a cucumber on a children's show. Apparently, it was considered too sexy - for similar reasons, they said a man accepted a flower on-screen in a way that was inappropriate and erotic. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

As a punishment, the state of Ohio requires DUI (driving under the influence) offenders to use a unique, bright yellow license plate. OHIO CRACKED.COM — Source

19

"Hydro"

In Canada electricity is commonly known as Hydro. GRACKED COM — Source

18

McDonald’s

The French eat burgers with a knife and a fork. That's why the French McDonald's started giving out cutlery with the more expensive orders. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Australia

CRACKED.COM SWIMMERS TOGS BATHERS SWIMMING COSTUME SWIMMERSI COSSIES BATHING SUIT SWIMWEAR is called different things depending on which region you are in Australia. — Source

16

CRACKED.COM Louisiana is divided into counties, just like any other state. But they refer to them as PARISHES. The original borders were not marked very well. So they used CHURCHES as general guidelines. — Source

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15

In the north of England, the midday meal is called dinner, and the large 5 PM meal is called tea. The same meal is called tea here and dinner here. It's usually the biggest meal of the day and, yes, it's called just tea. And they don't call any meal lunch. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Instruck Lindau Reulit Oberstdorf Fütten Sonthafen Dy-Mittelberg THE When driving on the German Autobahn, make sure you don't run out of fuel. A fine is imposed if you abandon your vehicle after running out of gas. ? E F GRACKED.COM — Source

13

The first ever post on Reddit was a link to a story about the Downing Street memo. reddit REDDIT.COM comments other discussions (3) This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment. The Downing Street Memo (downingstreetmemo.com) 186 submitted 12 years ago by kn0thing x6 390 comments share save hide give gold report crosspost top 200 comments show all 390 It was posted in 2005 by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and it was downvoted by Steve Huffman, the site's other co-founder. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

THE FIRST MUSIC VIDEO RECORDED IN SPACE IS COMMANDER CHRIS HADFIELD'S COVER OF DAVID BOWIE'S SPACE ODDITY. It's also the first remote musical DAVID ВОШӀЕ Space collaboration from outside the Earth: Dadity the vocals and guitar were recorded on the International Space Station, the piano in Toronto, the track was produced in Los Angeles and posted on YouTube on May 12, 2013. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

The first ever LIVE STREAMING event was a performance by SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE in June 1993 CRACKED.COM — Source

10

The distinction of being the very first reality show goes to the 1973 PBS mini series An American Family. The show followed the Louds (a large middle class Californian family) which documented their divorce and featured their openly gay son - both rare on TV at that time. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

The New York Times

The first ever public online news repository was created by the New York Times-in 1973. The New York Times Information Bank: A User's Perspective The New York Times Information Bank, developed by the New York Times, is a computerized, interactive information storage and retrieval system designed to provide easy and efficient access to more than sixty differen current events publications. The Information Bank has been developed with the end user specifically in mind; every effort has been made to bridge th gap between the world of automated information systems and the student business executive, government official or other information seeker. — Source

8

The first use of a barcode to purchase an item happened in 1974. The item was a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum. WRIGLEY'S 5 STICKS ONLY JUICY FRUIT 25c CHEWING GUM GRACKED.COM — Source

7

The first item bought online was a CD of Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales, in August 1994. 100 1239 5179 1010 VISA WITH VISA STING The buyer used his Visa credit card and paid $12.48, plus shipping. CRACKED COM — Source

6

The first submarine dates way back to the 1620s and was made by Cornelius van Drebbel. Called the Drebbel I, it was basically an enclosed CRACKED COM rowboat and was proprelled just like one. — Source

5

The Civil War

The U.S. was still paying a Civil War pension in 2016. Irene Triplett in 2016 The sum was $73.13 per month, paid to one Irene Triplett (b. 1929), the daughter of a soldier who fought on both sides of the Civil War. When she was born, her father Mose was a spry 83. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Yuri Gagarin

The first man returning from space was met by potato farmers. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin parachuted from his space capsule down to the village of Saratov, and walked up (in his orange spacesuit) to a woman farming potatoes with her granddaughter. They freaked out the moment they saw him, then he calmly told them who he was. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Hurricane Katrina flung over a thousand coffins all around New Orleans. Even worse, many were ripped open, which scattered the remains inside. A lot of the coffins ended up in remote or inaccessible spots, like swamp and forest areas (some got stuck in trees). People are still searching for and identifying the remains. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

The team searching for the Challenger's wreckage found cocaine worth millions. Experts spent nine weeks scanning 420 square miles of ocean with sonar. They found ordinary trash, a refrigerator, half of a torpedo, eight shipwrecks, and more. Oh, and a duffel bag with 25 kilos of cocaine (that came from who knows where), worth about $13 million. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

King George V's time of death was chosen for its PR value. When George lay dying in 1936, the royal family wanted the morning journals, not the lower-class evening ones, to announce his death. So he got a lethal dose of morphine and cocaine at 11:55 p.m. on January 19. Не apparently wasn't asked, and probably wouldn't have approved. CRACKED COM — Source

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