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A trivial pursuit on your quizzical quest!

30 Thrice-Distilled Bits of Trivia That Have Been Aged to Perfection

December 22, 2023

Can we ask you something? In the battleground that is pub trivia night, do you want to be the one with wrong answers? Will you be able to look at your trivia teammates with any shred of dignity after not knowing the length of the longest ever Senate filibuster? Thankfully, because of this list, that day will never come.

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30

The conviction of the last man sentenced to death in the UK was quashed in 2012. It had already been commuted to life imprisonment - and, 39 years after he was granted that, Liam Holden successfully appealed. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

The price of a ticket on the Titanic was absolutely, totally exorbitant. They cost about $100,000 in current dollars, so it's pretty clear why the boat was filled with the super-rich - nobody else could afford suites or cabins. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

The Beatles' last live concert, in 1966, had thousands of unsold seats. Only 25,000 out of 42,500 tickets were sold - nobody knew it would be their last concert (besides their unannounced 1969 rooftop performance). CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Shrek almost didn't feature Princess Fiona changing shape or anything. The studio rejected the idea of a shape-shifting princess, but when the writers rephrased that to an enchanted princess, everything was 100% fine. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

About 80% of the original Ghostbusters' dialogue was pure improv. START The rest was just structure and exposition, said Dan Aykroyd. That might have been partly due to the tight deadline - they had only 13 months. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

To get ready for Wolverine, Hugh Jackman followed a routine for 5 months. In that time, he'd follow a strict workout regimen and diet plan for 6 days a week- and he was already in great shape after Les Misérables. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

The hardest plot point in Breaking Bad's final season was the machine gun. They put it in a teaser, and Vince Gilligan thought they'd figure out how to weave it in-but it was so hard, he literally pounded his head on the wall. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Weed smokers in the 1930s were called muggle-heads. CRACKED.COM Its leaves can be dried, ground and rolled into cig- arets , which are boot- legged under the name of 'muggles,' 'reefers,' or 'Mary Warners, according to a Time article from the period. — Source

22

During the Great Famine, Ireland continued to export enormous quantities of food to England. GRACKED GOM This kept food prices far too high for the average Irish peasant to afford and was a major con- tributing factor in the large death toll from the famine. — Source

21

Venus flytraps were once thought to have been brought to Earth by meteors. CRACKED.COM Venus flytraps were believed to be an alien species because they seemed to grow in places where meteor- ites were found. — Source

20

Antarctic Medicine

A doctor in the South Pole biopsied and treated her own breast cancer. GRAGKED.COM In complete darkness, medical equipment had to be airdropped from mili- tary aircraft to Dr. Jerri Nielsen during the over- winter period when the crew is normally isolated from the outside world. — Source

19

Edward Briney booby-trapped his farmhouse which resulted in a burglar's legs being shot with a shotgun. CRACKED COM The burglar sued him and won. Later, when asked if he would do anything different, Ed- ward Briney stated I'd have aimed that gun a few feet higher. — Source

18

93% of Indians work in informal, off-the-books jobs, and get paid in cash. CRACKED.COM Most transactions en- tail personalized re- lationships rather than standardized forms of legal con- tract or corporate in- stitutions. — Source

17

Mia Wallace from 'Pulp Fiction' is, technically, a Disney princess. CRACKED.COM Miramax was owned by Disney from 1993 to 2005, which means that the film was, in a way, a Dis- ney movie. — Source

16

The experiment that ultimately became the basis for cochlear implants involves a cat hooked up to a phone. CRACKED.COM In 1929, Princeton re- searchers opened a cat's skull and connected its au- ditory nerve to a tele- phone. When one re- searcher spoke in the cat's ear, the other could hear it through the receiver. — Source

15

In the Soviet Union, it was common for people to take their windshield wipers with them when they parked. CRACKED COM Otherwise there was a chance of them be- ing stolen because there were severe shortages of auto parts in the USSR. — Source

14

Frame Tinting

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects Frame tinting 1903 The Great Train Robbery would tint three frames of film red as a gun was fired, to give the blast a visual pop. This was later used by Hitchcock in 1945's Spellbound. CRACKED — Source

13

Film Firsts

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The earliest known 1902 color film footage British inventors Edward Turner and Frederick Lee produced color motion picture tests of Turner's children playing. Не died before perfecting it, but his work led to Kinemacolor in 1906 (the world's first motion picture in natural colors.) CRACKED — Source

12

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first use of miniatures 1899 In the 1899 short film The Windsor Hotel Fire by Albert E. Smith and J. Stewart Blackton, tiny victims fell from miniature cardboard buildings while squirt guns were used as fire hoses. CRACKED — Source

11

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects 1899-1909 Georges Méliès: The father of FX The world's most well-known filmmaker at the time, he was the first to experiment with exposure, split screen, dissolve, superimposition, and reverse shots. Effects in his 1902 film A Trip to the Moon are big bang moments in modern cinema. CRACKED — Source

10

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first-ever special effect 1895 Shot at Edison Labs in New Jersey, 1895's Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots was the first film to use a visual effect. They used stop- action for her beheading, and since no one had ever seen special effects, viewers thought they actually killed the actress. CRACKED — Source

9

Trollitical History Julius Malema's egg-throwing in parliament In 2015, South African politician Julius Malema and his EFF group caused some chaos when they disrupted the opening of the country's parliament by throwing eggs. CRACKED — Source

8

Trollitical History Lyndon В. Johnson's oddly racist snake prank In the late 1940s, then-Congressman LBJ used to pull a prank on black gas station attendants by driving up with a snake in his trunk. One time, it almost got him beaten with a tire iron. CRACKED — Source

7

Trollitical History Strom Thurmond's record filibuster Sen. Thurmond of South Carolina set a record in 1957 for the longest filibuster ever, lasting 24 hours and 18 minutes. His staff put a bucket in the cloakroom so he could pee while still keeping one foot on the Senate floor. CRACKED — Source

6

Trollitical History Ukraine's Darth Vader cosplayer In October 2014, Darth Vader, a candidate in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, was not allowed to vote because he wouldn't take off his mask. Не was a guy formerly known as Viktor Shevchenko, who said he was a serious politician. CRACKED — Source

5

Trollitical History ATTESTATION PAPEI CANADIAN OVER-SEAS EXPEDITIONARY QUESTIONS TO BE PUT BEFORE ATTES Howlett . What la your Janes la What are your Christian Not applicable 1h a What is your present address? To what Times, Youndaip or Parish and . Cold Lake. Alta what Country - you born? that de Not applicable On - of your That ي the adidas of pour anst-ofikin Net applicable not applicable .. What - the relationably of pour When . the date of your birth ? April 5. 1882 What la your Trade or Calling? Woodaman No. Any you morried Am you willing Do — Source

4

CRACKED V RNE VULGARITY HISTORY The most curse words in a movie The honor usually goes to The Wolf of Wall Street because of its popularity in the U.S. But its 715 curse words (569 F- bombs) is overshadowed by 935 F-bombs in the 2014 Canadian film Swearnet. — Source

3

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first F-word in film The 1967 British film Ulysses was released in the U.K. and the U.S. Actress Barbara Jefford (who plays Molly Bloom) says, O Lord, I wanted to shout out all sorts of things, f*** or sh** or anything at all only not to look ugly... — Source

2

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first audible curse words in film The 1929 Paramount film Glorifying the American Girl has the first curse words in cinema history. They say damn six times, and jackass twice. — Source

1

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY The first TV show with a warning label In 1975, because of controversial characters like prostitutes, illegal immigrants, and one of the first gay couples on TV, the Norman Lear show Hot I Baltimore was the first TV show to be slapped with a warning label before each episode. — Source

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