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34 Bits of Trivia That You’re Converting From 0s and 1s Into Newly Forged Neural Pathways at This Very Moment

Beefing up that brain of yours one fact at a time

34 Bits of Trivia That You’re Converting From 0s and 1s Into Newly Forged Neural Pathways at This Very Moment

December 23, 2023

Ah, facts. The single bicep curl on the knowledge bicep. If that sounded weird, it’s probably because we’ve never worked out a day in our lives. We have done some serious fact-digging though. It may not involve shovels, dirt or muscles, but it kinda sounds like real work is being done. And isn’t that what life’s all about?!

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34

American Gothic actually depicts a farmer and his daughter, not his wife. Artist Grant Wood considered an affectionate portrait of Midwestern people, which is kind of weird considering the subjects look pretty grim. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla not only knew each other, but were friends. Mark Twain had been fascinated by electricity for years, and became friends with Tesla in the 1890s. Не even participated in Tesla's experiments. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

There's a forgotten experimental hovertrain rotting in Pueblo, Colorado. It was a collaboration between NASA, MIT, Princeton, and the Grumman Aerospace Corporation, but the money ran out in 1975, so they just abandoned the prototype. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Picasso used his daughter's actual poop to create some of his works of art. It was a family secret until Picasso's granddaughter revealed it, and it's not clear how often he used the poop. But it showed up at least in a 1938 still life. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

There's a permanent vortex constantly swirling over the South Pole of Venus. It rotates incredibly quickly - once every 44 hours. Which isn't so unusual, since Venus' atmosphere rotates 60 times faster than Venus. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Oasis CRACKED COM FIRST SHOW: Noel Gallagher watched the first Oasis show from the sidelines s - and thought they sucked. But he saw an opportunity to weasel into his brother's project and play some stuff he'd been working on solo. — Source

28

The Beatles CRACKED.COM FIRST SHOW: George Harrison was almost booted from the venue for breaking the dress code... the foppish bloke wore jeans. — Source

27

Def Leppard CRACKED.COM FIRST SHOW: Joe Elliot says guitarist Steve Clark forgot to plug in his amp and blew his first badass rockstar moment: Не did his windmill arm motion for the big opening chord and nothing happened. Everybody in the audience was laughing. — Source

26

Guns N' Roses CRACKED.COM FIRST SHOW: The boys kicked off their inaugural tour by... breaking down, hitchhiking for 40 hours, getting a pay cut for their first gig, and having the rest of their shows straight-up cancelled. — Source

25

Apple cider is called cider, but pear cider is actually just called perry. Well, it's the name of one type of pear cider - made from pears that grow on trees so tall you can't climb them, you have to wait for the pears to fall off. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

The University of Colorado dining hall is named after a legendary cannibal. Students voted for it to be named after Alferd Packer in 1967, and it still has that name. The slogan? Have a friend for lunch! CRACKED.COM — Source

23

On Venus, a day literally lasts longer than a year (not by a whole lot, though). Venus goes around the Sun in 225 Earth days, but it spins around its axis in 243 Earth days - so, a Venus day is 243 times longer than an Earth day. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

The liver is the only organ in your body that can really regenerate itself. Most organs replace damaged tissue with scar tissue, but the liver can create healthy new tissue - even if 50-60% of it is destroyed, it grows back. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Enya lives in an Irish castle that she moved into back in the late '90s. It's pretty small by castle standards, as it just has six bedrooms. She redid all of them, though, and added surveillance cameras (among other things). CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Hitler planned to rebuild Berlin after the war into a neo-roman cosmopolitan city. CRACKED.COM One state building, the Volkshalle was to be so massive, that it could rain inside during events due to the perspiration and breath from 150,000 ос- cupants. — Source

19

The producer of 2007's The Man From Earth thanks people for illegally downloading it. CRACKED.COM After the movie was ille- gally shared via BitTorrent, Eric D. Wilkinson publicly thanked the file sharers because it lifted the pro- file of the film far beyond the financier's expecta- tions. — Source

18

Doctors tried to treat fake wounds from a Goodfellas actor. CRACKED.COM While filming his death in 'Goodfellas,' Michael Im- perioli cut his hand on a glass and was taken to the ER where the doctors rushed to treat his fake bullet wounds. — Source

17

A NHL player refused to attend his own Hall of Fame ceremony because women weren't allowed. CRACKED.COM Ted Lindsay, one of the greatest players in NHL history, wouldn't show for the 1966 ceremony. The league changed the rules to allow women the fol- lowing year. — Source

16

Hydrangea flowers are a naturally occurring pH indicator and can change color depending on soil. GRACKED COM In acid soils, chemical re- actions occur in the soil that turns the flowers blue. In alkaline soils, these reactions cannot occur causing the flowers to remain pink. — Source

15

Star Trek's Captain Kirk was named after the explorer of the Pacific, Captain Cook. CRACKED.COM The title of the pilot epi- sode was an homage to one of Cook's diary en- tries: ambition leads me ... farther than any other man has been be- fore me. — Source

14

The Pope in 1950 did not reject the theory of evolution. CRACKED.COM Pope Pius XII confirmed there was no conflict be- tween Christianity and the theory of evolution, and the Church supports the idea of theistic evo- lution. — Source

13

Ferdinand Magellan didn't actually circumnavigate the globe. CRACKED.COM Не was killed by a poi- soned arrow in the Philip- pines, and under the leadership of Juan Sebas- tian de Elcano, his expe- dition completed the trip without him. — Source

12

A condemned ship filled with animals sailed over Niagara Falls as part of a tourism stunt. CRACKED.COM In 1827, William Forsyth, an investor in the Falls, con- cocted the idea to draw in more tourism. The ship held Buffalo, bears, rac- coons, a dog, and a goose. 10,000 people watched it sail over the edge. — Source

11

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

10

Historical Pranks HARVESTING SPAGHETTI FROM TREES On April 1, 1957, the BBC broadcast a two-and-a- half-minute prank about spaghetti trees. This involved people hanging 20 pounds of uncooked homemade spaghetti from the branches of laurel trees, and then pretending to harvest it. CRACKED — Source

9

Historical Pranks HUNTER S. THOMPSON TORMENTING JACK NICHOLSON For his friend Jack Nicholson's birthday, Hunter S. Thompson shined a super bright light at the windows of his house, blasted loud noises of pigs screaming, and fired some shots from his gun. Nicholson was so scared he hid in the basement. CRACKED — Source

8

Historical Pranks NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 1890 1898 1999 1910 1912 YALE MAKING HARVARD SPELL OUT WE SUCK 88 57 In 2004, two Yale students made a fake Harvard Pep Squad and gave 1,800 pieces of red and white paper to Harvard fans. When the fans put the paper up at a football game, it spelled out WE SUCK in the Harvard stands. CRACKED — Source

7

Historical Pranks JUMPING TO EXPERIENCE LOWER GRAVITY On April 1, 1976, Sir Patrick Moore, an astronomer on BBC Radio 2, tricked people into believing that if they jumped at 9:47 a.m., they would feel the effects of Pluto and Jupiter aligning and temporarily reducing Earth's gravity. CRACKED — Source

6

Historical Pranks RICHARD NIXON RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION On April Fool's Day in 1992, NPR tricked their listeners into thinking that Richard Nixon was running for president again. They even had a fake speech from him saying he hadn't done anything wrong and wouldn't do it again. CRACKED — Source

5

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first realistic 1920 sword fighting In 1920's The Mark of Zorro, Douglas Fairbanks brought in a fencing master, creating the first realistic on-screen swordplay. Prior to this, films had primitive whacking, but this opened doors for the countless swashbuckling films to come. CRACKED — Source

4

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts Charlie Chaplin 1914 Beginning in 1914, Chaplin became known as one of Hollywood's first stars, and had the second- ever million dollar contract. As a vaudevillian and slapstick comic, he did all of his own stunts. CRACKED — Source

3

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first ever stunt team 1912 $ From 1912 to 1917, a group of prize-fighters, acrobats, clowns, race car drivers, and vaudevillians performed a range of stunts and pratfalls in The Keystone Kops film series. They're widely regarded as the first stunt team. CRACKED — Source

2

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first paid stuntman 1908 Maybe previous stunts were undocumented, but the first recorded payment to a stuntman was in 1908's The Count of Monte Cristo, where an acrobat was paid $5 to jump off a cliff upside down into the sea. CRACKED — Source

1

Historical Firsts in The World of Stunts The first stuntman 1903 In the Guinness Book of World Records as the first stuntman, Frank Hanaway landed a part in 1903's The Great Train Robbery for his ability to fall off a horse without injuring himself. CRACKED — Source

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