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To triviality, and beyond

12 Bits of Trivia That Come to Life and Run Around Your Bedroom When You’re Not Looking

January 10, 2024

It sounds crazy, but these little factoids are 100-percent sentient. They have these big, elaborate, dangerous adventures whenever you’re not looking. I guess there’s no way to prove it — they’re extremely good at covering it up — but like, just trust us on this one.

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12

It took almost 50 years for a defibrillator to save a person. GRACKED.COM The defibrillator was invented in 1899 by two Swiss (mad?) scientists. But it wasn't used to successfully revive a human being until 1947, when heart surgeon Claude Beck used it as a last-ditch effort to save a little boy mid-surgery. — Source

11

A woman's head trauma made her start a religion. CRACKED.COM Swiss secretary Erika Bertschinger fell off her horse and hit her head, causing her to suddenly remember that she was the Virgin Mary. She received word from Jesus that the world would end in 1998 (in part due to Nazi UFOs), but luckily, she and her li'l cult prayed so hard that Jesus hit snooze on the rapture. Fiat Lux, as they call themselves, are hanging out in Germany's Black Forest waiting for the next apocalypse. — Source

10

Toads and rabbits can tell if you're pregnant (sort of). CRACKED.COM Two bizarre, antiquated, but scientifically sound methods of testing for pregnancy were injecting urine into toads and rabbits. Urine containing the hormone hCG (a telltale sign of pregnancy) causes rabbit ovaries to change colors, and toads to immediately ovulate. — Source

9

The ancient whale-eating whale. CRACKED.COM Leviathan melvillei was about the size of a modern sperm whale, but its jaws were huge, with teeth twice as large as a sperm whale's. While sperm whales subsist on smaller, more delicate creatures like squid, Leviathan melvillei used to just chomp the equivalents of humpbacks and blue whales like they were huge, fatty cuts of steak. — Source

8

Women can smell gonorrhea. CRACKED.COM A scientific study found that some women are capable of detecting gonorrhea by smelling spit and armpit sweat samples. — Source

7

A Tourrette's medication can cause impulsive partying. CRACKED.COM The prescription drugs Abilify and Aristada contain aripiprazole, a compound used to treat Tourrette's syndrome, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Aripiprazole can have side effects that drive the user to party too hard: excessive gambling, eating and sex, among other extremely rad hobbies. — Source

6

Albert Einstein discussed his affairs with his daughter. CRACKED.COM After his second wife got mad at him for his numerous affairs, he began trying to use his stepdaughter, Margot, as a go-between. In the course of all that, he started justifying and explaining some of his partners. Of one, he said, It is true that М. followed me and her chasing after me is getting out of control. Of another, he remarked, Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs. L., who is absolutely harmless and decent. — Source

5

The Persian army may have used cat shields. CRACKED.COM The Persians reportedly used Egyptians' reverence for cats against them during the Battle of Pelusium in 525 В.С. By some accounts, they painted the lion goddess Bastet on their shields, but in the much more fun version, they just brought a ton of cats with them so the Egyptians wouldn't light them up with arrows. — Source

4

There may be Soviet spy coins in circulation. CRACKED.COM In 1953, a paperboy dropped a nickel he'd been given, and happened to see it split in half, spilling a tiny coded note from a hollow chamber inside. The FBI got ahold of it and was able to identify other similar coins, eventually breaking up a ring of Soviet spies. — Source

3

Scissors used to be SO much cooler. GRACKED.COM In ancient Rome, a scissor referred to both a long metal sleeve with a half-moon slicing edge at the end, and the gladiator who wielded it. — Source

2

The uncatchable Malawi Terror Beast. CRACKED COM Two distinct rampages in the Republic of Malawi during the summer of 2003 left three people dead and sixteen people maimed by a mystery assailant. The most likely explanation is that a rabid hyena went absolutely nuts, but park rangers never managed to find it, and rumors of something more like a werewolf began to circulate. — Source

1

Medicinal clowns. CRACKED.COM Certain indigenous tribes in the Great Plains region had a custom that elicited humor as a cure for psychic illness. If their leader was visited by the Skeleton Being, he'd enlist a crew of 10 guys to wear raggedy costumes and long-nosed masks, and put on a show: They'd dramatically hunt a real animal, and then pretend to be extremely afraid of it after it was dead. — Source

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