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32 Bits of Trivia to Inject Into Your Grey Matter Like Botox for Your Brain

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32 Bits of Trivia to Inject Into Your Grey Matter Like Botox for Your Brain

February 11, 2024

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32

Miraculous fasting girls were a big attraction in Victorian times. As Netflix wasn't a thing in the 19th century, people would entertain themselves by visiting fasting girls, who were said to live for years on end without eating anything. (As the girls weren't being watched by visitors 24/7, it isn't hard to figure out how this miracle happened.) CRACKED.COM — Source

31

32 Bits of Trivia to Inject Into Your Grey Matter Like Botox for Your Brain — Source

30

Oil doesn't come from dinosaurs. Maybe some oil does have a teeny-tiny bit of dinosaur, but by and large, the stuff comes from microbes in the sea. The dino-oil connection comes from the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation, which used to sponsor paleontological research and had a dinosaur as its mascot. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

CRACKED.COM Football used to be a deadly game. 18 people died while playing football in 1905 alone. Predictably, there were calls to get the game banned. President Teddy Roosevelt got personally involved, and got colleges to change the rules and make helmets mandatory. — Source

28

Brad Pitt threatened to kill Harvey Weinstein. In 1995, Weinstein tried to, well, get all Weinstein on an up-and-coming Gwyneth Paltrow. When her then- boyfriend Brad Pitt found out, he confronted Weinstein about it - and by confronted, we mean he told him, If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, I'll kill you. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

CRACKED.COM The Emmys apparently didn't believe Mindy Kaling produced The Office. When The Office was nominated for an Emmy, Kaling (and only Kaling) was asked to justify why she had to be included. She needed to fill out a form, write an essay about her contributions, and get the other (male, white) producers to vouch for her. — Source

26

Steven Spielberg did Jaws because the original director flunked basic sea biology. Director Dick Richards was fired because he kept calling the shark a whale during planning meetings. Let this be a lesson, kids: Don't sleep through class, and you may one day change movies forever. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

A band gamed Spotify's low payments (with silence). Michigan-based funk band Vulfpeck released an album with ten short tracks of utter silence, and encouraged fans to stream it while they slept. That way, they made $20,000 instead of the diddly-squat independent artists usually get. Spotify took down the album after two months Spotif CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Gordon Ramsay's day: 16 hours of work. 5 hours of personal time. 3 hours of sleep. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Abba's studio sessions were so long, their sound engineer says he'd almost pass out from hunger. They never left a song unfinished, and worked on every one as if it were a potential hit single. Two members, Björn and Benny, even took vacations just to write songs. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

CRACKED.COM HEDY LAMARR made WiFi possible. Lamarr was a big-name actress in Golden Age Hollywood. She was also an amateur inventor. She came up with an idea for radio communication that eventually led to cellphones, WiFi, etc. — Source

21

The Pitch Perfect actress attended law school in her native Australia, which allows her to negotiate her own movie deals. REBEL WILSON is a qualified lawyer. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

PATRICK DEMPSEY is a racecar driver. Driving isn't exactly brain surgery, like his character for BOLLET MIX BA used to perform in Grey's Anatomy. Still, not every driver competes at AT 58 Porsche - и 0 Le Mans and Daytona, as Dempsey has. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

Rowdy Roddy Piper

ROWDY RODDY PIPER could really play the bagpipes. It wasn't just part of his wrestling persona- Piper was a real piper from a very young age. And, being all out of bubble gum, he kicked ass at it, doing well in international competitions. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

SAMUEL L. JACKSON WAS PART OF THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT. Jackson and other radical students held his college's trustee members hostage in an effort to reform the school's curriculum. His mother sent him to LA after the FBI threatened him. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Robert Pattinson

ROBERT PATTINSON TOOK AN OBSESSED STALKER OUT TO DINNER AND BORED HER. Не complained about his life the whole time, and he never saw her again. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

A demand from The Matrix' stunt choreographer changed moviemaking. Yuen Wo-Ping asked for six months of training time, which was never done in the US. Не got it, and long training periods became more common. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Apparently, porcupine quills have powerful antibiotic properties. Porcupines benefit from that because they fall often, and antibiotics on quills reduce the risk of infection if porcupines cut themselves in a fall. CRACKED.COM — Source

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14

A British director made a 10-hour movie showing paint drying (as a big troll). PAINT DRYING A FILM BY CHARLIE LYNE Не made the censors at the British ratings body BBFC sit through it, to protest their charging indie and Hollywood movies the same for a rating. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

A UK railway station was reopened purely because of what train drivers did. They'd refused to accept that the Duncraig station was closed - so, after 11 years, authorities shrugged their shoulders and reopened it. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

A rich NJ guy bought his former boss' house just so he could raze it to the ground. (illustration) Billionaire David Tepper bought it from his boss' ex-wife, then demolished it, and built a giant 11,268-square foot palace on the property. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Botswana

A cave in Botswana has a key role in the founding of Christianity there. (illustration) Kebokwe's cave was supposedly haunted, but missionary David Livingstone convinced a local ruler to sleep there - he did, and converted to Christianity. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

They came up with tomato-based ketchup in the 19th century (1812, to be exact). HEINZ un 1869 ESTY TOMATO KETCHUP GROWN NOT MADE* Before that, ketchup (which comes from imperial China) was actually made with very different ingredients: soy beans, meat by-products, and fish entrails. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

A baseball player in 1919 got struck by lightning, then went back to playing. Ray Caldwell was hit by lightning on the pitcher's mound, then lay unconscious for five minutes. Then he got up and started pitching again. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

The Bristol Bus Boycott

In 1963, the Bristol Bus Boycott was held to protest racist hiring practices. INO COLOUR BAR EVERY MAN BOYCOTT TRE FREHT BUSES NO COLOUR DOA At the time, the bus company in Bristol refused to hire Black drivers - but after an extended boycott, on 28 August 1963, they changed their policy. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

We now how know how much a Jurassic Park ticket cost: $550 (for 3 days). JURASSIC PARK That's the price listed on the three-day park ticket item in the Visitor Centre Limited Edition Legacy Kit (which has a bunch of merchandise along those lines). CRACKED.COM — Source

6

The term Slapstick Comedy comes from the two pieces of wood that made a slapping sound. CRACKED.COM Commedia Dell'arte in 16th-century Italy used a slapstick consisting of two thin slats of wood, which made a slap when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud and comical sound. — Source

5

Mercury’s Tail

The planet Mercury has a tail, like a comet. CRACKED.COM Mercury's thin atmo- sphere contains small amounts of so- dium that glow when excited by light from the Sun. — Source

4

All poop generated aboard US Navy's newest aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford will be vaporized by plasma. CRACKED.COM The Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS) being used will treat all combusti- ble solid waste gener- ated on board the ship. — Source

3

Increased government transparency in the Soviet Union revealed that their textbooks were filled with lies. GRACKED.COM The Soviet Govern- ment canceled all fi- nal history examina- tions for elementary and high school stu- dents in 1988 — Source

2

The Air Force flies their С-17s in a large V formation similar to geese. GRAGKED.COM If an airplane is positioned in the right spot, the up- draft from the vortex will help keep the airplane aloft. By doing so, the Air Force saves more than 10% of fuel, or millions of dol- lars. — Source

1

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg has the sole film rights to all of MLK's speeches, which he bought in 2009. CRACKED.COM In the movie Selma, Ava DuVernay wrote speeches that were plausible, but differ- ent enough to avoid a copyright battle. — Source

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