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39 Bits of Trivia to Jam-Pack Into Your Brain-Slacks

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like

39 Bits of Trivia to Jam-Pack Into Your Brain-Slacks

March 19, 2024

Your skull is looking a bit withered and deflated. You need to start packing on the facts, ASAP. Here, start with these…

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39

The Veryovkina Cave in the country of Georgia is the world's deepest cave. CRACKED.COM Since 1982, a team known as Perovo-speleo has been researching and going deeper and deeper. In 2021, at over half a mile down, they found the body of a tourist. — Source

38

Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time with 2 billion books sold. CRACKED.COM Her estate claims she ranks 3rd overall, behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible. She is the most-translated author with works in at least 103 languages. — Source

37

The Good Ol’ Ball-and-Chain

There is little historical evidence that ball-and-chain flails ever saw widespread use. CRACKED COM A spiked ball at the end of a chain is a 'ball and chain flail,' not a morning star (which has spikes but no chain). — Source

36

In 1920, the town of Jackson, Wyoming elected an all-female town council. CRACKED.COM The petticoat rulers won by a margin of 2-1 over the men, drawing the most voters the town had ever seen. They served for 3 years and did a great deal to clean up the notoriously lawless town. — Source

35

Violent crime in the US and Europe was at its highest in areas with the most lead pollution. CRACKED.COM Violent crime peaked 20 years after lead additives in petrol and paint were banned, before declining thereafter. — Source

34

The FBI was told about the attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened but they ignored it. CRACKED.COM A Serbian double agent named Duško Popov knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor months before the attack. — Source

33

Eminem repeated the 9th grade three times. CRACKED.COM After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. — Source

32

Queen Elizabeth had to use clothing ration coupons to pay for her wedding dress. CRACKED.COM She was given hundreds of clothing coupons by brides-to-be to help her, but she had to return the coupon gifts as it was illegal to transfer them. — Source

31

A type of small Australian mammal mates itself to death. CRACKED.COM The male of a tiny marsupial species called the antechinus goes into a mating frenzy once in its short life and has sex with as many females as possible until his body disintegrates. — Source

30

Charlize Theron was discovered by a talent agent when she was yelling at a bank teller. CRACKED.COM The teller had refused to cash a check the 19-year-old Theron needed to pay her rent. She got the attention of a talent agent behind her, who introduced her to casting agents and an acting school. — Source

29

During the French Revolution, radicals tried to introduce two competing religions. CRACKED.COM The atheists had the Cult of Reason, and the deists had the Cult of the Supreme Being, all to replace Christianity. — Source

28

Ferret-legging is a sport where people try to keep live ferrets in their pants for as long as possible. CRACKED.COM It may have originated during the time when only the relatively wealthy in England were allowed to keep animals used for hunting, forcing poachers to hide their illicit ferrets in their trousers. — Source

27

The original Death Star model from 'A New Hope' was used as a trash can in Missouri. CRACKED.COM Many of the set pieces and models used in the original movie were stored in a facility in 1977, but were thrown away when the studio decided that they no longer wanted to pay rent. — Source

26

The longest recurring actor in any video game franchise is Kane, from the Command & Conquer series. CRACKED COM The role has been played by Joseph D. Kucan since 1995, with the most recent addition to the series being in 2020. — Source

25

Domesticated blueberries are only just over 100 years old. CRACKED.COM They were thought to be impossible to domesticate until it was discovered they thrive in acidic soil. — Source

24

That's the reason lots of people get canceled

The television show The Admiral Broadway Revue was canceled because it was too popular. CRACKED.COM It had been sponsored by a TV manufacturer who couldn't keep up with the demand for new television sets. — Source

23

In a case of health care billing fraud, one doctor billed for 205 hours in one day. CRACKED.COM In the most extensive case of health care billing fraud in US Department of Justice history, 243 people were busted for fraudulent billing to the tune of $712 million. — Source

22

Soviet minister Vyacheslav Molotov claimed that the bombing of Finland was a humanitarian mission. E CRACKED.COM Не said it was to provide food aid to starving Finns, so the Finns jokingly dubbed the incendiary device as a drink to go with the food: a Molotov Cocktail. — Source

21

In the 1970's, the USSR built a system to work as a fail-safe in the event of a nuclear strike. GRACKED.COM It would then automatically launch multiple ICBM missiles to predetermined targets without the need for input from a human. It is still running. — Source

20

McDonald’s

The Filet-O-Fish was created in 1962 for Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent. CRACKED.COM According to McDonald's, a quarter of all its Filet-O-Fish sandwiches for the year are sold during Lent. — Source

19

Arizona police broke up a Lego crime ring in 2014. CRACKED.COM Police arrested four people in connection with at least $40,000 worth of Legos stolen from several Toys R Us stores. They also discovered an additional 18 pallets' worth ($200,000) in their home. — Source

18

The NY Yankees used to play the Frank Sinatra version of New York, New York after wins and the Liza Minnelli version after losses. CRACKED.COM Minnelli complained and asked them to play her version after wins or not at all. So the Yankees be- gan playing the Sinatra version after every game, win or lose. — Source

17

The first commercially successful portable microcomputer was released in 1981. EXECUTIVE adidas CRACKED.COM The Osborne 1 weighed nearly 25 pounds, had to be plugged into the wall, and cost $1,795 (or roughly $5,000 in to- day's dollars). — Source

16

An Applebee's in Detroit once accidentally gave a 15-month-old toddler apple juice mixed with alcohol. GRACKED.COM Не was saying hi and bye to the walls, said the mother. Не even- tually laid his head down on the table and we thought maybe he was just sleepy. — Source

15

In 2016, a baby girl named Lynlee from Lewisville, Texas was born twice. CRACKED.COM Pediatric surgeons re- moved her from the womb to cut out a tu- mor on her spine, placed her back in and several weeks later Lynlee was born healthy. — Source

14

Wes Craven walked out of a screening of Reservoir Dogs because of its graphic violence. GRACKED COM Several people walked out of every screening of Res- ervoir Dogs at the Sun- dance film festival due to the gore, including the horror movie director best known for A Nightmare On Elm Street. — Source

13

A young Indian girl married a Pakistani Army Officer during the Indo-Pak war of 1971 to spy on him. GRACKED.COM Sehmat Khan managed to gain confidential informa- tion and ended up saving thousands of lives by pro- viding information about a Pakistani naval attack to the Indian authorities. — Source

12

Socrates suggested a passive solar design for Greek houses. CRACKED.COM All openings faced south and roofs were angled north. Houses remained cool during summer since the roof provided shade, and there was warmth during winters. — Source

11

A mango cult developed after Mao Zedong gifted them to workers during China's Cultural Revolution. CRACKED.COM Workers worshiped mangoes, holding processions that cel- ebrated them and equating them with Mao's image. One dentist who compared them to sweet potatoes in appear- ance was executed. — Source

10

Tokyo's Imperial Palace was valued to be more than all of the real estate in California in the 1980s. CRACKED.COM The value of the 0.44 square mile grounds ex- ploded during the height of Japan's property bubble, and the country's property was worth five times that of the much larger US. — Source

9

Buildings in the UK can be dated based on the brick size thanks to a tax in the 18th century. CRACKED COM In 1784, Great Britain imposed a tax on bricks to pay for the war in America. In re- sponse, people start- ed using larger bricks. — Source

8

Stockholm, Sweden tested a Speed Camera Lottery. CRACKED.COM Limit-abiding drivers were automatically entered into a draw- ing to win a prize pool funded out of fines paid by speeders. — Source

7

One of the top-scoring German aces of WWII flew a plane emblazoned with Mickey Mouse art. GRAGKED.COM Adolf Galland, who would fly in just his swimming trunks while smoking a cigar, said, I've always liked Mickey Mouse, when asked about the strange behavior. — Source

6

Oranges are sold in bright red net bags to cause Munker's illusion. CRACKED.COM This affects the per- ceived color of the fruits, letting the red netting deepen the color of the oranges to make them appear more attractive. — Source

5

The exclave of Point Roberts, Washington is accessible only by driving through Canada. CRACKED COM It is a popular destina- tion for people in the US Witness Relocation Pro- gram since it is effec- tively off-limits to US citizens who can't get passports. — Source

4

In 1984, a Russian ice-breaking ship was called to save over 2,000 trapped beluga whales. CRACKED.COM At first they refused to fol- low the ship to open water, but when the crew began playing classical music through the ship's loud- speakers, the whales final- ly followed Moskva to the unfrozen sea. — Source

3

A competitive eater, Sonya Thomas, was under 100 pounds. CRACKED.COM In 2005, she held 22 world titles at a body- weight of 99 Ibs and defeated elite male and female competi- tors twice her size or more. — Source

2

Nicosia, Cyprus is the only capital city that has two time zones. GRAGKED.COM Owing to the Turkish inva- sion and occupation of Northern Cyprus in 1974, the city has been split in half for over 40 years, and is one of the few capitals without an airport. — Source

1

In 1958, a man decided to name two of his sons Winner and Loser. CRACKED.COM Their father asked his old- est daughter what to name the new baby, and she said we already have a Winner in the family, why not a Loser? Winner became a hardened criminal and Los- er became a detective. — Source

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