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40 Random Bits of Trivia to Lube Up Your Neuroglia

Give your cerebrospinal fluid a rest. Let your brain marinate in these facts!

40 Random Bits of Trivia to Lube Up Your Neuroglia

March 31, 2024

You don’t want to overwork that cerebrospinal fluid, and you certainly don't want your brain cells doing their thing completely dry. Funnel these facts straight into your dome, and keep your machinery nice and lubricated.

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40

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

39

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

38

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

37

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

36

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

35

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

34

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

33

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

32

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

31

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

30

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

29

A festival in Wisconsin is held to honor the Russian satellite, Sputnik. GRACKED.COM A piece of the first satel- lite in space, the Russian Sputnik, landed in Mani- towoc, Wisconsin upon re-entry and the towns- people created a festival in its honor. — Source

28

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

27

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

26

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

25

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

24

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

23

There's a Korean TV show about a 400-year-old alien who falls in love with a human woman. CRACKED.COM The show, 'My Love From Another Star,' is a huge hit in Korea and elsewhere; Chi- nese fans were hospitalized for binging on the woman character's favorite food: fried chicken and beer. — Source

22

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

21

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

20

Ghent, Belgium commemorates the greatest student prank in its history every year. The Battle of Gravensteen Castle happened in 1949 when students stormed Gravensteen castle, low- ered the portcullis and threw fruit from the walls at the police to protest a new tax on beer. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

6 people die every year eating live octopus by choking on the suction cups.. Sannakji is a Korean dish that features a young live octopus cut into small pieces and served immedi- ately. It must be eaten very carefully as the octopus' legs are still moving when consumed. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

18

Many major cities in Europe offer 'Sanisettes': private, self-contained, self-cleaning, public bathrooms. TOILETTES on SERI OTION 2011 - After the user has exit- ed, a wash cycle be- gins and the entire floor and toilet fixture are automatically sprayed, scrubbed and disinfected. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

17

Nikola Tesla used to feed pigeons, bringing injured ones into his hotel room to nurse them back to health. One-time he spent over $2,000 to fix a pigeon's broken wing and leg, in- cluding building a device to comfortably support her, so that her bones could heal. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

16

The Ferengi were supposed to replace Klingons as the new Star Trek villains, but they were too goofy looking. After their debut episode in Star Trek: The Next Genera- tion, they were rewritten to subsequently be comic foils due to producers finding their appearance comical and non-threatening. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

15

A 16-year-old died in 1998 from using too much aerosol deodorant. Old Spice FRESH BODY SPRAY Jonathan Capewell died from a heart attack brought on by the buildup of butane and propane in the blood. Не had 0.37 mg of butane and propane per liter in his blood, whereas only 0.1 mg can be fatal. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

14

BZ is a chemical weapon that's also a super hallucinogen that overwhelms the victim for 5 days. After 12 hours of a mild coma and primitive crawling and spasms, for another 48 - 60 hours they experience extreme hallucinations, psy- chosis, and cognitive impair- ment, with after-effects that last for weeks. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

13

The deadliest blizzard in history was recorded in February of 1972 in Iran. Up to 26 feet of snow fell over the course of a week in some regions and about 4,000 peo- ple died. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

12

In the 1930s, bridge construction projects expected one fatality for every $1 million in cost. The Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge enact- ed the most stringent safe- ty measures in history. Не even formulated diets to help fight dizziness and sauerkraut juice cures for hangovers. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

11

Bananas trigger a beehive's alert system. Do not use a banana as a reference point to show the scale of a bee- hive, the alarm phero- mone to alert bees to defend their hive smells like bananas. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

10

A sailor aboard a US warship divided by zero, causing an overflow error and killing the entire ship. In 1998, the US Navy war- ship USS Yorktown be- came paralyzed in the water after the Navy opt- ed to run the ship on Windows NT 4.0 instead of a more fitting OS. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

9

Reactance theory (reverse psychology) is sometimes called the forbidden fruit theory. Reactance is the urge to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do out of a need to resist a perceived attempt to con- strain your freedom of choice, which is why re- verse psychology works. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

8

Pope John Paul II liked Yoo-Hoo and requested cases be brought back with him from Denver. Because popes don't give commercial endorse- ments, the Vatican was forced to release a state- ment denying the pope had a preference for American chocolate milk drinks. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

7

Ben Stein's lies

In the game show Win Ben Stein's Money, money won by contestants was actually paid by the producers. Money left over at the end of a season was given to Stein. If the total amount paid out exceeded that budget, the production company paid the excess. Ben Stein was never in any danger of losing his money. — Source

6

Katmai National Park in Alaska crowns the fattest brown bear every year. Fat Bear Week aims to highlight the park and wildlife conservation and compares photos of bears from the spring to photos of the same bears at the end of summer. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

5

The first woman ever to get a Ph.D. in computer science was a nun. READY 10 FOR X=1 TO 10 20 PRINT HELLO HIKIPEDIA 30 NEXT x RUN HELLO HI . HELLO HI - P = II 5 HELLO HIK IP E 3 I A HELLO WIK IP 2 b I 9 HEL H 0 ل WIK IP E C I A E L L 0 0 o WIK I P E > I H E L L WI K I P E D A A A I I HEL L WI IC I P E D Sister Mary Kenneth — Source

4

In medieval times, red hair was associated with moral degradation and intense sexual desire. Redheads were regarded as vampires, werewolves, and witches. The Spanish Inquisition singled them out for persecution, believ- ing their hair to be a sure sign that they stole the fires of hell. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

3

One of Steven Spielberg's first movies, Firelight in 1964, cost $500 to make. 500 people came to the movie and it is thought that one accidentally paid $2 (tickets cost $1), earning Spielberg a to- tal profit of $1 from the film. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

2

Adolfo Constanzo was a drug dealer and serial killer nicknamed dark wizard. An ally of Mexican cartels, Constanzo used the organs of his victims as ingredi- ents for his spells and ritu- als, eventually becoming the leader of his own gang/cult known as The Narcosatanists. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

1

Jazz musician Billy Tipton decided to pass as a man to help her jazz career. She tricked almost ev- eryone she knew for 53 years, convincing 5 wives (at least two of whom she had sex with) and 3 children that she was a man. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

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