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30 Random Bits of Trivia to Hack Into Your Mainframe

April 02, 2024

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30

There is a real life Robin Hood named Vassilis Palaikostas. CRACKED.COM The Greek man, also known as Robin of the Poor, stole money from the rich, gave it to the poor and has escaped from the same high-secu- rity prison twice. — Source

29

Red pandas are the original pandas, and giant pandas get their name from them. GRACKED.COM The red panda was first classified and given its sci- entific name, Ailurus ful- gens, in 1825. Giant pandas were described much later and earned their panda name because of their sim- ilarities. — Source

28

Researchers tried 2000 times to ignite gasoline with a lit cigarette, but failed 100% of the time. UNLEADED SUPER - OCTANE SAMS LOON SUPER BHR ОСТИКЕ CRACKED.COM Liquid gas can't be ignited by a lit cigarette but the gas fumes from the pump can ignite from a cigarette, but only if that cigarette is burning at 450°C which they don't unless you puff on them. — Source

27

The movement for Prohibition led to American beer-makers moving towards lighter, blander beers. MARK AMERIC REGISTERED BUD LIGHT BREWED USING THE CHOICEST HOPS AND BARLEY MALT GRACKED.COM In the early part of the 20th century, brewers tried to emphasize that beer was healthier than whiskey. Today, Bud Light alone has a greater market share than all craft beers com- bined. — Source

26

More people died in the carpet bombing of Tokyo than in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, combined. CRACKED.COM Operation Meetinghouse only lasted one day but is the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. 279 B-29s dropped about 1,500 tons of bombs, destroying 16 square miles of the city. — Source

25

The suspended monorail in Germany was built in 1897 and still moves 25 million passengers annually. 01 GRACKED COM The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn is the oldest electric elevat- ed railway with hang- ing cars in the world and is a unique system in Germany. — Source

24

Every currently living Leonberger dog can be traced back to 8 that remained after World War 2. CRACKED.COM The Leonberger breed of dogs were used a lot in both World Wars in and around Germany. Many of the dogs were aban- doned or killed in action due to invasions. — Source

23

Spitfire mechanics and pilots worked together to modify pylons to carry beer kegs. CAC GRACKED COM British breweries donated free beer to soldiers during WWII, but after D-Day, there was no room for it on the ships going across the English Channel. The kegs delivered to the sol- diers were chilled from the high altitude. — Source

22

In medieval times, women's hairstyles showed if they were single or married. CRACKED.COM Married women would have their hair tied up in braids beneath a head cov- ering. Single women al- lowed their hair to fall free- ly over their bodies signal- ing that they were avail- able for marriage. — Source

21

John Lennon wrote I am The Walrus as an F-You to anyone trying to analyze The Beatles. CRACKED.COM After receiving a letter from a student telling him his teacher made them an- alyze their lyrics, Lennon composed the song with intentionally confusing and meaningless lyrics. — Source

20

Mr. Rogers kept in touch with his limo driver for the rest of his life. CRACKED.COM When Mr. Rogers heard his driver was going to be waiting outside while Rog- ers was in a meeting, he asked the driver to come in. On the way back they passed the driver's home and Rogers met his family. — Source

19

1/3 of Tokyo Tower was constructed with scrap metal taken from US tanks damaged in the Korean War. CRACKED.COM It is also frequently used in the Japanese kaiju film genre. It's been the loca- tion of climactic 'battles' between Godzilla, Mothra, and King Kong wherein it's frequently destroyed and rebuilt. — Source

18

Black metal band Darkthrone drummer Fenriz was elected as a councilman in Norway in 2015. asics CRACKED.COM Thinking he wouldn't have to do anything, his campaign was a picture of him holding his cat that said, Don't vote for me. — Source

17

A former First Lady had a lake named after her against her will. CRACKED.COM Lady Bird Johnson repeat- edly declined the dubious honor of having Austin Town Lake named after her, so the City Council waited until she died and named it after her anyway. — Source

16

Willie Nelson sold his first song for only $50 and the cost of a restaurant bill that he couldn't afford. CRACKED.COM Family Bible went on to reach #7 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, but Nelson had no regrets about the sale, saying, I felt if I could write one hit song, I could write anoth- er. — Source

15

NASA gave away hundreds of trees that have been to the moon. CRACKED.COM They never kept track of who they gave them to. Now they are trying to find them. One was at the White House. — Source

14

Dan Aykroyd has Tourette's and Asperger's and was born with webbed toes and two different colored eyes. CRACKED.COM His strange obsessions with law enforcement and ghosts later led to the idea for Ghostbusters and his unique line of vodka served in a crystal skull container. — Source

13

The Yahgan people adapted to their very cold climate by having significantly higher metabolisms than other humans. CRACKED.COM Their average body tem- perature is 1 degree warm- er than Europeans'. They routinely went bare naked in the frigid cold of the far southern region of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. — Source

12

In the 1930s, a dog named Swansea Jack from Wales saved a total of 27 people from drowning in the River Tawe. CRACKED COM Не was awarded a silver cup by the Mayor of Lon- don and to this day is the only dog to have been awarded two bronze medals by the National Canine Defense League. — Source

11

The table knife has a rounded tip thanks to Louis XIV of France. GRAGKED.COM In 1669, Louis XIV de- creed that all pointed knives be dulled down to reduce vio- lence in courts and the streets. — Source

10

The Anti-American Idol was a terrible prank on contestants. CRACKED.COM In the WB's Superstar USA, the worst singers were ad- vanced to the next round, but they weren't told they were bad. At the end, the winner was let in on the joke that the whole thing was a prank. — Source

9

After Hurricane Katrina, Cuba & Venezuela were the first countries to offer assistance. CRACKED.COM They pledged over $1 mil- lion, several mobile hospi- tals, water treatment plants, canned food, bottled water, heating oil, 1,100 doctors and 26.4 metric tons of medicine - but were reject- ed by the US. — Source

8

School bathrooms were invented In the early 1900s. CRACKED.COM They helped teach children to bathe regularly and to promote the idea of regu- lar bathing to their par- ents. During this time peri- od, people usually only bathed once a week. — Source

7

In Norway, 99% of electricity production is from hydroelectric plants. CRACKED COM They plan to increase an- nual production by 15 ter- awatt-hours (12%) by 2020 and could double installed capacity if they build new cross-border links to ship the surplus electricity abroad. — Source

6

Rationing in the UK during WWII increased life expectancy in the country and decreased infant mortality. CADERSK GACCAS GRACKED COM This was because all people were required to consume a varied diet. The only nega- tive effect from it was the in- creased time needed for meals to consume the neces- sary calories from bread and potatoes. — Source

5

In 1937, English novelist George Orwell fought in the Spanish civil war and was shot in the throat. CRACKED.COM There is now a square in Barcelona named after him called 'Plaça de George Orwell'. Ironically, the square was once one of the heaviest surveilled places in Spain. — Source

4

'Nigerian Prince' scam e-mails are intentionally filled with grammatical errors and typos. scam f 11840 I I E / 20 ! I | - GRACKED.COM This strategy minimiz- es false positives and self-selects for the most gullible and those individuals most susceptible to being defrauded. — Source

3

Amou Haji is considered the world's dirtiest man. CRACKED.COM Не hasn't bathed in over 60 years, eats the rotten meat of dead animals, lives in a hole, and uses animal poop to smoke from his pipe. — Source

2

Uruguay fired cheese balls during a naval battle and managed to kill two people. CRACKED.COM The ship from Uruguay ran out of cannonballs in an 1841 battle with Argentina. The captain ordered his men to shove the hard balls of cheese they had onboard into the cannons and to fire those. — Source

1

Black Sabbath's final album ended the same way their debut album began. CRACKED.COM 1970's Black Sabbath be- gan with the sound of rain and a distant church bell. About 43 years later, in 2013, their final album ended with the sound of rain and a distant church bell. — Source

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