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35 Random Bits of Trivia That Have Been Cloggin’ Up Our Noggins

April 22, 2024

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35

Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker started the world's first terraforming project in 1850. CRACKED.COM The project has turned the arid volcanic wasteland of Ascension Island into a self-sustaining and self-re- producing ecosystem made completely of for- eign plants from all over the world. — Source

34

All of New York City's water comes in through 2 large tunnels underground. CRACKED.COM A 3rd tunnel is being built under NYC. Construction on the 3rd tunnel began in 1970 and is one of the most complex and intri- cate engineering projects in the world. — Source

33

The current sea otter population in Washington was evacuated from Alaska. CRACKED.COM Sea otters were extinct in Washington State between 1910 and 1965, but a popula- tion from Alaska was evacuat- ed from areas where the US was testing nuclear bombs between 1965 and 1972. — Source

32

Feral chickens began terrorizing an island in the UK in 2019. CRACKED COM Escaped chickens multiplied exponentially due to lack of predators, and 100-bird gangs began attacking jog- gers, destroying yards, blocking traffic, and waking residents at 4 AM with deaf- ening crowing. — Source

31

The contestants of Big Brother weren't told about the 9/11 attacks when they happened. BIG BROTHER DINNIN CRACKED.COM The show had a policy of keeping the contestants in total information isolation. They had to change the policy after one of the cast's family members was lost at Ground Zero. — Source

30

Manute Bol could only bench 45 pounds when he was first drafted into the NBA. 10 GRAGKED.COM Bol's ethnic group, the Din- ka, and the Nilotic people of which they are a part, are among the tallest pop- ulations in the world. His great-grandfather was even taller than him, at 7'10. — Source

29

Octopuses

The most humane way to anesthetize octopuses is by dunking them in ethanol. CRACKED.COM Because of their complex brains, cephalopods became the first invertebrates to be protected by laboratory ani- mal laws. Researchers have to get ethical approval for their studies, and must use anesthesia for procedures. — Source

28

Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been destroyed by a meteorite. CRACKED.COM Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so they don't get destroyed. The European Space Agency's communications satellite, Olympus, is the only one to have been hit, in 1993. — Source

27

Saab in 1992 made a prototype vehicle dubbed Prométheus that had no steering wheel. Microsoft CRACKED.COM Instead, to steer it, the driver had a joystick like an aircraft. It greatly in- creased safety, space, and aesthetics. The production model would have had two Joysticks, one for each arm/hand. — Source

26

The religious group known as the Shakers are completely celibate and cannot have children. CRACKED.COM They can only gain new members by converting outsiders. As a result, there were only two people in the last existing Shaker com- munity as of 2020, al- though they gained a single new member in 2021. — Source

25

The most dangerous road on Earth is the Road of Death that connects the Amazon Rainforest to La Paz, Bolivia. CRACKED.COM There is not a single guardrail, and in many places the road isn't any wider than 10 feet. Be- tween 200 and 300 people fall to their deaths every year. — Source

24

The final decision to vomit comes from the brain, not the stomach. CRACKED.COM The bilateral vomitation center is not a specific place in the brain, but rather an area consisting of many nu- clei, axons, and receptors that together cause the physical changes necessary to induce vomiting. — Source

23

Some North Korean Christian believers celebrate Christmas in secret. CRACKED.COM Christmas is banned in North Korea and instead of Christmas, the birthday of Kim Jong-suk (grandmother of the current supreme lead- er of North Korea) is cele- brated on Christmas Eve. — Source

22

Star Trek

King Abdullah II of Jordan appeared in Star Trek. CRACKED.COM King Abdullah is a fan of Star Trek and had a small non-speaking role on Investiga- tions, a 1995 episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager. — Source

21

The Vatican

The Vatican forbids gluten-free wafers from use in communion. CRACKED.COM Bread and wafers used in the sacrament must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. — Source

20

Speed reader and megasavant Kim Peek read books two pages at a time. GRACKED.COM Не could scan the left page of a book with his left eye, then the right page with his right eye. Не was able to accurately recall the contents of over 12,000 books, and was the inspira- tion for Rain Man. — Source

19

Sinéad O'Connor refused to give a concert because organizers insisted on playing the American National Anthem. CRACKED.COM Frank Sinatra threat- ened to kick her in the ass and New Jer- sey prohibited the Irish singer from ever singing in that concert hall again. — Source

18

Bubble baths keep warm longer than a bubble-less bath. CRACKED.COM Bubbles from a bubble bath thermally insulate the sur- face of the water, keeping the bath warm for a longer period of time. Plus you can give yourself a Santa beard and a bubble bra. — Source

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17

The Powerball drawing on March 30, 2005, produced 110 2nd-prize winners. CRACKED.COM All 110 winners had played numbers found inside for- tune cookies. The total pay- out was $19.4 million, 89 of them receiving $100,000 each, while the other 21 re- ceived $500,000 each. — Source

16

Good Will Hunting

Matt Damon wrote the first act of Good Will Hunting for a playwriting class. CRACKED.COM After being assigned to create the first act of a play, Matt Damon turned in the 40 page script and said, Look, I might have failed your class, but it is the first act of something longer. — Source

15

In China, it's rude to finish everything on your plate. CRACKED.COM People believe clean- ing your plate shows you are still hungry and that the host did not offer you enough food. — Source

14

2 people died when the wind lifted a bouncy castle off the ground during a festival in London. KIDDIE P KASTLE GRACKED.COM A bouncy castle/inflatable maze, Dreamspace V, was launched 50 feet in the air. It moved about 150 feet before coming back to the ground, resulting in 13 inju- ries and 2 deaths. — Source

13

Unconsciously, native English speakers say adjectives order. preceding nouns in a specific une EM TO lootos such burv 24.09 elasticity adi от sell . of tropy Israel. وم - П. pl -13- OZ UN DXO n Bible GLO descent n I a from topic Jacob; of interest a Hebrew Nice a member of the . 1 or magazine subject requiring or newspaper a decision OF - 3 - equid form puriting 5 Law or giving the descendants out sometha of the combining connecting map outflow 8 something a on Physics 2 S at issue a under dia Line There actions pressure — Source

12

MLK

While attending Crozer Theological Seminary, Dr. Martin Luther King received a с in public speaking. CRACKED.COM King is widely known as one of history's greatest orators, but that particular skill might not have come so naturally to him. — Source

11

East Asia

Over half the world's population lives within a 5000-mile-wide circle in East Asia. Sea of Japa UZBEKISTAN MONGOLIA ASMENISTAN Shenyang Almany Ashgabat MANCH NORTH NOREA GARAGUM Taskken Plyongyang NYROYZSTAN Drumps GOBI DESERT Beijing new SWAN Dallas Seoul Bantow *Dushanbe SOUTH Democracy *kashi UN KOREA TAKLA-MAKAN Tianjin Yellow Public DESERT Jinan Sea Dingdao FORUOI Kabul Talyaan REEU N MOUN LAINS APOHANISTAN Lait: thes birther - Zbengzhou X Kandahar klamabad NO - HIMALAWA S DINGLANG GADYUAM CHINA East Lahore* China Wehan ML Everest Hangeboul Sea PAKISTAN $850ml ISLANDS Chengdu / Okinawa New Delhi Changsha Ahasa Nancheng NETAL Champing Jaipur. of Tropic *YUKYU — Source

10

At the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, first prize is the wife's weight in beer. O GRACKED.COM The championship draws thousands of visitors to the town of only about 4,000 inhabitants, where men complete an obstacle course with their wives slung over their shoulders. — Source

9

Dogs

The term Frito Feet was coined to describe the scent of a dog's feet. GRACKED.COM The phenomenon is from a bacteria called Pseudomonas and Proteus, which give off a yeasty odor that can smell like corn chips. — Source

8

A cough can propel saliva droplets as far as 20 feet. GRACKED.COM About 3,000 drop- lets are expelled in a single cough, and some of them fly out of the mouth at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. — Source

7

Tommy Cash

In 1965, Johnny Cash's younger brother, Tommy, released a song titled I Didn't Walk the Line. CRACKED.COM In late 1969 he delivered his biggest hit, a tune ded- icated to John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., en- titled Six White Horses. Не still performs concerts around the world. — Source

6

Blood makes up about 7 percent of your total body weight. MSH 8 12 لل 10 6 CV 4 MARII Wall CRACKED.COM The average amount of blood in your body is an estimate because it can depend on how much you weigh, your sex, and even where you live. — Source

5

For decades, artist Al Hirschfeld hid the name of his daughter Nina in his drawings for The New York Times and elsewhere. CRACKED.COM He'd add the number of times her name ар- peared to his signa- ture, creating a game for readers, who would try and find each ар- pearance. — Source

4

Spike, the star of Old Yeller, was adopted from a California animal shelter-for just $3. CRACKED.COM The Labrador retriever/- mastiff mix that wound up as the star in Old Yeller was a stray before a friend of fa- mous Hollywood animal trainer Frank Weatherwax spotted the very good boy. — Source

3

A mummified soap lady is displayed in the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. CRACKED.COM It is reported that the Soap Lady died during the yellow fever epidemic in the 1790s. A wax-like substance, formed by fat tissue, made a permanent cast encasing the body's remains. — Source

2

The ancient Egyptian pregnancy test involved peeing on wheat and barley. GRACKED.COM If both the bags germinat- ed then it would show the woman is fertile and likely pregnant. Also, if wheat grew faster, then it would be a boy, and if barley grew quicker, then it would be a girl. — Source

1

India had to ban the practice of chucking babies down 30 feet onto a sheet. CRACKED.COM A child would be dropped by a priest to a circle of men holding a sheet. The child then gets passed from one man to another as a crowd jeers and the child is returned to their family. — Source

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