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40 Random Bits of Trivia to Help the Medicine Go Down

April 25, 2024

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40

Hookworm larvae enter our intestines through our feet and bloodstream. After they enter the blood and into the lungs, they crawl up the trachea, get swallowed into the stom- ach, and then journey to the intestines to mature, reproduce, and lay eggs. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

39

Their original pilot episode of Game of Thrones was so bad that HBO demanded 90% of it be reshot. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the Game of Thrones TV se- ries, had no prior experi- ence in television and had only limited experience writing movie scripts. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

38

Salvador Dali was afraid of grasshoppers because of childhood bullies. Other kids frequently hurled grasshoppers and other insects at him. When they appear in Dalí's work, grasshoppers are used as a symbol of destruction, waste, and fear. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

37

Rare Syndromes

One family in Turkey walks on all fours due to a rare syndrome that strikes the areas of the brain that controls balance. This rare mutation pre- vents proteins from dis- tributing fat molecules correctly in the cells, which leads to defective nerve cells, brain dam- age, and loss of balance. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

36

20% of all calories collectively consumed by humanity are from rice. Since sizable portions of sugarcane and maize crops are used for purposes oth- er than human consump- tion, rice is the most im- portant food crop with re- gard to human nutrition and caloric intake. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

35

The US military imitated ghosts when fighting the Vietcong, called Operation Wandering Soul. The US played tapes of ghost soldiers who had fallen in battle, based on the Vietnamese belief that if a body isn't interred near its corporeal home, the soul will wander the earth. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

34

All mole salamanders in the genus Ambystoma are female and no males exist in this genus. These female salamanders 'steal' sperm from up to five different species of salamanders and recom- bine it to produce female hybrid offspring. This method of reproduction is called kleptogenesis. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

33

The US president gets a bill at the end of each month for his and his family's expenses. The bill includes per- sonal food and ex- penses including dry cleaning, toothpaste, and toiletries, which is then deducted from his salary. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

32

Wal-Mart, Соса-Соӏа, American Airlines and other corporations released a movie called Proud American in 2008. The movie featured an overly-patriotic sto- ryline about the won- ders of American life. It was a failure, and be- came IMDB's worst mov- ie of the 2000's. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

31

There is only one person with Hamish Syndrome, where one kidney is located in the leg. Renel capsule Cortex Renal pyramids Renel artery Perirenal fat Renel vein Rene pelvis Renel fascia Pararenal fat Renal papilla ureter Named after Hamish Robinson, the condi- tion is believed to be caused by a missing chromosome named 7p22.1. Both kidneys are fully functional. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

30

Democritus, who lived between 460 and 370 ВСЕ, theorized that matter was made of atoms. The ancient Greek philos- opher hypothesized that tangible matter is com- posed of tiny units that can be assembled and disassembled by various combinations. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

29

Since 1951 it is required by law in Israel that new buildings will have bomb shelters. Every new building will have a security room that can withstand blast and shrapnel from convention- al weapons, and offer pro- tection against chemical and biological weapons. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

28

An FBI wiretap used the same lamp to bug rooms in the lysine price-fixing scandal. The FBI arranged to have the same green lamp with a bugging device setup in every hotel room where corporate whistleblower Mark Whitacre stayed and met with fellow executives. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

27

Tobey Maguire's mom bribed him to take acting classes. When Tobey was in sixth grade, he dreamed of be- coming a chef and asked his mother to sign him up for a home economics class. His mother bribed him with $100 to take an acting class instead. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

26

Jonathan Taylor Thomas walked away from fame at the height of his career to study philosophy at Harvard. After high school, he en- rolled at Harvard Universi- ty, where he studied phi- losophy and history and spent his third year abroad at the University of St An- drews in Scotland. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

25

In Sesame Street, Cookie Monster ate painted rice cakes and not cookies. Since the oil from real cookies would damage the puppets, rice cakes were disguised to look like choc- olate chip cookies. Maybe this is how Cookie Monster keeps his figure. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

Chip pans are the single largest cause of fires in the United Kingdom. The cooking devices cause over 12,000 fires each year. Some cities even of- fer chip pan 'amnesty' pro- grams where you can trade in your outdated deep-sid- ed chip pan for a deep-fry- er. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

In ancient India, Diabetes was called honey urine as the urine would attract ants. 8 M Indian physicians Su- shruta and Charaka identified Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes as separate conditions for the first time in 400-500 CE. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

22

Angelina Jolie once tried to hire a hitman to kill her. She felt that a murder would be easier on her family than her commit- ting suicide. The would-be-hitman talked her out of it by asking her to wait a month. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

21

Hypothermia

People frozen to death are often found naked and misidentified as a victim of a violent crime. Just before lethal hypo- thermia, a person will un- dress themselves because they perceive themselves to be overheating when in- deed they're freezing (par- adoxical undressing). CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

The star-shaped base of the Statue of Liberty was originally a fort built to defend against the British. CRACKED.COM Construction of Fort Wood on the island in the shape of an 11-point star began in 1806 and was completed in 1811, protecting New York from British invasion in the upcoming conflict. — Source

19

Queen Elizabeth II had 4 drinks a day. CRACKED COM She had a gin before lunch, a wine during lunch, a dry martini with dinner, and a glass of champagne following dinner. — Source

18

There is a Colombian species of frog whose name in English translates to Allobates Not a F*cking Clue. CRACKED COM When Allobates Ni- putidea was discovered, the team had no idea how to classify it, be- cause the small, brown frog didn't exactly stand out on its own. — Source

17

A goat farmer discovered his goats made more milk when All I Want For Christmas Is You was played on a loop. CRACKED.COM Apparently, The Chip- munk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) by Al- vin and the Chipmunks had the inverse reac- tion, and production came to a halt. — Source

16

There is a drug that makes people sick if they have even a small amount of alcohol. CRACKED.COM Antabuse works by block- ing an enzyme involved in processing alcohol. This medicine can help keep someone from drinking be- cause of the unpleasant side effects that will occur. — Source

15

College students can stay for free in a long-term care facility if they volunteer 30 hours a month. CRACKED.COM When students come home from a class, concert, or party, they share those experienc- es with their elderly neighbors, some of whom are over 90. — Source

14

Televangelist Pat Robertson has predicted the world was going to end for decades. CRACKED.COM Не predicted in 1976 that the world would end in 1982. After that didn't hap- pen he tried again a de- cade later. In his book 'The New Millennium,' he said the world would be de- stroyed on April 29, 2007. — Source

13

Robert Patrick swam for three hours to save people after a boating accident. CRACKED.COM Before he was an actor, Pat- rick worked as a house painter until a boating acci- dent in 1984 in Lake Erie. Не nearly drowned swimming to save others still stranded on the accident site. — Source

12

Scientology

The Church of Scientology officially claimed that L. Ron Hubbard is doing research on another planet. CRACKED.COM After his death in 1986, the Church claimed that he voluntarily abandoned his physical body after it be- came an impediment to his work and that he learned how to do it without a body. — Source

11

Masturbating more than 21 times a month can actually decrease your chance of prostate cancer. CRACKED.COM This was discovered after testing to see if the inverse was true, that increased mastur- bation was linked to an increase in prostate cancer. — Source

10

A Colorado town holds an annual Frozen Dead Guys Day. CRACKED COM Bredo Morstoel from Nor- way died in 1989 and now his body is kept on ice in a shed in Nederland, Colora- do by his grandson. The festival in his honor has food, drinks, and events like coffin racing. — Source

9

Robert Goddard was mocked after he created the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1919. CRACKED.COM Не was ridiculed for his be- lief that man could reach the moon, and The New York Times even mocked his un- derstanding of basic phys- ics. They later published a correction the day after the launch of Apollo 11. — Source

8

An arthritis drug produced by Merck & Co. resulted in the death of approximately 60,000 people. SL NDd sd Magnet CRACKED.COM The company allegedly was aware of the side ef- fects and did not with- draw the drug from the market until FDA caught on. The company still ex- ists to this day. — Source

7

Two New Zealand high school students exposed a juice maker of false advertising. Ribena Volvic Ribena Ribena Raspberi Apple Strawberry 12 x 500ml bottles Strawberr - pen curn Apple Orange Realing Jaja Real ibena Da Ribena Ribena na. on RealimmCRACKED COM The drink Ribena claimed to have four times the vita- min с of oranges, but the drink contained almost no trace of vitamin C. The company was taken to court and fined NZ$217,500. — Source

6

Artificial Insemination

The first successful artificial insemination was performed in 1884 on a Philly woman without her knowledge. CRACKED.COM The doctor anesthetized the woman and took sperm from his best-looking student and impregnated her. The doctor and the woman's husband never re- vealed the truth to her. — Source

5

English newspapers blasted the un-European swimming technique Native Americans used to win a competition in 1844. CRACKED COM Europeans traditionally swam the breaststroke, while Native Americans swam the front crawl. Eu- ropeans refused to use the faster front crawl for decades. — Source

4

Until the late 1960s, men with long hair were prohibited from entering Disneyland. CRACKED.COM Employees were also prohibited from having any facial hair because visitors would associ- ate it with un-American activities. — Source

3

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was caught forging documents by his choice of font. CRACKED.COM A document purporting to have been written and signed in 2006 used Micro- soft's Calibri font, which didn't actually ship in a stable version of Windows or Office until 2007. — Source

2

A jumping spider learned to adapt to conditions in space. CRACKED.COM Nefertiti, the spider, was launched to the ISS to ob- serve if it could catch prey in microgravity. It succeed- ed in catching prey by learning to walk slowly, rather than jumping. — Source

1

A Little Brain Donation For You

A baker's dozen is 13 because of a law in medieval England. CRACKED.COM There were laws that relat- ed the price of bread to the price of the wheat used to make it, so bakers would toss in extra in fear of com- ing up short and being ac- cused of cheating custom- ers. — Source

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