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34 Random Bits of Trivia to Defibrillate Your Lobes

Synapses aren’t firing? Rev ‘em up with these!

34 Random Bits of Trivia to Defibrillate Your Lobes

May 12, 2024

These facts offer the brain boost without the crash! Sure, you may have heard that sales pitch a few times in the past — usually involving energy drinks. But compare the ingredients of these facts to those drinks. You’ll see nothing but whole, organic, legible words that you can feel good about consuming. Because a fact about mass-produced chemical swill is a lot better for your brain than mass-produced chemical swill is for your tum-tum.

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CRACKED.COM A Dead Pope was put on trial For political reasons, Pope Stephen VI really had it out for his predecessor's predecessor, Pope Formosus, and accused him of all kinds of pope- ish crimes. In 897, Stephen had Formosus' rotting corpse carried to the courtroom, where he angrily interrogated him in front of the bewildered clergy. — Source

33

CRACKED.COM New Delhi's deputy mayor was murdered by a gang of monkeys. About 30,000 Rhesus macaques live in New Delhi. The monkeys are a pest-they often break into homes to steal food. Not even government officials are safe from the monkey menace- in 2007, monkeys caused the city's deputy mayor to fall off a balcony to his death. — Source

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CRACKED.COM Gas lamps might have contributed to Victorian ghosts. DE ROUS With gas lighting being a new thing and regulations being not a thing at all, Victorian people weren't unlikely to inhale gas (not to mention the fires and explosions). Hallucinations caused by carbon monoxide poisoning might help explain the uptick in ghostly activity in the mid-1800s. — Source

31

CRACKED.COM Loggers found a mummified dog inside a tree. Back in the 1980s, a group of loggers had the scare of their lives after cutting down a chestnut oak. The nightmare sight they found is believed to be a hunting dog that got stuck while chasing a prey, and was preserved by the tree's tannins. — Source

30

CRACKED.COM Peppa Pig's teacher is a vampire (maybe). In a Halloween episode, the narrator remarks that Madame Gazelle has no reflection in a mirror. That might be a throwaway, spooky-season joke- but the fact remains that in other episodes she's way older than she looks, and bats remind her of the old country. — Source

29

CRACKED.COM A Yugoslavian granny was a prolific serial killer. Ana Draxin, also known as Baba Anujka, prepared potions to help women with their marital troubles -which were often of the husband is an abusive asshole variety (and the potions were carefully measured arsenic). She killed between 50 and 150 people before she was caught in 1928. — Source

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CRACKED.COM Captain America was a werewolf. the A In a 1992 comic, Cap investigates a plot involving werewolves-and gets turned into a werewolf himself. In the end, however, CapWolf defeats the villain by becoming the leader of the furry squad. — Source

27

CRACKED.COM A guy spent 12 years in a coma, but completely aware. South African Martin Pistorious slipped into a coma at 12. At 16 he began to regain consciousness, but he still couldn't move or speak for years. His strongest memory of his time locked in is Barney & Friends reruns on the TV. Today, he hates Barney more than any other living person. — Source

26

CRACKED.COM Hamlet productions often use real skulls The 2008 production of Hamlet starring David Tennant uses composer André Tchaikowsky's skull, which he willed for that specific purpose. While not every Hamlet skull is a celebrity, stagings of the play have been using real human heads since at least 1755. — Source

25

CRACKED.COM Scream was inspired by a real murderer. The movie is a comment on the horror genre and not real events, but still Ghostface is based on an actual spree killer. Danny Rolling, a.k.a. The Gainesville Ripper, didn't wear a mask or taunt his victims over the phone, but did have a penchant for maximizing the shock value of his crimes. — Source

24

Ants stretch and yawn when they wake up. GRACKED.COM Before they sleep they of- ten make themselves com- fortable by scooping smooth hollows in the soil. When they wake they stretch their six legs and open their mandibles wide. — Source

23

Sergei Krikalev has spent more time in space than any other human in history. GRACKED.COM The Russian cosmonaut has been away from Earth for 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes. That is approximately 2.2 years, over the span of six spaceflights. — Source

22

The American Psycho author accidentally Tweeted out a request for cocaine. CRACKED.COM In 2012, Bret Easton Ellis accidentally tweeted Come over at do bring coke now to his 350,000+ followers in- stead of sending a direct message. — Source

21

The first phase of the Hundred Years' War was ended by a hail storm. GRACKED.COM Called Black Monday, a hail storm killed an estimated 1,000 English soldiers in Chartres, France in 1360. King Edward of England con- sidered it a sign from God and soon after he signed the Treaty of Bretigny. — Source

20

Bats eat enough insects to save the US over $1 Billion a year in crop damage and pesticide. CRACKED.COM While many bats eat in- sects, others feed on nectar and provide criti- cal pollination for a vari- ety of plants like peach- es, cloves, bananas and agaves. — Source

19

A microwave oven messed with the Parkes radio telescope for 17 years. Genuus Secure - - 4:45 - - - Sensor S Ashoot Debut Keyu Warre GUARA Saw-Girl Advent SAMY Weight Tea Service Ministry CRACKED.COM Seoul - Panasonic Scientists spent 17 years try- ing to identify powerful but extremely short radio bursts that would appear at seem- ingly random intervals. They finally identified that the mi- crowave being prematurely opened was the cause. — Source

18

Pop Rocks, Tang, and Cool Whip were all invented by one person. R S CRACKED.COM Dr. William А. Mitchell was badly burned in a lab explo- sion as a young chemist working at the Agricultural Experiment Station, and went to work at General Foods after recovering at the start of World War II. — Source

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Blood Transfusions

Getting the wrong blood type in a transfusion could cause a feeling of impending doom. TOURS ГОЯЧА AB+ ICS a / Rh Positive ICS International AG Systeme Collection Date I : DE 61267 1 23 a Identicade 2/5/2000 SAMPLE Germany Volunteer Donor When people who have Only Rx SHOLE BLOOD und CHYOPRECIPITATE REDUCED DVDED e 1 g I one blood type receive - Y I - $ Author MINEC I blood from someone with a different blood type, it may cause their immune CRACKED.COM system to react, called ABO incompatibility. — Source

15

From 1948-58 a Florida man secretly stomped around a Florida beach at night in 30 pound, three-toed lead shoes to give the impression a 15-ft penguin was on the loose. The hoax wasn't revealed until 40 years later. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Gorillas are in a nearly-constant state of flatulence. This is due to their gut bacteria & the 40 pounds of vegetation they eat daily. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

13

In the 2006 Casino Royale, Tsai Chin played Madam Wu. She also appeared in You Only Live Twice, in 1967. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

12

In the 1850s, American fire departments started outfitting their stations with spiral staircases. Seems the horses who pulled the engines kept climbing the stairs when they smelled food. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Producers wanted Christopher Reeve to wear fake muscles. Не refused, and got so yolked they had to re-shoot the early scenes, for continuity. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Coolio was supposed to play the Scarecrow in a Batman movie. Не did his minor cameo in Batman & Robin (at a street race) only because he was supposed to be the villain in Joel Schumacher's next Batman movie - which, of course, didn't happen. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

9

They've created the transparent aluminum from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It's a completely new state of matter, and it's created by firing a short pulse from a super-powerful laser at regular aluminum. The catch is, the aluminum is in this new state only briefly before returning to normal. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

8

A stolen Degas painting was found in a suitcase on a bus. Worth almost a million dollars, no one on the bus claimed the painting, stolen nine years prior. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

7

85% of male insects have accidental gay sex. It's accidental because they don't bother trying to find out their partner's gender -- basically, they just get it on. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Thanks to a missing comma, 120 Maine dairy drivers got $5 million. DAIRY The natural goodnes 202 FL80 oakhurst The absence of a comma in a state law made it pretty unclear if the drivers can get overtime pay, and the judge presiding in their case said the ambiguity must be construed liberally, and sided with them. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Blue pigment found in the tooth of a medieval skeleton shows women were artists During the Middle Ages, women, not just monks, may have painted illuminated manuscripts. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

4

In Botswana, lions hunt elephants. This happens when most of their regular prey migrates between August and November, and a lot of elephants hang around (the elephants stick around because there's an artificial water supply in the area). NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Mice don't like cheese. Mice prefer sweets and foods with more calories. They will eat cheese only as a last resort. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Tesla dropping BTC as a payment method wiped out about $365 billion. The total value of all cryptos, including Bitcoin, dropped by roughly that much after Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla would no longer accept car purchases in Bitcoin. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

1

There are 96 bags of human waste on the moon. They were left behind by the six Apollo Missions. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

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