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29 Random Bits of Trivia We Wrung Out of a Mop

It looks gross, and it smells gross, but that’s where the really good facts congeal

29 Random Bits of Trivia We Wrung Out of a Mop

May 11, 2024

Some might dump this putrid mop water. Not us. We know that’s were the good stuff is.

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29

There was a product sold to fishermen in the '80s and '90s called the Electric Worm Getter. CRACKED COM It sent an electric shock through the top layer of soil forcing the worms to surface. It had to be recalled in 1993 after 30 people died using it. — Source

28

US Marshals caught over 100 fugitives by sending them football tickets. RIGAN 11 FC NFL 5c 52 REDSKINS CRACKED.COM Operation Flagship was a sting operation that sent out free Redskins tickets to wanted fugitives. It re- sulted in more than 100 ar- rests with Marshalls wear- ing Redskins and Chicken costumes. — Source

27

California

Californian citizens are legally allowed to form a posse to arrest someone who committed a felony. GRACKED COM California Penal Codes 837, 839, and 844 allows citi- zens to kick in the front door of someone's house to arrest them, whether or not a police officer is pres- ent for the arrest. — Source

26

Michael Jackson wrote Billie Jean after a fan that terrified him. Bill GRAGKED.COM The real-life fan sent him a letter with a weapon and instructions to kill himself. Не kept her photograph to memorize her face, in case she ever turns up someplace. — Source

25

35 Mongolian wolves were trained in China for over 4 years for the 2015 film Wolf Totem. CRACKED.COM A Scottish trainer trained them to sit, snarl, and fight on cue. After filming, the wolves were ultimately re- located to Canada, since they only understood com- mands in English. — Source

24

The people that built the Great Pyramids of Giza got a daily ration of beer. CRACKED.COM During the building of the Great Pyramids, each worker got a daily ration of 4-5 liters of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment that was crucial to the pyramids' construction. — Source

23

The frozen treat that Dairy Queen serves is not technically ice cream. GRAGKED.COM To be categorized as ice cream, the minimum but- terfat content must be 10% and their product only has only 5 percent butterfat. Therefore, it is called soft-serve. — Source

22

In 1746, a Swedish king tried to prove coffee was unhealthy by conducting an experiment with twins. GRACKED COM The king had one man drink large amounts of cof- fee and his identical twin drank the same amount of tea every day. Both twins outlived the doctors in charge of the experiment and the king himself. — Source

21

Jurassic Park

'Jurassic Park' inspired South Korea to subsidize its entertainment industry. CRACKED COM The South Korean govern- ment subsidized its enter- tainment industry by 1%+ of its GDP after realizing one Jurassic Park film made as much as the com- bined sales of 1.5 million Hyundai cars. — Source

20

Harper Lee once received one year's wages as a gift from a friend CRACKED.COM A struggling Lee received the gift with the note: You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christ- mas. She used her time off to write To Kill a Mock- ingbird. — Source

19

Oktoberfest started off as a wedding reception for a Prince in Bavaria in 1810. ALFE PAULANER CRACKED COM Prince Ludwig of Ba- varia and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hild- burghausen enjoyed it so much, they sug- gested making it an annual event. — Source

18

Peter O'Toole influenced how people in the Middle East saddled their camels. CRACKED.COM During filming Lawrence of Arabia, O'Toole added foam rubber to his camel saddle to increase comfort. This eventually spread, and O'Toole was called the Father of Rubber. — Source

17

Czech gymnast Vēra Čáslavská trained for the 1968 Olympics in the woods. CRACKED.COM After losing her training fa- cility due to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, she trained in the forest us- ing potato sacks as weights and logs as beams. She medaled in all six events, four of them Gold. — Source

16

A mobster was saved by a metal plate in his Cadillac Eldorado that was there to fix a balancing problem. 8183 RA 06 CRACKED.COM The plate, under the driv- er's seat, saved mob as- sociate Frank Rosenthal's life when it shielded him from the force of a car bomb exploding under his car. — Source

15

Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi's first professional recording was backup vocals on a Star Wars Christmas album. CRACKED.COM The 17-year-old Jon was on 1980's tie-in album Christ- mas In The Stars because his cousin Tony managed the studio where the al- bum was recorded and had hired him as a janitor. — Source

14

The Yamato Battleship

300 men died at their stations when the battleship Yamato was intentionally flooded by their captain. CRACKED.COM The Japanese ship was list- ing severely in the water during a suicide mission, being bombarded by Al- lied bombers, and the cap- tain made the difficult de- cision to flood the engine room to try and correct it. — Source

13

President Teddy Roosevelt's eyesight was damaged by his military aide. CRACKED.COM Roosevelt regularly staged boxing matches in the White House, taking on anyone he could - including profession- al boxers. Не only stopped boxing after sustaining per- manent damage from Colo- nel Daniel т. Moore. — Source

12

Victoria's Secret perfume deters mosquitoes better than a range of repellents. CRACKED.COM In 2015, researchers testing the efficiency of mosquito repellents used the per- fume because they thought the floral fragrance would attract mosquitoes. To their surprise, they found the ор- posite was true. — Source

11

Movies can hire an Intimacy Coordinator for sex scenes. CRACKED.COM They are hired so that the scenes could remain safe, fol- low rules, and oversee to avoid potential issues. They also teach directors and ac- tors how to run a rehearsal by sculpting the physical ac- tions using plain words. — Source

10

US Army contractors thought a Canadian remembrance coin contained nanotechnology. 2009 D-G-REGINA ELIZABETH If CRACKED.COM The Defense Department issued an espionage warn- ing regarding the 25-cent coin because they thought the red poppy was anom- alous and filled with something man made that looked like nano tech. — Source

9

J.K. Rowling told Alan Rickman the end to Snape's story arc before he ever appeared on camera. CRACKED.COM As a result, he often ar- gued with directors about knowing something that they didn't. Rickman used this knowledge to subtly inject affectations that would point to his hidden motives. — Source

8

The US Army discovered that color blind people are better at spotting camouflaged enemies. CRACKED.COM Color blind people tend to have better night vision and can sometimes see luminosi- ty of colors that nor- mal-sighted people can't. This gives them the unique ability to see hidden ene- mies better at night. — Source

7

In 1992, Barqs root beer ran a promotion giving away USSR memorabilia. GRACKED COM Matryoshka dolls, Lenin Day pins, tank commander watches and military medals were available with proof of purchase, as a 'Communism is going out of business sale. Sales jumped 30%. — Source

6

A board game released called Blacks & Whites was basically a racist Monopoly. EHALL of COMPANY ELECTRIC £150 ٢٩٨٨ MALL PALL GRACKED.COM The game explores issues of racial inequality by treating players differently based on the race in which they play, demonstrating how the odds were stacked against some races in com- parison to others. — Source

5

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss and his editor had a closet full of hats to use when struck with writer's block. CRACKED.COM Seuss and his editor would go into this closet, filled with hundreds of hats, and wear them until the words came. We're sure that's what Seuss told his wife, anyway. — Source

4

A 19th-century passenger railway asked its passengers to get out and push the car over hills. CRACKED.COM The aptly named Get Out and Push Railroad connected Wilmington with Long Beach, California. The vehicle broke its wooden rails on the first day of service, forcing male passengers to push it, secur- ing its nickname. — Source

3

Kodak developed a digital camera in 1975 that recorded a photograph onto a cassette. LUMIX GRACKED.COM To view the filmless photo you had to remove the cas- sette from the camera and place it in a customized reader that could display the image on an old black and white television. — Source

2

The first toothbrush was fashioned by an inmate using a bone leftover from dinner. CRACKED.COM William Addis, in the 1770s, saved a small ani- mal bone from his previous meal and attached bristles through small holes he had drilled. This improved the then-current method of us- ing a rag and soot. — Source

1

William McKinley campaigned in the 1896 U.S. election from the front porch of his home in Ohio. CRACKED COM McKinley made himself available to the public ev- ery day except Sunday, and won the election de- spite the fact that his ор- ponent traveled extensive- ly by railway speaking at over 600 events. — Source

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