12 Trivia Tidbits for Thursday, May 9, 2024
If it’s a really important birthday, Mom will call you. Once you tell her the most efficient way to cold brew coffee, or where to get premium turtle blood, she’ll understand.
Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.
Loud Noises Can Significantly Speed Up the Cold Brew Coffee Process
A process called sonification, or blasting coffee with sound waves, has been found to cut production time from several hours to just a few minutes. It also appears to up caffeine concentration.
Disney+ Just Made Money for the First Time
The streamer just reported its first quarterly profit, and projects it’ll keep up that momentum through the rest of the year. Despite that, Disney shares mysteriously dropped about 10 percent.
Michael Jackson Outbid Paul McCartney for Publishing Rights to the Beatles’ Discography
In 1983, Jackson “joked” with McCartney that “One day, I’ll own your songs.” Two years later, he bid $47 million for the rights to 251 of them.
Beethoven May Have Had Lead Poisoning, and It May Account for His Deafness
Scientists found what the New York Times describes as “staggering amounts of lead,” and some other materials you generally don’t want in or on your body, in Beethoven’s hair. They’ve posited that that lead may have contributed to his deafness, and his chronic farting and diarrhea.
This Mexican Costco Features a Stunning Natural Cave and Underground Swimming Hole
A cenote is a big, beautiful sinkhole that has collected groundwater, often in a gorgeous, photogenic cavern. One of these natural wonders of the world happens to be located in the parking lot of a Costco in Mérida, Mexico.
A Guy Tried to Smuggle Snakes Onto a Plane in His Pants
TSA agents at Miami airport spotted a suspicious bag in a guy’s pants, and upon inspection, found a couple of little snakes in there.
Saudi Arabia’s Gigantic Supervillain Condo Isn’t Going Great
The Line, a megastructure that’s supposed to be 105 miles long, and as tall as the Empire State Building, is running into some issues in the early stages of construction. It’s projected to cost around $2 trillion, but already a single $38 billion ski resort is going over budget. And they had to revise their projection of 1.5 million residents by 2030 down to 200,000.
‘Pokemon Go’ Players Are Getting Into Counterfeit Cartography to Collect Rare Pokemon
The extremely dedicated dorks who still play Pokemon Go in 2024 have started programming fake beaches into OpenStreetMap, the open source mapping tool that Pokemon Go runs on, specifically to help them collect Wigletts.
1 in 24 New Yorkers Is a Millionaire
A recent study found that New York City has 350,000 millionaires, and has the second highest wealth per capita in the world (Monaco is number one). There are more millionaires in New York City than there are people in places like Pittsburgh and Orlando.
What’s Going On With Those Shiny Spots on Your Keyboard?
They look like grease stains, and depending on your hygiene, that may be part of it. But if you thoroughly wipe down your keyboard and they’re still there? That’s called “keycap shine.” You’re basically polishing your keyboard with your fingertips, slowly but surely eroding the textured plastic on the surface.
Boy Scouts of America Is Changing Its Name
After over a century as “Boy Scouts of America,” the organization announced it’s going by “Scouting America” instead. On the surface, it’s about reflecting their new focus on gender inclusion. Realistically, it probably has a little bit to do with filing for bankruptcy in 2020, and decades of abuse allegations. Kind of like Facebook becoming Meta and Google becoming Alphabet to help water down some of their scandals.
The Best Place to Go for Turtle Blood
The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys is the only state-certified hospital for turtles in the world. They stockpile blood for turtle blood transfusions, among other lifesaving procedures. It’s also open to the public 364 days out of the year, if you want to visit the stinkiest petting zoo you’ve ever smelled.
