40 Random Bits of Trivia That Other Random Bits of Trivia Look to for Guidance

12 Artists Share Their Favorite Subject to Paint

Whitney Cummings Nearly Prevented Sabrina Carpenter from Becoming A Pop Superstar

36 Random Bits of Trivia to Take Daily on A Full Stomach and An Empty Brain

Why Andy Samberg Decided to Stick Around ‘SNL’ After the Election

28 Petty, Grandiose or Downright Inscrutable Things Done by the FBI and Other Powerful Cabals

Hasn’t Lucy been through enough?

28 Petty, Grandiose or Downright Inscrutable Things Done by the FBI and Other Powerful Cabals

May 18, 2024

Lucy already has those wacky neighbors, then she went through the whole chocolate factory thing. Now she’s got the FBI on her case?!?!

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

28

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPTS FILES ON... MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. The FBI closely monitored and harassed the civil rights activist, going so far to send an anonymous letter (delivered to his wife) attempting to blackmail MLK into killing himself or they would release audiotapes of his sexual indiscretions. Consider that next time the FBI tweets meaningless well wishes on Martin Luther King Day. — Source

27

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... ROCK HUDSON Although Hudson was never the subject of an FBI criminal investigation, the FBI kept files on the leading man whose main complaint of his (very redacted) file was alleged to be a homosexual and/or bisexual. — Source

26

GRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... KISS The FBI report from 1980 includes a request of more information on the civil unrest caused by the band, especially over an instance in Texas that included attacks on police. A follow-up response assures that no such thing ever happened. Except maybe in Ohio, during a stampede...for a concert for The Who. — Source

25

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... THE GRATEFUL DEAD The FBI files are pretty well-redacted but accuse the rock group of some sort of selling LSD in 1984. — Source

24

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... LUCILLE BALL The FBI had a 156-page file on the comedian. In 1936, she registered as a Communist Party member. During Hollywood's Red Scare, this haunted her career. — Source

23

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... JACKIE ROBINSON The baseball legend's files include his work for the civil rights movement and supposed potential Communist ties (that he publicly denounced). — Source

22

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... MUHAMMAD ALI An FBI break-in by activists led to exposure of the FBI's secret Counterintelligence Program which illegally targeted groups and people of interest in the civil rights movement, including Muhammad Ali. That break-in was ironically timed with The Fight of the Century, featuring Ali himself, with the assurance that the fight would keep the agents glued to their screens. — Source

21

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... THE INSANE CLOWN POSSE MGM GRAND on FOX GM GRAND enrol ENTERTAINMENT awards Billboard Billbo or FOX MGM GR MUSIC MGM GRAND CITY DI ESTERTAINMENT. de SIGN OX The FBI tried to classify ICP as a gang, but the ACLU helped them shoot it down. Their FBI file is surprisingly catty, including Insane Clown Posse can't get its music on the radio but claims to have 1 million devoted fans who ... sometimes paint their faces to look like wicked clowns. — Source

20

GRAGKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... THE MONKEES The FBI started a file on the made-for-TV pop group in 1967 after they showed pictures and messages protesting Vietnam during a concert. There's a second document that's fully redacted that the last living member of the group is filing a lawsuit in order to see. — Source

19

CRACKED.COM THE FBI HAD FILES ON... JOHN LENNON The FBI started a file in 1971 when the former Beatle traveled to New York on a visa to meet up with anti-war activists. The FBI proposed that Lennon should be arrested, if at all possible, on possession of narcotics charges which would make him more immediately deportable. The file includes a wanted poster for Lennon, but, despite having one of the most famous faces, they used a photo of another guy who had similar glasses. — Source

18

GRAGKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... CHARLIE CHAPLIN The FBI had 1,900 pages on the silent film star's supposed Communist ties. The report followed Chaplin from when he attended a 1922 party of a labor leader to after his death in 1977. The FBI investigated his sex life, going so far as to bug his hotel rooms. The FBI even fed information to gossip columnists. — Source

17

CRACKED.COM THE FBI KEPT FILES ON... ARETHA FRANKLIN The FBI spent years surveilling Franklin's involvement in the civil rights movement. The Queen of Soul performed and attended events organized by the NAACP and SCLC. Her father C.L. Franklin, a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., was also closely monitored. — Source

16

CRACKED.COM Henry Kissinger lent support to the brutal right-wing junta in Argentina, starting in 1976 and continuing even after he was no longer secretary of state and his actions were at odds with the foreign policy of the Carter administration RINE Today, he remains a respected elder statesman in DC society — Source

15

In the 1950s, a detailed UFO sighting was made in the UK by members of the Royal Air Force. The British Government, led by Winston Churchill, kept it a secret from the public. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

WHEN DEPOSED ETHIOPIAN EMPEROR AND RASTAFARIAN ICON HAILE SELASSIE DIED IN 1975, STATE MEDIA WAS QUICK TO REPORT THAT НЕ HAD DIED OF RESPIRATORY FAILURE AFTER PROSTATE SURGERY. NEARLY TWENTY YEARS LATER, THE TRUTH CAME OUT: SELASSIE HAD BEEN STRANGLED TO DEATH IN HIS BED BY REBEL SOLDIERS - AND BURIED BENEATH A TOILET. SELASSIE WAS EXHUMED AND GIVEN A ROYAL FUNERAL AND BURIAL IN 2000. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Canada invented a real gaydar in the 1960s Paranoid about federal employees' sexual orientation, the Canadian government invented a machine that could detect homosexuality by measuring a person's subliminal bodily responses to same sex pornography. The tested employees were lied to and told that the machine's purpose was just to test their stress levels. CRACKED.COM More than 400 men were fired from their job, and over 9000 people were investigated. — Source

12

The Pentagon paid major sports teams $6.8 million to stage patriotic spectacles. STANKATS That meant stuff like full-field flag displays, hailing hometown heroes, and singing God Bless America, all to boost recruitment. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

A 2017 CRACKED.COM Harvard study found that the vast majority of ExxonMobil's own internal communication acknowledged that climate change is manmade... ...even while the vast majority of ads were spreading doubt. — Source

10

Wal-Mart de Mexico paid out over $24 million in bribes, and hid it from Wal-Mart HQ. Walmart Fuerza Precios bajos. Walmart Todos los días. En todo ALTO - KORE the Wal-Mart HQ investigated on a tip, and shut down the investigation when it confirmed the tip. The guy in charge of giving bribes was made vice chairman of Wal-Mart. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Fearing social revolution and preferring to do business with dictators, Texaco CEO Torkild Rieber supplied vital fuel to the fascist side in the Spanish Civil War in flagrant violation of US nonintervention law For its part in installing a repressive government that would remain in power until 1975, Texaco was fined $22,000 CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Project Sunshine was about stealing dead body tissue for radiation experiments. In the '50s, the US government had a worldwide network which collected samples, mostly bone, from cadavers to research possible health problems from nuclear explosions. They took 1,500 samples, from both children and adults, without the consent of the deceased's families. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Hillary Clinton openly discussed the role of her state department in supporting the 2009 coup against the democratically elected president of Honduras in her 2014 book Hard Choices Berta C Berta Caceres ligena o 1971 ZO 2016 Dirigente Indigena Lenca trgo a les culp 4 de Marzo 1971 micidio más... ٨ 3 de Ma g Exinio When the human rights abuses of the interim government began coming to light, she quietly removed those sections from later editions GRAGKED.COM — Source

6

VS amazon kindle To thwart Amazon, Apple conspired with CHAPTER adidas Impioning to a Down the en way und of mine to her - the nebbing - , major publishers to - de VAIS people Min having and - An had South be street - - . - be had - - Google ANN without - pictures - - the von of commissions of - - resulting . - - Inc. mini-de will - de Previe the the his - made Eyes - very - www. wheles - please of nation - - - www the transle - Author - — Source

5

The FBI worked hard to end John Lennon's anti-war activism. They did all they could to get him deported, and even looked into planting drugs. Lennon backed off, leaving the anti-war movement and axing his anti-war concert tour. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

To PUNISH ACTRESS JEAN SEBERG FOR SUPPORTING THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, FBI DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER LAUNCHED A SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST HER, SPREADING THE RUMOR THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT BY BLACK PANTHER RAY MASAI HEWITT. DISTRAUGHT, SEBERG WENT INTO PREMATURE LABOR. THE BABY DIED - AND SEBERG HELD AN OPEN-CASKET FUNERAL, CRACKED.COM TO PROVE HER DAUGHTER WAS WHITE. AND THEN SHE COMMITTED SUICIDE. — Source

3

In the 60s, the International Sugar Research Foundation (ISRF) went out of its way to discredit any studies that link sugar consumption to various diseases. In fact, a 1968 study funded by the ISRF known as Project 259 was terminated when the researchers discovered the link between sugar consumption and cancer. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

GRAGKED.COM GLENCORE GLENCORE In 2012, Glencore was accused of profiting from child labor in its mines in the Congo. It is also suspected that pollution from its facility in Zambia caused acid rain in 201 1, where around five million people live. In 201 3, the company supplied aluminum to Iran's nuclear program. It remains the world's biggest mining company in 2018. — Source

1

HENRY FORD'S ANTI-SEMITISM IS THE REASON WE HAD SQUARE DANCING IN GYM CLASS Ford believed that the rise in the popularity of jazz was part of a Jewish conspiracy to destroy the morals of American society. Не actively campaigned to revitalize the nation's interest in square dancing, which he saw as more white, more traditional, and more moral, to combat the negative influence he thought jazz had. CRACKED.COM — Source

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

Rob McElhenney and Quinta Brunson Collab to Celebrate Philly Fans Living in L.A. for ‘Sunday Night Football’

Movies & TV

36 Random Bits of Game Show Trivia to Cut Into and Hope They’re Cake

Movies & TV

Ben Stiller Says Making ‘Tropic Thunder’ Today Would Be ‘Incredibly Dicey’

Movies & TV

Dana Carvey Admits His Elon Musk Impression Stinks

Movies & TV

12 Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia to Scream Into the Mouth of the Next Person You Perform Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation On

Trivia & Jokes

34 of the Funniest Tweets from Monday, November 25, 2024

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

27 Lesser Known Celeb Heroic Deeds

2

The 5 Most Spectacular Landscapes on Earth (That Murder You)

3

21 Times Hollywood Actually Got The Science Right

4

30 of the Most ‘I Committed a Murder’ Purchases Witnessed by Hardware Store Workers

5

27 Celebrities Who Got Caught With Their Pants Down