35 Random Facts That Will Accordion Your Crumple Zone
Safety first
![35 Random Facts That Will Accordion Your Crumple Zone](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/1/1079681_320x180.jpg)
A crumple zone is a sign of intelligence, an embrace of centuries of engineering. If your dome was a solid steel tank of a structure, well, that would make you an entire fucking idiot.
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![People were shoved out of airplanes during Argentina's dictatorship. CRACKED.COM Opponents to the regime were drugged, flown out over the Atlantic, and pushed out of planes alive with weights attached to their feet so no bodies would be found as evidence.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/7/1079717.jpg)
![David Grohl was the only band member of Foo Fighters when recording the first album. CRACKED.COM Не wrote and recorded all vocal, guitar, bass, and drum tracks himself. Many know Grohl as a frontman, but he actually played per- cussion in a small indie band before Foo Fighters, called Nirvana.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/1079716.jpg)
![20th Century Fox was convinced that 'Star Wars' was going to be a flop. CRACKED.COM They agreed to George Lu- cas' proposition to forgo an additional $500,000 di- recting fee in return to keep licensing and mer- chandising rights of the movie for himself, which made him a billionaire.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/1079715.jpg)
![Severed hands became a currency during the Belgian colonization of Congo. CRACKED.COM Colonizers demanded sev- ered hands as punishment for failing to fulfill rubber collection quotas, but the quotas were unrealistic. Soldiers were paid bonus- es based on how many hands they collected.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/1079714.jpg)
![The NBA Jam arcade game outgrossed 'Jurassic Park' in 1993. CRACKED COM SHOT NBA Jam was America's highest-grossing arcade game of 1993. Individual ma- chines at the time were earn- ing up to $2400 per week, and the game grossed over $1 billion the first year.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/1079713.jpg)
![Rosalind Franklin is the unsung hero of DNA research. CRACKED.COM Her X-ray Crystallography allowed her colleagues Watson and Crick to асси- rately characterize the double helix. Many believe she should've shared in their Nobel prize.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/2/1079712.jpg)
![Huskies need to train to be better distance runners. CRACKED.COM While the average pet hus- ky can run between 10 to 20 miles a day, a well-con- ditioned race husky can run for 11 hours straight for 125 miles. They can repeat this distance for up to 10 days in a row.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/1/1079711.jpg)
![A former NFL player did more time for bad checks than murder. THE FACE OF THIS DOCUM NT HAS A NHE CHEESE BACKGROUND ON WHITE PAPERAND A VOID PANTOGRAPH WITH A BLUE SECURITY STRIP th CENTER WELLS FARGO BANK NA WELLS FARGO HOME EQUITY CASHIER'S CHECK 11-24/1210(8) 11001 NORTH BLACK CANYON HIGHWAY AZ adidas No. 0150482880 Date: 08/02/06 WELLS FARGO BANK Loan #: 20053097100155 For: 490397919 JOSE TRINIDAD AND DOREEN E LARA $12,000.42 Pay $ 12,000dols 42cts !! Broth Exactly - Twelve Thousand dollars and 42 cents Void if over $12,000.42 PAY ORDER OF nine GRAGKED.COM 20150LA 2880g C121000PLAC 4861 507788 Robert](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/0/1079710.jpg)
![We embody associations we have with particular clothes. GRACKED CON People scored higher in a mental agility test while wearing a lab coat that they believed was a doc- tor's coat. The effect was not there when they be- lieved the same white coat was a painter's coat.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/9/1079709.jpg)
![Isla Fisher almost drowned while filming 'Now You See Me.' CRACKED COM Fisher was running out of air while filming the piranha tank scene and tried to swim to the top for air, but her handcuffs got snagged. The crew thought it was part of the scene, which called for her to panic.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/8/1079708.jpg)
![The FBI made up a production company to expose McDonald's Monopoly winners. PEEL HERE PEEL HERE $ $ ©2008 McDonald's CRACKED.COM The FBI went undercover to interview supposed win- ners for TV ads using the name Shamrock Produc- tions, and they drove a van with the byline Cause you're just lucky printed on the side.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/6/1079706.jpg)
![Denver cops used smell-oscopes to find weed smokers. CRACKED.COM Even though recreational marijuana was legal by 2013, there was still an ordinance against polluting the air with too much smoke. The Nasal Ranger Field Olfactometer used purified air to filter out less-offensive odors.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/7/1079707.jpg)
![A long lasting tampon released in 1975 caused an epidemic of Toxic Shock Syndrome. CRACKED.COM The P&G 'Rely' Tampon was super-absorbent and long-lasting, promising to even absorb the worry. This led to women leaving them in too long, making them the perfect environ- ment to culture bacteria.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/5/1079705.jpg)
![The Earth is misaligned with its magnetic field over the South Atlantic. GRACKED.COM The South Atlantic Anomaly is a region of space where computers crash, astronauts lose part of their vision, and a space telescope was de- stroyed by a guidance com- puter fault.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/2/1079702.jpg)
![The Delicious Monster fruit will cause severe irritation until it is 100% ripe. CRACKED.COM The outer layer of Mon- stera Deliciosa has the presence of oxalic acid (rust cleaner) unless the fruit is ripe, at which point it's safe to eat and tastes like a mix of pineapple, ba- nana, and coconut.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/3/1079703.jpg)
![Locals in Cornwall, England created an imaginary beach to deal with overcrowded beaches. CRACKED COM Signposts were put up all over the county leading to the 'Best Beach in Corn- wall,' Porthemmet beach, but the signs actually di- verted tourists in the ор- posite direction from any of the coasts.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/1/1079701.jpg)
![The Carter administration installed 32 solar panels on top of the White House in 1979. GRACKED.COM Carter said, In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, effi- cient energy. The Reagan administration immediately took them down in '86.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/4/1079704.jpg)
![Your brain/eyes will generate a light show if kept in darkness for long periods of time. GRACKED.COM The phenomenon, known as the Prisoner's Cinema, is reported by prisoners confined to dark cells and by others kept in dark- ness such as truck drivers and pilots.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/0/1079700.jpg)
![Pepperoni is an American invention. CRACKED.COM It's similar to the spicy sa- lamis of southern Italy, but it also has elements char- acteristic of German sau- sages (smokiness, beef content, and fine grind). In Italian, peperoni just means bell peppers.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/9/1079699.jpg)
![It was Nicholas Cage's idea to eat real cockroaches while filming Vampire's Kiss (1988). CRACKED.COM The script had called for Cage's character to suck a raw egg, but he felt that was too tame. Cage de- cided on cockroaches be- cause they are the thing he hates the most.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/8/1079698.jpg)
!['Wi-Fi' is a made up word that doesn't stand for anything. CRACKED.COM IEEE 802.11 didn't have much of a ring to it, and the industry association wanted a catchy name. They came up with wi-fi, and that's what's been used ever since.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/7/1079697.jpg)
![There was a war over bat poop in 1864. CRACKED COM Spain started a war with Peru and Chile in 1864 by taking over an Island for its strategic source of guano, which at that time was an important ingredient for gunpowder.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/6/1079696.jpg)
![Holland, Michigan has tubing under the streets to melt snow. CRACKED COM The city has 168 miles of tubing coiled un- derneath its streets, circulating hot water in order to melt any snow on the ground.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/5/1079695.jpg)
![The guy that gave us the Dewey Decimal System was a creep. GRAGKED.COM Melvil Dewey, the inven- tor of the Dewey Decimal System, was kicked out of the American Library As- sociation for constant un- welcome advances to- wards women librarians.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/4/1079694.jpg)
![The city of Sao Paulo passed a Clean City Law in 2007 banning outdoor advertisements. CRACKED.COM Over 300,000 ostentatious business signs, billboards, posters, bus and taxi ads were taken down. Remov- ing ads revealed civic is- sues, including hidden slums that were previously masked.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/2/1079692.jpg)
![The opening ofThe Hills Have Eyes 2 played instead of The Last Mimzy in one movie theater. CRACKED.COM Audiences eager to watch the children's film in 2007 were instead assaulted by the horror movie which be- gins with a chained naked woman giving birth to a deformed baby.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/7/1079687.jpg)
![The Cave of Swallows in Mexico is home to many birds, but not swallows. CRACKED.COM It is the largest cave shaft in the world, being almost 1,000 feet wide at the bot- tom and 1,100 feet deep.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/3/1079683.jpg)
![Vanilla is the world's second most expensive spice. CRACKED.COM 99% of vanilla-flavored products on the market, from vanilla-flavored vod- ka to vanilla wafers and va- nilla pudding, don't actual- ly contain vanilla. Artificial vanilla essence is used in- stead.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/1/1079691.jpg)
![Norwegians pay less taxes in November so they have more money for Christmas. CRACKED.COM Norwegians only have to pay half of the tax they should be paying but they make up for it by paying more in other months.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/5/1079685.jpg)
![The singer of the original Pokémon Theme didn't know what it was about. CRACKED.COM Jason Paige considers the song to be a rela- tively minor part of his career, as he has worked with Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, and Frankie Valli.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/6/1079686.jpg)
![The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a pirate certificate. MASSACHVSETTS INSTITVTE OF TECHNOLOGY CRACKED COM This honor is achieved by students who complete the archery, sailing, fencing, and pistol or rifle shooting courses. The department frequently holds pirate in- duction days.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/3/1079693.jpg)
![The Ainu are the lost indigenous people of Japan. GRACKED COM The men, never shav- ing after a certain age, usually have full beards, and women undergo mouth tat- tooing to signify their coming to adulthood.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/4/1079684.jpg)
![Some police stations in China use geese instead of guard dogs to keep watch at night. CRACKED.COM Geese are very territorial and have better vision than humans. In ancient Rome, geese are credited by the historian Livy for giving the alarm when Gauls invaded.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/9/1079689.jpg)
![Pygmy Seahorses change color after they are born to match the first coral they find. CRACKED.COM The seahorses, which are only the size of a fingernail, are born a dull brown but - no matter the color of their parents - they will change to match the sea fan coral they attach themselves to for bet- ter camouflage.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/0/1079690.jpg)
![A merry band of Nazi fighting pirates skipped through the German countryside. HIER WURDEN AM 25.10.1944 ELE UOM INS-REGIME ZUR ZWANGSARBEIT nach DEUTSCHLAND VERSCHLEPPTE BURGER POLENTS UND DER UDSSR uno Au 10.11.1944 DREIZERIA DEUTSCHE-LITTER IHNEN JUGENDLICHE EDELWEISSPIRATED CRACKED COM The 'Edelweiss Pirates' were a youth group who fought Nazis playing guitars and singing Anti-Nazi folk songs. They sheltered escaped con- centration-camp prisoners and Allied soldiers in a pro- gram of armed resistance.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/8/1079688.jpg)