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34 Random Bits of Trivia That in Time Will Trickle Down From Your Brain to Your Dumber Organs

As Reagan promised!

34 Random Bits of Trivia That in Time Will Trickle Down From Your Brain to Your Dumber Organs

May 23, 2024

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34

Allied forces had nets on their helmets during WWII for camouflage. GRACKED.COM This was to reduce the helmet's 'shine' when wet and it would also allow soldiers to place burlap scrim or vegetation to help them blend into their surroundings. — Source

33

A Norman Rockwell painting was discovered in a secret compartment inside the walls of a cartoonist's house. CRACKED.COM Don Trachte had forged several paintings he owned to stop his ex-wife from getting them in a divorce settlement and had hidden the originals. It'd been hid- den there for 35 years. — Source

32

Legend has it, a man named Cooter Brown stayed drunk for the entire Civil War to avoid fighting. CRACKED COM Cooter lived on the line di- viding the North and South, and had family on either side. To avoid being drafted, he remained drunk to be seen as useless for military purposes for the duration of the war. — Source

31

Bang Bang Chicken was named for the method of tenderizing the meat. CRACKED.COM The dish isn't called bang bang to conjure up imag- es of spicy explosions of heat, but because the chicken is traditionally smacked with a stick of a hammer to get it tender. — Source

30

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is expected to stay stable for at least 200 years. GRACKED.COM After 10 years of effort and $40 million, the Leaning Tower of Pisa stopped moving in 2001 for the first time in its 800-year history. — Source

29

The most prolific serial killer in recorded human history was a doctor. CRACKED.COM British doctor Harold Shipman (also known as 'Doctor Death') was prov- en to have murdered at least 250 of his patients but may have killed as many as 459 people. — Source

28

27

A WWI German soldier lied in his book about his exploits and remarkable scientific discoveries. CRACKED.COM Hermann Detzner became famous for evading cap- ture by British forces in New Guinea. Не wrote a book, 'Four Years Among Cannibals,' but made ev- erything up, and just hid in one place for four years. — Source

26

If you were on Mercury's surface, you would see the sun pause in the sky and reverse direction. CRACKED COM This happens as the plan- et's angular orbital veloci- ty and angular rotational velocity flip as it crosses perihelion - the point in the orbit where the planet is closest to the sun.. — Source

25

The Indian village Piplantri celebrates the birth of each girl by planting 111 trees. GRACKED.COM The parents must nurture the saplings until they're mature and also sign an affidavit saying they would not marry off their daughters before 18 years of age and that no one in their family will indulge in foeticide. — Source

24

A man named Narayan Khandekar protects the world's rarest colors at the Harvard Art Museum in CRACKED.COM Some of these colors are poisonous, and some are very beautiful. One of the colors is a yellow pigment originating from dried COW urine where they were only fed mango leaves. — Source

23

In a 2008 survey, 58% of British teenagers thought Sherlock Holmes was real. CRACKED.COM 23% thought Winston Churchill was a myth, as was Florence Nightingale. Gandhi and the Duke of Wellington were also in the top 10 of people thought to be myths. — Source

22

In 1187, King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England slept together. CRACKED.COM Professor John Gillingham notes that there was noth- ing sexual about King Phil- ip and (then Prince) Rich- ard sharing a bed over- night, it was merely sym- bol of unity between the two countries. — Source

21

A 3-year-old girl named Karina Chikitova survived 11 days in the Siberian wilderness with her dog. CRACKED.COM She ate wild berries and drank from a river, curling up next to her dog for warmth. She was saved when her dog went back to her village and guided rescuers to her. — Source

20

African American architect Paul Williams learned to draw upside down. White clients were uncom- fortable sitting next to a black man, so Williams learned to draft upside down so that he could sit across the desk from his clients who would see his drafts right-side-up. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

Ethiopia adopted Christianity as its state religion before Rome did. The Ethiopian empire was one of the first in the world to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion in 324. It took Rome a few decades to catch up, in 380. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

18

A play in the early 20th century was ruined by the bald heads of audience members. Prankster Horace de Vere Cole ruined a pretentious and terrible play by giv- ing tickets to strategically selected seats to bald men, whose heads lit up when the lights came on to spell a swear word. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

17

Big Ben's bell was cracked barely two months after its inauguration. After the crack in 1859, the bell has rung with a unique resonance. The bell has since been ori- ented in such a way that the hammer doesn't strike the 'crack.' CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

16

People will rate a wine higher if they think it's from France. A Texas A&M study invited people to taste wines la- beled France, Califor- nia, and Texas, and while nearly all ranked the French as best, in fact, all three were the same Texan wine. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

15

Steve Jobs was offered a job at Hewlett-Packard in 8th grade. A young Jobs called then CEO of HP, Bill Hewlett for parts of his project to build a frequency counter. Bill not only agreed to give him parts but also offered a job assembling frequen- су counters. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

14

A Finnish soldier during WWII was found after a week in a ditch weighing 94 pounds. Aimo Koivunen overdosed on meth, got injured by a landmine, survived for a week in a ditch by eating pine cones, skied 250 miles and was found with a heart rate of 200bpm. Не lived for another 45 years. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

13

A German architect wanted to dam the Mediterranean to make a supercontinent. Herman Sörgel devoted his whole life to promoting the idea of draining the sea and connecting Europe with Af- rica, a landmass called At- lantropa. Не thought it could provide shelter, em- ployment and food. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

12

Coal-fired power plants release more uranium than nuclear power plants. 2068 More uranium is released by coal plants in one week than what has been re- leased by all nuclear power plants combined (includ- ing Chernobyl/other acci- dents) over the past 50 years. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

11

Over 50% of the human population has bone spurs. Bone spurs are permanent deposits and do not heal or go away. You would nev- er know you had them un- less you had an x-ray spe- cifically to look for them, as they have zero impact on your life. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

10

Argentinians in the early 20th century thought the 7th son born to a family would turn into a werewolf. The belief was so wide- spread that parents would kill or put up for adoption the child. In the 1920s, a law was passed that the 7th son would automatically receive godfathership of the presi- dent of Argentina. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

9

Ancient Egyptians believed the Sun God Khepri moved the newly-born sun like a dung beetle. Khepri is depicted as hav- ing a scarab as a head be- cause the Egyptians be- lieved that he moved the sun across the sky in the way a dung beetle pushes large balls of dung along the ground. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

8

Pharrell made only $2,700 in songwriter royalties from 43 million plays of Happy on Pandora. Нарру was nominated for Best Music Video and Best Pop Solo Performance in 2015, but that didn't help his cut from the streaming service, where a million streams yields roughly just $60 in royalties. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

7

The largest population of tigers in the world is in the USA. With an estimated 5,000 tigers, the U.S. captive tiger popula- tion exceeds the ар- proximately 3,200 ti- gers in the wild. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

6

Memento is a surprisingly accurate portrayal of amnesia. The film is lauded by medi- cal experts for its accurate portrayal of anterograde amnesia and is considered close to a perfect explora- tion of the neurobiology of memory. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

5

A UK man set up his own 0871 line so that he would earn money from spam calls. O Y O MADE de Incoming Call Unknown Decline In 2011, every time a bank, gas or electricity supplier asked Lee Beaumont for his details, he submitted the toll number as his con- tact number, which cost money to the caller. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

4

King Cambyses II of Persia used cats to invade Egypt. Knowing that cats held a high place in Egyptian soci- ety, the king brought hun- dreds of cats into his front lines. As a result, Egyptian archers refused to fire on his felines, fearing that they would injure the animals. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

3

A chess grandmaster played a game that saved him from a firing squad. Ossip Bernstein was sen- tenced to death by the Bolsheviks in 1918. A Rus- sian officer heard his name and offered the chance to prove his identity in a game of chess. Не beat the officer and was released. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

2

The black belt in martial arts does not necessarily indicate expert level or mastery. It was introduced for judo in the 1880s to indicate competency at all of the basic techniques of the sport. In judo and some other Asian martial arts, the highest ranks have sol- id red belts. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

1

Thieves tried to steal a koala from an Australian zoo, but it was too vicious. The animal abductors changed their mind after scratched the sh*t out of them, and decided to try their hand with a less brutal animal: a crocodile. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

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