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40 Random Bits of Trivia to Double-Flush Down Your Think-Toilet

Courtesy flush, please

40 Random Bits of Trivia to Double-Flush Down Your Think-Toilet

June 20, 2024

Grow up, it’s not gross. Wastewater can be purified and used to irrigate crops, heat buildings and a bunch of other environmentally sustainable stuff. Don’t let your ignorance keep you from splooshing down these valuable fact turds.

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40

A West African president was assassinated by his former bandmate. In 1987, Thomas Sankara (then president of Burkina Faso) was killed in a coup held by Blaise Compaoré. Ten years earlier, they were in a band together called 'Tout-à-Coup Jazz.' CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

39

The razor in Occam's razor refers to shaving or cutting two hypotheses. ROUND ID RAZOR CROWN& MADE IN GERMANY SWORD The hypothesis is distin- guished by shaving away unnecessary assumptions or cutting apart two similar conclusions. This means a solution with the fewest as- sumptions, not the simplest answer, is usually correct. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

38

In 1872, a ship known as the Mary Celeste was discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic. When another ship happened upon her, all of the provisions and belongings of the crew were perfectly intact, but the crew were all missing. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

37

Howard Hughes bought a TV station just to play his favorite movies. The American business magnate was an insomniac and was frustrated that there was nothing good on TV late at night, so he bought the station and had it play his favorite movies 24/7. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

36

Arthur Conan Doyle loosely based Sherlock Holmes on Dr. Joseph Bell, a Scottish surgeon. Dr. Bell would often pick a stranger, and by ob- serving him, deduce his occupation and recent activities. Не was consid- ered a pioneer in forensic science. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

35

The third tallest building in Mexico was built to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. Occupants inside the Torre Mayor in Mexico City did not even know that a 7.6 magnitude earthquake was hap- pening when it ос- curred in 2003. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

34

A doctor prescribed Winston Churchill alcohol for his recovery from being hit by a car. After being knocked down by a car in New York in 1931, Churchill's doctor is- sued a medical note calling for alcoholic spirits, espe- cially at mealtimes, speci- fying 250 cc's (8 oz) per day as the minimum. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

33

Poisoned whiskey in the Old West was often safer to drink than locally available water. Many whiskeys in the saloons of the Old West contained added Strychnine, a lethal poison. Diluted Strych- nine was thought to have curative effects. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

32

The Parliament of New Zealand keeps an official list of unparliamentary language used by members. These are insults/obsceni- ties used through the years that were not considered appropriate, such as His brains could revolve inside a peanut shell for a thou- sand years without touch- ing the sides. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

31

White Castle became popular because of public reaction to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. and UNA 2006 5 White Castle Teacher -80 HAMBURGERS MAR MILE To make sure that custom- ers thought their food was clean, the buildings were painted completely white, the interiors were made of stainless steel, and the em- ployees all wore spotless uniforms. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

30

The youngest person to publish in a medical journal was 11 years old. Emily Rosa published her school science project demonstrating that Reiki (a type of alternative med- icine) practitioners could not detect the alleged life force under experimental conditions. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

29

Julius Caesar had his only biological son with Cleopatra. Caesarion, which trans- lates to Little Caesar, was the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt until his death was ordered by the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

28

David Fincher

David Fincher was convinced to make Se7en after the studio sent him the wrong script. The studio didn't want the head-in-the-box ending but accidentally sent Fincher a script with the scene left in. The producer still objected to it, but Brad Pitt refused to act in the film unless the scene was kept. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

27

The first man-made object to reach the stratosphere was fired from a giant gun. MG.26f The Paris Gun, used by the Germans in WWI to bom- bard Paris from 80 miles away, fired a meter long shell. The curvature of the earth had to be considered when calculating where it would land. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

26

One of the previously most densely populated islands on the planet is now abandoned. Gunkanjima, Japan was at one point packed with an average of 1.4 residents per square meter of space. Google sent a single em- ployee to map the island with a camera on their back. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

25

Michael Jackson didn't sleep for 60 days prior to his death. Jackson suffered from severe insomnia and instead of sleep, his personal doctor had been putting him un- der general anesthesia every night. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

Illinois has the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. Monks Mound is 1,000 feet long, 700 feet wide, and 100 feet tall. Its footprint is compa- rable in size to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

No one has found the burial of King Kamehameha. When King Kamehameha of Hawaii died in 1819, his body was taken and buried in secret in accordance with Hawaiian tradition to preserve his mana. To this day, people only speculate on its location. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

22

Parents and church leaders much prefered teens in the '50s to date a different person every weekend. Going steady with one person was seen as en- couraging the relation- ship to develop into one of physical intimacy, something parents wished to avoid. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

21

Some Japanese noblewomen of the Edo period had fart- blame-taking heoibikuni. There were servants em- ployed to take the blame for their farts if their boss passed gas in front of oth- ers. This was done by the servant 'confessing'/ver- bally proclaiming it was her at the moment. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

Polling places in churches lead to more conservative voting results, as with schools and liberals. CRACKED.COM Being exposed to churches and clerical images can promote someone's Chris- tian identity, making them more likely to back politi- cal initiatives aligned with Christian values. — Source

19

In 2001, the Mongolian Navy consisted of just 7 members, and only one knew how to swim. CRACKED.COM The Mongolian Navy was one of the largest in the world during the 13th century, but most of the fleet sank during the Mongol in- vasions of Japan. — Source

18

MasterCard started as a not-for-profit membership association in 1966. MasterCard CRACKED.COM By the mid 2000s Master- Card and Visa were han- dling trillions of dollars of transactions between con- sumers and merchants, so they turned into for-profit companies in 2006 and 2007, respectively. — Source

17

For Christmas, Catalan children feed a hollowed-out log with a painted face. CRACKED COM The children then later sing a song and beat the log with a stick until it def- ecates presents. The first lines of the song go; Shit, tió, hazelnuts and nougats, do not shit herrings, they are too salty. — Source

16

A Tennessee politician received 1,531 votes after assassinating his opponent. 70 60 GRAGKED.COM Byron Looper changed his middle name to Low Tax as a vote-winning stunt, which must have worked since he still got over 1,500 votes a month after killing his opponent. — Source

15

California's largest body of water, the Salton Sea, was created by an engineering mistake. CRACKED.COM Irrigation canals were dug from the Colorado River to the Salton sink. When the river flooded, a dyke was breached and the entire Colorado River poured into the sink, making the sea. — Source

14

Retail clothing sizes come from Civil War uniforms. CRACKED.COM Such a massive number of people had to be outfitted during the Civil War that uniforms needed to be mass produced. Soldiers were put into subtypes: large, medium, and small. — Source

13

Each US state manages a federally-allocated fund to support victims of crime. CRACKED.COM If you are the victim of a crime, you can apply for reimbursement for medical services, mental health counseling, lost wages, and other costs incurred as a result of the crime. — Source

12

Nintendo provided gamers special gloves if they injured their hands playing Mario Party 64. The biggest number goes first. 10 8 S 9 GRACKED.COM Complaints were received by New York's attorney general's office about inju- ries sustained while rotat- ing the N64 controller's analog stick, and Nintendo agreed to an $80 million settlement. — Source

11

A Cold War intelligence operation included forcing the Soviets to use military paperwork as toilet paper. GRAGKED.COM Operation Tamarisk in- volved emptying sup- plies of Soviet Union toi- let paper, forcing them to use documents, and retrieving these docu- ments after use. — Source

10

A woman plotted to kill an entire household over some cheese. CRACKED.COM Jessica Sandy Booth mis- took some cheese for co- caine, and hired a hit-man to kill a house full of peo- ple to steal it. The hit-man then turned out to be a po- lice officer. — Source

9

Anyone on Earth can bounce a laser off reflector arrays left on the Moon by the Apollo missions. CRACKED.COM These mirrors were put there for scien- tists on Earth to aim lasers at them and calculate the time it took for the beams to return. — Source

8

A 1972 Vice President candidate had to drop out because he was treated for depression. GRACKED.COM The Democratic candi- date, whose name was perfect for office, Thom- as Eagleton was humili- ated by the revelation that he received electro- shock therapy. — Source

7

70% of the Hershey company is owned by a school trust fund. HEY'S HERSHEY'S HERSHEY'S HERS IEY'S HERSHEY'S HERSHEY'S HERS EY'S HERSHEY'S HERSHEY'S CRACKED UFDS GOM Since Milton Hershey didn't have any children, he and his wife opened an orphan- age school and left his en- tire fortune and the owner- ship of Hershey Chocolate Company in trust for the children in the school. — Source

6

The oldest known galaxy can be viewed as it was 13.4 billion years ago. CRACKED.COM The oldest known galaxy in the uni- verse is 32 billion light-years away from us. — Source

5

A Giant Penguin

The fossil remains of a 6 foot 8 inch tall penguin were found in Antarctica. GRAGKED.COM Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, or the Colossus Penguin, weighed over 250 Ibs and its skeleton was 37 million years old - the most com- plete fossil ever uncovered from the Antarctic. — Source

4

Peru

The town of Santo Tomas in Peru has an annual fistfight called Takanakuy. CRACKED.COM Every year on 25th of December, men, wom- en and even children fistfight each other to settle old disputes to begin the New Year with a clean slate. — Source

3

Earliest Shelters

The oldest shelters ever built by humans were made from mammoth bones. CRACKED.COM In 1965, a Ukrainian farmer dug up the lower jawbone of a mammoth. Further ex- cavations revealed the presence of 4 huts made up of a total of 149 mam- moth bones, dating back 15,000 years. — Source

2

Residents of the South Korean town of Daesong-dong are exempt from taxes. CRACKED COM This is an effort by the gov- ernment to keep people there despite being only 350m from the North Korean border. However, for security reasons, there is a curfew and nightly headcount. — Source

1

The Incas wore armor made of cotton. CRACKED.COM In the 1500s, Incas had cotton armor so densely woven it could repel spears and arrows almost as well as metal armor. — Source

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