12 Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, June 18, 2024
If you ever underwent surgery at a Duke University hospital, you may have gotten pumped full of elevator lube.
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Two Duke Hospitals Cleaned Their Surgical Instruments in Elevator Lube
While an elevator was under repair in 2005, its hydraulic fluid was temporarily drained into a drum that was labeled as a surgical equipment cleanser. In a Looney Tunes-esque mishap, that liquid was then dumped into two machines that are used to sterilize surgical instruments before use. Dozens of people may have been cut open with lubed-up scalpels.
Mexico Might Sue HBO for a ‘House of the Dragon’ Ad
HBO has been promoting its Game of Thrones spin-off by digitally adding Westerosi flags to real-life locations. Mexican officials didn’t take kindly to seeing the Targaryen flag flying from Chapultepec Castle, and have threatened to sue.
An Amateur Historian Accidentally Thrifted Chinese State Secrets
A Chinese history buff picked up a few random books from a local recycling center, for less than a dollar, and realized they were confidential military documents.
Max Is Losing to Tubi and Roku
HBO’s Max accounts for only 1.2 percent of U.S. television use. Netflix is way up around 7 percent, but even lightweights Tubi and Roku are beating them, at 1.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Harvard Just Went All ‘Do Your Own Research’ on Us
A Harvard paper determined that the idea of cryptoterrestrials, or a technologically advanced community of humans or humanoid aliens living inside the Earth, “deserves genuine consideration in a spirit of epistemic humility and openness.” But what every conspiracy theorist from your hometown heard was: “Harverd sez aliens live underground!”
The Pentagon’s Anti-Vax Social Media Spree
It’s come to light that the Pentagon used a network of 300 social media accounts to target Muslim Filipinos with misinformation about China’s COVID vaccine, saying it included pork gelatin, to make them lean toward the Pfizer and Moderna options.
The Most Expensive Stamp Ever Sold
Big-swingin’ philatelist Bill Gross just sold a bunch of his rarest stamps at auction, including an 1868 “Z-Grill” stamp of Benjamin Franklin. It’s the first time one of those has been on the market in 26 years, and it sold for $4.4 million.
Scientists Discovered an Ancient Party Animal
A 100-million-year-old ant caught in amber was found to have sensory organs needed for highly social interactions with the rest of its colony, similar to its modern-day progeny. This proves that animal life was highly social, very early on, as opposed to developing social behavior later in evolution.
Sequels Are King
The two biggest debuts in the history of feature-length animation are The Incredibles 2, which made $182 million when it opened in 2018, and the new runner-up, Inside Out 2, which just raked in $155 million.
Zapping Your Brain Might Help You Get Over a Breakup
A new study found that electrical currents in the brain can ease the pain associated with heartbreak.
Two Freaky Incidents on Boeing Planes Went Unreported This Year
In May, a Southwestern flight experienced a “Dutch roll,” kind of the aeronautical equivalent of fishtailing. In April, another Boeing plane tried to land itself in the middle of the ocean, and was only overridden with 400 vertical feet to spare. It appears Southwestern and Boeing were hoping they would both just blow over.
The Tallest Dog in the World
An Iowa Great Dane named Kevin is officially the tallest dog in the world at 3 feet, 2 inches from feet to withers.
