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30 Long-Forgotten Bits of Trivia We Never Thought We’d See in This Town Again

July 14, 2024

Well, well, well, if it ain’t the ol’ yarn about the CIA sneaking LSD into a French bakery. Takes a lot of gumption to show up in this here listicle.

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30

The first person to die in a space flight requested an open casket. 12-13-X-1964 СОВЕРШЕН ПОЛЕТ ТРЕХМЕСТНОГО КОСМИЧЕСКОГО КОРАБЛЯ ПОЧТА CCC .BOCK КОМАН ТР GRAGKED.COM AFTY KO In 1967, the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in an accident on the Soyuz 1 mis- sion. Komarov was aware of the faulty design of the shuttle and wanted to send a message to the government officials who had caused his death. — Source

29

Alfred Nobel created the Nobel Prize after he saw his own obituary due to a news-outlet mishap. CRACKED.COM Due to all the horrible things he read about him- self, including being called the merchant of death for the invention of dyna- mite, he decided to dedi- cate his fortune to the cre- ation of the Nobel Prize. — Source

28

A Canadian company, as a joke, started selling canned fresh air called Vanity Air. CRACKED.COM The product became a hit when marketed in China. They package compressed air from the Rocky Mountains into aluminum cans that sell for $10-$20 each. — Source

27

An Australian Prime Minister went for a swim in the ocean and was never seen again. CRACKED.COM When Prime Minister Harold Holt's press secretary ex- pressed concern about his love of swimming, he said, Look, what are the odds that a PM would drown or be eaten by a shark, almost guaranteeing an ironic death. — Source

26

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana said that he was contacted by the Archangel Metatron and told how to create his next album. CRACKED.COM 'Supernatural' went on to win 12 Grammys in- cluding Album of the Year, went 15 times plat- inum, charted #1 in 10 countries, and sold 30 million copies. — Source

25

Over a thousand people died at a banquet when they thought there wasn't enough beer. CRACKED.COM The banquet celebrating the crowning of Tsar Nicholas II was free to the public but a rumor of gold coins as gifts and there not being enough beer for everyone caused a stampede, trampling and kill- ing 1389 people. — Source

24

The first same-sex marriage license in the US was issued 43 years ago. CRACKED.COM Boulder County clerk Clela Rorex issued the license in 1975, and later refused a marriage license to a man and his horse because the underage horse did not have parental consent. — Source

23

The last surviving Civil War widow lived until 2008. CRACKED.COM Maudie Hopkins mar- ried 86-year-old Civil War veteran William М. Cantrell on Febru- ary 2, 1934 when she was only 19. Maudie died at age 93. — Source

22

Uganda

A Ugandan dictator accused of being a cannibal lived in exile for 20 years. CRACKED.COM Idi Amin was a convert to Islam and responsible for the deaths of up to 400,000 people. Не fled to Saudi Arabia after a coup and was allowed to live there for over 20 years until his death. — Source

21

Kris Kristofferson went into music after studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. CRACKED COM Не moved to Nashville and made ends meet as a heli- copter pilot. After trying un- successfully to get Johnny Cash to hear some of his songs, he finally got Cash's attention by landing a heli- copter on his lawn. — Source

20

Downtown Seattle was built on top of the original city from the 1800s. CRACKED COM It was rebuilt on top of ар- proximately 20-foot high walled tunnels following a great fire, in order to pre- vent floods from high tide and sewage. You can go underground to see the original city remnants. — Source

19

'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was filmed on a microscopic budget of $60,000. GRAGKED.COM The cast and crew had to work 7 days a week, 12-16 hours a day in 115°F heat in a poorly ventilated farm- house amid rotting roadkill being used as props to fin- ish the film. — Source

18

Wisconsin

Winneconne seceded from Wisconsin in 1967 when it accidentally went missing from the official state map. TINES DINEAD DETE CRACKED.COM They tried to form a sovereign state or be annexed by another state before the gover- nor met with them just one day after their proclamation. — Source

17

A particularly bad dice roll by a Byzantine Emperor was recorded for all of history. CRACKED.COM During a game of back- gammon in the year 480 A.D., the Byzantine Emper- or Zeno had a dice roll that was so unlucky that he wrote an epigram to re- cord it and we still know it to this day. — Source

16

Austria doesn't usually allow dual citizenship, but made an exception for Arnold Schwarzenegger. CRACKED COM Austria made a special ex- ception for Schwarzenegger in 1983 when he became a U.S. citizen. A member of Parliament tried to have his Austrian citizenship revoked in 2005 for his support of the death penalty. — Source

15

Socrates condemned the use of the written word because he thought it would cause people to be forgetful. CRACKED.COM Не said, This discovery of yours will create forgetful- ness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remem- ber of themselves. — Source

14

The CIA

CIA inserted LSD in the bread of a bakery. GRACKED COM The CIA secretly spiked the bread from a bakery in the French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit with enormous quantities of LSD as part of its cold war mind-control experiments. — Source

13

20 minutes spent on the London Underground's Northern Line is as bad for your lungs as smoking a cigarette. - - صحيفة - J BAKER STRE GRACKED.COM Levels of pollution on the Underground are danger- ously high - as much as 10 times above the guidelines set by the World Health Organization in some parts of the network. — Source

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12

Golf

A green jacket from the Augusta National Golf Club was purchased at a thrift store for $5. CRACKED COM The famed green jack- et had a tag that said it was from the 1950s and was bought from the thrift store in 2017. It sold at auction for $139,000. — Source

11

AT&T was forwarding global internet traffic to the government from secret rooms inside its offices. 641A CRACKED.COM 'Room 641A' houses beam- splitters capable of moni- toring all the internet traf- fic in the US. It was largely thought to be a myth until an NSA surveillance pro- gram revealed its existence in 2007. — Source

10

A town in the UK publicly mocks their mayors if they gain weight. CRACKED.COM High Wycombe in the United Kingdom publicly weighs their Mayor before and after their term to ensure they ha- ven't gained weight at the taxpayers' expense. If they have gained weight they are publicly booed. — Source

9

An extinct Australian language had the same word for dog' as we have in English. CRACKED.COM In the language Mbabaram, the word for dog is 'dog' and it is pronounced al- most identically to the En- glish word. This is purely a coincidence and there is no relation between English and Mbabaram. — Source

8

A Mexican citizen during WWII charged an enemy stronghold through a minefield, blowing off both of his feet. CRACKED.COM Silvestre Herrera, a volun- teer US soldier, continued fighting on his knees, pin- ning down the enemy and allowing his squad to cap- ture it. Не received the Medal of Honor. — Source

7

Darth Vader

Darth Vader jellyfish live in the Arctic Ocean. CRACKED.COM The transparent jellies, that are found in depths below 3,300 feet, got their unique nickname due to their body shape closely resembling that of Darth Vader's famous helmet. — Source

6

There is a rare snake that has iridescent rainbow colored scales called a sunbeam snake. GRACKED COM The scales of this Thai- land snake are very smooth and the snake has a texture like rub- ber. Dirt doesn't ар- pear to stick to the scales. — Source

5

India produced the largest volunteer Army in world history during WWII. CRACKED.COM Winston Churchill called the bravery of the 2.5 million men Unsur- passed, with at least 38 Indians awarded the Victoria Cross or the George Cross. — Source

4

The FBI

The FBI created a fake story that an actress cheated on her husband because she supported the Civil Rights movement. CRACKED.COM The stress of this fake story involving Jean Seberg and a black man caused her to go into labor prematurely and resulted in the death of her baby. — Source

3

Schwarzenegger made 200 times more for 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' than the first film. CRACKED.COM Arnold made $75,000 for his role in 'Terminator', but about 7 years later he made $15,000,000 for the sequel, having achieved his status as an action movie powerhouse with films like 'Commando,' 'Predator,' and 'Running Man.' — Source

2

In 2010, Taco Bell secretly reduced the sodium content of its food at 150 Dallas area restaurants by 23%. TACO BELL Drive Thru TACO BELL TK E YOU CANTINA LOVE FOR CRACKED.COM Without telling anyone, they replaced the salt with other spices and other in- gredients. Two months later, they had received ex- actly zero complaints about the changes. — Source

1

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood sat on a script for years until he was old enough to play the lead role. of li cente THE 48TH CRACKED.COM Eastwood bought David Webb Peoples' script for 'The Unforgiven' in 1976 and waited for 15 years un- til he was old enough to play the lead role of Wil- liam Munny at age 61. — Source

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