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July 27, 2024

The guy who wrote Bambi made a cool thousand bucks.

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38

A Cuban military pilot defected to America and then returned to exfiltrate his wife and children. 03 CRACKED.COM Orestes Lorenzo Perez flew a MIG-23 to the US in 1991, and then took a six-pas- senger Cessna 310 back to Cuba, where he was con- sidered a traitor, to extract his family. — Source

37

Itching powder was put into the underwear of German uniforms by resistance laundresses. free aball 245 3 odt . 1930 CRAGKED.COM The itching powder made from the Mucuna plant's spiked seeds was devel- oped by the United King- dom's intelligence service to demoralize German sail- ors by making them tre- mendously uncomfortable. — Source

36

Parrots will eat clay to help when food is scarce. CRACKED.COM This is most common during the breeding season when parrots need extra minerals to feed their young. Clay helps eliminate toxins from the body, allowing parrots to eat toxic foods without be- coming ill. — Source

35

Some wasps paralyze spiders and bring them back to their nests to lay their eggs. CRACKED.COM The Mud Dauber wasp builds tubular nests out of mud, and then gathers spiders to para- lyze and seal up in their nest with an egg. When their young hatches, they eat the spider. — Source

34

The Ute Native Americans of Utah wore trilobite fossils as amulets to protect from bullets. CRACKED.COM The fossils, called lit- tle water bugs by the Utes, were worn on a string and said to pro- tect against bullets and diseases such as diphtheria. — Source

33

Toilet paper is bleached to make it softer and last longer. GRAGKED.COM Manufacturers bleach wood pulp to remove the polymer lignin, a process that creates softer tissue. The paper being whitened is just a positive by-prod- uct of this process. — Source

32

Lead can be detected in the remains of former Japanese geishas. CRACKED.COM The white face paint worn by geishas and samurai in ancient Ja- pan was lead based, and so lead can be de- tected in their bones. — Source

31

Pill bugs are crustaceans, not insects. GRACKED CORE The potato bug, ro- ly-poly, or woodlouse is an isopod, a type of non-insect arthropod also called a terrestri- al crustacean. — Source

30

Knitting

Knitting is part of the school curriculum in Finland. CRACKED.COM Crafts as well as knitting have long been an integral part of Finnish culture, hence why it is a part of the school curriculum and part of the tradition that has long been passed from one generation to the next. — Source

29

A US volcanologist David Johnston was killed during the Mt Saint Helens eruption. CRACKED.COM Johnston's mentee, Harry Glick- en, was supposed to join him that day but was reassigned just beforehand. Glicken went on to be killed 11 years later during the eruption of Mt Unzen. They are the only two US volcanologists killed by volcanoes. — Source

28

It's never been illegal to kill a praying mantis in the US. GRACKED.COM Praying Mantis' have never been an endan- gered species, and the urban legend that it's against the law to kill one has been around since the 1950's. — Source

27

A New Zealand farmer was put into a board game after his friends made him a fake Wikipedia entry. KE GRACKED.COM G Kotahi-Manawa Bradford was accidentally turned into a character for the board game 'Rising Sun' after his friends created a fake Wikipedia entry de- scribing him as a mythical Japanese monster. — Source

26

iPhones

25

Eastern Whip-poor-wills lay their eggs in phase with the lunar cycle so they hatch 10 days before a full moon. GRACKED.COM When the moon is near full, the adults can forage the entire night and capture large quantities of in- sects to feed to their nestlings. — Source

24

Ketogenic diets are a viable treatment option for those that suffer epilepsy. CRACKED.COM Keto diets are a viable treatment option for epi- lepsy that has not re- sponded to multiple antie- pileptic drugs (refractory seizures). It is also under investigation for utility in Alzheimer's. — Source

23

Current inflation in the US has nothing on what happened to Hungary in 1946. CRACKED.COM Inflation was so high that prices doubled every 15 hours. Something that cost 379 Hungarian peng S in Sep 1945, ended up cost- ing 1 trillion trillion peng S by Jul 1946. — Source

22

Many bird species rub ants on themselves to rid their feathers of parasites. CRACKED.COM Called anting, the formic acid released by the ants helps to kill the parasites on the bird when they roll in ant hills or pick ants up by their bill and rub them on their feathers. — Source

21

Crypto

Almost all of the assets seized by the IRS in 2021 were cryptocurrencies. ethereum F B ripple CRACKED.COM The $3.5 billion in crypto accounts for 93% of all as- sets seized in 2021. Digital money has quickly become the dominant form of pay- ment in criminal cases in which the agency seizes funds. — Source

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20

Exoplanets

The number of known exoplanets has doubled every 27 months since they were first discovered. CRACKED.COM Since the first ехо- planets were discov- ered in the early 90s, the number is now over 4,000 of con- firmed findings. — Source

19

A tax on beer decreed by King Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1844 led to the beer riots. CRACKED.COM Crowds of urban workers beat up police while the Ва- varian army showed reluc- tance to get involved. Civil order was restored only af- ter the King decreed a ten percent reduction in the price of beer. — Source

18

The original author barely got any money for the movie. Disney bought the rights to the book from director Sidney Franklin, who had bought them from author Felix Salten for just a thousand bucks (less than $20,000 in 2022 money). Bambi CRACKED.COM — Source

17

CRACKED.COM Blankman This was Greg Kinnear's feature film debut. Не played a talk show host (fitting, as he was known as one at the time). This would lead to several award nominations later, for his role in As Good As It Gets. — Source

16

Hook

CRACKED.COM Hook Michael Jackson put a curse on Steven Spielberg. The king of pop really wanted to play Peter Pan, and wasn't at all happy when Spielberg turned him down - to the extent that he reportedly paid $150,000 to put a hex on the director. — Source

15

The Naked Gun

CRACKED.COM OOL The Naked Gun The movie was John Houseman's final film role. Houseman, who won an Oscar for The Paper Chase and was a frequent collaborator with Orson Welles, made his final film appearance giving the middle finger as a driving instructor. — Source

14

Selena

Selena The movie was announced a few months after Selena's death. Selena's biopic was announced in August 1995, after she was tragically shot and killed in March. The movie was released in 1997. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Hereditary Alex Wolff offered to break his own nose. Wolff's character breaks his own nose by slamming his head onto his desk. Wolff was ready to do it for real, but director Ari Aster said no. Because laws. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

The Lost Boys Ben Stiller was almost in the movie (maybe?). Stiller may or may not have been joking when he mentioned the fact at the 2010 Hollywood Life Young Hollywood Awards. In any case, he still had a successful career despite not playing a teen vampire. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

CRACKED.COM Beaches Mother and daughter are almost the same age. Lainie Kazan was 48 when she played Bette Midler's mother in the movie. Midler was 43 at the time. — Source

10

Kristen Wiig and Ken Jeong are in both movies. Wiig plays Miss Hattie in the first film and Lucy in the sequel. Jeong plays a Talk Show Host in the first, and returns in the second film as Floyd Eagle-san. Despicable Me 1&2 CRACKED.COM — Source

9

The Crow Brandon Lee had a character removed. Lee pleaded to director Alex Proyas to remove a villain from an early draft, who was he saw as an Asian stereotype. Proyas agreed. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

CRACKED.COM King Ralph John Goodman is the only American cast member. To fit the tone and premise of the movie, the director made sure that everyone but the crass American Ralph was played by British actors. — Source

7

Do The Right Thing Barack and Michelle Obama saw this movie on their first date. She claims he was trying to impress her by picking a movie by an independent filmmaker. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Ocean’s Eleven

Mark Wahlberg turned down a role for Planet of the Apes. Wahlberg was offered the role of Linus (which eventually went to Matt Damon), but chose to work on Tim Burton's monkey movie instead. Swing and a miss, Mark. Ocean's Eleven CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Lego Batman

A real Lego Gotham would be 650 yards long. The animators went into overload to give the city buildings, alleys, businesses, and other features the comic book Gotham had. If built with real Lego bricks, the set would be six and a half football fields long. BANG The Lego Batman Movie CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Bridesmaids

Las Vegas scenes were cut because of The Hangover. Producer Judd Apatow didn't want the movie to be considered The Hangover: Women's Edition, so he cut all the Las Vegas scenes to prevent comparisons from critics. Too bad that many did that anyway. Bridesmaids CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Saoirse Ronan

Saoirse Ronan had to actually learn how to bake. Director Wes Anderson had Ronan bake the courtesan au chocolat herself on screen, which wasn't easy. We have to wonder if Anderson knows what acting is. Grand Budapest Hotel CRACKED.COM — Source

2

The Batman

CRACKED.COM The Batman Robert Pattinson auditioned in Val Kilmer's Batman costume. Director Matt Reeves already had Pattinson in mind for the Caped Crusader-which is good, because the nipples couldn't have caused a great impression. — Source

1

CRACKED.COM The Avengers Jeremy Renner wanted Hawkeye killed off. Even Renner found Clint an underwhelming character at first, and wanted him to die so he could focus on other projects. Instead, Hawkeye is alive and well, with his own series on Disney+. — Source

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