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35 Random Bits of Trivia Airdropped to Us by a Stranger on This Airplane

July 26, 2024

We were skeptical when the notification came in. We've been burned before. But these are some high quality facts!

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35

After a major extinction event, the animal species that survive tend to get smaller. GRACKED.COM The decrease in body size in animal species which have survived a major extinction is called the Lilliput effect, de- rived from the island of Lil- liput inhabited by a miniature race of people in 'Gulliver's Travels.' — Source

34

Flo Rida uses strip clubs as a barometer for his songs before they're released. PLO CRACKED.COM Mr. Rida explains: I test my songs out at strip clubs first. If you can get a girl to dance you know you're on to some- thing good. — Source

33

John Malkovich saved a man who tripped and slit his throat. GRACKED.COM 77-year-old Jim Walpole fell and cut his neck open on a piece of scaffolding in 2013, and it was none oth- er than Malkovich who ар- plied pressure to the wound, saving his life. — Source

32

Toyota, Japan is named after the car manufacturer, not the other way around. PASH CRACKED.COM Koromo, Japan renamed itself Toyota after the company in 1959, be- cause Toyota, which was founded there, had be- come so famous. — Source

31

Cell phone use in Sweden drops 28% when an annual Donald Duck Christmas special is aired. CRACKED.COM The 1958 special 'Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas' plays every year at 3 pm on Christmas Eve on Swe- den's main channel, and the whole country seems to tune in to watch. — Source

30

Candles that release oxygen when burned are used as an emergency oxygen supply. CRACKED.COM They supply an on-de- mand source of оху- gen, utilized in air- planes, space stations, and other applications such as safe havens and refuge chambers. — Source

29

Ancient Rome

A form of revolt in ancient Rome involved commoners letting the elite fend for themselves. CRACKED COM In Secessio Plebis, when the ruling class of Rome would become too cor- rupt or unjust to the com- moners, the commoners would band together and evacuate the entire city. — Source

28

Teletubbieland, from the Teletubbie TV show, had to be flooded. CRACKED COM After the TV show ended, the owner of the land used had to dig out the hill and flood the field it was filmed in, due to the amount of people trespassing to see Teletubbieland. — Source

27

A German man tried to deliver mail by launching it in a rocket, and failed twice. CRACKED.COM Gerhard Zucker attempted to deliver mail by loading it onto a rocket and firing it at a Scottish island. Both times he attempted this, the rocket exploded and much of the mail was de- stroyed. — Source

26

There are turf wars in New Zealand over Manuka honey. CRACKED.COM Due to the cost of the honey going up 20 fold in the last few decades, there are now turf wars with thefts, poisoning of hives and vandalism on the increase. — Source

25

A father started a biotech company, with no prior experience, to save the lives of his children. GRACKED.COM John Crowley was told his two infant children had an incur- able genetic disorder that would kill them in less than a year. Не founded Amicus Ther- apeutics, which pioneered an experimental enzyme therapy that saved their lives. — Source

24

Most of the people that died during the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens were in safe areas. GRAGKED.COM Of the 57 people who died during the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in 1980, all but 6 were in safe areas. 51 people, including an en- tire family, died while in sections for camping and recreation. — Source

23

One of the brightest (and biggest) things in the universe is a black hole. GRACKED COM The mass of the central black hole of Ton 618 is at least 66 billion solar mass- es. This is higher than the mass of all stars in the Milky Way galaxy com- bined, which is 64 billion solar masses. — Source

22

The first science fiction book is 1,800 years old, and features a war between aliens of the moon and sun. CRACKED.COM Written in the 2nd century AD, Lucian of Samosata's True Stories parodies his contemporary authors who would write various books filled with superstitions and mythology, but labeled them as true stories. — Source

21

US soldiers had to rely on copies of The Economist magazine for intelligence during the invasion of Grenada. CRACKED.COM The invasion was ordered on such short notice that many se- nior leaders were relying on ar- ticles copied out of The Econo- mist for the most up-to-date in- telligence on the island, and battle plans were scribed on top of tourist maps. — Source

20

The 8,000 nerve endings in the clitoris may be false, and it comes from a study on cows. CRACKED COM In 1976's The Clitoris, Thomas Lowry wrote that the bovine penises he ex- amined had about 4,035 nerve endings while the clitoris had 7,733. There is no research on the human equivalent. — Source

19

A Viking died after the buck-tooth on a decapitated victim scratched his leg and gave him an infection. CRACKED.COM Sigurd the Mighty had his enemies' heads strapped to his victorious men's saddles as trophies, but as Sigurd rode home, the tooth of Máel Brigte the Bucktoothed scratched his leg, leading to his death. — Source

18

Re-enactors bring the American wild west to England every other weekend. CRACKED.COM Laredo is an exclusive, members-only wild west town that grew from a single shack 30 years ago, like any town would grow. — Source

17

The 1996 movie Twister was rated PG-13 for intense depiction of very bad weather. CRACKED.COM Other ratings include: 'The Brady Bunch Movie': Rated PG-13 for racy in- nuendos, and 'Alien Trespass': Rated PG for sci-fi action and brief historical smoking. — Source

16

Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis received the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for his work on 1960's The Bellboy. CRACKED.COM Jerry Lewis was an actor and the director, so he in- vented a system of multi- ple cameras and monitors enabling him to act, review the performance, and re- shoot immediately. — Source

15

George Washington's nephew's skull was stolen by accident from his tomb. CRACKED COM An attempt was made to steal the former president's skull in 1830 from his Mount Vernon resting place, but the remains of his nephew, Su- preme Court Justice Bushrod Washington, were mistakenly plundered instead. — Source

14

The National Archives

The National Archives started out as a two man committee to determine which executive papers weren't important. CRACKED.COM The Committee on Dispo- sition of Useless Executive Papers was started in 1889 and its job was to discard papers both members agreed weren't important and report why. — Source

13

The creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hated the girl turtle, added to 'The Next Mutation.' CRACKED.COM Peter Laird hated Venus de Milo, the feminine nin- ja turtle with reptile boobs, so much that no one was allowed to men- tion or even joke about her around him. — Source

12

Disney parks had to pull a few characters out due to horny guests. CRACKED.COM The Tarzan actors, who wore nothing but loin cloths and sometimes airbrushed abs, were constant butt-pinching victims of cheeky female guests. The Esmeralda was also a little too flirtatious for some male guests, so she was pulled. — Source

11

The General Motors engineer that created leaded fuel would breathe it in to prove its safety. GRACKED.COM Thomas Midgley Jr. discov- ered tetraethyllead, and amid early concerns over leaded gas, he would pour it over his hands and inhale the vapor. Не would later take a leave of absence for lead poisoning. — Source

10

Spitfire planes were crowdfunded in some cases in World War II. ZD В MH434 CRACKED.COM Large scale contributors were allowed to give the plane a nickname which was printed on the side. 'Dorothy of Great Britain and Empire' was named by a group of women, all named 'Dorothy.' — Source

9

Deaf stroke victims lose their way of communicating the same way non-deaf sufferers do. CRACKED.COM When deaf people experi- ence stroke-related brain damage, they often lose the ability to sign in similar ways to the different forms of lin- guistic aphasia - difficulty speaking, forming words, sentences being nonsensical. — Source

8

Figure skaters in the 1800s would skate pictures into the ice. CRACKED.COM The first-known figure skating manual, pub- lished in the 1770s, de- scribes how to properly perform maneuvers that leave a spiral and a heart in the ice. — Source

7

An Australian woman went on an 11-month shopping spree after discovering she had an unlimited bank overdraft. CRACKED.COM She spent $4.6 million buying designer handbags, clothes, jewelry, phones and a vacuum cleaner. The bank discovered the with- drawals and she was ar- rested, but all charges were later dropped. — Source

6

A man was accused of, and executed for, bestiality when a sow gave birth to a deformed piglet. GRAGKED.COM After the one eyed piglet was born, the town looked to George Spencer, a local man with one glass eye. George was executed in 1642 Connecticut. — Source

5

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard happened when a mallard hit the Natural History Museum. CRACKED.COM Nn June 5th 1995, a male mallard collided with a new glass wall at the Natu- ral History Museum in Rot- terdam, died, then was im- mediately copulated by another male mallard for 75 minutes. — Source

4

The Dublin Airport

A tombstone accidentally left behind in the Dublin airport read you will always be remembered, never forgotten. CRACKED.COM Also left behind at the Dublin airport: a toilet seat and cistern, a life-size mannequin, hu- man ashes, false teeth and a glass eye, and a live turtle. — Source

3

Bentley uses leather only made from bulls, since they don't get stretch marks like cow leather. CRACKED.COM The Spanish bulls also yield unblemished hides since they roam free, without barbed-wire enclo- sures like their Ameri- can cousins. — Source

2

Possums don't play dead, they actually pass out when confronted. CRACKED COM They go into shock and faint when con- fronted, involuntarily. They are in a cataton- ic state until they be- come conscious again. — Source

1

Humans have no sense for wetness, only temperature and pressure. CRACKED.COM The concept of wetness may be more of a per- ceptual illusion that our brain evokes based on our prior experiences with stimuli that we have learned are wet. — Source

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