31 Hilariously Unprofessional Things Done by Teachers

Larry Wilmore Says ‘Bernie Mac Show’ Was His Attempt at a Black ‘Seinfeld’

Original ‘SNL’ Cast Member Laraine Newman Deleted This Outraged Tweet About Emmy-Winning ‘Comedy’ ‘The Bear’

The Eugene Levy-Hosted Emmys Somehow Excluded His ‘SCTV’ Co-Star From the In Memoriam Segment

40 Random Bits of Trivia That’ll Blow Your Mind Like That One Livestreamed Watermelon

40 Random Bits of Trivia Granted to Us by a Broke Genie Who Had Run Out of Wishes

We appreciate the thought, but these are disappointing to say the least

40 Random Bits of Trivia Granted to Us by a Broke Genie Who Had Run Out of Wishes

August 12, 2024

On one hand, sure, now we know what the most common bird on the planet is. But we sure could have gone for eternal life or the eradication of all disease.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

40

The most densely populated island on Earth is the size of two soccer fields. Santa Cruz del Islote in the Archipelago of San Bernardo off the coast of Colombia is only two acres, but 500 people are packed into 155 houses on the island. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

39

A chili pepper was developed to be so hot it could be used as anesthetic. The Dragon's Breath chili pepper, invented by hob- by-grower Mike Smith, is so hot it could potentially cause a deadly anaphy- lactic shock that closes your airway. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

38

22% of Americans are over the age of 60. This is much higher than the global percentage of 12, but the rest of the world should catch up by 2050. The percent- age of US senators over 60 is 70%. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

37

You can watch the population of the world grow in real time. The current world popula- tion on Worldometers.info runs in real time, so you can watch all 7.9 billion of us en- ter and leave this mortal coil as you sit safe at your com- puter - until you, too, join the tally. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

36

The most typical person is a 28-year-old Chinese man. They are right-hand- ed, make less than $12,000 a year, they have a mobile phone, and they do not have a bank account. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

35

The most common bird on Earth is the red-billed quelea. Native to sub-Saharan Afri- ca, these little birds are considered agricultural pests because their mas- sive flocks can obliterate entire crops. There are an estimated 1 to 10 billion queleas. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

34

An American coin that never went into circulation was bought at auction for $7 million. A The 1933 Double Eagle was a $20 U.S. coin made of gold, of which only 9 survived their destruction by being stolen by U.S. Mint workers. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

33

The youngest country in the World is 11 years old. South Sudan in North Africa just gained its in- dependence from Sudan in 2011. 98.83% of the 12 million residents sup- ported independence in January, 2011. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

32

There are one billion oysters in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Due to overfishing and dis- ease, the oyster population was dwindling, but thanks to the Army corps and conservators, the state is now home to the world's largest man-made oyster reef. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

31

7% of every human to ever exist is currently alive on Earth. Since our evolution 50,000 years ago, 108 billion Homo sapiens have been born into the world. Only about 1 to 15 million of us were around during the ad- vent of agriculture in 10,000 B.C. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

30

Whale sightings near New York City have increased by 540% since 2010. The number of whales (mostly humpbacks) spot- ted in the waters off New York City has risen from just five sightings in 2010 to 272 in 2018 thanks to several environmental poli- cies. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

29

Dr. Seuss' name isn't pronounced the way you think. Theodor Seuss Geisel used his mother's maiden name, Suess, and their family pro- nounces it as soice (rhyming with voice). CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

28

The ozone layer should heal itself within 50 years. The recovery is thanks in large part to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which put a global ban on chlorofluo- rocarbons, which were found in refrigerators, aerosol cans, and dry-cleaning chemicals. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

27

Your middle finger has the fastest growing nail. You just looked at your fin- gers, didn't you? While nails usually grow about 3.47 millimeters a month, those on your dominant hand grow faster, as do the nails on your longer fin- gers. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

26

The anechoic chamber at Microsoft is so quiet you can hear your neck turning. Located at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, the lab room measures a background noise of -20.35 dBA, which is 20 decibels below the threshold of human hear- ing. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

25

The coldest temperature recorded on Earth would kill you in a few breaths. The -144 degrees Fahren- heit temperature was re- corded in Antarctica during a span of research between 2004 and 2016. At that temperature, breathing would induce hemorrhaging in your lungs and kill you. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

A Florida reef hosts an Underwater Music Festival every year. Held annually for more than three decades, the festival includes a pre-se- lected radio playlist that is streamed live from under- water speakers to an audi- ence of snorkelers and div- ers. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

Twitter is a happier place in the summer. researchers looked at the tweets of 2.4 million people around the world for two years and found that leading up to the summer solstice, people posted significantly happier tweets than they did going into winter. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

22

Dog days of summer comes from astrology. The dogs are a reference to Sirius the Dog Star, which ris- es in the sky during late July as a part of the Greater Dog constellation. To the Greeks and Romans, the dog days indicated the hottest time of the year. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

21

Frisbees started out as empty pie tins. CLASS CHAMPIONS WORLD FRISBEE® معية WORLD FLYING DISC 165 G. University students in Bridgeport, Connecticut would play with the empty tins from the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Walter Frederick Morrison and War- ren Franscioni ran with the idea, creating the Flying Saucer in 1948. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

Some sea snakes breathe out of the top of their heads. CRACKED.COM The blue-banded sea snake, Hydrophis cyano- cinctus, has a small hole and collection of blood vessels at the top of its head for picking up oxygen from the seawater and sending it to their brain. — Source

19

Canada used a device to find gay and lesbian men and women. GRACKED.COM Called the Fruit Machine, the device was supposedly able to identify members of the LGBT+ by monitoring subjects as they were shown pornographic images with homosexual content. — Source

18

Beethoven had a technique to hear his piano after he went deaf. CRACKED.COM Beethoven discovered that if he bit onto a metal pole that connected to the pia- no he was playing, he could hear almost perfect- ly well. This process is called bone conduction. — Source

17

The number of active serial killers in the U.S. could be around 2,000. CRACKED.COM Using an algorithm that finds patterns in recent un- solved murders linked to at least one other murder through DNA, we can esti- mate the number of un- solved cases in the U.S. at any given time. — Source

16

54% of people would choose their dog over their partner. CRACKED.COM More than half people sur- veyed would end a rela- tionship with someone if their dog didn't like them. The study also found that 94 percent of dog owners consider their dogs to be a part of their family. — Source

15

The youngest person to appear on the Billboard chart was two-days-old. MPORTED ON TION CRACKED.COM Jay-Z included a clip of his daughter Blue Ivy Carter crying at the end of Glory, adding an official credit for the hours-old infant. — Source

14

Toad buckets line the sides of roads in Germany. GRAGKED.COM Conservation organiza- tions installed more than 800 fences along popular roadways to catch toads in buckets before they end up in the street, to be re- leased into nearby forests at the end of the day. — Source

13

Cheetahs can make a lot of noises, but they can't roar. CRACKED.COM From the Indianapolis Zoo: Cheetahs purr, bleat, bark, growl, hiss, and chirp but they don't roar. Roaring is made possible by a special two-piece hyoid bone in the throat, of which cheetahs have only one. — Source

12

Each cast member of 'Friends' still earns $20 million a year from residuals. CRACKED.COM Part of the $1 bil- lion-a-year earnings makes its way to the six actors since the cast ne- gotiated syndication rights before the show went off the air. — Source

11

Mt. Everest is taller now than the last time we measured it. GRAGKED.COM Previous readings have ranged from 29,002 feet above sea level in 1856 down to 20,029 in 1955. The current measurement reads 29,031.69 feet, due to plate tectonics. — Source

10

The entire human population can fit in Los Angeles. CRACKED.COM It wouldn't be too comfort- able, but all 7.5 billion peo- ple could be squeezed into the 500 square mile parcel of land we call Los Ange- les. LA traffic would proba- bly not be noticeably worse. — Source

9

The fastest wind gust on Earth was recorded in Australia in 1996. CRACKED.COM A tropical cyclone named Olivia hit off the coast of Barrow Island, an it's eye- wall (the area immediately outside the eye of a storm) produced a gust of wind going 253 miles per hour. — Source

8

Climate change is causing flowers to change color. CRACKED.COM Scientists determined that the UV pigmentation in flowers has increased over time which has led to the degradation of their pol- len. The change isn't much for our eyes, but a big problem for pollinators. — Source

7

Having an extra bone in your knee is becoming more common. CRACKED COM Some people have a bone in their knee called a fabella, which has an unknown pur- pose and was fading away. In 1918, 11% of the popula- tion had the bone, which has jumped to 39% by 2018. — Source

6

There was a baby-teething medicine in the 1800s that contained morphine. CRACKED.COM Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup promised to soothe your child, soften their gums and diminish their teething pain - which it probably did really well with all the morphine in it. — Source

5

One man saved over 200 people from taking their lives on the Golden Gate Bridge. CRACKED COM Officer Kevin Briggs, who battles depression himself, retired in 2013 after saving hundreds of lives. Не wrote a book and now goes on speaking tours to encourage public discussion of suicide and mental illness. — Source

4

We have enough iron in our blood to form a three-inch nail. CRACKED.COM Iron helps our red blood cells carry oxygen, which is necessary for producing energy throughout the body. The three grams of iron within us, if it were ex- tracted and melted down, could produce one nail. — Source

3

There is no such thing as pear cider. CRACKED.COM Perry is the alcoholic drink made from pears, which was popular in England un- til the 20th century and then revived as pear ci- der. Cider, however, is ex- clusively made from fer- mented apples. — Source

2

Pineapple can't be made into jelly because it breaks down gelatin. GRACKED.COM The enzyme bromelain, found in pineapples, breaks down protein chains, making it a natural meat tenderizer and dan- gerous to handle for long periods of time without protective gloves. — Source

1

Creedence Clearwater Revival has the most #2 hits without ever making #1. CRACKED.COM Between 1969 and 1970, the band scored five #2 singles on the Billboard Top 100 -Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Travelin' Band, and Lookin' Out My Back Door - but never #1. — Source

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

An NBC Executive Auditioned to Play Himself on ‘Seinfeld’ and Didn’t Get the Part

Movies & TV

14 On-Set Disasters from the Golden Age of Hollywood

Science & History

5 Free Products Today That Used to Cost You Big

Movies & TV

20 of the Worst Movies You’ve Never Heard Of

Movies & TV

The Nine Best Jokes From Last Night’s Emmy Awards

Trivia & Jokes

40 Random Bits of TV and Movie Trivia Told to Us Over a Wooden Fence by a Wise, Fatherly Neighbor

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

Paleontologists Have Finally Proven That Charlie From ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Was Right About Birds With Teeth

2

15 On-Screen Couples That Got Together in Real Life

3

19 Science Facts Everybody Assumed Movies Got Right (They Didn't)

4

18 Historical Practical Jokes That Are Still Funny Today

5

33 Succulent Bits of Trivia to Run Through Your Brain Juicer