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It ain’t pretty, but it should do the trick

30 Random Bits of Trivia Held Together With Spit and Baling Wire

August 18, 2024

You’re telling me that a militarized police force with an infinite budget isn’t filled with conscientious citizens and animal husbandry enthusiasts?

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30

The co-owner of Domino's Pizza traded his stake in the business for a car. S Domino's Domi DOB BY 5133 TAXI 0745 MP CRACKED COM Brothers Tom and James Monaghan bought Domi- Nick's for $500 in 1960, and a year later James sold his 50% stake for a Volkswagen Bee- tle. When Tom retired 38 years later, his 93% stake was worth $1 billion. — Source

29

Carl Sagan was hired in the U.S.'s Cold War plan to drop a nuclear bomb on the moon. CRACKED.COM Sagan was hired to study how exactly the mushroom cloud would expand on the moon, so that they could make sure it would be clearly visible from Earth. — Source

28

The founder of FedEx saved the company by gambling its last $5,000 in Vegas. FedEx Corporati CRACKED.COM Frederick W. Smith took the $5000 and flew to Las Vegas and played Black Jack over the weekend with the re- maining company funds, leaving with $32,000. — Source

27

Daylight Saving Time almost got a high school student arrested for calling in a bomb threat. GRACKED.COM The actual bomb threat came in an hour after an honor student called the school's automated phone line, but due to Daylight Saving, the time of his call matched up with the bomb threat. — Source

26

Lighters were invented before the match. CRACKED.COM The first lighter was a converted flintlock pistol, invented in the 16th cen- tury. It wasn't until 1826 that John Walker invent- ed the first match in En- gland. — Source

25

'Green Eggs and Ham' was written by Dr. Seuss on a bet. CRACKED COM The co-founder of Random House, Bennett Cerf, bet Se- uss $50 in 1960 that he couldn't write a book with 50 or fewer words. 'Green Eggs and Ham' went on to be Seuss' best selling work, using exactly 50 words. — Source

24

Fender

The inventor of Fender guitars didn't know how to play them. CRACKED.COM Despite designing the Telecaster and Strato- caster, and inventing the solid-body electric bass guitar, Lawrence Leoni- das Leo Fender was an engineer, not a musician. — Source

23

Mr. Rogers was an avid skinny dipper. CRACKED.COM It was very important for Mr. Rogers to maintain his weight - 143 lbs, to be ex- act, which to him meant I love you - so he swam laps nearly every morning at various clubs that al- lowed nude swimming. — Source

22

Play-Doh was originally made to be wallpaper cleaner. Playa CRACKED.COM Cincinnati soap compa- ny Kutol made the com- pound to clean the soot off of walls in homes heated by messy coal burning fires. — Source

21

The most southern ATM in the world is in Antarctica. GRAGKED COM The McMurdo Station ATM is 840 miles from the South Pole. Banking conglomerate Wells Far- go installed the machine in 1998 for the small com- munity of 250 scientists. — Source

20

A Johnny Carson joke caused a three week shortage of toilet paper in CRACKED.COM Carson had proclaimed that there was a toilet paper shortage in America's super- markets, so the next day his audience did what any sane shopper would do: they bought every square the store could spare. — Source

19

A girl in Africa born without a vagina became pregnant after being stabbed. CRACKED.COM After experimenting with oral sex, the 15-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen by a jealous former lover. It is theorized that this injury en- abled the sperm in her stom- ach to travel to her repro- ductive organs. — Source

18

Chickens

Chickens were initially bred for cockfighting before food. CRACKED COMP Cockfighting began in Southeast Asia with the Red Junglefowl, which was interbred with India's Gray Junglefowl for the specta- cle of their fighting prow- ess back in 4000 ВС. — Source

17

7 Up

7 Up soda used to contain psychiatric medication. P CRACKED COM When it was introduced in 1929, the formula included lithium citrate, a mood-sta- bilizing drug popular in the late 19th century and still used today for people with bipolar disorder. — Source

16

Canary Islands

The aborignal inhabitants of the Canary Islands 'spoke' a language made entirely out of whistles. CRACKED.COM The Guanches commu- nicated using a whistled form of the Guache lan- guage that died out around the 17th century, long before the arrival of Spain. — Source

15

The elephant as the Republican symbol first appeared in 1864. CRACKED.COM The pro-Lincoln newspa- per/propaganda arm 'Fa- ther Abraham' depicted an elephant celebrating Union victories in the war. See- ing the elephant meant to engage in combat. — Source

14

Mounted police officers in New York are not responsible for cleaning up their horse's poop. CRACKED.COM Even though anyone who drives a horse-drawn car- riage must prevent manure from being deposited on the street, the New York Sanita- tion Department cleans up after police horses. — Source

13

Prickly pear extract can help with hangovers. CRACKED COM Rich with antioxidants, prickly pear's strong anti-in- flammatory action helps prevent nausea and dry mouth in people who take the extract a few hours be- fore they start drinking. — Source

12

Somewhere Over The Rainbow was almost cut from The Wizard of Oz. CRACKED COM The film's producer thought the song dragged on for too long. It would eventually be declared the #1 song of the 20th centu- ry by The Recording Indus- try Association of America. — Source

11

The cute sea slugs nicknamed 'sea bunnies' aren't so sweet in reality. CRACKED.COM The slugs, Jorunna parva, steal toxic defenses from their food, making them incredibly deadly to eat. The sensory organs on their back give them their furry look. — Source

10

The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer. CRACKED.COM EBay founder Pierre Omidyar listed the item on the site in 1995, which was purchased by Mark Fraser for $14.83. Mark still has the laser pointer in his possession. — Source

9

The posters for 'Jaws' and 'Jurassic Park' were modeled after exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. CRACKED COM For the iconic 'Jaws' imag- ery of a swimmer about to be devoured, artist Roger Kastel went to the museum and took a few photos of stuffed sharks waiting to be cleaned. — Source

8

Geckos can turn the stickiness of their feet on and off at will. GRAGKED.COM A mechanism in the toes of geckos use tiny, branched hairs called seta that can instantly turn their sticki- ness on and off, and even unstick their feet with- out using any energy. — Source

7

Thomas Jefferson

President Jefferson would often greet foreign dignitaries while wearing pajamas. CRACKED.COM This often came as a shock to visiting offi- cials, dressed in full diplomatic uniform, who would take of- fense to Jefferson's utter slovenliness. — Source

6

Trees in Melbourne receive love letters by email. CRACKED.COM Melbourne assigned the trees ID numbers and email ad- dresses so residents could re- port problems. Instead, as an unintended but positive con- sequence, the trees received love letters. — Source

5

When Disneyland opened, Tomorrowland represented the future year 1986. CRACKED.COM Today, Tomorrowland hasn't had a major overhaul in more than 20 years, and still bears the remnants of old, abandoned rides. — Source

4

Joseph Stalin ordered the KGB to assassinate John Wayne for Wayne's anti-communist rhetoric. CRACKED.COM Hearing about the plot, Wayne hatched a plan with his scriptwriter at the time, Jimmy Grant, to abduct the assassins, drive to a beach and stage a mock execution to frighten them. — Source

3

Thomas Edison was widely known as the world's most prolific inventor, until 2003. 6 5 888 4 3 CRACKED.COM Edison's achievements were passed by Japanese inventor Shunpei Ya- mazaki. His notable work is the thin-film transistor, which makes LCD dis- plays possible. — Source

2

The term 'hat trick' in sports comes from the time a cricket player was gifted a hat. CRACKED COM In 1858, a cricket player in England took three wickets with consecutive balls (which we are told is good). As a reward, his club gave the bowler a new hat, hence the term hat trick. — Source

1

Eggs

Eggs are still good for about a month after the expiration date on their carton. CRACKED COM Eggs in the shell will maintain freshness for three to five weeks, pro- vided that you keep them refrigerated at a tem- perature of about 40 de- grees Fahrenheit. — Source

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