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30 Random Bits of Trivia We Found Balled Up in the Pocket of Our Winter Coat

August 31, 2024

Tell your grindset guru, weekend warrior boss that the Gladiators were pro-union.

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30

The Walk (2015)

CRACKED Director Robert Zemeckis used IMAX and 3D to make the heights involved in The Walk - a biopic of Philip Pettit, the man who went between the towers of the World Trade Center on a rope - feel extremely real to theatergoers, leading to vomiting, vertigo and panic attacks. — Source

29

He Had His Friend Buy the Gun

Не Had His Friend Buy the Gun Between rehab flights, Cobain asked a friend to help him buy a gun because he was afraid the police would take it if it was in his name and, as he told the friend, he feared trespassers on his property. Apparently unaware of all the recent drama, his friend, explaining that Cobain seemed normal and he'd loaned him guns before, because they had a very different kind of friend- ship from most people. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — All That's Interesting

28

Peter the Great Was Peter the Great Big Wuss About Cockroaches

Tsar of Russia for 40 years, Peter the Great, was incredibly powerful, but scared shitless of cockroaches. Не sent servants ahead to scan for them, and punched an army officer in the face after seeing a roach in his house. CRACKED — Source / Biography

27

COMEDY DE NERD When Joan Rivers got her own show, Johnny Carson instantly wrote her off. He refused to take her calls, or even to talk with her in person - she had gotten her start on his show, and she thinks he felt he owned her. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars made a major contribution to fighting the Flint water crisis. As he said in a Michigan concert, he gave $1 million to victims of the crisis. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Maybe That’s Why It Exploded

CRACKED POMPEII WAS FULL OF DICKS. The sculptures were locked away for centuries by an embarrassed king, but in 2000, the world got its first glimpse of the ancient city's dick wind chimes, among other works. — Slate

24

Fired for TikTok tantrum.

CORPORATE CRASH & BURN ASSAULTING A BARISTA Merrill Lynch let go of James lannazzo in 2021, after a video of him swearing and throwing a drink at a smoothie worker went viral on TikTok. CRACKED — jjbreezy/TikTok,
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock
CNBC

23

A McDonald's hamburger can contain the meat of over 100 cows. McDonald's isn't unique in this, either -- pretty much any hamburger you eat has meat made up of many different cows. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — National Post

22

Gladiators were unionized. Being mostly slaves, gladiators didn't have an awful lot of rights - but they did join in collegia, sort-of unions that made sure they got some basic respect. Among other things, collegia made sure that fallen gladiators had a proper burial. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Random Facts to Presume That You Know Things

21

Michelangelo used to burn his drawings so that people wouldn't know he had to work to achieve perfection. Michelangelo was con- stantly producing draw- ings throughout his 77-year career as an art- ist, but only about 600 of them have survived since the 16th century. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

Up to half of Earth's water is older than the Sun. Much of the water on our planet and around the so- lar system started out as tiny grains of ice floating in interstellar space. Most of it made its way to Earth's on ice-rich comets billions of years ago. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

THe STEREOTYPE... VIKINGS PLUNDERED IN HORNED HELMETS. BUT in REALITY... NOPE. JUST REGULAR HATS. If you want a career in hand-to-hand combat, don't wear anything that's easy for people to grab. You don't want something on your hat that is essentially a giant set of handlebars. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

2.4 billion people watched Princess Diana's funeral That was more than one third of the global population. 33.2 million Americans watched, 10.5 million more than watched her wedding. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED COM — Source: Reuters

17

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO... Toto THE WIZARD OF OZ CRACKED.COM Terry the Terrier already had a prolific film career before she was cast in The Wizard of Oz -- where they renamed her Toto. Hollywood used to be brutal, man. She's been memorialized in LA's prestigious Hollywood Forever Cemetery. — Source: Atlas Obscura

16

all work ALL WORK AND a All work NO PLAY WAS a All work REALLY TYPED a COUNTLESS TIMES. Alll work and no Jack play makes All work and noplay makes Jack a HOLD pray OULT All work and no play makes Jack TSHiNiNG makes Kubrick made his secretary, Margaret Warrington, a really dull gal, by having her type Jack's mantra on about 500 sheets of paper- and then again in four other languages, for foreign releases of the movie. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Bone-Chilling Behind-The-Scenes Facts About 'The Shining'

15

You can feel hell beneath your feet in Pennsylvania.

Centralia, Pennsylvania. The town sits on an underground coal mine fire that has been burning since 1962, so the ground is always warm. Poisonous smoke kills plants, and sinkholes have swallowed up pets, deer, and a young boy. The U.S. government ordered a total evacuation in 1984, but a handful of residents refused to leave. CRACKED — Source

14

If you have four close friends, you’re doing better than half of America.

CRACKED FRIENDSHIPS HAVE DWINDLED SINCE 1990. As of 2021, half of Americans have three or fewer close friends, 36% have four-nine, and 13% have 10+. That's all way down from the 1990's. E — TréVoy Kelly/Pixabay
Survey Center on American Life

13

WEIRD WORLD FedEx sees the need for anti-missile lasers on its cargo jets. FredEx Express They want to put a missile defense system that directs infrared laser energy toward an incoming missile, in an effort to interrupt the missile's tracking of the aircraft's heat. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Who said fan art can't lead anywhere?

A fan artist scored a staff job. HAD SOME THING FOR THIS BURGER y CRACKED COM Artist Simon Chong tweeted a 4-minute Bob's Burgers / Archer mashup that he illustrated by hand. The cast and producers loved it so much, they gave him a job as a retake editor and storyboard artist. — Source: 15 'Bob's Burgers' Behind-The-Scenes Facts

11

CRACKED.COM Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Amanda Seyfried found out about the sequel only two days after giving birth. Her first thought was, Now we're doing it? — Source

10

Career Choices

CRACKED.COM Ethan Hawke Не easily juggles indie work with Hollywood blockbusters. Just in the last decade, he's been in the horror movies Sinister and The Purge (and The Black Phone, of course), the cult sci-fi Predestination, the rom-com Juliet, Naked, and the powerful indie drama about faith and the climate crisis First Reformed. — Source: Wikipedia

9

Repo! The Genetic Opera

CRACKED COM The deliciously twisted 2008 cult musical REPO! FOPERA WGENETIC never got a theatrical release and earned mixed reviews. But it's worth checking out! It's got a fantastic style, great performances and the music is just fabulous. It's a modern day ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. — Source: 20 Underrated Things & Three Reasons To Check Them All Out

8

CRACKED.COM Pineapples used to be a status symbol. For centuries, pineapples in Europe were rare, exotic, and above all expensive, as they were imported from across the ocean. The rich would often get one-not to eat it, but to show off their wealth by parading the fruit in front of other people. — Source

7

Kowloon Walled City had a population of 3.25 million people per square mile The former military fort was the most densely populated place to ever exist. Compare that to Manhattan's 27,000 people per square mile. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

USE THE CORRECT EAR FOR THE CORRECT TASK CRACKED.COM Your brain's hemispheres really are different. Your left hemisphere excels at deciphering verbal information like speech, and the right hemisphere excels with tones and music. If you've got a mono earpiece, use it in your right ear Cleft brain) for calls — For details, read 5 Ways to Trick Your Body Into Being More Awesome

5

Bryan Singer got SO mad on Bohemian Rhapsody, he threw electrical equipment. Apparently, he'd had a fight with Rami Malek - which is kind of amazing, because Malek is considered one of the nicest actors in Hollywood. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4

President Hoover briefly had a possum as a pet at the White House. Some toymakers tried and failed to market Billy the Possum toys. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Danske Bank says 'no more' to fossil fuels.

CRACKED DENMARK'S BIGGEST BANK IS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE. Danske Bank is done with fossil fuel financing and won't give new long-term loans to oil and gas companies that don't have a plan to meet the Paris Agreement. — The Energy Mix / Ocean Panel

2

Requisite Disrespect

CRACKED.COM Frasier Kelsey Grammer would learn his lines at the last minute. He'd also rehearse only once. Не calls this requisite disrespect, and does it to add spontaneity and energy. — Source: Los Angeles Times

1

CRACKED.COM Around 6 million enslaved people were taken on British ships The Royal African Company was established by the Duke of York (who would become King James II), with help from his brother King Charles II. Between 1690 and 1807, an estimated six million people were taken from Africa to the Americas on British or British American ships, with the protection of the British royal family and parliament. The profits of the trading of enslaved people helped to fund the Treasury, Britain's industries, and the royal family's wealth. — Source

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