12 Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Will somebody please buy Michael Jordan’s house?
Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.
The World’s Youngest Fugu Chef
A 10-year-old Japanese girl has become a certified pufferfish sushi chef, a heavily regulated profession where the difference between life and death is how well you carved up those poisonous fish guts.
Scientists Have Discovered the Brain Mechanisms That Decide Whether You Cough or Sneeze
Scientists have found separate clusters of “sneeze neurons” and “cough neurons” in the nasal cavities of mice that help the brain decide how it wants to expel particles it doesn’t want you inhaling.
Jimmy Carter Once Kissed the Queen on the Mouth
In 1977, the one and only time that Carter met Queen Elizabeth II, he planted a big wet one right on her mouth. The Queen recalled, “He is the only man, since my dear husband died, to have had the effrontery to kiss me on the lips.”
The ‘Well Then Don’t Do That’ of the Day
Scientists have discovered that even a very small amount of electricity applied to the thalamus, which is largely responsible for your mind-body connection, can cause seizures. So like, don’t do that, then.
Everyone Is Selling the Custom Watches Bruno Mars Gave Them
In 2018, Bruno Mars gifted wildly expensive custom watches to his bandmates and his manager. Of the eight he gave them, four are currently for sale (for around $200,000 each).
Where Did Homo Sapiens Go to Pick Up Neanderthals?
We all know that homo sapiens hooked up with Neanderthals, and many people have some Neanderthal DNA in them today. But science has only recently pinpointed where the two populations overlapped: the Zagros Mountains, in modern-day Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
The Woman Who Found the Oldest Water on Earth Took a Lil Sip
In 2016, a team of Canadian geologists discovered an underground reservoir containing 2.6-billion-year-old water. One of them dipped her finger in the water and tasted it, to do a little on-site mineral detection. She said it tasted “very salty and bitter — much saltier than seawater.”
This Is the ‘Portrait of a Girl’
A pile of random art in a Maine attic turned out to contain the long-forgotten Rembrandt piece “Portrait of a Girl.” It just sold to some European collector for $1.4 million.
What Are the Most-Googled Text Abbreviations?
A study of internet search data has found that NSFW (126,800 monthly searches), POV (155,800) and SMH (231,450) are the phrases people need a hint for most often.
The World’s Largest String Cheese Ball
The Mexican municipality of Reyes Etla broke the Guinness record for largest ball of string cheese, using 2,641 gallons of milk to make a 1,402-pound wad.
Michael Jordan Has Been Trying to Sell His House for Over a Decade
Jordan put his mansion north of Chicago up for sale 12 years ago, for $29 million. He’s lowered the price to just under $15 million, but he still has no takers.
Michigan’s Most Excellent New ‘I Voted’ Stickers
A crowdsourced competition to design the state’s “I Voted” stickers has yielded a bunch of cool results, but has one clear winner: a childish marker drawing of a werewolf tearing off his tattered shirt while bellowing in front of the American flag.
