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We were proven worthy. Let’s see if you are too

34 Random Bits of Trivia We Easily Wrenched Free From a Stone After All the Townsfolk Tried and Failed

September 21, 2024

We’ve had a pretty fruitful day. We picked up Thor’s hammer, we pulled the sword from the stone and we gathered up these facts. They were scattered far and wide, but the high we felt after the hammer lift and sword pull was enough to propel around the known universe with our little basket.

We don’t know if you’re worthy enough for those first two feats, but we do know that you’re worthy enough for these facts.

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34

Ferdinand Magellan didn't actually circumnavigate the globe. CRACKED.COM Не was killed by a poi- soned arrow in the Philip- pines, and under the leadership of Juan Sebas- tian de Elcano, his expe- dition completed the trip without him. — Source

33

A festival in Wisconsin is held to honor the Russian satellite, Sputnik. GRACKED.COM A piece of the first satel- lite in space, the Russian Sputnik, landed in Mani- towoc, Wisconsin upon re-entry and the towns- people created a festival in its honor. — Source

32

A condemned ship filled with animals sailed over Niagara Falls as part of a tourism stunt. CRACKED.COM In 1827, William Forsyth, an investor in the Falls, con- cocted the idea to draw in more tourism. The ship held Buffalo, bears, rac- coons, a dog, and a goose. 10,000 people watched it sail over the edge. — Source

31

During the Great Famine, Ireland continued to export enormous quantities of food to England. GRAGKED COM This kept food prices far too high for the average Irish peasant to afford and was a major con- tributing factor in the large death toll from the famine. — Source

30

Edward Briney booby-trapped his farmhouse which resulted in a burglar's legs being shot with a shotgun. CRACKED COM The burglar sued him and won. Later, when asked if he would do anything different, Ed- ward Briney stated I'd have aimed that gun a few feet higher. — Source

29

Venus flytraps were once thought to have been brought to Earth by meteors. CRACKED.COM Venus flytraps were believed to be an alien species because they seemed to grow in places where meteor- ites were found. — Source

28

A doctor in the South Pole biopsied and treated her own breast cancer. GRACKED.COM In complete darkness, medical equipment had to be airdropped from mili- tary aircraft to Dr. Jerri Nielsen during the over- winter period when the crew is normally isolated from the outside world. — Source

27

93% of Indians work in informal, off-the-books jobs, and get paid in cash. CRACKED.COM Most transactions en- tail personalized re- lationships rather than standardized forms of legal con- tract or corporate in- stitutions. — Source

26

The experiment that ultimately became the basis for cochlear implants involves a cat hooked up to a phone. CRACKED.COM In 1929, Princeton re- searchers opened a cat's skull and connected its au- ditory nerve to a tele- phone. When one re- searcher spoke in the cat's ear, the other could hear it through the receiver. — Source

25

Mia Wallace from 'Pulp Fiction' is, technically, a Disney princess. CRACKED.COM Miramax was owned by Disney from 1993 to 2005, which means that the film was, in a way, a Dis- ney movie. — Source

24

In the Soviet Union, it was common for people to take their windshield wipers with them when they parked. CRACKED.COM Otherwise there was a chance of them be- ing stolen because there were severe shortages of auto parts in the USSR. — Source

23

The producer of 2007's The Man From Earth thanks people for illegally downloading it. CRACKED.COM After the movie was ille- gally shared via BitTorrent, Eric D. Wilkinson publicly thanked the file sharers because it lifted the pro- file of the film far beyond the financier's expecta- tions. — Source

22

The Royal Navy saved £5 million by having personnel shout bang instead of firing live rounds during training. 037 CRACKED.COM The practice was con- demned by lain Duncan Smith, the Shadow De- fense Secretary, saying the procedure called into question the quality of their training. — Source

21

An aeronautics engineer visited all 238 countries compiling a list of religions. S I C CRACKED COM David Barrett resigned abruptly after seeing a vi- sion of Jesus, and spent 40 years single-handedly com- piling the only complete list of Earth's 10,000 religions and 33,830 denominations of Christianity. — Source

20

A lawyer shot himself demonstrating how the victim might have accidentally shot himself. GRACKED.COM Clement Vallandigham, a lawyer and Ohio politician defending a man accused of murder, had his client cleared in 1871 by his first-hand demonstration. Vallandigham died 12 hours later. — Source

19

An ancient Roman politician had a bounty put on his head based on the head's weight in gold. CRACKED.COM Although the head of Gai- us Gracchus was delivered, the prize was never paid, as it was discovered that Gaius' captor had emptied out his brain and replaced it with molten lead. — Source

18

'Top Gear' staged breakdowns of the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster, making them seem unviable. VEGAN CRACKED.COM The cars were driven in loops, for miles, until their batteries were drained. The hosts then staged a breakdown during a 60 mile journey, declaring that electric cars are not the future. — Source

17

NASA considered using motorcycles on the moon as a simpler alternative to the Lunar Rover. CRACKED.COM It was a backup method in case the Lunar Roving Vehicle, the LRV collo- quially known as the Moon Buggy, wasn't ready in time for the mission's launch. — Source

16

An evil alternate version of Superman crushes up Kryptonite and snorts it. CRACKED.COM Ultraman first appeared in 1964, with the stan- dard powers of a Kryp- tonian, only he is em- powered by green Kryp- tonite and is weakened by yellow sunlight. — Source

15

Jesus Christ is officially the king of Poland. XC CRACKED COM Christ was officially crowned the king of Ро- land after a vote in the Polish parliament in 2016, with thousands of true believers attending the November coronation. — Source

14

The name of Orcas Island, famous for its resident pods of orcas, was a coincidence. CRACKED.COM The island was actually named after Horcasitas, the Viceroy of Mexico, who sponsored an expedition there in 1791. Whereas the animal name orca origi- nated in Ancient Rome. — Source

13

Japanese POWs provided a vast wealth of information during World War 2. CRACKED.COM Most Japanese soldiers were unaware of the rights they retained as prisoners under the Geneva conven- tion. Many also felt indebt- ed to American troops for the courteous treatment they received. — Source

12

There is a functioning mailbox located 10 meters underwater off the coast of Japan. valis n NONE 15 TOYOTA Postmaster Toshihiko Matsumoto hoped that the submerged mailbox would attract people to the Kii Peninsula, and now it receives hundreds of letters every day. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

11

During the Normandy Allied Invasion, Bill Millin played his bagpipes as he walked the beach. Не later asked cap- tured German prison- ers why they hadn't shot at him. They said they thought he was on a suicide mission and was clearly mad. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

10

Alcohol is prohibited in the British Parliament with one exception. ESQUENO W - Juding Read HIBIKI 12 - - - The chancellor can drink while delivering the an- nual budget statement, called the Budget Tip- ple. Past chancellors have drunk whisky, gin and tonic, and brandy. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

9

There was a giant, venomous, 23-foot-long monitor lizard living alongside humans in Australia. The Megalania was hunt- ed to extinction by early human inhabitants of Ice Age Australia, proving there is nothing we as a people cannot and will not kill. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

8

Chairman Mao held meetings in his swimming pool to embarrass Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev, the First Sec- retary of the Communist Party, had to wear a floaty as he couldn't swim. Не felt insulted and relations between the Soviet Union and China deteriorated fur- ther. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

7

The 1968 Hong Kong Flu left more than one million dead worldwide. Doctors recommend- ed those ill to stay at home and take aspi- rin, tea, lemon drinks, whiskey or brandy ac- cording to taste. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

6

Michelin goes to huge lengths to keep the restaurant Inspectors anonymous. MICHELIN Many of the top people have never met an inspec- tor; inspectors themselves are advised not to tell what they do. They have even refused to allow its inspectors to speak to journalists. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

5

Nachos are named after their inventor, Ignacio Nacho Anaya. The dish was originally called Nacho's espe- ciales, and eventually the apostrophe disap- peared and it was shortened to just na- chos. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

4

Eleanor Roosevelt held weekly press conferences that allowed only female journalists to attend. This forced many news organizations to hire their first female report- ers, and saved the jobs that women already held, ensuring their ac- cess to news. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

3

A 5 second film of Edison's assistant sneezing was the first to be copyrighted in the US. Fred Ott's Sneeze was released in 1894, distrib- uted by Edison Manufac- turing Company. It was displayed, at the time, through the means of a Kinetoscope. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

2

A German sailor stole back his boat from Somalian pirates in 2008. After 52 days of captivity by militant group Al Shabab, Jürgen Kantner and his wife were freed after a large ransom was paid, and Kantner later returned for his boat. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

1

In 1978, Charlie Chaplin's body was stolen and held for ransom. His widow refused to pay ransom demands of £400,000 ($2 million USD with inflation) because Charlie would have thought it ridiculous. His body was found 11 weeks later. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

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