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As long as it’s true, we’ll get a fact from anywhere

37 Random Bits of Trivia Bleated to Us by a Frantic Goat Man We Met in the Back of an Old Wardrobe

September 19, 2024

When we opened that wardrobe, we were excited to embark upon a mythical quest, but these facts will do just fine. It seems like a bunch of kids were chosen to save the day, so all we can do is hang back and learn.

That said, why do children always get to save the day? The Goonies! The Three Ninjas!! The Narnia kids!!! Doesn’t that lion know we’re grown-ass men who could probably handle the situation better than some rug rats? Let the kids sit here and learn these facts. We’re thirsty for battle!

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36

Scotland Yard has a team of super-recognizers. CRACKED.COM These people are so good at remember- ing faces, even after a fleeting glance, that law enforcement employs them. — Source

35

Bits of random debris were used as currency during the Great Depression. THIS SCRIP IS REDEEMABLE BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE Tenino Chamber of Commerce, Inc. FROM THURSTON COUNTY WARRANTS AND THE ASSIGNED DIVIDENDS FROM THE LIQUIDATION OF THE CITIZENS BANK OF TENINO, WASH FOR-THE AMOUNT OF 1 1 ONE DOLLAR IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY Redeemable during the Hwurchman. Month of December, 1933 N° 40 Third Series Issue of January, 1933. Depression Scrip was made of things like shells, wood, and paper, which was used as local currency instead of US dollars due to banks be- ing closed. — Source

34

The soviets were able to steal US secrets with a keylogger on a typewriter. underwood FIVE CRACKED.COM Project Gunman discov- ered primitive keylogging technology installed by the KGB into the IBM Selectric typewriters used in the US Embassy in Moscow, which went unnoticed for 8 years. — Source

33

A 'liquid landmine' was invented during the Vietnam War that deactivates itself in 4 days. CRACKED COM Astrolite, developed from rocket fuel, is poured onto the ground with a detona- tor. Just 10 ounces is enough to incapacitate an enemy combatant, and it can't be detected by nor- mal detection equipment. — Source

32

The town of Blowout, Texas, is named after a bat poop explosion. CRACKED.COM Ammonia and other gasses from decomposing guano built up in a cave that was home to thousands of bats, and when lightning struck at the cave mouth the gas- ses exploded. — Source

31

A Japanese porn actor flew a plane into a Yakuza boss's home for betraying the samurai code. COM DR DR A 3K to and - ABIA BSK - CRACKED.COM Mitsuyasu Maeno was a Japanese ultrana- tionalist and wanted to punish the Yakuza don for accepting millions of dollars in bribes from Lockheed. — Source

30

Women often lose 3 to 5% of their bone mass during breastfeeding. CRACKED.COM During pregnancy, the fe- tus needs plenty of calci- um to develop its skeleton. If the mother doesn't get enough calcium, her baby will draw what it needs from the mother's bones. — Source

29

17th Century Medicine

People with a persistent cough in the 17th century would be prescribed a slug and earthworm broth. CRACKED COM They were mashed, cut up and added to a pot of spring water and brought to the boil. Straining out the solid bits was optional. A pint mixed with that of milk was said to cure even tuberculosis. — Source

28

Death Wish III was renamed when a survey revealed half the US couldn't read Roman numerals. CRACKED.COM The title was changed to simply Death Wish 3 after the Cannon Group did a marketing survey. This didn't help the film with critics, however, and it was mostly negatively reviewed. — Source

27

A war almost started in 1579 over the omission of a bear penis on a coat of arms. D GRACKED.COM The bear in the coat of arms of Appenzell, Swit- zerland, is represented with a visible penis, but a calendar printer in Saint Gallen left it out by acci- dent, enraging the North- east canton. — Source

26

One portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls was determined to be a treasure map. W snake island treasure smalt pay S lake of shadows dragon mountains black lake irate bay CRACKED.COM Found in 1952, the copper scroll was not a literary work like the others, in- stead it listed the locations of valuable treasure like silver and gold that have been buried or hidden. — Source

25

Balsa wood, one of the softest woods, is technically a hardwood. CRACKED.COM The difference be- tween hardwood and softwood has to do with how they repro- duce, not the actual hardness of the wood. — Source

24

In 1986, students at University of California, Santa Cruz voted to make the school's official mascot the Banana Slug. CRACKED COM The chancellor refused to honor the result, instead polling just student-ath- letes on the question, who also voted over- whelmingly in favor of the Banana Slug. — Source

23

Michael Nesmith from the Monkees is the son of the Liquid Paper inventor. CRACKED.COM Bette Graham became a typist to support herself and her son in 1951, where she invented a paint to cover her mistakes. She sold her business Liquid Paper Company 25 years later for $48 million. — Source

22

Many elements of Harry Potter are very similar to a book written 3 years before. CRACKED.COM The Secret of Platform 13 features a boy of magi- cal lineage who lives in an abusive house with a spoiled other child, and you get to the magical world through a platform at King's Cross. — Source

21

Norway wanted to change their border with Finland to give them a mountain for their 100th birthday. GRAGKED.COM Norwegian geophysicist Bjorn Geirr Harsson says he got the idea in 1972 when he saw that the highest point in Finland was on a hillside and for Norway on a mountain. — Source

20

Anchorage, Alaska lies within 10 hours by air of nearly 90% of the industrialized world. CRACKED.COM Anchorage is almost equi- distant from New York City, Tokyo, and Frankfurt, Germany (via the polar route), and holds a critical FedEx hub as part of its global network or services. — Source

19

Hitler granted his childhood doctor, Eduard Bloch, special protection by the Gestapo. CRACKED.COM When Hitler's mother couldn't afford cancer treat- ment, Bloch reduced his prices. Teenage Adolf de- clared undying gratitude, and when Austria was an- nexed, Hitler kept his word to the Jewish doctor. — Source

18

The left side of the ship was originally called larboard or the loading side of the ship. GRACKED COM Because it sounded too similar to the opposite side, starboard, the left be- came port since the left side of the ship was the one that was against the dock for loading. — Source

17

No one knows why Saturn's moon lapetus has an 8 mile tall ridge around its equator. CRACKED.COM The equatorial ridge, dis- covered in 2007, is 810 miles long, 12 miles wide, and only exists in the dark region of the moon. There is no definitive explanation for how it formed. — Source

16

CRACKED.COM A harmless experiment nearly destroyed the early internet Graduate student Robert Morris didn't intend any harm when he created a self- replicating program in 1988-he just wanted to see how far it'd get. 24 hours later, 10% of the then-internet was down, and Morris' worm had caused millions of dollars in damages and delays. — Source

15

Movies make people think that torture works. An astonishing number of films show their characters getting reliable information through some form of threats or torture. Studies point to this steady exposure as a reason why many people think torture works, even though in real life it doesn't. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Stan's little brother killed Eminem. Much less known than Eminem's Stan is its 2013 sequel, Bad Guy. In the song, Stan's brother Matthew kidnaps and kills Eminem, in retaliation for ruining his life (and Eminem's homophobic lyrics). CRACKED COM — Source

13

The Servant Girl Annihilator made headlines before Jack the Ripper. In 1884, four years before Jack terrorized London, the Annihilator's murders gripped Austin, Texas-just to completely stop one year later. And just like the Ripper, no one ever found out who the killer was. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

A man was acquitted because people watch too much porn. In 1996, Utah resident Larry Peterman was indicted for carrying obscene material in his video store. But his lawyer proved that Peterman wasn't breaking any community standards. Не just showed that that particular community consumed even more porn than America on average. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Poon Lim survived 133 days on a raft. When the British merchant ship SS Benlomond was sunk by a Nazi U-boat, Poon Lim was the only survivor. For several months he lived off rain water, sea birds, and fish (even a shark once). Не finally made it to the Brazilian shore after drifting 750 miles. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Burning at the stake as a method of execution has been practiced since Babylonia and ancient Israel. CRACKED.COM Bags of gunpowder were sometimes tied around the victim's necks, or they were hanged with a metal chain, to shorten their suffering. — Source

9

Airbags in 37 million vehicles had to be recalled by an auto parts manufacturer in 2008. CRACKED.COM Faulty inflators in Takata airbags ex- ploded and shot shrapnel-like materi- al at the vehicle's ос- cupants. — Source

8

The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin believes it was gifted stolen artifacts. GRACKED.COM In 2016, an anonymous donor sent two Bronze Age axes and two piec- es of rare Viking jewel- ry to the museum, which may have been illegally excavated. — Source

7

In 2013, a California couple discovered a trove of gold coins in their backyard. 99 7300 20 FYNGOUD LOCTES U366 vironland adidas adidas MERAEL DO twitzer was 1K000 Switzerland adidas ILO ONE Fine Go old Fine TK AEUSSIA LON LONSKY 036630 3 CRACKED COM 400g vitze Tucked away in eight buried cans were 1,427 rare mint-condition coins dating from 1847 to 1894. A rare coin expert who represents the finders appraised the U.S. coins at $11 million. — Source

6

Human's place on the food chain is a mere 2.2 on a 1-5 scale. CRACKED.COM Apex predators such as lions and great white sharks have a trophic level of 5. Hu- mans rank even with pigs and anchovies. — Source

5

Palau, in Oceania, is the first country to require tourists to take an eco-pledge. CRACKED.COM The government of Palau requires all tourists enter- ing to sign a pledge stamped on their passport promising to be environ- mentally conscious and tread lightly, act kindly, and explore mindfully. — Source

4

Consumer radar detectors can have a detector to detect radar detector detectors. FUZZBUSTER® 2000 Superhet electrolertinc. GRAGKED.COM When drivers began using radar detectors, police forces began purchasing radar detector detectors, which led to manufacturers adding radar detector de- tector detector circuits to their devices. — Source

3

Swallowing pills without water can make it take longer for them to work. sc N D d sd Magnet GRACKED.COM It also increases the chance of the pill to get stuck in your esophagus, and in worse scenarios make an ulcer in your esoph- agus mucosa. — Source

2

A three day riot at Oxford University over wine killed 93 people in 1335. CRACKED.COM Two Oxford students com- plained to the bartender of the Swindlestock Tavern about the quality of wine served, and the argument spiraled into a brawl that killed 30 townsfolk and 63 university members. — Source

1

Many of the scenes in Elf were filmed at an abandoned psychiatric hospital in Vancouver. CRACKED.COM In the '50s, Riverview Hospital was home to more than 4,000 ра- tients. The X Files, Super- natural, Saw, Deadpool 2, and many others have filmed scenes on the site. — Source

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