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You can really feel the love in these facts

34 Random Bits of Trivia Our Mom Hand Wrote and Put in Our Lunchbox

September 30, 2024

Much like tasting the love in a good home-cooked meal, your brain will definitely be able to feel the love nestled in the knowledge of these facts. That first tingle you’ll feel is the little info-zap, then the longer, warmer tingle is a full-blown brain hug.

And it’s not even Valentine’s Day, you lucky little devils.

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34

CRACKED.COM MORTAL KOMBAT (2021) Sub-Zero's costume weighed 33 lbs. As the movie relied on realistic and practical effects/costuming, the entire outfit that Joe Taslim wore weighed in at 33 pounds, making his quick stunt moves even more impressive. — Source

33

CRACKED.COM GODZILLA Godzilla was allegedly named after some big dude. According to director Ishiro Honda, Gojira (westernized as Godzilla) was a nickname for a large man that worked at Toho's publicity department. Gojira came about when two people argued whether he was as big as a gorilla or as a whale (kujira). — Source

32

DIE HARD Bruce Willis did the movie due to a pregnancy. At first, Willis couldn't take the part of John McClane due to his commitment to Moonlighting. That changed when his Moonlighting co-star Cybill Shepherd announced she was pregnant, and the series paused production. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

OSMOSIS The movie inspired the National Buffalo Wing Festival. The festival didn't exist in real life when Bill Murray's character wanted to attend in the movie. Buffalo native Drew Cerza made it a reality in 2002. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

WIX WONDER WOMAN General Erich Ludendorff actually existed. While the thing involving the Greek god of war wasn't real (probably), Ludendorff was actually a general in the German army during World War I. Unlike the movie version, the real Ludendorff resigned and fled to Sweden. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

by SNOPPON DOGMA Jason Mewes took the role seriously due to Alan Rickman. Mewes didn't want to anger an actor of Rickman's caliber by being his usual slackish self, so he went out of his way to learn his lines. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

CRACKED.COM THE PRINCESS BRIDE André the Giant was too big for his horse. A pulley system was devised to lower the huge guy onto the horse without putting too much weight on the poor beast's spine. — Source

27

Cobra commander was a used cars salesman. The identity of G.I. Joe's arch nemesis was always a mystery... except that it wasn't. The original comics reveal his past as a used cars salesman who got the money to start Cobra through pyramid schemes. THINGS ARE GOING ID as BETTER JUST BIG BURINESS AND YOU HAIT AND FEE - GOVERNMENT WANT TO STAMP OUT THE LITTLE GUYS LIKE ME! BUT I'LL SHOW THEM I'LL SHOW THEM ALL! CRACKED.COM — Source

26

The DEA enabled Joe Mccarthy's drug habit. McCarthy was addicted to patriotism - and morphine. This was discovered by the head of the National Bureau of Narcotics (DEA's predecessor), who decided to cover for him and secretly supply him with the drug himself, so that no scandal would hamper his commie- fighting efforts. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

CRACKED.COM The X-Files kept dumping on Gillian Anderson. Fox apparently saw Scully as Mulder's sidekick rather than his partner. For the first few seasons, Anderson was paid less money than David Duchovny, and also made to always walk behind him, never side by side. They tried to underpay her even for the show's revival in 2016. — Source

24

A bunch of vietnam mines were set off by the sun. A solar flare in 1972 had unusual effects all over the Earth-satellites malfunctioned, power grids went nuts, auroras appeared bright enough to cast shadows... and a couple dozens of mines laid on a bay in Vietnam went off. This sun-triggered detonation wasn't declassified until 1990. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

CRACKED.COM James Galdolfini threatened to kick Harvey weinstein's ass once. And it wasn't for the obvious reasons. Weinstein kept pestering the publicity-averse Gandolfini to appear on David Letterman's show to promote a movie-and he was such a douchebag about it that Gandolfini went, Не f**king calls me again, I will beat the f**k out of him! Sadly, he never went through with it. — Source

22

conspiracies about crisis actors are an old thing. Long before Alex Jones started spouting his bullcrap about Sandy Hook, these conspiracy theories were used to fight integration. Right after the Civil War, black victims were accused of faking the racist abuse they got- and talk of paid protesters was common during the civil rights movement. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

CRACKED.COM Old-timey science fiction imagined space floozies. Back in the '50s, writer and astronomer Robert S. Richardson proposed that women should go into space... so that the astronauts could get laid. Some writers took this and worked it into their science fiction. The idea that women could be astronauts themselves, not just living sex dolls, didn't seem to occur to anyone. — Source

20

Geronimo was used as a tourist attraction. After the Apache leader surrendered in 1886, people would come to his prison and pay to take a look at the wild indian who had given the U.S. Army so much trouble. Instead of being eventually freed, as was the deal, he spent the rest of his life having to perform at fairs and shows. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

An old-timey movie featured the real death of a stuntman. Daredevil Ormer Locklear crashed while performing aerial stunts for the 1920 movie The Skywayman. In a move that makes today's tabloids seem respectful, the film didn't just include Locklear's death, but used it as a selling point. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

CRACKED.COM Macy's refused to let Elf say that their santa wasn't real. The department store was happy to let the filmmakers shoot at their premises-but they drew the line at the movie saying that their Santa Claus was just a guy in a costume. That scene had to be shot somewhere else, and the film couldn't use the name Macy's. — Source

17

ventriloquism used to be considered a supernatural thing. It wasn't just because dummies look like they could come alive and murder you. Long before ventriloquism was entertainment, it was widely believed that the belly talkers were channeling the words of gods, spirits, or demons. This belief didn't die out until the 18th century. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

34 Random Bits of Trivia Our Mom Hand Wrote and Put in Our Lunchbox — Source

15

Lorena Bobbitt

CRACKED.COM NO, Lorena Bobbitt wasn't some knife- happy crazy woman. Bobbitt became a punchline in the '90s as someone who randomly chopped off her husband's dick. No one bothered to point out at the time that he had horribly abused her for years, a fact acknowledged by both the prosecution and the defense. Не keeps sending her love letters-but sure, let's call her crazy. — Source

14

Led Zeppelin

Led zeppelin kept stealing from black artists. Led Zeppelin loved blues so much that they repeatedly swiped songs by black II blues artists, and just shrugged when they got hit by lawsuits. Willie Dixon won two separate suits against them over different songs-both of them in the same album. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Transformers could have been Muffy the volkswagen. When Hasbro approached Marvel about creating a story for their new toyline, one of Marvel's pitches was about Muffy (short for Muffler), a transforming VW who hanged out with three kids and their dog. Luckily, Hasbro went with the (slightly) less silly proposal about alien robots. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

coca-cola's Tab clear was made crappy on purpose. The colorless, caffeine-free NEW FROM Coca-Cola Crystal Pepsi was selling well in the early '90s-and Соса- TaB TRADE - Cola wanted to stop that. So they launched Tab Clear, a product that was similar but much worse, so that its bad - reputation would tarnish the CLEAR very idea of a clear cola and sink Crystal Pepsi. And guess what-it worked. lathorized by The Coca-Cola Company CRACKED.COM — Source

11

CRACKED.COM Fake dating profiles were already a thing in the 1880s. A gazette in the U.K. promised high-class matches to men and women (mostly men). For a fee, you could contact one of the wealthy ladies who placed ads-who then suddenly stopped being available. This early catfishing scam went on for a solid decade. — Source

10

9/11

The only uninterrupted audio recording of the 9/11 attack is from an undercover operation. CRACKED.COM The recording comes from an FBI informant that secretly wore a wire to breakfast with a city official suspected of brib- ery, meeting the suspect at the WTC Marriott. — Source

9

Ken Jennings won so many games of Jeopardy that he had to start fabricating anecdotes to tell. CRACKED.COM Superchampion and even- tual host Jennings won so many games during his ini- tial streak that he admitted to fabricating anecdotes just so that he would have something to chat about with Alex Trebek. — Source

8

Norse Paganism is the fastest growing and largest non-Christian religion in Iceland. CRACKED.COM In the year 1000, Christian- ity was adopted as the na- tional religion of Iceland by Alpingi, the Viking-age commonwealth parliament of Iceland. 1,000 years lat- er and Paganism is making a comeback. — Source

7

Axis POWs during WWII were placed in a mansion bugged with listening devices. CRACKED.COM The British let Axis prison- ers live in luxury in Trent Park, while listening to their conversations. The program produced a lot of intel for the Allies, such as the location of a V2 rocket facility. — Source

6

Over 100 workers died in a fire because the factory owners kept all the exit doors locked. MALKING BLUM CLOTHING SPECIALISTS 23525 HARRIC BRGS MENU CEOTAING ANIVERSA CLEAKS SULER GRAGKED.COM The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 killed 146 garment workers, all because the owners kept the doors locked to pre- vent theft and unauthorized breaks. The owners made about $400 per worker from the in- surance payout. — Source

5

Animation code from Frozen was used to solve a 63 year old, erm, 'cold' case. CRACKED.COM The Dyatlov Pass incident left nine Russian hikers dead in 1959. Engineers recently relied on animation codes in Frozen to prove a long- standing theory that an ava- lanche resulted in the deaths of the nine hikers. — Source

4

A thief escaped in America in 1770 and successfully convinced everyone she was royalty. GRACKED.COM Sarah Wilson was exiled to America and used items she previously bur- gled from the Queen as props to convince people she was Princess Susanna Caroline Matilda. — Source

3

The oldest known Homo Sapiens is over 30,000 years older than we thought. CRACKED.COM A total of eight sites in Africa have yielded possible early anatomically modern Homo sapiens fossils from the late Middle Pleistocene, approxi- mately 350-130 thousand years ago. — Source

2

The first batteries ever created could be over 2,000 years old. 14cm GRAGKED.COM In 1938 twelve jars with copper cylinders and iron rods were found in Iraq. The jars when combined with grape juice produce approximately 1 volt of electricity. — Source

1

The topic of the first ever radio communication on board an aircraft in flight was a cat. GRAGKED.COM In 1910, Kiddo the cat snuck on board an airship, and ended up traveling with the ship during its entire 71-hour journey. Kiddo was adopted by the daughter of one of the airmen. — Source

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