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40 Random Bits of Trivia You Can Piece Together Into Ornate Structures Like Mental Magna-Tiles

September 22, 2024

The MCU is Thomas Edison's fault.

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40

The first movie studio. 1893 CRACKED.COM Thomas Edison's New Jersey studio, The Black Maria, was built for about $600 to produce short films for the Kinetoscope. — Source

39

King Herod builds, Jordanians use.

JERUSALEM THE TOWER OF DAVID King Herod the Great built the tower in Jerusalem Citadel. The Jordanians used it as a military base until the Israelis took it over after Jerusalem was reunited in 1967 - so, it was last actively used while the Beatles were still together. CRACKED — Botond Horvath/Shutterstock
Chabad.org

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COMEDY NERD In the Family Guy pilot, Meg was actually voiced by Lacey Chabert. In a later episode where they revisit the pilot, Stewie hears her and says Oh my God, what's with Meg's voice? She sounds like someone who's about to give up a huge opportunity. CRACKED.COM — Source

37

A Twist In Time.

MYTH 420 stems from a municipal penal code for marijuana use. x HI GH FACT 420 started as an in-joke for students at San Rafael High School in California, regarding the time of the day they would all meet up to smoke weed. CRACKED — Canna Obscura/Shutterstock
Snopes

36

Epic Pranks

In 1985, a man rigged his computer to call Jerry Falwell's toll-free prayer line every 30 seconds for eight months. It clogged the line and cost it over $750k in reverse charges. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Time

35

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

34

POE WROTE ABOUT A SHIP LOST AT SEA. THE CREW DREW LOTS TO SEE WHOM TO EAT. The loser was cabin boy Richard Parker. 46 years later, in real life, three men aboard a ship called the Mignonette drew lots and decided to eat their cabin d crew boy. His name: Richard Parker. elle CRACKED.COM — Source

33

CATRALL PARKER SEX AND THE CITY CRACKED.COM PARKER AND CATRALL WOULDN'T SPEAK TO EACH OTHER DURING FILMING OF THE SEX AND THE CITY MOVIE. ARE WE THE BEST OF FRIENDS? NO, SAID CATRALL. PARKER JOKINGLY (?) OFFERED HER SAMANTHA ROLE TO ELLEN DEGENERES. — Source

32

Disturbing Movies 2008, United Kingdom Dir. James Watkins Eden Lake A young couple sees their lake trip interrupted by a gang of kids. The husband, played by Michael Fassbender, tries to tell them to keep the noise down, and a night in hell ensues - followed by the most depressing ending ever. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Negasonic

CRACKED.COM DEADPOOL NEGASONIC WAS PART OF A BARTER WITH GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2. Marvel owned the rights to Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Fox wanted her for Deadpool. Fox owned the rights to Ego the Living Planet and Marvel wanted for GotG Vol. 2. Fair trade. — Source

30

Harper Lee wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird” when a friend gave her a year’s wages.

Harper Lee once received one year's wages as a gift from a friend CRACKED.COM A struggling Lee received the gift with the note: You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christ- mas. She used her time off to write To Kill a Mock- ingbird. — The Guardian

29

Elvis Presley’s Kangaroo

Extreme Celebrity Pets ELVIS PRESLEY'S KANGAROO 6240 IF KANGAROO JACK TAUGHT US ANYTHING, IT'S THAT KANGAROOS WILL KILL YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE. That didn't stop Elvis' agent from giving him one in the late '50s, but it wasn't much seen after posing for some pictures to promote Jailhouse Rock, probably because it looked much cooler than the movie's actual star. CRACKED — MGM, Bradley Blackburn/Shutterstock
Digital Spy

28

SEAGULLS EAT THE EYES OF NEWBORN SEALS. Kelp gulls will wait for the blinded seal to die and then come back for its remains. CRACKED.COM — Source: 21 Horrific Facts About Adorable Animals

27

CRACKED.COM Pete Townshend suffers from tinnitus, an annoying monotonous buzzing sounds if it's coming from the base of your skull. If you want to know what that sounds like, tune in to Chris Evans on Radio 2. Terry Wogan on Never Mind the Buzzcocks — 23 Total Mic Drop Insults

26

Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash a day after dreaming about his funeral.

Stevie Ray Vaughan had a dream about his own funeral a day before he died. CRACKED.COM On August 26, 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan described a disturbing dream to his bandmates in which he witnessed his own funeral. The next day, he tragically died in a helicopter crash. — Guitar World

25

Loneliness shrinks your brain.

CRACKED LONELINESS Being alone for a long time can cause a decrease in a chemical in the brain called BDNF, and shrinkage of a part of the brain called the dentate gyrus. So ... get out there, maybe touch grass, and speak to and listen to humans. — NEJM / Everyday Health

24

Hollywood feuds CRIMINAL MINDS VS THOMAS GIBSON Gibson had numerous verbal and physical on-set altercations. In 2010 he reportedly shoved an assistant director, and he was fired in 2016 for kicking a writer in the shin because of creative differences. CRACKED — Source

23

Stephane Breitweiser, Art Thief

One of the greatest art thieves of all time wasn't in it for the money at all. Stéphane Breitweiser stole about $1.4 billion worth of art, but he didn't try to sell it - he was just really into the art and hung it around his home. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Brussels sprouts grow on stalks Brussels sprout plants grow two to three feet tall. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

GROSS PICS

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM PEOPLE WOULD WALK UP TO BOB SAGET AND SHOW HIM GROSS PICS ON THEIR PHONE. Apparently, they thought he'd laugh or something, but he'd just go Dude, I can't look at that. — Source

20

The US shot at something in the air over LA for an hour in 1942.

The US Military fired anti-air artillery at an object hovering over Los Angeles in 1942. The target of the aerial bar- rage was thought to be an at- tacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press confer- ence shortly afterward, Sec- retary of the Navy Frank Knox called the purported at- tack a false alarm. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Earthquake Fears, Predictions, and Preparations in Mid-America

19

Atom Smasher

the CALO IS RIGHT, ZOM of A SUPERITUOUS EPPORT ON YOUR - BLACK ADAM HE'S ODDLY A TEAM PLAYER. While Black Adam has his own rules and morals he goes by, he does protect those who fight alongside him-specially his friend Atom Smasher in the JSA. CRACKED.COM — DC
CBR

18

The Color Purple

October on NETFLIX October 1 The Color Purple Whoopi Goldberg got cast partly due to Steven Spielberg laughing at her stand-up routines of E.T. getting arrested for drug possession. CRACKED.COM — Global Grind

17

Mule It Over

CRACKED THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE STILL USES MULES. There are a few locales, mostly located in steep canyons and the like, that require mules to get to. — Sandra Foyt/Shutterstock
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At 15, Miley Cyrus was already super disciplined. While shooting Hannah Montana: The Movie, she'd board a plane after work on Friday, do two concerts over the weekend, and be back at work at 7 AM Monday. CRACKED.COM — Source: 21 Celebs That Work Harder Than People Know

15

Magpies show altruistic behavior.

Magpies removed GPS trackers from each other to thwart researchers. CRACKED.COM The Australian birds helped each other out of their backpack-like tracking devices, in what is called rescue behavior, within minutes of the experiment starting. — Source: Smithsonian Magazine

14

On workdays, 53% of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep. Those numbers are considerably lower in other Western countries - 39% in the UK, 36% in Germany, 30% in Canada, and 29% in Mexico. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

The arena where the Viper and the Mountain fought looks very different in real life. Tisuag It's an amphitheater at the abandoned Hotel Belvedere, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and if you went there today you'd just see this big, colorful mural. That's the crest of Hajduk, a very popular local football club. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Movie Locations (With The Curtain Pulled Back)

12

PARENTS RECENTLY PETITIONED TOYS R US TO PULL THE BREAKING BAD ACTION FIGURES FROM THEIR SHELVES. WARNING: Ages CHOKING HAZARD The Walter White 15+ MY didas figure comes with a 35 gun, a bag of cash, and Br eaking 56 a baggie full of meth*. Bad TOY FAIR NY 14 EXCLUSIVE Not actual meth. an actual gun or actual cash Walter White Collection Figure Toys R Us no longer sells them. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

SNL

DRUNK UNCLE BOBBY MOYNIHAN CRACKED Moynihan spent hours on a sure-fire sketch about a suit salesman, the best character in SNL history. Colin Jost asked for a quick Update bit -. Drunk Uncle was whipped up in 15 minutes. Suit Salesman bombed and Drunk Uncle appeared 10 more times. — Rolling Stone

10

Cosplay became a thing in 1939. Sci-fi fan Myrtle Douglas and her husband wore costumes from the 1936 H.G. Wells movie Things to Come to the World Science Fiction Convention that year, and costume contests became an annual tradition at that convention after that. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

9

In 1971, Sylvester Stallone sold his dog, Butkus, for $40 to buy food. After selling the script for Rocky, he bought him back for $15,000. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Claymation

CLAY ANIMATION 1912 CRACKED.COM Modelling Extraordinary was released in 1912 and was one of the first clay animation movies to use stop motion. It was met with great critical acclaim. — Stop Motion Central

7

Dunkin' 1948 Dunkin Dounto ORIGINAL DUNKIN' LOCATION - ESTABLISHED 1950 CRACKED.COM William Rosenberg opened a donut shop originally called Open Kettle. Donuts were five cents while coffee was 10 cents. — Source: 13 Fast-Food Restaurants Fascinating Origin Stories

6

An 18th-century painting inspired the look of alien technology in Prometheus. The sequence where David works with the big map hologram was inspired by A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, a 1769 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects & Wikipedia

5

Taran Killam

Taran Killam CRACKED.COM After 6 years at SNL, Killam was stung by his 2016 firing. Не said, I don't know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren't going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really. I can assume until the cows come home. This interview suggests that it may be because he expressed interest in direct- ing a film (that wouldn't have — Uproxx

4

Mother's Milk

CRACKED.COM THE BOYS MOTHER'S MILK KEEPS HIS LOOK FROM THE COMICS. The showrunners wanted to keep the look and feel of the comic within the show's roots - so Mother's Milk's wardrobe has the same slogans and bands. — Source: CBR

3

Harmony Kendall

Buffy the Vampire Slayer FIRST APPEARANCE Buffy the Vampire Slayer Welcome to the Hellmouth HARMONY Obnoxious cheerleader to L.A. demon receptionist, antagonist to love interest. LAST APPEARANCE Angel Not Fade Away CRACKED.COM

2

Fawlty Ideals.

CRACKED JOHN CLEESE'S THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY AT SXSW. Dulce Sloan, a black comedian, made a joke about colonization, which sent Cleese on a cringey tirade about slavery. Sloan took his microphone, and when the host said, And now you saved the colonizer, she replied, I saved a comic whose career I respect. — Hollywood Reporter

1

Black cab drivers have to basically be London historians.

London black cab drivers must pass a grueling test. UK premiere, 8pm Monday 30th April Inca really 60 me ComCab The Knowledge is a multi-sequence oral exam requiring memorization of all 25,000 street names, landmarks, and points-of-interest in a 6-mile radius from London center. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — NY Times

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