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Knowledge is on the menu today, kids

45 Random Bits of Trivia That Are Perfectly Cooked to Your Brain’s Liking

November 12, 2024

It’d be great if we could ring a dinner bell right now, but what are you gonna do? Grab a plate and get in line, because these steamy facts are ready to serve.

We’re usually back-of-house people, but we were asked to don some lunch-lady aprons, hair nets and Rubbermaid gloves for fact-service today, so here we are.

45

Pirates

The most successful pirate in recorded history was a Chinese prostitute. Cheng I Sao was active in the early 19th century, and at her most powerful commanded 80,000 sailors and a fleet of over 1,500 ships. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

44

Frisbee

Frisbee Creator Ed Headrick WORLD WORLD CLASS CHAMPIONS FLYING DISC 165 G. CRACKED.COM Per his request, Headrick's ashes were molded into frisbees and given to his family and friends. — Source

43

Tokyo

TOKYO HAD A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH SUICIDES IN TRAIN STATIONS. So THEY INSTALLED BLUE STREET LIGHTS. They'd found that blue lights reduced crime by 9%, so they decided to try their effect on suicide. Since the change to the lighting, there have been no suicide attempts. Not only is blue a calming color, but it also reminds people of police lights, so they feel they're being watched. CRACKED.COM http ://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/blue- streetlights-believed-to-prevent-suicides-street-crime/ — Source

42

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine $8 MILLION CRACKEDOON After becoming a big hit on the festival circuit, Fox Searchlight Pictures scooped it up and turned it into a $101 million piggy bank. Along the way, they picked up Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Saddest Steve Carrell.

41

Russia and Pluto

RUSSIA IS ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS PLUTO Pluto's surface area is 17,646,012 km2, compared to Russia's 17,098,246 km². CRACKED.COM — Source

40

Urine-Based Fertilizer

University of Michigan researchers are pushing a 'pee for peonies' urine diversion plan. CRACKED COM It's all part of an effort to ed- ucate the public about Ann Arbor school's Nichols Arbo- retum research showing that applying fertilizer derived from nutrient-rich urine could have environmental and economic benefits. — AP News

39

Bubble Baths

Bubble baths keep warm longer than a bubble-less bath. CRACKED.COM Bubbles from a bubble bath thermally insulate the sur- face of the water, keeping the bath warm for a longer period of time. Plus you can give yourself a Santa beard and a bubble bra. — Source

38

Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!

Punch Out!! CRACKED COM Soda Popinski was originally named something much more overtly offensive: Vodka Drunkenski. — Source

37

The Bible

Nowhere in the bible does it say there were three wise men. CRACKED.COM Still, most western Chris- tian denominations have traditionally assumed them to have been three in number, based on the statement that they brought three gifts. — Source

36

Weed-repreneurship

CRACKED IN NEW JERSEY, PRIOR OFFENDERS GET A CHANCE TO CASH IN ON LEGAL WEED. In New Jersey, people with prior marijuana convictions have been given the chance to join the legal marijuana business and make money to take care of their families. 16% of all marijuana licenses have been given to them. — CNBC

35

Southwest Airlines

Two CEOs arm wrestled over copyright infringement. GRACKED.COM Instead of going to court over a copyright infringement dispute, the CEOs of Southwest Airlines and Stevens Aviation challenged each other to an arm wrestling duel. No lawyers were ever involved, and the men honored the outcome of the match. — NPR

34

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee actually power- kicked a dude in Enter the Dragon. After an actor accidentally injured him, Lee got his revenge by demolishing the guy's che

33

The Intra-Insect Battle Spawned by Stephen Colbert

After having a spider. Aptostichus stephencolberti, named after him, Stephen Colbert stated he wanted something cooler: a giant ant or a laser lion. Не ended up with other scientists insisting their beetles, wasps and stoneflies way outclassed shitty spiders. CRACKED — Source / Hollywood Reporter

32

Firefighters

FIREFIGHTERS EMPLOY WETTING AGENTS TO MAKE WATER WETTER. PR 1 MSA SA MS MSA M CRACKED 0 These chemicals reduce the surface tension of water, making it easier to spread and allowing for better absorption into objects, earning the term wet water. — Source

31

Prank Glasses Art

As a prank, teenagers left glasses on a museum floor .. people thought it was art. The teenagers left the glasses in San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art in 2016, and then filmed people taking photos of them. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

The Grammys

Justin Timberlake wasn't banned from the Grammys after Nipplegate. But Janet Jackson was - the Grammys were scheduled for the week after the Super Bowl, and both Timberlake and Jackson were supposed to present. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

The Ritz-Carlton

Someone stole from the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton's 'loss prevention' office. GRAGKED.COM The male suspect entered the hotel by forcing open a basement door around 1:20 am, went through the loss prevention office and locker room, and fled the area. — ABC

28

The Horse of Cockington

This small, beautiful village in the southwest of England elected a pony as mayor in 2020. Four-year-old Patrick was subsequently banned from the local pub. CRACKED — Source

27

The CIA

The CIA was involved in the murder of a democratically elected Prime Minister of Congo. GRACKED.COM In 1961 Belgians, with CIA involvement, ordered the murder of Patrice Lumumba, who just wanted for the Congolese to regain the natural resources that were still under foreign control. — Source

26

Prince

When Prince had a cameo as himself on New Girl, he demanded that scenes filmed with Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner be removed from the episode. CRACKED COM — Source: 16 Extremely Specific Celebrity Demands

25

Celebrity Pals

CRACKED.COM Celebrity Stoners Willie Nelson brought Woody Harrelson back to weed. Harrelson quit weed in 2017, because he had 30 solid years of just partying too f***ing hard. His sobriety ended two years later, when fellow toker Willie Nelson kept offering a vape pen to him during a poker game. — Source

24

BP Oil Spill

BP swallowed the $61.6 billion cost of damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and kept going. CRACKED COM The company spent $17 million a d

23

Twilight Zone

BTS STORIES FROM HORROR MOVIES 1983 TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE The tragic helicopter accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and two child actors was just due to gross negligence from the higher-ups. The spooky-ass coincidence, though, is that Morrow got a $1 million life insurance in 1974 because, I have always had a premonition that I'll be killed in a helicopter crash. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Star Wars

A creature in The Mandalorian was born from a dinosaur. That huge skeleton in the desert in A New Hope? That's a diplodocus left over from a different movie. No one could know it would eventually become a monster in the Baby Yoda show. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Babies and Probabilities

Six-month-old babies can estimate probabilities SOCM 12 cm + 0=6 Aa Bb Cc Dd Ее 655 + + 7 ZI Ff LI Mm Gg Hh Nn II OOPP زل Kk 2= 12 cm a2+b2=C2 3=8 Qq RR Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz b SOH TE.... CH O NH C OH =MC2 If young babies can figure out the likelihood of events happening, I guess there was no excuse for my bad grade in Statistics. CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Fascinating Facts About Child Development (That Tell Us Lots About Adults)

20

Aquaman 2

Aquaman 2 takes its inspiration from a campy '60s Italian horror flick. The movie is Planet of the Vampires, and director James Wan said, You can take the boy out of horror, but you can never take the horror out the boy. CRACKED. .COM — Source

19

Pizza Hut

The Priazzo was uncookably thick deep-dish pizza. CRACKED.COM Pizza Hut threw an Italian-sounding name on a casserole that was so thick, it took longer to cook than anyone was willing to wait for it. — Source

18

Car Chases

Car chases are actually more dangerous than the criminals. Congratulations, officer! You heroically caught your guy! Too bad you ran over more folks than he ever murdered (if he happens to be a murderer at all). Well over 300 people are killed every year in high-speed chases, at least one third of those innocent bystanders. — More: The 6 Most Popular Crime Fighting Tactics (That Don't Work)

17

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

CRACKED.COM TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! Robin Williams JULIE NEWMAR and Steven Spielberg godfathered the movie. A movie about three drag queens stranded in a small town wasn't really sought after in the 1990s, but it got the financial backing from Spielberg's production company after he and Williams endorsed the script. — Source: Today

16

Windows XP

A Windows XP computer infected with six types of malware was auctioned for $1.3 million: Stored - the Completes Tooks Vale - Based - Reason I Administrator NORTH as - Documents en Resources Warage - Recent Documents . - Express - Petines - Use the I - How - Compate Windows Media Place Teconge - Program Accord and مدا Modern - - - - letters - and The laptop is part of an artwork titled The Persistence of Chaos, and was a joint project between artist Guo o Dong and cyber-security company Deep Instinct. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Michelangelo’s David

Michelangelo's David is over 17 feet tall. And weighs over 12,000 pounds. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Airbags

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

13

The EU

Same-sex partners and their kids will be recognized as family in the EU. CVRIA COUR DE JUSTICE DE L'UNION EUROPÉENNE That's the ruling of the European Court of Justice, and all EU member states will have to recognize them as such. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

The Walking Dead

There was absolutely no narrative reason for The Walking Dead to spend a season on a farm. THE IMPROVISATION: The network axed the Season 2 budget bef

11

Secret Rooms

CRACKED.COM Jackie Chan His Hong Kong home has secret rooms. When your movies have grossed around US$5 billion worldwide, you can afford some luxuries, like maze- like secret rooms within secret rooms. This was a childhood dream inspired by the Batcave.

10

Star Wars

The Phantom Menace even CGl'd Natalie Portman. She limped in some scenes because she had hurt her ankle, so the VFX team had to give her CGI legs in them. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Dogs and Arithmetic

DOGS CAN COUNT UP TO FOUR OR FIVE. Dogs can also learn simple arithmetic. CRACKED.COM — Source: 21 Dog Facts That Are Pleasant As Hell

8

Marine Snails

Marine snails' teeth are the strongest natural material on the Earth. Using a tooth-studded tongue called a radula, limpets grind down rock as they feed. They can withstand pressures high enough to turn carbon into diamond. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Smithsonian Magazine

7

Susan B. Anthony

Susan В. Anthony was fined $100 for illegally voting, and never paid. CRACKED.COM In 1872, Susan В. Anthony was fined for unlawfully voting in the election of Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley, but she was posthumously pardoned... by President Donald Trump. — Source

6

Gilmore Girls

LUKE DANES WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DAISY DANES. GILMORE GIRLS When the network told creator Amy Sherman-Palladino that the show needed another male character, she was too lazy to create a new one from scratch. She simply took the part of Lorelai's friend Daisy, and changed the name to Luke. CRACKED.COM — Entertainment Weekly

5

Naval Baptisms

By tradition, if you're baptised on a navy ship, that's done in the ship's bell. The tradition started in the British Navy (though it's not clear when), and it kept going in the American and Australian navies. CRACKED.COM — Source: Eternity News

4

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE CRACKED.COM 2005's Emily Rose was a highly successful ode to The Exorcist. Its success sparked a new era of followers who changed the name, like The Exorcism of Molly Hartley, Anna Ecklund, or Karen Walker. Or the synonym and the name, like The Taking of Deborah Logan, The Possession of Hannah Grace, or The Possession of Gail Bowers. — Source: allhorror

3

Nomophobia

CRACKED COM Your anxiety over not having your phone is super common. A survey of students found that nearly 25 percent were suffered anxietyover the o

2

Life Coaches

15 Respected Groups Who Aren't So Elite As People Say - Only 13.4% of those who hire life coaches say they achieved their wellness goals. Only 7.8% wo — Source: Purdue University

1

Steve Carell

Comedic actor Steve Carrell was originally going to pursue a career in law! He changed his mind while filling out his law school application: He could

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