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When it comes to obtaining facts, we can handle anything

44 Horrid Bits of Trivia Screamed at Us by the Krampus As He Struck Us Repeatedly With a Birch Rod

December 03, 2024

You kids these days have it made. Back in our day, we had facts beaten into us with all kinds of foreign objects. Did we mind? A little. But we had facts, and that’s all that mattered. Our fact-givers didn’t know any other way back then.

Luckily for you, we now know much softer ways of passing along facts. This list, for example. All it takes is a little reading and comprehending, you precious little softies.

44

The Eiffel Tower

It's illegal to sell photos of the Eiffel Tower taken at night. The rights to the build- ing's evening light show belong to the artist who created it, so the image is there- fore protected under French law. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

43

Factory Disaster

Over 100 workers died in a fire because the factory owners kept all the exit doors locked. MARRICA BLUM CLOTHING SPECIALISTS 2352 HARRY BRGS MENS CEOTHING A NEVERS CLEARS SUITE 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

42

Disney and the Nazis

TWO EX-NAZIS DESIGNED ICONIC DISNEY PARK LANDMARKS WALT DISNEY TAPPED EX- SS ENGINEER WERHNER VON BRAUN TO HELP DESIGN rax DISNEYLAND'S ROCKET To THE MOON. FORMER LUFTWAFFE INTERROGATOR HANNS SCHARFF INSTALLED MOSAIC MURALS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD AND EPCOT. CRACKED.COM — Source: 24 Startlingly Dark Secrets About The Disney Company

41

Pinky and the Brain

WB executives suggested adding a third character to Pinky And The Brain, so the creators obliged. GRACKED.COM Writers responded with the episode Pinky & The Brain And...Larry which featured a third, superflu- ous mouse named Larry that added nothing to the plot but repeatedly saying I'm Larry. — Source

40

Beats By Dre

44 Horrid Bits of Trivia Screamed at Us by the Krampus As He Struck Us Repeatedly With a Birch Rod

39

Susan Sarandon

celebrity Hobbies susan sarandon will school you at ping pong. The Oscar winner is a huge fan, as it's a game that people of any size, age, or gender can play competitively against one another. She even supports a program that brings ping pong tables to underprivileged schools. CRACKED.COM — Source

38

Bill Murray

Bill Murray was in Garfield because he thought it was written by someone else. The script was written by Joel Cohen, and Murray mistook that name for Joel Coen, one of the Coen brothers. He only realized his mistake when he got into the recording booth and started actually reading — Source: The Guardian

37

Seinfeld

Recycling presents became known as REGIFTING SEINFELD CRACKED.COM Elaine gives Tim the dentist a label maker for Christmas, who sends an idential gadget to Jerry as a thank you for Super Bowl tickets. I think this is the same one I gave him, cries Elaine. He recycled this gift. He's a regifter! — Business Insider

36

Doom

Someone calculated just how fast the Doom guy is. Redditor u/Phytor has done the math on this long-debated issue. Не concluded that Mr. Doom Man weighs 1,204 lbs, and still manages to walk at a speed of 49.5 miles per hour. That's faster than Usain Bolt (on a motorbike). CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Random Facts to Make Your Life More Factual and/or Random

35

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga improvised one of HOUSE OF GUCCI'S best lines. The viral-prayer that you may or may not have heard -Father, son, and house of Gucci -wasn't in the script. Gaga said that she and Jared Leto came up with it together and that it just stuck. CRACKED.COM — Source

34

007

Being James Bond went to George Lazenby's head. On the set of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby would frequently make crew members nervous by drunkenly tossing liquor bottles into the air and shooting them to pieces. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Extras

THE 2005 SHOW EXTRAS FEATURES A FICTIONAL HOLOCAUST FILM STARRING KATE WINSLET. SAYS WINSLET, CYNICALLY: DO A FILM ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, YOU'RE GUARANTEED AN OSCAR. Fast-forward to 2008, and kate winslet has a leading role in The Reader, a Holocaust film. Despite getting mixed reviews, it scores winslet an Oscar for Best Actress. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

TV Firsts

The First Major Character Death 570 Jean Hagen Actress Jean Hagen left The Danny Thomas Show in 1956. Producers decided an unexplained death would be less controversial than divorce. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Vodka Payments

At one point, the government in one part of Siberia paid teachers with vodka. 2 ЩАЯ HA Славянская ОДКА NE D ... РОССИИ ПУТИНИ НАСТОЯЩАЯ СТАНПАРТ Русский FOOD PUTINK - - ATO BALL NOTA account AIR ЮБИЛЕКАН ROLSA месь ЗЕЛЕНАЯ МАРКА TASTALI - АСТОЛЬЕ THERE Happy adidas The government ran out of money, so it gave teachers 15 bottles each. They were happy with that, since they could resell it in local markets. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

30

The FDA

The Poison Squad helped spur the creation of the FDA. From 1902-1907, a group of 12 scientists regularly ate dangerous, common food additives that had previ- ously been untested, such as formaldehyde, and doc- umented how they reacted to them. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

29

Sean Bean

The scar over Sean Bean's left eye was given to him by Harrison Ford. CRACKED.COM Ford accidentally struck Bean with a meat hook when shooting Bean's death scene in the 1992 movie 'Patriot Games.' 27% — Looper

28

Showgirls

Elizabeth Berkley NOMI MALONE Fresh off of a wildly successful run on Saved By The Bell, Berkley took a gamble on the risky, semi-raunchy, NC-17 rated

27

The Lottery

IMAGINE PICKING THE CORRECT NUMBERS FOR TWWO LOTTERLES AT THE SAME TTIME! S46LI01 08 AER hR o Well, in 1980, IT HAPPENED to a woman named Maureen Wilc

26

Personality Disorders

Your personality won't split just because your life sucks. Dissociative identity disorder is understood to be caused by repetitive childhood trauma (such as abuse). Tyler Durden won't come along to keep you company because you feel alienated by a consumerist society. — The Conversation

25

Sleeping for Learning

Sleep makes it possible for babies to associate words with content Sleep is a big mystery to us mere mortals, but scientists have discovered that babies' sleep duration was correlated with different brain reactions to the same information. CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Fascinating Facts About Child Development (That Tell Us Lots About Adults)

24

‘American’ Cheese

The process for making American cheese was actually created in Switzerland. The original motivation was to reduce waste involved in making cheese, and the technique was perfected in the US in 1916 and then patented. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Charles Darwin

A moth adapted a tongue many times its body length to reach the nectar of an extremely deep flower. CRACKED.COM Charles Darwin theorized such a moth existed in 1862, just by seeing the Madagascar flower that was sent to him. 130 years later, Xanthopan morganii was discovered feeding on the flower. — Source

22

McDonald’s

The McDonaldland characters aren't original -they're just 00 ripoffs. C McDonald's lifted everything from H.R. Pufnstuf, one of the most popular kids' TV programs in the '70s. It was so brazen, McDonald's got sued. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: CNN

21

World War II Codebreakers

In the US, 70% of codebreakers were women . 11,000 women were in the Army and Navy as codebreakers. In 1944, they intercepted 30,000 water-transport messages a month, enabling the Navy to sink almost every transport ship to the South Pacific. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Cats

CRACKED.COM Cats were accused of killing babies. Not too long ago, when a baby died with no explanation, the cat was often pointed to as the culprit. Some believed that cats would suffocate babies for a variety of reasons-including sheer jealousy. — Source

19

Dome Homes

Turbine A DOME HOMES Torbin Gue 263 330 Hondensator SOLK CRACKED COM In the '60s, architects thought dome homes would catch on because they would totally shrug off damage from hurricanes and other natural disasters. Buyers rejected them because they looked completely bloody stupid. 8 — Source

18

The Scream Mask

The Scream mask was a random find in an old lady's house. The Scream designers' initial ideas for the killer's mask looked like something that belonge

17

Irene Adler

Irene Adler CRACKED.COM Irene The Real Woman Sherlock scholars think Irene Adler is based on Lillie Lantry, who was the official mistress of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). — More: 5 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Are Based On Real People

16

The Golden Girls

CRACKED.COM THE GOLDEN GIRLS was inspired by MIAMI VICE. In 1984, NBC shot a humorous skit titled Miami Nice, starring two older actresses, for a special advertising their new shows (like Miami Vice). Execs liked it, and the idea was developed into a full series about old ladies living in Miami. — Source

15

Rabbits

44 Horrid Bits of Trivia Screamed at Us by the Krampus As He Struck Us Repeatedly With a Birch Rod — Source: RSPCA

14

Jamie Hyneman

JAMIE HYNEMAN LEFT HOME AT 14-YEARS-OLD AND HITCHHIKED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY He ran away with $1.49 and a backpack. He lied about his age, worked as a — Source: Tested

13

Alexandria

Ancient accomplishments The Library of Alexandria The Library of Alexandria was meant to be a universal library, with the goal of acquiring every book in the world. CRACKED — O. Von Corven/Wiki Commons
Britannica

12

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson couldn't speak in public. Не lacked charisma, and had terrible stage fright. Throughout his presidency, he only gave two speeches- one per term. Some historians think he had a stuttering problem. CRACKED.COM 1996. The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts about It. — Source: 22 Facts That Shatter Your Image of American Presidents

11

Perdue Ads

Frank Perdue often appeared in his Perdue ads with the tag line, It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. PERDUE. Unfortunately, his love for chicken was terribly misconstrued when a Spanish ad read It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Ford’s Theater

Ford's Theater refuses to perform the play which Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. GRACKED COM The theater says: What would a full-scale reenact- ment of a night that ended in violence do for even someone who hadn't experienced gun violence - much less some- one who had. — Source

9

Haunted Houses

MYTH: Did you hear about the woman who sued a haunted house for being too scary? FACT: She was chased by a guy with a chainsaw after her tour was over. Cleanthi Peters, 57, and her granddaughter, 10, had finished their tour of the Universal Studios haunted house. Not only did some costumed jackass chase her, he stood over her revving his chainsaw after she'd fallen and hurt herself. The lawsuit was actually over the wet floor she slipped on. CRACKED.COM http ://articles orlandosentinel. com/2000-01-05/news/ 0001050039_1_halloween-horror-nights-maniac-anguish — Source

8

Shrek

It cost $4 million to give Shrek a Scottish accent Mike Meyers originally gave the character a Canadian accent but switched a Scottish accent after a rough cut was already made. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Vitamins

MYTH8 OMeGA-3 OIL IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN. FAGT8 THERE'S no RELIABLE eViDence THAT IT IS. The idea of omega-3 fatty acids being brain food comes from t

6

Ancient Greece

Eratosthenes of Cyrene used a step-counter to calculate the circumference of the Earth in 240 ВСЕ. Ancient people measured long distances by hiring bematists. They were trained to count steps while walking between lo- cations and could measure hundreds of miles with more than 95% accuracy. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

5

30 Rock

CRACKED TINA FEY pulled 30 Rock' S blackface episodes from circulation. About the four episodes, she said, I understand now that 'intent' is not a free pass for white people to use these images. I apologize for the pain they have caused. Going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on these tropes and be stung by their ugliness. — Source

4

The Vikings

The Viking Hastein GET HELP CRACKED COM Hastein entered a Roman city by arriving on a stretcher with his men asking for aid. The Romans let them through the gates, then the Vikings sacked the city. — Source

3

Morrissey

Morrissey won an award for how awful he is at writing sex. You know Morrissey for his music, and if you're lucky, you don't know him as a writer. His 2015 novel List of the Lost won the Literary Review's Bad Sex Award, for its hypothetically sexy run-on sentences. The book contains baffling word assortments like, the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Charondas

Charondas killed himself after he broke his own law. KIA The Chalcidian lawgiver forgot to leave his knife at home, which violated his own law forbidding carrying weapons within the city. So he drove the knife into his own heart. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Dorothy Gibson

CRACKED DOROTHY GIBSON: SURVIVED THE TITANIC, STARRED IN A MOVIE ABOUT IT A WEEK LATER. Dorothy Gibson was the only person to make it off the Titanic and then star in a movie about it. Saved from The Titanic was filmed just one week after she got ashore in New York. Founded A. D! 1728 by Be Sin APR.8.1911 5c THE COPY — Saturday Evening Post

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