5 Times People Refused to Perform in ‘SNL’ Sketches

5 Hacking Methods That Don’t Involve a Keyboard

40 Pervasive Myths We’re About to Bust Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Are Like Fidget Spinners for Your Restless Brain

12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Sunday, January 12, 2025

37 Globetrotting Bits of Trivia That Want to Stick A Pin in Your Brain

These facts know a good destination when they see one

37 Globetrotting Bits of Trivia That Want to Stick A Pin in Your Brain

December 10, 2024

Whether you knew it or not, your brain is a real tourist attraction for random facts. These well-traveled tidbits have seen all kinds of brains in their day, but they were dead set on visiting yours. You should really capitalize on this. Put some money into a nice strip of restaurants and local shops for these facts to stroll down once they’ve docked and exited their cruise ship.

Better get on that now actually. This cruise liner of a list is pulling into port!

37

The S&P 500

Three companies own almost all of the S&P 500. S&P 500 3,669.01 +6.56 2-DA 3681 3672 3663 3654 7 660 Taken together, the financial firms Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street are the largest single shareholder for almost 90% of the companies that make up the S&P 500. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — The Conversation

36

Guy Fawkes

The word guy comes from Guy Fawkes. CRACKED.COM Folks used to burn his effigy, a Guy Fawkes or a guy, and from there it came to refer to a frightful figure. Eventually it just came to refer to a man. — Source

35

Famous Relatives

Bernie Sanders and Larry David are cousins. Is David's killer impression of Sanders related to the fact that the two share DNA? In 2017, a PBS shoW ab — More: Celebs With (Surprising) Famous Relatives

34

NASA

FATAL ERROR LOSS OF THE VIKING 1 LANDER In 1983, the Viking 1 lander stopped working because of a software update that messed up its communication programming and cut off its connection with Earth. Go NASA. CRACKED — Source

33

Restaurants

Valentine's Day is the second busiest day for restaurants. Mother's Day takes the number one spot. GRACKED.COM — Source: Restaurant Business Online

32

Michelangelo’s David

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

31

Nintendo 3DS

There was a Nintendo 3DS app that allowed you to order food while at a Seattle Mariners game. 3D OFF VIEW 0 . GRACKED.COM Because Nintendo owns the Seattle Mariners, the 3DS app called Nintendo Fan Network allowed you to order food directly to your seat. — NBC News

30

Playing Her Own Daughter

WEIRD WORLD A 48-year-old woman lived as her 22-year-old daughter, a university student. She did that for two years, and held a job at a library and had boyfriends who seriously thought she was 22 years old. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean Sea Bass is just a fancy name that was made up in 1977 to get Americans to eat the Patagonian Toothfish. The Chilean Sea Bass lunch that John Hammond's chef prepares for his guests in Jurassic Park is a subtle nod to his misunderstanding of nature. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Mothership

28

Banks

CRACKED FRIDAY IS THE MOST POPULAR DAY TO ROB A BANK. FRIDAY Furthermore, southern and western states are the most commonly robbed places. FRI — Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock,
MidoSemsem/Shutterstock
CBS News

27

Heroin

Created with good intentions HEROIN In 1899, a German company made a new form of morphine that was easier to take as a cough medicine. They called it heroin and it quickly became popular, but by 1914, people were showing up at hospitals with addictions. CRACKED — dindumphoto/Shutterstock
Yale School of Medicine

26

The Longest Wedding Veil Ever

CRACKED THE LONGEST WEDDING VEIL WAS OVER FOUR MILES LONG. The veil, measuring exactly 22,843 feet and 2.11 inches long, was worn by Maria Paraskeva, a bride from Cyprus, on her wedding day in 2018. — Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records

25

The Wright Brothers

CRACKEDOON Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first to fly a plane in 1903. One of them was also involved in the world's first fatal plane crash. Duri

24

SNL

Kevin Hart auditioned for SNL by doing a character impersonation of someone nobody knew. Hart played former San Antonio Spurs point guard Avery Johnson, and it was clear to him that Lorne Michaels had no idea who that was. CRACKED COM — Team Coco

23

Professional Mourners

Moirologists, or professional mourners, are paid to grieve and comfort families at funerals. It's not a new profession. The practice of professional mourning dates back to Ancient Egypt. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto exists because of a glitch in a boring racing game. GTA'S predecessor, a pretty tame racing game called Race'n'Chase, was buggy as he

21

Jonah Hill

Jonah Hill only got paid $60,000 to star in The Wolf of Wall Street. He'd really wanted to work with Martin Scorsese, so he accepted the ridiculously low pay. On the other hand, Leonardo DiCaprio, who was also a producer, was paid about $10 million. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Wine

CRACKED.COM WINE TASTES BETTER IF YOU THINK IT'S EXPENSIVE. In a study, participants' brain activity measurements confirmed that the brain responded m

19

The Breakfast Club

EASTER EGGS IN '80S MOVIES - The Breakfast Club CARL THE JANITOR WENT TO THE MOVIE'S HIGH SCHOOL. At the beginning of the movie, viewers can see pictures of the school's past Man of the Year award winners. One of these pictures is of a young John Kapelos, the actor who plays Carl. KEV TOREX CRACKED COM CARL REED JOEL PRIMOGA des - — Source: 20 Easter Eggs Hidden In Our Favorite '80s Movies

18

Parasite

THE HOUSE IN PARASITE IS COMPLETELY FAKE. The movie wasn't shot in a real house- the lavish Park residence was built from scratch in a studio backlot — More: Movie And Show Special Effects That Nobody Even Notices

17

Day of the Dead

During Mexico's Day of the Dead, women often dress up as a sheletal figure dressed in Western attire. It is known as 'La Catrina', and it originated f

16

Sony

Sony had to recall a camera that could see through clothes in 1998. Canon The video cameras were equipped with infra-red technology that allowed users to take pictures in the dark, but when they were used in daylight they were able to see through certain clothes. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

15

Australia

Outside the Australian Parliament, drunken bees are falling from the air. Some flowers' nectar is fermenting due to the hot weather, making lots of be — Source: VICE

14

Croquet

After the 1900 Olympics, croquet was discontinued because only 1 spectator watched the event. CRACKED COM There were three women competing, but they did not win any medals. These were some of the first women to take part in the Olympic Games. — Topend Sports

13

Space

It would only take one hour to drive to space. CRACKED.COM If we had the vehicle to do so, driving straight up from the Earth's surface at a leisurely 60 MPH would end with us float- ing in outer space just an hour later. — Source

12

Shakespeare

CRACKED DREAMT IS THE ONLY ENGLISH WORD THAT ENDS WITH MT. The word was popularized as the past tense for dream by Shakespeare in the 14th century. — Source

11

Kanye West

GOLD DIGGER KANYE WEST Ironically, Kanye West wrote the song just for the money, admitting he never cared for it. Не said in an interview, I knew I would get paid for doing 'Gold Digger. CRACKED — Source: BBC

10

American Samoa

American Samoa suffered no flu deaths during the 1918 pandemic because they quarantined. Governor John Martin Poy- er quarantined the territo- ry during the influenza pandemic after hearing news reports of worldwide deaths on the radio. Не re- ceived the Navy Cross for his actions. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

9

Fantasia

Disney built a temporary theater just to show 'Fantasia/2000.' FANTASIA 2000 CRACKED.COM When the only IMAX theater in Central L.A. couldn't meet the demands of Disney to showcase the very first ani- mated IMAX movie, Fanta- sia/2000, Disney spent $4 million to build a theater to show it. — Source

8

Diamonds

Diamonds very, very slowly turn into graphite (which pencils are made of). That's because the carbon atoms gradually settle into a lower-energy state - i.e. graphite. That happens on a time-scale of billions of years, so, for all intents and purposes, diamonds really are forever. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Mallrats

In Mallrats, Kevin Smith thanked his parents for having sex. The Director Would Like to Thank GOD - FOR ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO TELL MY STUPID STORIES. SCOTT - FOR DECIDING NOT TO HIKE AROUND THE WORLD. JIM - FOR TREATING us LIKE THE COENS AS OPPOSED TO THE TWENTY-SOMETHING KNOW-NOTHINGS WE REALLY ARE. SEAN - FOR BRINGING A PEDIGREE TO THE PROJECT. PIERSON FOR KEEDING ME DUDE MOM and DAD - FOR HAVING SEX ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. Something we should all be grateful our parents did. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Brokeback Mountain

A long list of Hollywood superstars rejected Brokeback Mountain lead roles. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no, says director Gus Van Sant. CRACKED COM — Source

5

Bare Bosoms

During the 17th century, women's fashions with exposed breasts were common in society. CRACKED.COM Queens to common prostitutes particiapt- ed, and it emulated by all classes. An exposed ankle however was considered to be more risqué. — Source

4

Ancient Egypt

The Egyptians were basically known as the class clown of the Ancient world. They had such a strong reputation for cracking jokes all the time, Romans banned Egyptian lawyers from courts because their jokes disrupted the work of the court. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

California

Californian citizens are legally allowed to form a posse to arrest someone who committed a felony. GRACKED COM California Penal Codes 837, 839, and 844 allows citi- zens to kick in the front door of someone's house to arrest them, whether or not a police officer is pres- ent for the arrest. — Source

2

Ariana Grande

Before she was a superstar, Ariana Grande was known in the news as the есод. РГЯ for getting struck by hockey BOCA KID GETS A PUCK AND ICE . JOSE LAVREET Sport Flurida Insider pucks, not once, but twice. CRACKED.COM — Source: 36 Bananas Facts About Fav Celebs

1

Thin Margins

Thin margins John Quincy Adams vs. Andrew Jackson In 1824, the presidential race was so tight that it was decided by the House of Representatives. John Quincy Adams vs. Andrew Jackson Adams won by a single vote. CRACKED — George Caleb Bingham/Wiki Commons,
Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl/Wiki Commons
Britannica

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

The Only Evidence of the Lost Live-Action ‘Dilbert’ Show Is Straight Nightmare Fuel

Movies & TV

5 Sitcom Characters Who Went (Mostly) Unseen

Movies & TV

Where Are They Now: 5 Famous Prosthetic Genitals

Trivia & Jokes

25 Funny But Misguided Attempts to ‘Spice Things Up’ in the Bedroom

Science & History

20 Facts That Will Turn Your Brain Inside Out

Trivia & Jokes

28 of the Most Unexpected Birthday Gifts People Have Received

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

35 Succulent Bits of Trivia That Require Very Little Water or Sunlight

2

25 Hypocrite Characters (Called Out)

3

30 Bizarre Medical Facts That Sound Like B.S. (But Aren’t)

4

9 Terrifying Things Doctors Pulled Out Of Living People

5

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Aren’t Native to Your Brain and Will Thus Consume and Destroy All the Knowledge That Was Already in There