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38 Random Bits of Trivia Freshly Slopped Into Your Content Trough

December 16, 2024

Don’t let us hold you up with this little pre-list blurb. You’ve got a big ol’ batch of facts on your plate, and we want you to dive right in. So let’s raise a glass to the bounty of facts that we’re fortunate enough to enjoy here today. We really are quite…

Sorry, we did that thing we promised not to do. Have at it. Your brain looks starving!

38

Reverse Osmosis

A British aircraft carrier produces 540 tons of fresh water per day at sea. The HMS Queen Elizabeth uses a reverse osmosis system that filters salt molecules, creating enough fresh water each day to fill 12,000 bathtubs. CRACKED.COM — Source: 13 Cool Conversation-Starting Facts We Never Knew

37

Bread

CRACKED Wheat bread is sometimes just white bread that's colored. It's usually better to go for wheat bread rather than white bread, but watch out-some loaves that seem like they're wheat are actually just white bread with added color. — Source

36

The Fourth of July

Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4. But the vote was actually on July 2. The Continental Congress voted to declare American independence o

35

Portuguese History

King Pedro I of Portugal searched for his lover's killers for years. Ines de Castro's murder In 1355, King Afonso IV of Portugal had his son Pedro's lover, Ines de Castro, murdered (her crime was not being noble enough for Pedro). In two years, Pedro became king. Не spent six years hunting the assassins. Не caught two of the three and had them publicly executed by having their hearts torn out. CRACKED.COM — Source: 21 Long-Game Revenge Schemes

34

Christopher Reeve

A FORGETTABLE 1995 HBO MOVIE CALLED ABOVE SUSPICION FEATURED CHRISTOPHER REEVE. ... AS AN OFFICER CONFINED TO A WHEELCHAIR. This film aired May 25. May 27 was the day of Reeve's horseback riding accident. The movie where he plays a paraplegic was released just two days before he landed in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Vampire Deer

VAMPIRE DEER won't suck your blood (probably). Several species of deer come outfitted with a nice pair of fangs. The long, pointy chompers work better than antlers in thick vegetation, as they don't get tangled. CRACKED COM — Source: 34 Real Creatures More Terrifying Than Any Work Of Fiction

32

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

CRACKED THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN BUDGET: $20M BOX OFFICE: $8M Terry Gilliam's 1989 film was plagued with production problems and delays, casting challenges, location headaches and studio regime change, resulting in an absolute bomb. — Hollywood Reporter

31

Magic Carpet Ride

That magic carpet was wildly fast. Giza to Athens on a flying carpet: 697 miles in 10 seconds Magic Carpet Speed: 250,920 miles per hour CRACKED COM

30

FDR

Way, way before he became president, FDR was in an anti-gay operation. The Sex Scandal of 1919, that FDR was involved in, was an effort to catch men in the Navy who were having sex with other men. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Scarlett Johansson

GHOST IN BE THE SHELL CRACKED.COM Scarlett Johansson came under fire for taking on the lead role in 2017's Ghost in the Shell. Masamune Shirow's Manga series has an entirely Japanese cast, including Johansson's character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and a petition circulated to recast the role. — Source: Cheatsheet

28

Squids

Squids can change their skin's color and brightness CRACKED.COM Scientists discovered light-reflecting cells that allow squids to shimmer, mimicking the ocean's dappled light. — Source

27

The Simpsons

The Simpsons CRACKEDGO America's favorite jaundiced family first appeared as a short on The Tracey UlIman Show.

26

Quentin Tarantino

GRACKED QUENTIN TARANTINO: DOG POOP CLEANER Quentin Tarantino's first job in Hollywood was working as a production assistant on a Dolph Lundgren workout video called Maximum Potential. Не and Roger Avary had to clean up a huge area of dog poop in Venice Beach for the shoot. — Empire Online

25

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Animal kingdom is required to have deadbolts on their bathroom doors. This is in case a dangerous animal escapes its enclosure and guests need to barricade themselves inside the bathrooms. CRACKED.COM — Source: Association of Zoos and Aquariums

24

Film Delays

WEIRD WORLD The filming of a heist movie in Winnipeg was delayed by a real-life heist. work Canon XF300 Before shooting could start, all the crew's equipment was taken. The irony is not lost on us, said the director. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Nathan for You

CRACKED BEFORE SNL, KYLE MOONEY WAS A WRITER ON NATHAN FOR YOU. It was his first writers room of any kind. — Source

22

Insecure Cop

Arrested for saving a 13 year-old girl's life. SUBA adidas 5 CRACKED.COM Sheriff Krueger arrested Ryan Snodgrass for saving a drowning girl before he could, claiming he obstructed government operations. When the press heard, Krueger released him, but made him publicly apologize for saving her or he'd be thrown in jail. — Denver Post / HuffPost

21

World War I

Like wearing pajamas? You have WWI air raids to thank. In WWI, people were being driven out of their homes by night-time air raids, and they needed warm, practical, and decent-looking sleepwear. So pajamas became hugely popular: they were loose, covered you up, and could be very stylish. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

The Sun

CRACKED COM The real color of the Sun Is white It looks yellow or red because of Earth's atmosphereb Even NASA adds colop to its mages to make it look

19

Stone Cold Steve Austin

0000 FOX CHOICE AWARDS Stone Cold Steve Austin got his ring name from tea. Hot leaf juice is the last thing you'd expect any wrestler to drink, but that's what Stone Cold was having as he tried to come up with a badass name. Then his wife told him to leave names for later and finish his tea before it got stone cold. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Random Facts to Stack On Your Brainshelves

18

Red Road Rage

CRACKED YOU SPEND FOUR MONTHS OF YOUR LIFE WAITING AT RED LIGHTS. The average red light runs anywhere between 60 and 90 seconds. — ako photography/Shutterstock
Yahoo

17

Weddings

The more you spend on a wedding, the more likely you are to get divorced Those who spend over $20,000 on their wedding are 46% more likely to get divorced than those who spend $5,000 to $10,000. CRACKED.COM — The Atlantic

16

The Vietnam War

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

15

McDonald’s

There was a futuristic floating McDonald's on a barge in Canada way back in 1986. It was set up for the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver, and orders were brought out on a conveyor belt. But after the Expo, it was left to rot for years. CRACKED.COM — Source: 13 Cool Conversation-Starting Facts We Never Knew

14

The Warmest Day on Earth

The highest recorded temperature on Earth was 3.6 billion degrees Fahrenheit. °C °F 50 120 40 100 30 80 20 60 10 CRACKED.COM 40 0 Researchers at Sandia Na- tional Laboratories pro- duced the record-break- ing temperature in their lab using a superheated gas, reaching 15 million degrees kelvin. — Source

13

Google

WEIRD WORLD Google is being sued for failing to live up to its classic Don't be evil motto. Specifically, two ex-Googlers are suing the company for breaching the Don't be evil clause in its contract. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Huge Losses

CRACKED IDE Tyres GOING FROM £10 MILLION TO DELIVERING COAL A 19-year-old garbage collector from the UK won about £10 million on the lottery in 2002. But he spent it all on a wild lifestyle and, 10 years later, was completely broke. Не then started working seven days a week delivering coal and firewood. — Source

11

Harry Potter

Tom Felton's grandpa is in the first Harry Potter movie. He's an extra in several different scenes -- when all the students enter the great hall for the first time, when Quirrell runs into the great hall to warn everyone, and and in the crowd at the Quidditch match. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

10

A.A. Milne

A. A. Milne WINNIE-THE-POOH 5AMERE CRACKEDOOM Milne was a prolific writer, having blasted out tons of novels and screenplays over his career. He became frustrated that his kids' books about a fat naked bear would be his legacy. Even worse, his son, Christopher freaking Robin, resented his own fame. — Source: Independent

9

Dwayne Johnson

DWAYNE JOHNSON rocks the ukulele. Johnson's Polynesian heritage comes complete with ukulele playing, which he expertly did in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. (Не can also play guitar, but that doesn't look as comically small in the Rock's hands.) — Source: Making Music Magazine

8

Friends

CRACKED THE FRIEND ZONE It was first used on Friends in 1994's The One with the Blackout. Ross is trying to be more than friends with Rachel, and Joey says, You waited too long to make your move, and now you're in the friend zone. — Youtube / EW

7

Idiocracy

The Ass Movie in 2006's Idiocracy made Mike Judge consider scrapping the whole film. STARPLE ASS CRACKED.COM To film the scenes of the audience watching the movie, a theater was rented and extras were paid to watch buttocks on the screen, which gar- nered genuine laughter. — Fast Company / YouTube

6

The Human Tongue

MYTH: YOUR TONGUE IS zoneD BY FLAVOR TYPE. BITTER SALTY SALTY SOUR SOUR SWEET FACT: YOUR WHOLE TONGUE TASTES THINGS. The myth about your tongue being able to taste different flavors with different areas started with a mistranslation of an old German study. Turns out all areas in the tongue are about equally good at detecting different flavors. It's not an evenly distributed democracy of taste buds, but every tongue has different patterns of strength and weakness. CRACKED.COM http://www. livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html — Source

5

Star Wars

THE CANTINA IS BASICALLY RICK'S CAFE FROM CASABLANCA. Illustrator Ralph McQuarrie came up with the idea to take Rick's Café and put it on a faraway planet. Everything from the bar's design to its patrons was inspired by Casablanca. CRACKED.COM — 12 Bizarre Inspirations Behind Star Wars Movie Characters

4

Wasps

GRACKED CON WASPS ARE MASTERS OF GEOMETRY. When building a nest, they use antennae to measure wall angles, creating rows of perfect hexagons. Their tr

3

Film Firsts

THE FIRST 3-D MOVIE PREMIERED IN 1920. The Power of Love was the first 3-D movie for a commercial audience, but the film is now lost. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Golden Arches

One McDonald's restaurant has arches that aren't golden, but turquoise. N M It's in Sedona, Arizona, and it's turquoise because the town has rules that ensure no buildings clash with the natural scenery surrounding it. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Black Panther

CGI DE-AGING WASN'T USED FOR KING T'CHAKA IN BLACK PANTHER. PL M1 For the 1992 flashbacks, John Kani's son, Atandwa Kani, took on the Black Panther ma — People Magazine

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