12 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Hand-Cobbled by Artisanal Fact Elves

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43 Needy Bits of Trivia That Can’t Live Without You

You complete these

43 Needy Bits of Trivia That Can’t Live Without You

December 23, 2024

Yes, these facts are pretty needy, but it’s not for creepy or affection-starved reasons. It’s just that, without brains, their information would never be known. It’s like that whole tree-falling-in-the-woods scenario.

Now that we’ve cleared that up and you’re hopefully not creeped out by their neediness, will you please complete the circuit and let these facts in?

43

Dung Beetles

Dung beetles always move in a straight line, even during a moonless night: They navigate their path via the Milky Way Galaxy: CRACKED.COM

42

Ancient Egypt

CRACKED.COM Ancient Egyptians believed the heart would be weighed by the gods cemilla NVB The heart was considered the center of emotions, knowledge, and memories. The deceased's heart was believed to be weighed on a scale against the feather of the goddess Maat, who embodied goodness. If it weighed more, it was consumed by the crocodile-headed goddess Ammit. — Source

41

Cuban Sandwiches

CRACKED.COM Although it's called a Cuban sandwich, it did not originate in Cuba. It was invented in Tampa, Florida, specifically Ybor City, which was home to many Cuban immigrants in the 20th century. — 17 Weird Facts About Food Maybe Someone Knows, Maybe Not

40

Pumpkin Spice

PUMPKIN SPICE IS SEASONAL ONLY BECAUSE OF MARKETING. The spice is unrelated to the pumpkin harvest, as it isn't made with pumpkins. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to enjoy it all year long. It's artificially limited to fall to drive demand up. CRACKED.COM — Source

39

Venus Flytraps

Venus flytraps were once thought to have been brought to Earth by meteors. CRACKED.COM Venus flytraps were believed to be an alien species because they seemed to grow in places where meteor- ites were found. — Source

38

Drinking Blood

People used to drink the blood of freshly beheaded corpses. CRACKED.COM People used to believe that the blood of the recently executed was a health tonic and would pay executioners a little money to let them drink it warm. — "Executing Magic in the Modern Era: Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine"

37

Arm the Impaired

CRACKED TENNESSEE: WHERE COPS CAN BE INTOXICATED AND STILL PACK HEAT. Tennessee Senator Joey Hensley has put forward a bill that would let police officers carry guns even if they've been drinking alcohol or taking drugs. OUNTY COUNTY POLICE POLICE — Fox / MSN

36

Old Beliefs

It was believed that murdered corpses bled in the presence of their killers. This belief that victims oozed cries of revenge didn't fully die out until the early 1800s. Cruentation, as the phenomenon was called, was even weighted more heavily than actual evidence of murder. CRACKED.COM — Source

35

The Playboy Mansion

CRACKEDCON The Playboy Mansion hot tub was once responsible for a Legionnaire's disease outbreak affecting over 100 guests who attended a fundraising

34

Bill Burr

The Mandalorian BILL BURR never cared for Star Wars, and wasn't very excited when offered a part- I until he saw the was immediately show pretty SO was much spaghetti psyched to be a a western. part of it. — Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet

33

Dunedin, Florida

CRACKED FLORIDA TOWN RAISES $10 MILLION TO PRESERVE 44 ACRES OF UNTOUCHED LAND. The people of Dunedin, Florida, joined forces to raise an impressive $10 million to purchase the 44-acre Gladys E. Douglas Preserve. It has 143 native plant species, 11 of which are endangered, threatened, or exploited. D.NÉON Gladys E. Douglas Preserve Hours 7 am Sunset No Overright Parking Help Protect Nature! The following any provided le the park Alcohol Golf Carts Smoking Bicycles Dogs Including — Tampa Bay

32

The Princess Bride

Casting director Janet Hirshenson saw Wallace Shawn's performance in My Dinner With Andre and cast him in The Princess Bride. Her fondness for how Shawn said the word inconceivable played no small part in the decision. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Showbiz Junkies

31

The Risk of Dying on Your Birthday

CRACKED RISK OF DYING ON ONE'S BIRTHDAY People are 14-18% more likely to die on their birthday than any other day of the year. That's according to a major Swedish study, and one of the authors says We can only speculate on the reasons for the extra deaths on birthdays. — Source

30

Us

Us A line from Red is a reference to The Goonies. At one point, Red says It's our time up here. It's a throwback to a speech in The Goonies where Sean Astin's character Mikey says, It's our time down here. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Space Travel

TWO MONKEYS WERE THE FIRST ASTRONAUTS TO RETURN FROM SPACE ALIVE. The first living beings, aside from fruit flies, to return to earth successfully wer — Source: NPR

28

Fire Poles

43 Needy Bits of Trivia That Can’t Live Without You — Source: Redzone

27

McDonald’s

McDonald's Onion Nuggets Onion Nuggets Before the Chicken McNugget, there was the Onion Nugget. Introduced in the 1970s, they were clumps of onions deep-breaded and fried. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

The Holocaust

Holocaust and Jewish History instruction will now be mandatory in Romanian schools. The Romanian parliament has passed a bill to that effect, and the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania will help draft the curricula and teaching materials. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Stuck in the Jungle

CRACKED 41 YEARS IN THE JUNGLE BECAUSE OF ONE U.S. BOMB. Vietnamese Но Van Lang and his dad escaped to the jungle in Vietnam after a U.S. bomb destroyed half their family during the Vietnam War. They stayed there for 41 years. — Source

24

Super Soakers

The Super Soaker was invented by a Nasa Engineer. In addition to the Super Soaker, Dr. Lonnie Johnson also invented the Nerf Gun and holds over 100 patents. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

The North Pole

The magnetic North Pole. moves 10 kilometers a year. The shift occurs under the influence of the dynamo currents in the Earth's core, as well as electric currents flowing in the ion- osphere, the radiation belts, and the Earth's mag- netosphere. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Scientific American

22

TikTok

CRACKED ATTEMPTS AT ONLINE FAME PRETENDING TO BE BANK I ROBBERS you Alan and Alex Strokes, two twin brothers who are really popular on TikTok and YouTube, got in trouble for pretending to rob two banks in Irvine, California. — PreechaB/Shutterstock
The Hill

21

Office Space

Did you catch the Mike Judge cameo? STAN CRACKED.COM Judge plays Joanna's boss at Chotchkie's, the King of Flair himself. He's credited as William King, but that's Judge under the hair piece, glasses, and mustache. And flair. — YouTube

20

Bachman Turner Overdrive

You AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET WAS RECORDED TO MAKE FUN OF A STUTTERER. ana The stutterer was Randy Bachman's brother Gary, and Bachman Turner Overdrive recorded the song to poke fun at him. The song was never intended for commercial release, and Bachman re-recorded it without the stuttering. The record company insisted on releasing the original, and it became the band's only number one hit. CRACKED.COM http://www.stutteringhelp.org/btos-song-unique — Source

19

Weird Toys

НИ gerfa DON'T DENY IT. 20 Fahrt sun CRACKED COM elen YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO PLAY WITH THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. on und PLAGUES Berfin Codes, fb befoble áußer ment, de eborgen anbend If anything is ripe to be captured in soft, cuddly animal form, it's surely the Lord's mighty wrath being visited upon Pharaoh and his people. Now your child can enjoy locusts, boils, dead firstborns, and other such fun! — Source

18

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker started the world's first terraforming project in 1850. CRACKED.COM The project has turned the arid volcanic wasteland of Ascension Island into a self-sustaining and self-re- producing ecosystem made completely of for- eign plants from all over the world. — BBC

17

Harvard

Harvard has a book bound in human skin. The doctor who had Des destinees de l'ame bound said A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 19 Spooky-As-Hell Now-You-Know Facts

16

The Blair Witch Project

The creepy ambiguous ending of The Blair Witch Project was almost way gorier. The ending shows MIKE standing in the corner of the room, mirroring the

15

Assassin Spiders

Assassin Spiders CRACKED.COM They don't spin webs. They use their fanged beaks and long necks to reach out and pluck other spiders out of their webs. — Source: 19 Terrifying Real-World Monsters Straight Out Of A Horror Movie

14

Mega Man

Mega Man Because the Japanese-to-English translation of his name doesn't distinguish between an L or R sound, Dr. Thomas Light is alternately known as

13

Back to the Future

Back to the Future was supposed to have nuclear explosions, not a DeLorean. The initial idea was for Marty to go back from 1985 to 1952 by being in a lead-lined refrigerator at a nuclear bomb test. Thankfully, the studio suggested something cheaper and cooler-looking, like a time-traveling car. CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Iconic Scenes That Were Originally Supposed To Play Out Very Differently

12

Fargo

FBI Nestle 200m FBI SPECIAL AGENT - sport AL AGENT KEY& PEELE THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY WERE CAST IN FARGO. Key and Peele were puzzled when show creator Noah Hawley approached them to play FBI agents. Still, they enjoyed having dramatic parts. CRACKED.COM — Source: Ranker

11

John Tyler

CRACKED President John Tyler (born in 1790) has a living grandchild. In the office between 1841-1845, the tenth president had children in his 60s. His son had a kid at age 75. As of publication, that grandchild, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, is 93 years old. — Source

10

Thandiwe Newton

Actress Thandiwe Newton is correcting the spelling of her name after 30 years of being Thandie. Newton dropped the 'w' in Thandiwe when she started her career, worrying it made her sound too 'different.' In 2021, she finally announced she would henceforth be known and credited as Thandiwe Newton. CRACKED.COM — Vogue

9

Saved by an Orangutan

HOW TO GET RESCUED RESCUED BY AN ORANGUTAN Primatologist Agustín Fuentes got lost in the rainforest of Borneo, but an orangutan that was being rehabilitated at his research camp came across him. The orangutan then held out her hand to lead him back to camp. CRACKED — arul_nkh/Shutterstock
National Geographic (via archive.org)

8

Graham Crackers

Graham crackers are supposed to suppress your naughty thoughts. CUIT COMPANY GRAHAM AS AN EVERYDAY TEN CENTS ARTICLE OF FOOD THESE GOODS ARE UNEQUALED NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY ER - CRACKERS IN SEAL CRACKED.COM 19-century minister Sylvester Graham invented his special grain biscuit because anything tastier might give you impure thoughts. Somewhere along the way, someone put cinnamon and sugar on top, and mankind hasn't stopped porkin' since. — NY Post

7

Microsoft

Microsoft held a funeral for the iPhone when they launched their Windows phone. Mizosoft Microsoft In 2010, Microsoft hosted a parade on their corporate campus to celebrate the completion of a total overhaul of their cell phone strategy, with hearses for the iPhone and Blackberry. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — CNET

6

Stephen Collins

Stephen Collins ADMITTED TO UNGODLY ACTS CRACKED.COM Once revered as Rev. Eric Camden on 7th Heaven, TMZ got ahold of audio of him admitting to sexual contact with three different minors. Somehow neither LA nor New York PDs were able to charge him, but he hasn't worked since. Hollywood: our nation's moral compass. — Source

5

Saffron

At $5,000 a pound, saffron is easily the world's most expensive spice. It's because each pound takes approximately 75,000 flowers, which must each be hand-picked. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Britannica

4

McDonald’s Monopoly Cheaters

The FBI made up a production company to expose McDonald's Monopoly winners. PEEL HERE PEEL HERE $ $ our ©2005 Medonald's PUSO 28 CRACKED.COM The FBI went undercover to interview supposed win- ners for TV ads using the name Shamrock Produc- tions, and they drove a van with the byline Cause you're just lucky printed on the side. — Decider

3

Star Wars

CRACKED REBEL PILOT HELMET This helmet, like much of the aesthetics of the Rebel Alliance in the original trilogy, are heavily inspired by the Allied service members of World War II. The cramped cockpits and baggy flight suits seen in the films are a direct homage to Allied fighter pilots. — Smithsonian Mag / Star Wars

2

Independence Day

INDEPENDENCE DAY THE FILM WAS ALMOST RETITLED TO DOOMSDAY. 20th Century Fox toyed with the idea of changing the title from Independence Day to something more dour and lame. Fortunately, that didn't happen. CRACKED.COM — Source: Complex

1

Tim Burton’s Gremlins

Gremlins TimBurton almost directed Gremlins. Yes, the young director (at the time) was considered to take on Chris Columbus's script. CRACKED.COM — Source: IndieWire

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