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Your brain is drooling right now, isn’t it?

45 Stunning Bits of Trivia That’ll Have Your Brain Stammering As They Walk Down A Curved Staircase

December 22, 2024

Tell your brain to at least try to keep it together, will you?

Look in the mirror and have it give itself a long, encouraging pep talk before these facts come around the corner. They’re going to look ravishing this evening, there’s no doubt about that. Your brain is no slouch either, and since they like confidence, it better figure that out real quick.

Here they come!

45

Discoveries

A 3000-year-old SARCOPHAGUS was hidden in the walls of a British man's home. The man's relatives had no idea it was there. It was discovered by an auctioneer who was sorting through the house after the man died. Photo Willingsam Auctions CRACKED.COM — Source

44

Clams

When two hermaphrodite clams mate, they can choose who will take on the male or female role. GRACKED.COM Male clams produce sperm and release it into the water, which gets drawn into the fe- male bivalve through her siphons, and fertil- ization occurs. — EcoSpark

43

Romania

When Romania made their ice hockey World Championship debut in 1931, they lost 0-15 to the US. GRAGKED.COM Their captain approached the referee after the game and asked him to write a message on the official game sheet: Thank you for playing against us, we have learned a great deal from this game. — Source

42

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

41

The Others

Alakina Mann The Others Mann had to stay indoors during daylight hours for the duration of the three-and-a-half-month shoot in order to remain pale. CRACKED.COM — Source

40

Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders بن и Sie ونضيك صيل OF 99 Spl 04 9a 04 Todacky I Fri Splacky Fried Fried Splacky I Fried Fried Chicken Fried Chicken the Chicken What rken the طياة An مريكة GA في 1474 Size un G the SL GA DiA School Vit le . DE 03 Sa GE of De Fri Fried Testady Fried Fried Totacly Fried Satarky Fried Le Chicken blacky Chicken by Sex Chicken L في 0.9 IV بالهيد W S مان DA- Del a SA OF tacky Fried Kontucky I Fried utu Chicken Chicken Fried Chicken - CRACKED CON Before Colonel Sanders had — Source

39

Heroic Sherpa

A climber blocked the Sherpa who saved his life. A Malaysian climber was saved from a certain death on Mount Everest by a Sherpa, but then he thanked his sponsors instead of his rescuer. The Sherpa says the guy even briefly blocked him on Instagram. CRACKED — Yongyut Kumsri/Shutterstock
Insider

38

Paper Money

Paper money is not made from paper at all. 41127076 ITED THE STATES The E36112 THE UNITED STATES QUAMERICA OLLAR E3411270 5 a S TOS Е 3411 E 34112707 E OPAMERICA 5 5 E34112707E E34112707E 5 ROM 1 E.39117 5 1 5 سعامق ONE DOLLAR 1 LA E34112707E 5 THE UNITED STATES OPAMERICA S wt 5 2707E - 36112707E THE UNITED STATES ONE DOLLAR & ONE DOLLAR ي TOTA INO E34112707E - TES OPAMERIC E34112707E / Bee of E 39112707 E E 34112707 E E . VTIOO 380 ONE DOLLAR ONE DOLLAR I UNITED STATES 9 THE UNITED SI 40 a 5 5 I S ONE DOLLAR — Source: Washington Post

37

Armpit Hair

MYTH Women have always shaved their x armpits to appear more lady-like. FACT As far back as ancient Egypt, both hair and hairlessness has gone through the trend cycle for both genders. The latest cycle started in the 1920s, when American razor companies saw women as an untapped market. CRACKED — Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock
Smithsonian Institution

36

Florida Man

CRACKED A FLORIDA MAN TOLD POLICE THAT HIS DOG SHOT HIS GIRLFRIEND. A man from Jacksonville, Florida claimed that when his dog jumped up into bed, his paw hit a gun on the nightstand and it went off, shooting his girlfriend in the leg. She luckily had no life-threatening injuries, and no charges were filed. — Source

35

Darth Maul

Darth Maul got his facial patterns because his designer was trying to fix his mistakes. Designer lain McCaig was having trouble with a concept drawing

34

Blood Glue

Blood glue is an adhesive used in manufacturing plywood and other wood products. It is also commonly used in food packaging, due to its odorless and nontoxic properties. As the name implies, it is made from fresh animal blood, or dried soluble beef blood. GRAGKED.COM — Source

33

The Swiss Army Knife

Swiss Army Knife was a name created by American soldiers. American soldiers during WWII had trouble pro- nouncing the original name of Schweizer Offi- ziersmesser (Swiss Offi- cer's Knife) and thus be- gan calling the multi-tool a Swiss Army Knife. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Victorinox

32

Stop-Motion Nightmare

CRACKED.COM The Nightmare Before christmas Each minute of movie took around one week to film. Since each second of film consists of 24 frames, each character had to be posed 24 times per a single second of footage. This is why this holiday classic took over three years to complete. — Source: BuzzFeed

31

Octopus

The most humane way to anesthetize octopuses is by dunking them in ethanol. CRACKED.COM Because of their complex brains, cephalopods became the first invertebrates to be protected by laboratory ani- mal laws. Researchers have to get ethical approval for their studies, and must use anesthesia for procedures. — Science

30

The Mudanjiang City Dairy Farm

China has a farm the size of Portugal. CRACKED COM The world's largest farm is the Mudanji- ang City Dairy Farm located in China. It covers an area of 22.5 million acres. — Source

29

The Pauli Effect

There is a term for when technical equipment encounters critical failure in the presence of certain people. The Pauli effect was coined after Austrian theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli, describing instances in which equipment suffered technical problems only when he was present. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

28

Alligators

The sex of an alligator is based on temperature of the egg. CRACKED COM In the extreme, tem- peratures over 93 de- grees F during incuba- tion will produce only males, and below 86 degrees F only females. — Source

27

The International Space Station

Part of the ISS was built using Imperial units, and another part with metric. NASA built the U.S. part using Imperial units, while everything else used metric -- for a while, NASA thought about switching to metric too, but decided that would BE too expensive because none of their contractors use metric. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: Airspace Magazine

26

LG Promotion

0392 T00PM :00. PM Fndlyyoctober T1 Sprint g LG When LG promoted their G2 phone in Seoul by attaching phone vouchers to helium balloons in a park, fan

25

University of Colorado

The University of Colorado dining hall is named after a legendary cannibal. Students voted for it to be named after Alferd Packer in 1967, and it still has that name. The slogan? Have a friend for lunch! CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Above Suspicion

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

23

Canada

Canada took in 120,000 Vietnam War refugees. Fleeing political violence following the war's end in 1973, thousands of refugees from South Vietnam arrived in Canada from 1975 to 1982. A number of refugees arrived by Boat to Canada's shores. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln was not allowed to stay in the room as her husband took his last breath. Why? Edward Stanton, Secretary of War, was furious that Mrs

21

Transformers

Transformers could have been Muffy the volkswagen. When Hasbro approached Marvel about creating a story for their new toyline, one of Marvel's pitches was about Muffy (short for Muffler), a transforming VW who hanged out with three kids and their dog. Luckily, Hasbro went with the (slightly) less silly proposal about alien robots. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Boreout

A job can be so boring that it makes you sick. There is a psychological disorder called Boreout (Boredom burnout syn- drome), which can lead to psychological illnesses such as depression as well as physical illnesses. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

MyPillow

WEIRD WORLD The MyPillow CEO sued the Daily Mail over saying that he dated Jane Krakowski. Не alleged that, somehow, this was defamatory - but it turns out the judge didn't think it was too harmful to your image to be dating a Hollywood actress. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

The Law

A GUILTY PLEA ISN'T ALWAYS AN ADMISSION OF GUILT EVEN LEGALLY). It's not uncommon for defendants to plead guilty in order to avoid a harsher sentence- but you can do this without actually admitting to any crime at all. Called an Alford plea, this is obviously contradictory and often frowned upon, but perfectly legal in most states. CRACKED.COM — Georgia Criminal Lawyer, HG.org

17

Hidden Jokes

The names of the fake movies in Gremlins are an in-joke for Steven Spielberg. A BOYS LIFE WATCH THE SKIES Watch the Skies was the working title for Cl — Source: FilmSchoolRejects

16

Mushrooms

In Japan, there are mushrooms that glow green during certain months. They're called Shiinotomoshibitake, and they grow on Mount Yokogura. Between late May and early July, they emit a faint green glow - and they only do so during that part of the year. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Discoveries

Researchers discovered a 3,000-year-old shark attack victim CRACKED.COM The hunter-gatherer was discovered to have 790 deep, serrated injuries. Не was buried in a communal burial ground. — Source

14

Jam Master Jay

CRACKED JAM MASTER JAY'S MURDER WENT UNSOLVED FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS. The Run-DMC DJ was murdered in 2002 during a recording session, and the case remained cold until Karl Jordan and Ronald Washington were charged in 2021. Their trial is set to take place in 2024. — ABC / Rollingstone

13

Ancient Rome

CRACKED COM Romans had porn coins. Coins with sexy imagery have been found for centuries, going back to the early times of the Roman Empire. Regular money, however, wasn't X-rated- so it isn't clear what the deal with these was. It's been theorized they were tokens to be used at brothels. — Source

12

Spider-Man 2

In Spider-Man 2, when Peter Parker jumps off a building, he tells himself he just needs a strong focus to land safely. focus Luckily, he lands on a Ford Focus, which breaks his fall. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64 was bundled with the N64 expansion pak because of a single bug. WINTENDO* EXPANSION PAK DONKEY OnlyFor INCLUDED! KONG64 - - to - - Para x DOLBY - G COLLECTOR'S EDITION YELLOW GAME PAK SURROUND PAL VERSION DONKEY NINTENDO KOME The mystery bug caused the game to crash randomly unless the pak was inserted. The game didn't really need the pak, but Rare convinced Nintendo to include it at great expense to fix that one stubborn bug. CRACKED.COM — Source: 30 Geeky Facts About Famous Video Games

10

Metallica

Metallica were excited to make an album with Lou Reed. They blamed fans when it sucked. Lulu debuted to pitiful sales, selling only 13,000 copies in its first week. James Hetfield later called the fans who criticized the effort fearful people who are probably typing from their mom's basement that they still live in. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Mark Twain

Mark Twain invented the modern bra strap. CRACKED.COM Не was trying to eradicate suspenders from the face of the earth, but instead, his patented attachable and removable garment straps became the bra straps we wear and/or burn today. — 15 Surprising Celebrity Achievements, Records, And Inventions

8

Truman Capote

Breakfast At Tiffany's Breakfast at Tiffany's A short nord and three stories by Truman Capote CRACKED.COM Truman Capote thought that, instead of Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, the film should have starred Marilyn Monroe and himself. — Source

7

Pizza

A 16-inch pizza is 4 times as big as an 8-inch When in doubt, always get the larger pizza to get the most 'za for your buck. CRACKED.COM — Source: NPR

6

DC Comics

GRAGKED.COM VATHLO ISLAND-- HOME OF HIGHLY DEVELOPED BLACK RACE Krypton was racially segregated. In the early '70s, DC Comics decided to address the fact that their comics were blindingly white - so they introduced Vathlo Island, where all black Kryptonians lived. Condescendingly describing them as a highly developed black race didn't help matters. — Source

5

Muhammad Ali

Celebrity Endorsements QUIS my picture Muhammed Oli d-CON ROACH TRAPS BAS Kill roaches without poison Muhammad Ali doesn't want you living with roaches. Ali starred in several ads for d-Con roach traps in the 1980s - probably because those bugs don't sting like a bee, and you definitely don't want them floating like a butterfly (or even crawling like, well, a roach). CRACKED.COM — Source

4

The Dark Knight Rises

CHRISTIAN BALE ALMOST PASSED OUT WEARING THE BATSUIT. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES According to Bale, Batman's cowl is incredibly tight, especially in cold weather. One time he almost passed out because it got SO tight that it prevented him from breathing properly. — Digital Spy

3

KFC

CRACKED KFC'S EDIBLE CHICKEN-FLAVORED NAIL POLISH. FTS FINGER LICKIN ITS FINGER GOOD и LICKIN GOOD DI Two flavors, Original Recipe and a bright orange Hot and Spicy, were introduced in 2016. To accentuate their finger lickin' good slogan, they instructed celebrities, bloggers, and social media stars in Hong Kong to lick their freshly painted nails. — Source

2

Aliens from Mars?

Media blunders 1906 The New York Times THERE'S A CIVILIZATION ON MARS In 1906, The New York Times wrote an article saying that there was life on Mars. This was based on a mistake made by an Italian astronomer. Не had used the word canali, which was misinterpreted as canals instead of channels. CRACKED — Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock
FiveThirtyEight

1

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards in his personal notes, but wrote the correct way for other people. GRACKED.COM Da Vinci wrote from right to left, in a mirror image, by choice. It's thought that he did this to make it harder for anyone to read his notes and steal his ideas. — Source

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