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Little pearls of wisdom

44 Random Bits of Trivia We Shucked Out of the Smartest Clams in the Ocean

December 25, 2024

When it comes to random facts, the entire universe is our oyster. Apparently it’s expanding, too, so it’ll just keep giving us more and more facts. And if it’s true that we know more about our solar system than we know about our oceans, there are so many facts that have yet to be uncovered right here on planet Earth.

We snagged these pearls of wisdom out of some particularly knowledgeable clams, but they were like ankle-deep in the water. We’ll go way deeper next time, we promise!

44

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg will not travel by plane. GRAGKED.COM Goldberg only travels by tour bus because she witnessed a mid-air plane collision take place in San Diego back in 1978, known as the PSA-182 tragedy. — CNN

43

Georgia

A white oak tree in Athens, Georgia, legally owns itself and the eight feet of land surrounding it. GRAGKED.COM According to newspa- pers, a deed written by Colonel William Jack- son was written to the tree, giving ownership of the land to itself in the 1800s. — AJC

42

German Waste

in GeRMANY TRASH IS WeIGHeD, AND COSTS AS MUCH AS $2 PeR POUND TO THROW OUT. THE RESULT? people ARe COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING INSTEAD, AND PER-CAPITA WASTE HAS DROPPED 50% since 1994. CRACKED.COM http://www.arc.cat/jornades/jornadaprevencio2010/pon_4.pdf — Source

41

The Civil War

The U.S. was still paying a Civil War pension in 2016. Irene Triplett in 2016 The sum was $73.13 per month, paid to one Irene Triplett (b. 1929), the daughter of a soldier who fought on both sides of the Civil War. When she was born, her father Mose was a spry 83. CRACKED.COM — Source

40

Pan’s Labyrinth

PAN'S LABYRINTH Doug Jones Guillermo Del Torro cast the prosthesis genius as the Faun and the Pale Man. CRACKED.COM

39

Lottery Winners

JI A woman won a million dollar lottery trying to e777 GlücksSpirale und Sieger Chance/Spielscheinnummer Hier 5 aus 50 Zahlen ankreuzen 1 9 8 6 prove that they were a 5 waste of money. 7264118 3 4 2 1 20 42 19 18 16 15 13 14 12 41 11 30 29 28 26 25 24 Los-Nr. für SUPER 6 23 22 21 39 40 88 36 35 34 33 32 31 50 00 49 48 46 45 44 42 43 4 Hier 2 aus 10 Eurozahlen ankreuzen 8 7 . 6 5 3 4 GRACKED.COM S 3 Hier 5 aus — Source

38

The Ket People

The Ket people are one of the last true hunter and gatherer societies on Earth. The Ket people are an isolated population of 1200 in Siberia, and their language is strikingly similar in structure to the Native North American languages. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

37

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan had to do community service. She handled Whitney Houston's body bag. Or so she claimed, calling it an annoying chore criminals shouldn't have to do. The coroner's office debunked the story. No one in the probation program came near Houston, who was never even in a body bag. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

The O.J. Trial

A retired ad executive came up with The Puppy Channel while watching the O.J. Simpson trial. CRACKED.COM Dan FitzSimons realized that he liked to channel surf while he waited for the program he was watching to come back from commercials, so he came up with a channel that showed nothing but puppies playing for 24 hours a day. — Source

35

The Universe

95% OF THE UNIVERSE IS INVISIBLE CRACKED.COM Ordinary, observable matter like you, me, planets and stars make up a measly 5% of the universe (and, of that, only half has been spotted with telescopes). The other 95% of the universe is 68% invisible dark energy and 27% dark matter. — Source

34

Barack Obama

While studying at Occidental College, Barack Obama had two poems published in the school's literary magazine. The first, Pop, is a touching piece ab

33

Byker Grove

A British drama series had maybe the most surreal TV show finale of all time. Byker Grove was a serious, grounded teen drama - and it ended with the characters realizing they're in a TV show, then being attacked by a T-Rex. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Charli XCX

Charli XCX was her MSN messenger name. XCX as in Kiss, Charli, Kiss. CRACKED.COM — 20 Surprising Reasons Behind Musicians' Stage Names

31

The Beach

44 Random Bits of Trivia We Shucked Out of the Smartest Clams in the Ocean — CNN

30

The USSR

During the 1930s, weekends were abolished in Russia (and the whole USSR). The new calendar had days of rest scattered kind of randomly, and those days were different for different groups of workers. The scheme was nixed in 1940. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford had that scar way longer than Indie. INDIANNA JONES Indianna Jones gives himself that chin scar the first time he tries out his whip. But Ford got it years earlier, in an impressively dumber way: he tried to put his seatbelt on, while driving, and smashed into — Source: Parade

28

Taxidermy

A taxidermist killed a leopard with his bare hands while on a visit to Africa. In 1896, American taxidermist Carl Akeley was attacked by a leopard and killed it by ramming his hand down the leopard's throat and choking it to death. CRACKED.COM — Adventure Journal

27

Spider-Man 2

Behind-the-scenes Drama Spider-Man 2 Tobey Maguire was almost fired over his back. Maguire's back complaints, which some viewed as him being a prima donna, led to him almost being replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal. That didn't happen, but the writers added some back jokes which were later referenced in No Way Home. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Mahna Mahna

The famous MAHNA MAHNA song originally came from a softcore Italian movie. The movie is called Sweden: Heaven and Hell. The song plays over a sauna scene. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss

25

Black Belts

Black belts aren't a millenia-old tradition. Some Eastern martial arts might be very old indeed but black belts to indicate proficiency were first awa — Source: Judo Info

24

Home Alone

Odd, Fascinating Trivia About Home Alone - The house received visits from Japanese dignitaries. Years after the movie came — Source: Chicago Magazine

23

Thor: Ragnarok

CRACKED COM Eric Pearson, the screenwriter of Thor: Ragnarok, initially wanted to add in a romance subplot between Valkyrie and Thor before realizing

22

The Innkeepers

BTS STORIES FROM HORROR MOVIES 2011 THE INNKEEPERS The movie is based on a haunted hotel Ti West where and his crew stayed while shooting The House of the Devil. During production, they witnessed flickering lights, slamming doors, and according to West, actress Sara Paxton would wake up in the middle of the night thinking someone was in the room with her. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

The Lotto Murders

IBI RONCAIOLI WON $5 MILLION lill IAIT 0o 3 IIOILL Roncaioli won $5 million in 1991. She spent most of the money before she and her husband retired, g — Source

20

The Drifters

save the last dance for me A ATLANTIC THE DRIFTERS Doc Pomus wrote this saccharine pop ballad... ...after watching his bride dance with everyone else at theirwedding. CRACKED COM Doc had polio. — 23 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Famous Songs

19

Swimming Flippers

YOUNG INVENTORS SOME KID NAMED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN INVENTED SWIMMING FLIPPERS. Yup, it was that Ben Franklin. When he was 11, he loved to swim but wasn't too good at it, so he came up with lily pad-shaped wooden planks to move with his hands. They did help swim faster, but they got his wrists tired so he abandoned the idea. CRACKED.COM — Kuznetcov_Konstantin/Shutterstock
Grunge

18

Geraldo Rivera

ALL THAT FOR NOTHIN' CRACKED.COM In 1986, 30 million people watched Geraldo Rivera's 'The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults'. Hoping to find money, weapons, and buried enemies, the viewers watched for 2 hours to witness the uncovering of some dirt and empty moonshine bottles. — Source: mentalfloss

17

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS Studio execs thought the cast looked FAT ANDEVIL CRACKED.COM Production stopped after two days because the studio thought Paul Rudd was too fat and Carell looked like a serial killer. To get back on track, Rudd literally stopped eating, according to Leslie Mann. Carell, apparently, just had to lighten up. — Vulture , Cracked

16

The Model T

The Model T debuted in 1909 for $825. Ford TAXI BM-18 AP CRACKED.COM Thanks to increasing production efficiency, its price lowered nu- merous times, bottom- ing out at $260 - the equivalent of around $3600 today. — Source

15

Paul McCartney

In 1980, Paul McCartney was arrested for bringing marijuana into Japan. Не spent nine days in jail. Не was carrying a half pound bag, an amount large enough to warrant a smuggling charge. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Marijuana To Blaze Upon

14

Brits

THE REASON BRITISH PEOPLE SOUND SMARTER TO AMERICANS ISN'T BECAUSE OF THEIR ACCENT-IT'S BECAUSE OF ONE WORD. CRACKED British people use the word right when being told new information, which, according to some studies, makes them seem like they already knew the information. — Source

13

Encanto

ENCANTO Everyone's clothes hide details alluding to their powers. Doloros has sound wave patterns on her collar, Luisa's sporting dumb bells, and Bruno's ruana features hourglasses. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Russian Elections

WEIRD WORLD In Russia, the regime used super-similar candidates to confuse voters. To keep people from voting for Boris Vishnevsky, they put guys who looked just like him, and who changed their names to his, on the ballot. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Guardian

11

The Abyss

On The Abyss, an actress complained about being treated like an animal. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio got slapped for a scene in the ,James Cameron movie even after the camera went off, so she got up, said We are not animals! and left. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Emma Stone

Emily Jean Stone changed her name to Emma Stone for two reasonss 1. Her real name was already taken when she tried to register with the Screen Actors

9

Royalty

CRACKED.COM There's a collector's market for royal underwear. Queen undies are a hotter commodity than the underwear of living celebrities. Pairs of Queen Victoria's bloomers have sold for over $15,000, and Queen Elizabeth I's (dirty) panties fetched $18,000 on eBay in 2012. — Source: 15 Random Facts to Make Your Life More Factual and/or Random

8

Big Brother

The contestants of Big Brother weren't told about the 9/11 attacks when they happened. BIG BROTHER DINNIN CRACKED.COM The show had a policy of keeping the contestants in total information isolation. They had to change the policy after one of the cast's family members was lost at Ground Zero. — Source

7

Money and Happiness

How much money do you need to be happy? NOST Previous research suggested happiness plateaued at $75,000, but a recent study shows higher incomes can continue to increase day-to-day well-being. Sorry, Biggie, but it looks like more money means less problems. CRACKED COM — Source

6

The Sopranos

THE SOPRANOS WAS RIDDLED WITH REAL CRIMINALS. Some actors who played gangsters in The Sopranos turned out to be the real stuff. Anthony Borgese, who p — More: 4 Celebrities Whose Fictional Crimes Turned Real

5

Subway

Subway 1965 *Petes SUBWAY Ril KITCHEN CRACKED.COM Fred DeLuca was 17-years-old when his family friend Dr. Peter Buck gave him a $1000 loan to open a sandwich shop to help fund his college. It was originally called Pete's Submarines. — Source

4

Creepy Gnomes

The family who was plagued by garden ceramics.

A family in Southern California thought it was a prank when a bunch of ceramics appeared in their gard — Sources: NBC news, 6 True Stories That Prove Local News Is Creepy As Hell

3

The Tigger Movie

The original theatrical trailer for Disney's The Tigger Movie was recalled due to a dirty song choice. CRACKED.COM Parents complained that the background music was Semi-charmed life by Third Eye Blind, a song about crystal meth ad- diction and sex. — Hollywood

2

Open Relationships

MYTH Open relationships are doomed to fail. FACT: Couples who swing communicate well. Communication is the cornerstone of any relationship, and studies show that couples in polyamorous relationships communicate incredibly well. Their relationships are also less burdened by fear, anger, jealousy, and rejection than monogamous couples. And when they do experience negative feelings, they are more likely to talk them out. CRACKED.COM http: //www w.livescience.com/27129-polyamory-good-relationships.html — Source: 24 Ways You've Misunderstood Sex Your Whole Life

1

Wine Tasting

15 Respected Groups Who Aren't So Elite As People Say - Wine tasters have amazing palates. Their well-trained taste buds magically detect nuances in d — Source: The New Yorker

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