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Lather up that brain with these!

40 Random Bits of Trivia We Whittled Out of a Single Bar of Soap

January 17, 2025

When we say that we’d like to scrub your brain clean, we don’t mean that we’d like to rid it of any dirty thoughts or completely wipe your memory. We just want to see that beautiful thing shine. With a little elbow grease, these facts are sure to make it sparkle — while somehow keeping every dirty little thoughts you have up there.

Maybe we’ll just stuff those in the ol’ brain closet.

40

The Washington Post

A Washington Post writer had to give back her Pulitzer when her story was found to be a lie. AMERICAN/NEWSPAPER RENDEREDBYANY PRODUCT DURING THEYEAD 9 CAUSA HONORIS RITORIOUS PUBLICIS SERVICE AWARDEDBYCOLUABIA UNIVE RSITY TO CRACKED.COM In 1981, Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize after she published a fake story named Jimmy's World, which was about an 8-year-old heroin addict. — Unresolved / Wikipedia

39

Lupin

The production of Netflix's Lupin was burgled in an elaborate heist. According to reports, around twenty people with covered faces broke into the set last month and threw fireworks, which allowed them to steal roughly $330,000 worth of equipment. CRACKED.COM — Soource: Real Thieves Robbed Netflix's Heist Show 'Lupin' (And 'The Crown')

38

Bumbled

CRACKED DATINGAPPTROUBLE Getting caught by the authorities A woman from Oklahoma bragged to her Bumble match about killing a deer illegally, not knowing that the person she was talking to was a game warden. She ended up getting fined $2,400 for it. — CLP Media/Shutterstock
Fox News

37

Dum Dums

MYSTERY FLAVOR DUM DUMS EXIST TO AVOID CLEANING THE MACHINES. When a flavor is running out, they just plop the next one on top and a batch ? ? of lollipops has two flavors combined. 10RTM MYSTER BUMS DUM ARTIFICIAL ANDY CO DUMS DUMA CRACKED.COM — Source: 26 Wild Facts About Common Products

36

Cause of Death

CRACKED.COM You're more likely to die FALLING OUT OF BED than in a plane crash. Both likelihoods are very slim: 1 in 2 million for the bed against 1 in 5 million for the plane. — Source

35

Gift Wrapping

Wrapping Paper CRACKEDCON Gift wrapping was first documented in ancient China. It was popularized in the U.S. when Hallmark founder J.C. Hall ran out — Source: NPR

34

Penis Size

In 2015, 45%/ of men reported wishing they were better endowed. THE ANCIENT GREEKS, HOWEVER, THOUGHI THAT LARGE PENISES WERE FOOLISH. THE MEN WITH T

33

McDonald’s

McDonald's launched a fashion line. In 2015, McDonald's launched a Big Mac clothing line in a fashion show in Sweden. The line included clothing, wall

32

Jimmy John’s

CRACKED JIMMY JOHN'S: NON-COMPETE AGREEMENTS Jimmy John's was sued for making low-wage workers sign a strict non-compete agreement. It would have stopped them from working at any sandwich place within 3 miles for 2 years. - Cream SEL M — HuffPost / Know Your Meme

31

Goodfellas

The You think I'm funny? scene actually happened to Joe Pesci. The scene was based on a similarly uncomfortable situation Pesci had with a real mobster, back when he was a waiter. All the reactions are genuine, as the extras had no idea what was going — Source: GQ

30

Evil Experiments

CRACKED SEPARATING TRIPLETS AT BIRTH FOR AN EXPERIMENT. The 2018 doc Three Identical Strangers follows orphaned triplets given to 3 families in varying economic levels as part of a psychological study. The parents each describe the babies as crying profusely, later realizing they were missing each other. One triplet killed himself, so although this wasn't illegal, it's so unethical that it should be. — Source

29

Castoreum

The goo that beavers excrete is sometimes used to enhance the flavor of vanilla. CASTOP CRACKED.COM Castoreum is secreted near the base of a beaver's tail when marking their territo- ry. Although now it's rare, processed forms of casto- reum have been used as food additives. — Source

28

Smallest Pocket Change Ever

The smallest coins ever used, Vijayanger's tara, had a diameter of 4 millimeters. If you didn't have exact change, you'd be carrying around a pocket full of tiny buttons. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Baldness

A play in the early 20th century was ruined by the bald heads of audience members. Prankster Horace de Vere Cole ruined a pretentious and terrible play by giv- ing tickets to strategically selected seats to bald men, whose heads lit up when the lights came on to spell a swear word. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Sniggle

26

Hated Roles

THE ACTOR: Malcolm McDowell THE ROLE: Alex in A Clockwork OrAnGE WHY HE McDowell said he didn't HATED IT: get what people liked about the film, and re

25

The Old West

Huge and abandoned An entire Western mining town Molson, Washington was once a mining town, and still has lots of reminders of the Old West. There's a big stone school house, the Molson State Bank, and around ten other wooden buildings in different states of repair. CRACKED — CL Shebley/Shutterstock
Atlas Obscura

24

Robin Williams

AT A GLANCE ROBIN WILLIAMS In order to convince Williams to voice Genie, Disney did a test animation of Genie to part of his stand-up routine. Robins quickly signed on, seeing the potential of voice acting and starting a celebrity voice acting craze. CRACKED.COM — Source: LA Times

23

Dorothy Gibson

CRACKED DOROTHY GIBSON: SURVIVED THE TITANIC, STARRED IN A MOVIE ABOUT IT A WEEK LATER. Dorothy Gibson was the only person to make it off the Titanic and then star in a movie about it. Saved from The Titanic was filmed just one week after she got ashore in New York. Founded A. D! 1728 by Be Sin APR.8.1911 5c THE COPY — Saturday Evening Post

22

Jimi Hendrix

CRACKED.COM Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze is about alien planets, not drugs. The song's title comes from the purplish haze of sunspots mentioned in Philip José Farmer's Night of Light. Inspired by this science-fiction novel, Hendrix wrote a long poem about the history of Neptune, which he then pared down into his legendary song. — Source

21

The Body

Humans are bioluminescent. However, the human eye is unable to see the light we emit. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

David Letterman

Beavis and Butt-head wander into the desert and run BEAVIS into otwo-suspiciously BUTTHEAD DO familiar men! AMERICA Butt-head's biological father was played by David this famous dill hole... Letterman CRACKED.COM — Source: 37 Celebs Who Secretly Voiced Animated Characters

19

The iPhone

CRACKED.COM The iPhone you almost had Two years before the launch of the iPhone, Apple launched an abortive iTunes phone produced by Motorola and called the ROKR (after the glitchy RAZR, get it?) cingular 2 6 5 WINNS It had a 100-song limit, it couldn't buy music over the internet, it was hated by carriers, and its candybar shape looked like yo momma's phone. It almost killed any future phone plans for Apple — Source

18

Manhattan

NEW YORK CITY IS SINKING. A new study published in a scientific journal has found that the 1.68 trillion pounds of buildings in NYC are causing the city to sink, with some areas dropping faster than others. On average, the city is sinking at a rate of one to two millimeters each year. CRACKED — IM_photo/Shutterstock
Architectural Digest

17

Strange Toys

CRACKED G COM YOU CAN GO HIKING WITH KARL MARX AND HIS FRIENDS! MOUNTAIN RESEARCH Japanese toy maker Mountain Research released a foursome of surveyors modeled after Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Henry David Thoreau. There's no indication as to why two Communist dictators, the philosopher who inspired them, and an unrelated poet guy are hiking mountain trails. — Source

16

Blake Anderson

celebrities who Are into Magic: The Gathering Merfolk of the Pearl Trident Blake Anderson The Workaholics star's got a Creature - Merfolk M Merfolks deck he wants to bust out. The merfish of the Pearl Tridout have risen from the survey since the earliest days, of times allies ف. humans, other enemies Now their power is cresting again, and who can any which eagy the nett ride will floro. Kalie, Oucan scholar 1/1 for UN - Com CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Celebrities Who Are Huge 'Magic: The Gathering' Nerds

15

Timothy McVeigh

CRACKED BI F TIMOTHY MCVEIGH On April 19, 1995, a trooper from the Noble County Sheriff's Office in Oklahoma pulled over McVeigh during a regular traffic stop. McVeigh was later found guilty of the Oklahoma City bombing after his arrest. — Police1 / PBS

14

A Star Is Born

Lady Gaga's and Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born is the fourth rendition of the story. The first one was filmed way back in 1937. CRACKED COM — Source

13

Sleep

On workdays, 53% of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep. Those numbers are considerably lower in other Western countries - 39% in the UK, 36% in Germany, 30% in Canada, and 29% in Mexico. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Nostrils

ONE NOSTRIL ALWAYS GETS STUFFED UP TO KEEP THINGS MOIST. In addition to smelling, the nose warms and humidifies air to make it friendly for the lungs.

11

Russian Snowplows

40 Random Bits of Trivia We Whittled Out of a Single Bar of Soap — Read More: 5 Absurd Solutions to Huge Problems (That Actually Worked)

10

Auditory Illusions

23% of children under the age of 13 have experience auditory illusions - meaning they've heard voices. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 19 Spooky Facts For Scaring Others

9

The Simpsons

Objectivism at daycare. IS A IS A FUTI CRACKED COM Maggie's daycare is an opportuni- ty to break out the objectivism jokes. While Marge is rehearsing for A Streetcar Named Desire, Maggie is left at the Ayn Rand School For Tots, where a poster reads, A is A. This is a reference to Ayn Rand, and her philosophy of Objectivism.

8

The First iPad

Fujitsu made a device called the iPad in 2002 that ran on Microsoft's CE.NET system. 22 likes GRACKED.COM In January 2010, when Apple announced the Apple iPad, there was a naming controversy between the two devices. Apple had to pay $4 million to Fujitsu to buy the trademark. — Engadget

7

Trump Steaks

Donald Trump's Exclusive Introduction worst TRUMP business idea STEAKS THE WORLD'S GREATEST STEAK ever (maybe). Trump Steaks were (for some reason) sold at the Sharper Image. Sharper Image CEO Jerry Levin called it a horrible business idea, saying, We literally sold almost no steaks. If we sold $50,000 worth of steaks in total, I'd be surprised. CRACKED

6

Bryce Dallas Howard

Bryce Dallas Howard gained 30 pounds for one episode in a TV show. It's the Black Mirror episode Nosedive, and she says she did it to show her character's insecurity is because she's not comfortable in her own skin. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Actors Who Went Way, Way Beyond The Call Of Duty For A Movie

5

Fraud

+ 902E 35.38 FAKE SEMICONDUCTORS Jan Hendrik Schön, a Bell Labs physicist, was accused in 2002 of making up his research when people noticed that the same graphs were being used to show the results of different experiments. And yep-turned out he was a fraud. CRACKED — Phaigraphic/Shutterstock
The Guardian

4

The Phone

When the telephone was invented, people were scared that it would attract evil spirits and the Devil. The invention was so poorly received that newly

3

Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood

CRACKED.COM Tolkien Movies lan McKellen and Elijah Wood never shot a scene together. I never worked with Elijah Wood, McKellen said. He was the main part in Lord of the Rings, but he's smaller than me, so we could never be together. — Today

2

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

1

Charles Guthrie

Charles Guthrie TY- 3 THE NAJ EPO ORACKEDCOM Guthrie's work on vascular surgery should have won him the Nobel Prize. But the committee gave it to one — Source: NY Times

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