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Come check out our fact haul!

40 Random Bits of Trivia Produced Overseas But Assembled in America So We Get a Hefty Tax Write-Off

January 20, 2025

Help us out, won’t you? These facts are heavy, and we’ve been lugging them around all day. It might come as a surprise to you lucky readers who get to just show up and read the beastly facts we lay out for you, but gathering them takes a lot of blood, sweat, hunger and tears.

Sorry to guilt you like that. We’ll genuinely want you to enjoy these again once we’re not so hangry.

40

The Ozone Layer

Thanks to international efforts, the ozone layer is projected to recover to 1980 levels by 2040. It's expected to make a full recovery by 2066. CRACKED — Source

39

Cats

Whiskey distilleries sometimes keep cats around just to catch mice. Distilleries have been using cats for that for centuries and, despite the many alternatives that exist today, they still do. CRACKED.COM — Source

38

Selma

Steven Spielberg has the sole film rights to all of MLK's speeches, which he bought in 2009. CRACKED.COM In the movie Selma, Ava DuVernay wrote speeches that were plausible, but differ- ent enough to avoid a copyright battle. — Vice

37

Star Wars

The lightsaber sound is the result of a gadget being broken. Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt was carrying a tape recorder with a broken mic cable. As he walked past his TV, the broken cable picked up the TV's hum. That produced a weird but distinctive buzz, and KWINE 100 Burtt decided it was just what he needed I for the lightsaber sound. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Wim Hof

In 2007, one man climbed 24, 500 feet wearing only shorts and open-toed sandals. Dutch daredevil Wim Hof was climbing Mt. Everest, and he didn't quite — Source: USA Today

35

Airplane!

Airplane!, naturally, included a few gags in the end credits. CRAFT SERVICE ADAM CULUNGA FIRST AID DAVE MILLER VOCAL EFFECTS ADVISOR ALLISON CAINE AUTHOR OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES CHARLES DICKENS ORCHESTRATIONS DAVID SPEAR Another gag was crediting one person as Generally in charge of a lot of things. CRACKED.COM — Source

34

Wonder Woman

CRACKED.COM Kristen stewart was almost Wonder woman. Which would mean Taylor Lautner was destined for Superman. — Source: Tell Tales

33

Zoe Saldana

ZOE SALDANA REGRETS PLAYING NINA SIMONE IN THE 2016 BIOPIC, NINA. At first, the actress- who is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent didn't understand the controversy over darkening her skin for the part, but in 2020 she apologized. I should have tried everything in my power to cast a Black woman to play an exceptionally perfect Black woman. CRACKED.COM — CNN

32

Natasha Richardson

CRACKED NATASHA RICHARDSON refused treatment after her head trauma. After her fall at a Canadian ski resort, she refused to be taken to a hospital at least twice, and died of internal bleeding in the brain. Doctors said immediate treatment could have stopped the bleeding. — Everett Collection/Shutterstock
People

31

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson helped to popularize Mac'n Cheese by serving it to guests during his presidency. CRACKED.COM Не first learned of the dish while he served as the U.S. minister to France from 1784 to 1789. At the time, macaroni was a general term for pasta, which Jefferson served as a pie mixed with a particularly strong liquor. — Monticello

30

Ukraine

A 2-year-old hero dog is sniffing out Russian explosives in Ukraine. Patron the Jack Russell Terrier has cleared 90 explosive devices (that's 630 in dog years), saving an untold amount of lives. CRACKED.COM — NDTV

29

Lawyers

CRACKED A LAWYER DIED TRYING TO PROVE HOW SAFE A BUILDING WAS. In 1993, a lawyer in Toronto tragically died after he hurled himself against a window on the 24th floor of a building. Не had done this twice before, in an effort to demonstrate to some visitors that the glass was unbreakable. The glass didn't shatter - it dislodged from the window frame, causing him to fall to his death. — Marianna Ianovska/Shutterstock
Snopes

28

Vitamin C

Famous chemist, two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, had an optimistic idea that vitamin с cures terminal cancer. Pauling promoted vitamin с as a cure for cancer until his death. Не died from prostate cancer. GRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Geniuses Who Are Surprisingly Stupid (In One, Glaring Way)

27

Duck Dynasty

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty believes that men should marry girls who are 15 or 16 years-old before they are ruined like most 20 year-olds are. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Dogs

DOGS CAN READ HUMAN EMOTIONS. In one study, dogs were able to the match vocal and visual expressions of humans. CRACKEDCON COM — Source: Science

25

Super Baby

THE BABY WHO'S TOTALLY JACKED Before he was 5, an unidentified German baby could hold seven-pound weights with arms extended. A genetic mutation left the boy with a Superman physique, muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half the body fat. CRACKED.COM — Source: NBC News

24

Human Traffickers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Human traffickers are almost always men. REALITY: Female traffickers make up a large part of all human traffickers. 37% of traffickers are female, which is a pretty large share when compared to other crimes. Female traffickers mostly target women and children, because there's more trust there. Females are also often used to recruit other female traffickers. — 14 Myths About Crime We Believe (Thanks To Pop Culture)

23

White Castle

White Castle 1921 Castle 5t White Castle 5 eler Established in 1921 HAMBURGERS Buy em by the Sack CASTL GRACKED COM White Castle was the first American fast-food chain. Hamburgers were 5 cents and quickly served to exact specifications, which would later be copied by other chains. — Source

22

Kenya Rogers

The most requested singer on Kenyan radio is Kenny Rogers. Henny Roars The Best Cf COWARD OF THE COUNTY WE'VE GOT TONIGHT DAYTIME FRIENDS THE GAMBLER

21

MP3 Players

There is an mp3 player made specifically for prison inmates. All components are housed in clear casing and built with no moving parts. It even has an app (JPay's music store) that shows songs purchased most by inmates in their prison. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — JPay Inc

20

Affordable Housing

A Chicago woman finally made it to the top of an affordable housing waiting list, after three decades. FOR WITH IT FORTLE WARD D 1 ОР S STOP s! 4 D Police Crimes DEMAND GRACKED.COM A CIVIL Alderwoman Jeanette Tay- lor said, I first applied for an affordable housing voucher in 1993... Today in 2022 I finally got a letter telling me I made it to the top of the waiting list. I have no words. — Newsweek

19

Roller Skates

CRACKED THE FIRST ROLLER SKATES DIDN'T HAVE BRAKES. It took 100 years for someone to invent the toe stop. In the meantime, a lot of Victorian nogs got bonked. — Source

18

Willy Wonka

40 Random Bits of Trivia Produced Overseas But Assembled in America So We Get a Hefty Tax Write-Off

17

Mauna Kea

The tallest mountain on Earth is underwater. Mauna Kea Everest Mauna Kea is more than 33,000 feet from base to summit; Everest is a paltry ,000. NOW Y

16

Talladega Nights

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS Learning to drive a race car is TERRIFYING wonder TALLADEGA NIGHTS CRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF RICKY Bosey After a single scary lap at racing speeds, Ferrell and McKay were ready to call it a day. Reilly insisted they keep going: Guys, we can't be wusses here. We can't make a NASCAR movie and not actually experience being in a race car. — ESPN

15

The Pacifier

From the Director of Bringing Down the House THE SPANISH TITLE FOR THE PACIFIER TRANSLATES TO A SUPER HARD KANGAROO. Disney vin DIESEL is the PACIFIER GRACKED.COM WELCOME TO THE INFANTRY. namero - - INTERNATIONAL musers — Source: 46 Next-Level Movie Facts To Know

14

Dirty Money

CRACKED ONE TES SERVE SYSTEM WE SPREAD DISEASE BY USING DIRTY MONEY. Despite research showing that cash is covered in microbes, we continue to use it without washing our hands first. Bills are exchanged constantly, and can hold pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus.

13

Bones

CRACKED BONES ARE WATERY AND SOFT INSIDE. It's referred to as the spongy bone. — Lilia Solonari/Shutterstock
Canadian Cancer Society

12

Candy Land

The board game Candy Land owes its existence to a terrible disease -- 00 polio. CANDY LAND Game A A WARNING: sweet little game for sweet little folks Issued One of its victims in the 1940s -- - Eleanor Abbott -- went about inventing board games for kids recovering from it. Candy Land was the most successful. CRACKED.COM — Source: Toy Hall Of Fame

11

Crime Scene Investigators

MYTH: CSI teams sweep through the scene of a crime and solve it, fast. FACT: That's only on TV. Crime scene investigators don't solve cases. Their role is to collect enough evidence to support a case against the suspect who has been identified by old-fashioned police work. And the process isn't quick. Some laboratory tests, such as DNA samples, toxicology, and blood reports, can take weeks or even months to process. Also, while DNA criminal databases do exist, less than 1/10th of all criminals are a part of it. CRACKED.COM http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4284335.stm — Source

10

Bat Bombs

IN WORLD WAR l, THE UNITED STATES EXPERIMENTED WITH BAT BOMBS. Conceived by a dentist friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, the weaponized bats were to be rele

9

Currencies

Tea bricks were used as currency in some places until World War II. CRACKED.COM In Tibet, tea bricks were in such demand that swords, horses and other property were sometimes priced in a given num- ber of tea bricks. — Source

8

Bob Gale

Back to the Future writer Bob Gale made a largely-forgotten interactive movie back in 1995. Billed as the world's first interactive movie, Mr. Payback found the titular character punishing jerks in a myriad of ways based on what movie theater audiences voted on using custom joysticks. CRACKED.COM — SSource: 4 Legendary Pranks by Famous Comedians

7

Lactic Acid

CRACKED Lactic acid makes your muscles-sore after a workout. Lactic acid build-up is actually a natural defense mechanism. The soreness is caused by damage to the muscle cells and an increase in the release of different metabolites into the tissue around the muscle cells. — Source

6

Neckties

Neckties were originally worn by Croatian mercenaries. During the Thirty Years' War, in the 1600s, France hired Croatian mercenaries who wore cravats as a kind of neck armor. After the war, French noblemen took a fancy to these scarves, which were then further adopted by the English, and progressively evolved into the strangling symbol of office drudgery. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Mt. Rushmore

There's a creepy secret chamber inside Mt. Rushmore. Its sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, wanted Mt. Rushmore to have a Hall of Records, where historic American documents would be stored. When he died in 1941, it was unfinished. In 1998, the government put a sealed titanium vault with copies of important documents in there. So he kinda got his wish. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Russian Waters

15 Of The Strangest Things 2020 Managed To Cook Up (Part 2) - Russian surfers getting poisoned by ocean water. Surfers reported burning eyes and poiso — Sources: CBS News, The Guardian

3

Louis C.K. and Dane Cook

COMEDY DEL NERD For years, Dane Cook and Louis CK were in a feud about stealing jokes. Louis never claimed outright that Cook stole jokes from him, though- and, eventually, he totally backed off, saying I'm not sure he stole them. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Trees

CRACKEDO COM These are the branches of the world's largest cashew tree located in Parmarinim, Brazil viewed from ground level. This is an aerial view.

1

Sushi-Grade Fish

There's no such thing as SUSHI-GRADE FISH. The term is just a marketing ploy to make you think you're buying a higher-quality fish, but it only mean

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