40 Random Bits of Trivia You Knew in High School That Somehow Became Dumber in the Intervening Years

‘Rush Hour 2’ Extras Pocketed the Movie’s Fake Cash and Then Tried to Spend It

This Is the Incredibly Stupid Basis for Shoe Sizes

20 TV Shows That Got Their Formulas Down to a Science

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Erupted From Our Trivia Orifice Like a Sitcom Spit-Take

40 Random Bits of Trivia Sliced Thin to Encourage Greater Caramelization

These are oozing with brain-watering flavor

40 Random Bits of Trivia Sliced Thin to Encourage Greater Caramelization

January 27, 2025

Your brain’s nose led you to the right place! Yes, your brain’s nose is totally different from your actual nose. Your actual nose would definitely lead your stomach to delicious dishes, but these give off an aroma that only your brain’s nose can detect.

We’ve prepped and seasoned them specifically to entice your brain, and we’re ever-so-thrilled that it found its way here. Sorry there’s nothing for your stomach though.

40

Fish

There's more evidence fish may be self-aware The cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus is believed to be able to pass a mirror test, one of the ways researchers determine if a species is self-aware. CRACKED.COM — Source: ScienceDaily

39

Spartacus

76,000 people CRACKED.COM The sound crew from Spartacus went to a Michigan State Spartans game, directing over 76,000 people to scream and cheer to use in the movie's soundtrack. — Source

38

The Oscars

Jackie Chan Не got an honorary Oscar. Chan received an honorary Academy Award in 2016 for his contributions to cinema. Не looked visibly touched by the honor, but we think it was the Academy's honor to give it to him. CRACKED.COM — Sources: People, Oscars/YouTube

37

Baseball

In 1957, Richie Ashburn hit a foul ball into the stands, striking a woman in the face. Then he hit another foul ball and struck the same woman again. The woman's husband was a sports editor in the newspaper Ashburn would end up writing for. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Abandoned Ships

Huge and abandoned A whole cruise ship The World Discoverer ran aground in the Solomon Islands in April 2000, and is still there today. The wood on the deck is rotting, and the hull is covered in rust. World Disc W CRACKED — Tetyana Dotsenko/Shutterstock
Slate

35

Hitler

CRACKED.COM The U.S. planned to feminize Hitler with estrogen. Stanley Lovell, research head of the OSS (CIA's precursor), hatched a plan to lace Hitler's food with estrogen and make him more feminine, which (somehow) would lead to Germany losing the war. This was even dumber than Lovell's regular dumb ideas, and was never carried out. — Source

34

Flies

Ever wonder why flies have such great reaction timES? It's because they see in slow motion. The perceived speed of time is determined by species. Gene

33

Stone Balls

Creepy Discoveries That People Stumbled Into - Okay, they might not sound so sinister. But these Costa Rican balls weigh up to 16 tons, and there are — Source: BBC

32

Stranger Things

Joe Keery originally wasn't supposed to play Steve in Stranger Things. He auditioned for Jonathan, along with everybody across the country, but they — Source: GQ

31

Cuttlefish

Male cuttlefish can be really sneaky when they want to steal someone else's female. They will get between the couple and disguise half their body as a male to attract the female and the other half as a female to make the unsuspecting husband think that it's a girls' night

30

Prince

Manic Monday was actually written by Prince. GRACKED.COM — Source

29

Spain

In Spain, there's a village that was cursed by the Pope himself centuries ago. Well, the curse was placed by someone else, but explicitly allowed by the Pope. It hasn't been lifted to this day. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

The Pope and Taxes

WEIRD WORLD The Holy Father has blessed tax collectors, and praised those who pay taxes. His exact words were that taxation is a sign of legality and justice, and he reminded tax collectors that they have a patron saint, St. Matthew. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

The Gateway to Hell

JAPANESE MONKS CALL MOUNT OSORE THE GATEWAY TO HELL. Not only does the mountain look like the kind of wasteland you might have to trudge through to — For details, read The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth (Part 5)

26

Deadwood

CRACKED.COM Al swearengen was written for Ed O'Neill. Deadwood creator David Milch intended loser Al Bundy to play scary pimp Swearengen. But HBO said no because, well, he was loser Al Bundy. Then lan McShane made Swearengen his own and no one looked back. — Source

25

Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan defended having rock music on the Voyager Golden Record. There was some controver- sy over the inclusion of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny В. Goode,' with Sagan being told rock music was ado- lescent. Sagan responded, There are a lot of adoles- cents on the planet. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

Independence Day

Independence Day originally had a totally different name than you know. That original title? It was Doomsday - and it got changed at the insistence of Bill Pullman, even thought the studio really wanted Doomsday. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

London

London has paid rent to the Monarchy every year since 1211. CRACKED COM The symbolic ceremony consists of officials hand- ing over a knife, an ах, six oversized horseshoes, and 61 nails to the Crown's Re- membrancer, the oldest ju- dicial position in England. — Source

22

Almeria, Spain

Tabernas Desert in Almeria, Spain was home to hundreds of Western films during the 60's and 70's. An entire town was built and movies like Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly were filmed there. IT STILL REMAINS AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION TO THIS DAY. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Mind-Blowing Facts About Famous Movie Locations

21

Ancient Egypt

There were a bunch of minor, petty kingdoms throughout Ancient Egypt. They all had varying degress of independence, and some of them later provided rulers that ruled over all of Egypt. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

20

Weird Al

CRACKED c COM Weird AI Yankovic grew up in a very conservative home. Indulgences like sleepovers were off the table, skipping church wasn't even a c

19

Booby Traps

Edward Briney booby-trapped his farmhouse which resulted in a burglar's legs being shot with a shotgun. CRACKED.COM The burglar sued him and won. Later, when asked if he would do anything different, Ed- ward Briney stated I'd have aimed that gun a few feet higher. — LegalEagle / Wikipedia

18

Welcome to Japan

WEIRD WORLD New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was greeted by giant dancing kiwifruit during her visit to Japan. The two large mascots welcomed the prime minister with a gentle swaying routine, set to a piece of slow, somewhat sorrowful chamber music, to a somber audience of suited men. CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

17

Bonnie and Clyde

By the time Bonnie and Clyde were at the height of their notorious crime spree they both walked with a limp. Clyde had chopped off two of his OWn toes

16

The ‘90s

Seattle became 1993 1994 the 1. 1994 epicenter of new music, thanks 1992 to Grunge. 199 097 1998 1999 1995 1996 1997 1993 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Seattle bands were getting 96 signed to major labels at the rate 1997 of one a week during April, 1992. 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 NOW YOU KNOW: THE '90s CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Collections

QUENTIN TARANTINO COLLECTS BOARD GAMES. THE DUKES OF HAZZARD CAME THE DUKES OF HAZZARD GAME And not just any random board games, he specifically colle

14

Giraffes

Giraffes eat from trees downwind of other trees so they don't get poisoned. CRACKED.COM Acacias trees release an airborne chemical called 'Ethylene,' alerting nearby acacia trees to produce tannin, a toxin that makes the leaves poisonous and lethal if over-consumed. — Tanzania Experience

13

Nerf

Nerf's first slogan was You can't hurt babies or old people. eR The world's first INDOOR BALL NERF NeRF TM The world's BALL first INDOOR The motto helped sell millions of Nerf balls in just its first year. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy, which ended its run in 1957, still makes $20 million a year. Reruns still air on CBS online and the Hallmark Channel, with apparently very devoted audiences. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

11

The NFL

The NFL was a non-profit organization until 2015. NFL I The League voluntarily gave up their non-profit stance, which enabled them to avoid paying tax- es, to gain an extra layer of secrecy about their inner financial workings. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Washington Post

10

The Plagues

CRACKED.COM THE BIBLICAL PLAGUE OF FROGS MIGHT HAVE BEEN JUST ONE HUGE FROG. We imagine the plague as a whole lot of frogs getting everywhere-but according to some medieval rabbis, it was just one big-ass frog that covered the entire land of Egypt with its gigantic body (and spawned normal-sized frogs every time it was hit). — Source: 16 Random Facts For Hungry Brains

9

Tea

They drink obscene amounts of tea in England! (Not exactly) Ireland drinks more (4.831 pounds/ year) but Turkey tops the list (6.961 pounds). CRACKED

8

Astronauts

BONES AND MUSCLES ATROPHY IN SPACE. РОСКОС RETURNING TO EARTH IS A HUGE ADJUSTMENT. You might be missing 8 percent of the bone across your hips, and that's even with all the exercise. You also have to readjust mentally. You'll try to float a pen or a water bottle over to someone and watch it clunk to the ground, because you've forgotten about gravity. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Horrifying Sides Of Space Travel No One Talks About

7

UFOs

Kurt Russell says he saw the Phoenix Lights in Phoenix, AZ, in 1997. Не saw them while flying his plane, and reported them to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport - he might be the first ever person who did so. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Celebrities Who Swear They Saw UFOs And/Or Aliens

6

Kanye

One devoted Kanye West fan legally changed her name to Mrs. Kanye Westo

5

Johnny Depp

Не might not look it, but Johnny Depp loves collecting 1st-edition literature. Не owns first-edition books from Arthur Rimbaud, Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas, and Edgar Allan Poe. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Surprising Pop Culture Obsessions Of Celebrities

4

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 didn't have a female villain for sexist reasons. An early draft had Rebecca Hall's Maya Hansen as the villain, but the idea was nixed by Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, who believed that toys of female characters wouldn't sell. The movie was rewritten so that Guy Pearce's character became the bad guy. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Random Facts to Download into Your Brain Right Away

3

Mongolian Princess Khutulun

CRACKED WRESTLE A PRINCESS FOR 10,000 HORSES? SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD DEAL! Khutulun was a 13th century Mongolian princess who refused to marry unless the prospective husband could beat her in wrestling, and is said to have amassed 10,000 horses from her victories. Modern female MMA fighters pay tribute to Khutulun with their clothing and actions. — SCMP

2

Indonesia

The Bugis people in Indonesia recognize five genders. Bissus are androgynous or intersex shamans who act as the go-between for humans and deities. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Bridesmaids

BRIDESMAIDS MINDY KALING AND BUSY PHILLIPPS WERE UP FOR ROLES. The two auditioned for Lillian and Megan, respectively, but didn't get the parts. CRACKED.COM — BuzzFeed

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

Real Kids Have Been Giving Catherine O’Hara Crap for Abandoning Her Son in ‘Home Alone’

Movies & TV

Comedy Fans Applaud Ryan Reynolds for Allegedly Acting ‘Horrifically Mean’ Toward T.J. Miller

Trivia & Jokes

35 Hilarious Kid-Friendly Jokes to Share With Your Little Class Clown

Science & History

The 14 Funniest Things Ever Thrown at Politicians

Movies & TV

The Waiter from ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ on What It’s Like to Always Be Served Up the Gang’s Shit

Movies & TV

Wayne Knight Says ‘Seinfeld’ Was Like Doing Broadway on Opening Night: ‘Don’t F*** It Up’

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

Will Ferrell Went to Wardrobe Extremes on ‘Saturday Night Live’ to Show Off His Patriotism After 9/11

2

15 Celebs With Terrible Life Advice

3

30 Bits of Trivia About Pop Culture That Didn’t Age Like Everyone Expected

4

22 Dumb Ideas That Actually Worked

5

20 Seemingly Unsolvable Mysteries