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These peaked a while back but they still have something to offer

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

January 29, 2025

Betcha didn’t think a random fact had a shelf life, did you? Well, how long did you expect it to hold an immensely heavy load of information before it got a little tired? These facts are all desperately hoping your brain can help share the load, and hey, once they’re up there, maybe you’ll finally appreciate how heavy they really are.

Better strengthen that neck.

40

Chopsticks

CRACKED DON'T EMBARRASS YOURSELF: FOLLOW CHOPSTICK ETIQUETTE IN JAPAN. In Japan, it is important to follow chopstick etiquette, such as not pointing them at another person or waving them in the air. Additionally, it is important to avoid practices such as sticking them into a bowl of rice or passing food between chopsticks, as these resemble funeral rites. — The Travel

39

The Persian Empire

The Persian Empire had air conditioning. Old-timey Iranians had complex ventilation systems that took hot desert air, flowed it down into cold underground water, and transformed it into a cool breeze. The system was so effective they even had refrigerator-like rooms. It's almost like we can't trust the movie 300, you know. CRACKED.COM — Source

38

The Best Man

40 Random Bits of Trivia You Knew in High School That Somehow Became Dumber in the Intervening Years — Source: 5 Shockingly Violent Back Stories of Everyday Traditions

37

Slavery

CRACKED.COM A former American slave lived until 1972. We don't know for sure if Peter Mills was the last living slave in America, as records are spotty. What we do know is that he was born into slavery in 1861, and died just one month shy of his 111th birthday. It's wild to think that an American slave outlived Martin Luther King Jr. — Source

36

California

California was a fictional land. Spanish conquistadores didn't know they had reached a peninsula- they thought they were in mythical California, the island populated by griffin- riding Amazons in the 16th- century book The Adventures of Esplandián. No Amazons or griffins were found, but the name stuck. CRACKED.COM — San José Public Library

35

Movies

The longest movie ever has a runtime of over 35 days. LOGISTICS installation the products CRACKED.COM The experimental film by Erika Magnusson and Daniel Andersson, called Logistics, shows the production cycle of a pedometer, in reverse chronological order. The 420 minute movie records the journey taken by commercial goods from Sweden to China, from freight truck, to train, to cargo ship, all in real time. — Source: DNA Syndication

34

Scream

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The voice actor for Ghostface was kept out of view of the actors. CRACKED.COM In the Scream series, the voice actor for Ghostface (Roger L. Jackson) was hidden on set when he voiced his lines to keep the on-screen actors believably unsettled by him. When characters are taunted by him on the phone, he really is talking to them from somewhere out of sight. Не also voiced Mojo Jojo on The Powerpuff Girls, so there's that. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

33

Peppa Pig

WEIRD WORLD The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom praised Peppa Pig in a speech. In the same speech to industry leaders, he kind of made comparisons between himself and Moses, and mimicked the noise of a car. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Yellowstone

The last YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO eruption occurred 640,000 years ago, releasing enough material into the air to cover the entire United States and Canada with multiple inches of ash. It's impossible to predict, but based on its recent eruptions... we're overdue for another one. CRACKED — Benny Marty/Shutterstock
National Science Foundation

31

Chess

When it comes to chess, our robot overlords have been beating us for 15 years. That's how long it's been since the last time a human beat an AI in a chess tournament. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln had a surprisingly high voice. It wasn't exactly squeaky, but it was a bit more shrill than you'd expect. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Los Angeles

Underground tunnels criss-cross LoS Angeles. They connect downtown LA's government buildings, and they're used for moving files securely. But they've

28

Early Weaponry

The Gun Shield CRACKED.COM This 6th-century death parasol was both impossible to aim and hard to fire. It likely held a musket ball that could just kinda... roll out at any time, and was fired by asking your enemy to please stop jostling while you fumbled with the fuse. — 6 Awesomely Insane Guns People Actually Used (Pt. 2)

27

George Washington

George Washington's farewell party was a rager. According to the bar tab, the 55 attendees drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of Porter, 8 of hard cider, 12 of beer, and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

26

Ticks

TICKS CAN SECRETE SMALL AMOUNTS OF ANESTHETIC SALIVA TO PREVENT YOU FROM FEELING THEM ON YOU. CRACKED COM — Source

25

Church Stampede

115 people died in a stampede at a church in 1902. HILOH BAPTIST CHURGH Rev.T.W.WALKER. PASTAR PHO CRACKED COM The congregation at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alabama mistook a cry of FIGHT! for FIRE! and stampeded to the exits. — Source

24

The Departed

BEHIND-THE-SCENESp FACTS JACK NICHOLSON REJECTED THE ROLE AT FIRST. EBE DEPARTED THE Nicholson initially turned down the role of Frank Costello because he felt the role was too small. He signed on after Scorsese decided to expand the role. — New York Magazine

23

Justin Bieber

COMEDY NERD Justin Bieber was an awful SNL guest, according to Bill Hader and Jay Pharaoh. The both agreed that, in their years of SNL experience, Bieber was the worst-behaved musical guest, period. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Cars

There are almost as many cars in the U.S. as there are people. The average for all 50 states is 910 cars per 1,000 citizens. The numbers for the European Union countries are much lower-587 cars per 1,000 citizens. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Protests

WEIRD WORLD There was an (unsuccessful) one-person protest in New Zealand. It was being planned on social media -- but just one person showed up to the anti-lockdown protest, and police encouraged them to leave, which they did. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Guardian

20

Beaches

A dumping site had to dye their water black because the blue color was too tempting for some people. Black dye was dumped into the Blue Lagoon lake of Buxton in England for safety reasons. The previous tur- quoise water was so inviting that even the signs to keep people out did not keep swimmers out. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

John Wick

Inconspicuous CGI John Wick This scene is a synonym for absolutely unnecessary CGI. It's dog poop. That's it. When the puppy leaves John's house to poop in the lawn, the doggy waste can be seen as the little girl sprints back. They couldn't give her laxatives, so they added CGI poop, which probably cost a few hundred-wait, $5,000? CRACKED.COM — Sources: WatchMojo.com/YouTube, WhatCulture/YouTube
Image Credit: Lionsgate

18

Jim Henson

THE DRACULA MUSICAL PUPPETS were made by JIM HENSON'S CREATURE SHOP. The puppeteers also helped train Bill Hader and the cast on how to work the puppets. BEHIND THE SCENES | FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Microsoft

MICROSOFT SURE KNOWS HOW TO PARTY (BUT NOT HOW TO MANAGE). Microsoft held a fancy event in Switzerland with Sting, attended by execs. The next day, they said they'd cut 10,000 jobs. CRACKED — Source

16

Life of Brian

Life of Brian includes a strange recommendation. If you have enjoyed this film, why not go and see La Notte? La Notte is a 1961 acclaimed Italian drama, a.k.a. the complete opposite of Monty Python sensibilities. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Paul Reubens

PAUL REUBENS CRACKED COM After losing a spot on SNL to Gilbert Gottfried, Reubens borrowed five grand from his parents to develop his own stage show. — Source: UPROXX

14

Halloween

In the US, the pumpkin ck-o'-lantern evolved from a prank. Kids in the US carved crude and evil faces into their pumpkins (used for their abundance) a — Source: Mental Floss

13

The Earth

The Earth's rotation slows by somewhere around 0.002 seconds every century. Going by that rate, if Earth still exists 180 million years from now, each day would be 25 hours long. CRACKED.COM — Source: Forbes

12

Mark Hamill

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

11

Ben Affleck

CRACKED CASINOS IN LAS VEGAS LOVE TO HAVE CELEBRITIES PLAY AT THEIR TABLE BECAUSE THEY ARE BIG SPENDERS. However, if those famous patrons start winning too much money, the casino will stop them from playing. This is what happened to Ben Affleck when he was caught counting cards while playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino. — Source

10

Old Games

Honey-Pots: the old victorian era game that ...doesn't sound very fun. CRACKED COM One player would curl up into the fetal position, and try to hold their body as tight as possible, while the other player picked them up and carried them around (as if they were carrying a big pot of honey home from the market). Children crave manual labor. — Source

9

Four Christmases

Hollywood feuds REESE WITHERSPOON VS VINCE VAUGH On Four Christmases, they found each other to be entirely vile. The hatred was so intense that a source said, Sometimes Vince will be standing behind her and he has this look on his face that he just wants to kill her! CRACKED — Source

8

David Bowie

David Bowie wanted to make a musical out of George Orwell's 1984. It's not clear what it was supposed to be like -- it could have been a TV musical, or a West End one but, in any case, Orwell's widow Sonia nixed the idea. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss

7

Meteors

A METEOR OCTOBER 312 No, not the one that hit the dinosaurs. We're talking about one the emperor Constantine saw during the Battle of the Milvian Brid — Source: BBC

6

Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson's contract for playing Joker in Batman entitled him to a percentage of the merchandise, TV showings, home video sales, sequels and more

5

Sean Connery

Sean Connery defended himself against a gunman on the set of Another Time, Another Place. While filming a love scene for the movie, his co-star's gangster boyfriend got jealous and pulled a gun on him. Connery grabbed the gun from his hand and twisted the guy's wrist un- til he ran off the set. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

4

School Shootings

A NEVADA GYM TEACHER STOPPED A SCHOOL SHOOTING. SHE DID IT BY HUGGING THE SHOOTER. When a 14-year-old student opened fire in the school hallway, Jencie Fagan approached the shooter, told e him to drop the gun, then pulled him into a bear hug and promised not to leave him. Two students were injured in the shooting, but made a full recovery. CRACKED COM http //abcnews go — Source

3

Bill Buckner

BILL BUCKNER CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM CRACKED COM Buckner will live in sports infamy for allowing a ball to go through his legs in Game 6 of the '86 Serie — MLB

2

French Cars

WEIRD WORLD France basically just gave car companies the middle finger. From now on, French car ads have to tell people that, instead of buying a car, they could just walk or bike to where they want to go. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Scooby-Doo

To Joe Barbera (one half of Hanna-Barbera), Scooby-Doo was dumb and repetitive. It was just a bunch of teenagers hanging out with a big dumb dog, an

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