40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia They Won’t Teach You in School (Because the Department of Education Will Be Gutted Like a Fish)

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia They Won’t Teach You in School (Because the Department of Education Will Be Gutted Like a Fish)

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38 Suitable Bits of Trivia That Your Brain’s Affluent Parents Will Surely Invite to Lake House

Unlike the last train wreck you brought home, these got mother and father’s nod of approval

38 Suitable Bits of Trivia That Your Brain’s Affluent Parents Will Surely Invite to Lake House

January 31, 2025

You did it! You finally picked a batch of random facts that you can bring home for special occasions. Maturity is like that. At the time, it’s impossible to see that a batch of facts clearly won’t gel with your family, but an incredibly awkward stand-off between them and your mom will put you on the right track.

So thank these facts for the many holidays you’ll get to actually enjoy now.

38

Boxing

Conor McGregor spent $41,000 on a mink polar bear coat, just to taunt Floyd Mayweather. YCGIRIEGOR

37

Foul Balls

FOUL BALLS You'll probably never catch a foul ball, but you can increase your chances by sitting in the right spot. This spot varies from park to park An app called ldealseat tracks these locations for you. — Source: Time

36

Avocados

Your avocados may be grown by a drug cartel. Since trade restrictions were lifted in the '90s, avocados from Mexico became more and more popular in the U.S. while Mexican cartels were hit by the escalating War on Drugs. So what did the hardened narcos do? Exactly- they branched out into the lucrative avocado business. CRACKED.COM — Source

35

Fellowship of the Ring

Surprising Ways Beloved Movies Accomplished Their Effects - In Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo and Gandalf are at the same table — Source: 8 Movie Special Effects You Didn't Know Weren't CGI: Classic

34

The CIA

CRACKED.COM Baffling things done by the CIA Making Osama toys Beginning in 2005, the CIA created an Osama bin Laden action figure that would slowly wear off its face paint to show that of the devil. You know, to teach the kids whose houses America was bombing who the real villain was. The CIA denies having sent them to Pakistan, but that sounds just like what they would say. — Source

33

Vietnam

DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, AMERICAN SOLIDERS WOULD LITTER THE ECOUNTRYSIDE WITH FAKE TIGER POOP. Inside were seismometers to track enemy troop movement. — Read More: 6 Real World Spy Gadgets Straight Out Of Movies

32

Currency

China once accidentally faked out all its ATMs. 100 100 00 10 AA00000001 AA0000000 Their high-roller gold 100-yuan bill contained actual gold. It was such an effective anti-counterfeiting measure that the country's ATMS couldn't recognize them for several days. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Germany

DAVID HASSELHOFF sang at the collapse of the Berlin Wall GERMANY There's no better way to endear yourself to reunited Germans than by crooning Looking for Freedom from a bucket crane fifty feet in the air. Thirty years later, the Hoff is still selling out Berlin concert halls. — Washington Post

30

Harvard’s Endowment

HARVARD EARNS ENOUGH MONEY ON INTEREST FROM ITS ENDOWMENT THAT IT COULD OFFER FREE TUITION TO ALL STUDENTS AND STILL MAKE A PROFIT ON THE INTEREST. CRACKED The same is true of Princeton and Yale. — Vox / Forbes

29

Bear Pee

WEIRD WORLD In North Carolina, a woman trying to boil bear urine accidentally caused a fire. She was out hiking and was thirsty, and when she came across a puddle of bear pee, she tired boiling it to purify it... which led to a wildfire. CRACKED.COM — Source: Fox10Phoenix

28

Pot Holes

2006, Canada Saskatchewan residents put it all the table on for potholes. PLEASE Free Willy Nothing else Has To protest the condition of the nearby Hi

27

Hong Kong Police

WEIRD WORLD To show patriorism, police in Hong Kong are now going to be goose-stepping. Apparently, it's a switch from the marching drills they used to do, and which dates back to British colonial times. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

E.T.

STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS Е.Т. THE EXTRA- TERRESTRIAL The movie was shot chronologically, with the puppeteers hidden from the cast, so the children actually developed a caring relationship with the alien. By the final scene, the kids were really saying goodbye to a beloved friend CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Hidden Bombs

CRACKED A WWII bomb was revealed due to an extreme drought in Italy. The device, which Italian military officials said contained 240kg (530lb) of explosive, was discovered near the Lombardy village of Borgo Virgilio in July and 3,000 nearby residents were evacuated so that bomb disposal experts could safely carry out a controlled explosion on Sunday. — Source

24

Swiss Army Knives

Swiss Army Knife was a name created by American soldiers. American soldiers during WWII had trouble pro- nouncing the original name of Schweizer Offi- ziersmesser (Swiss Offi- cer's Knife) and thus be- gan calling the multi-tool a Swiss Army Knife. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

Saddam Hussein

CRACKED SADDAM HUSSEIN In 2003, U.S. troops captured Saddam Hussein with the help of meticulous intelligence gathering and canny questioning by Eric Maddox, an Army interrogator. This was achieved without any trigger pulling, drone strikes, or enhanced interrogation. — History

22

Texas

A Texas mayor called the people in his town lazy and weak, then quit. Tim Boyd, who used to be mayor of Colorado City, Texas, wrote a post saying the strong will survive and the weak will perish' and utility services owe them nothing. Not long after, the post was — Source: KVIA

21

Christopher Reeves

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT THAT PARALYZED CHRISTOPHER REEVE, HBO AIRED A MOVIE STARRING REEVE IN A WHEELCHAIR. The movie was called Above Suspicion, and it was released on May 25, 1995. Reeves' horseback riding accident was on May 27, 1995. CRACKED.COM http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/n-1995.html — Source: 21 Eerily Specific Pop Culture Predictions That Came True

20

Trilobites

GRACKED.COM Trilobites lived on Earth for about 270 million years. That's longer than the time spent between the very first dinosaur and the present. (This is a specimen of Dicranurus monstrosus, not Cthulhu) — Source: 27 Facts That Will Shatter Your Perception Of Time

19

The Barrymores

Mr. Potter is related to Drew Barrymore. Lionel Barrymore, who played Potter, is Drew Barrymore's great-uncle. CRACKEDCoM — CBS

18

Goat Farms

WEIRD WORLD The state of Indiana shut down a goat farm that didn't have the right licenses. The farm wasn't licensed for commercial goat yoga or goat snuggling, both of which are activities it offered, so it had to shut down. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Sleep Paralysis

SLEEP PARAL YSIS FREEZES YOU AS NIGHTMARES TAKE OVER. RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING IT ... BY INDUCING IT. As one study's notes stated: She... was suddenly attacked by paralysis. She felt much stronger fear than ever before. She tried to fight the paralysis by turning over in bed. However, despite an attempt at turning, her paralysis did not cease. CRACKED.COM — Source: Disturbing Experiments Done By Real Scientists

16

Superstitions

CRACKED PROSHTAPULNIK A Bulgarian superstition, the proshtapulnik, has toddlers take their first steps towards a table with items symbolizing different professions to determine their future. It's like a baby shower, with family gathering to give gifts. — Free Plovdiv Tour / Peta Pixel

15

Tesla

WEIRD WORLD Because of a bug, the Tesla Model 3 farts very loudly at times. Apparently, the weird bug makes the car fart every time its doors were opened. CRACKED.GOM — Source

14

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence Of the Lambs was the first movie to be released on home video before winning the Best Picture Oscar. It was also the first ever horror mov

13

Bali

In Bali, indonesia, people celebrate the new year with 'Silent Day' That means no lighting fires or lights, no working, no entertainment, no traveling

12

Salamanders

Because of their highly sensitive skin, salamanders are used by scientists to estimate pollution severity. Salamander population levels can provide a good idea of the general health of an environment. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Catacombs

THE PARIS CATACOMBS HOLD MILLIONS OF SKELETONS. In the 18th century, the city moved human remains there from cemeteries to avoid an epidemic. Though w — For details, read The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth (Part 2)

10

Julia Garner

JULIA GARNER, MUSOPHOBIC CRACKED.COM You wouldn't think Ruth Langmore would be afraid of anything, but she has a serious phobia of mice. The scene that has her pick up a mouse by the tail caused a borderline panic attack, and a hand double was required to finish the scene. — Source: youtube

9

SoFi Stadium

CRACKED SoFi Stadium SoFi Stadium SAMSUNG of 2 LEVO 4/0 5/0 Alos ao- de ... THE MOST EXPENSIVE STADIUM IN THE WORLD HAS A LESS-THAN-IDEAL VISITING LOCKER ROOM. At $5 billion, The L.A Rams' Sofi Stadium is the most expensive stadium in the world. Raiders coach Jon Gruden said the visiting room is the most bizarre thing he's ever seen. You can't see anybody. It's like a maze. Whoever contorted this, I'd like to meet this guy. See what his idea was. — The Sports Rush

8

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek music was hardcore. Old-timey Greeks didn't leave any sheet music behind, but we have a good idea of what their tunes sounded like. Scholars have used a bunch of clues (poetry meter, word patterns, well-preserved instruments, and SO on) to reconstruct ancient Greek music. (And it flippin' slaps.) — More: We've Learned How Ancient Greek Music Sounded (And It Goes Hard)

7

Star Wars

CRACKED.COM Lightsaber combat is based on all forms of swordplay. Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard created the amazing lightsaber fights in the Star Wars prequels. Не basically came up with a new martial art by combining a ton of forms of sword fighting - and even things unrelated to swords, like tennis or tree-chopping. — Source

6

Rodney Dangerfield

Rodney Dangerfield CRACKED.COM Is Rodney still king of the one-liner? When I was born the doctor came out to the waiting room and said to my father, I'm very sorry. We did everything we could...but he pulled through. — Beer100

5

Dick Cheney

CRACKED.COM /FOX NEWS FOX NEWS Always a fan of unbiased news coverage, Dick Cheney's downtime requirements rider requests that all televisions be tuned to FOX News upon his arrival. — Source

4

Mountains

CRACKED THE K2 ASCENT DISPUTE The argument between three dudes over who was the first to climb the mountain K2 in 1954 raged for decades. It wasn't until 2004 that the whole thing was settled in court. — SMH / Climbing

3

Game of Thrones

In the books, Ramsay Bolton is somehow even more twisted. He killed at least one of his brothers, and he might have killed more His father, Roose, was sure that his other sons weren't safe as long as Ramsay lived. CRACKED.COM — Source: Vulture

2

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day Lewis insisted upon growing his own facial hair for the role of Daniel Plainview, threatening to quit the movie over the issue. Filming was halted for five days while he cultivated the specimen. GRACKED COM — Source

1

Robert Englund

BEFORE НЕ BECAME FREDDY KRUEGER, ROBERT ENGLUND WAS PAID TO THROW LEAVES AROUND ON THE SET of HALLOWEEN. Englund said he was conned by his roommate to work as a temporary set builder on the production of the 1978 film. CRACKED.COM — Source: 16 Facts About The Making Of Your Favorite Horror Movies

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