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Surprisingly fresh facts!

40 Random Bits of Trivia We Popped Out of A Rusty Old Can of Beans

February 12, 2025

Not that we’re pessimistic or anything, but it seemed reasonable to assume that a rusty old label-less can wouldn’t provide us with anything other than a rotten, room-filling odor. We know that we probably should’ve thrown the can away the moment we found it in the back of the office cupboard, but we were desperate for facts, and thought we’d try our luck.

That's how chock-full of facts we are around here. Sure, they’re a little smelly, but they’re so good that you might not even notice.

40

Fish

A species of fish can basically completely hibernate for up to five years in total. The African lungfish doesn't need food or water during that time and lives in a state of suspended animation, only waking up when water is around. CRACKED.COM — Source: Futurity

39

Soccer

WORST SOCCER PLAYER ERSON Ali Dia This guy tricked his way onto a professional soccer team in England in 1996. Не said he was related to a famous soccer player, even though he had never played professionally. Не was so bad that he was taken out after less than an hour. CRACKED — Infobae
5 Pro Athletes Who Are Hilariously Bad At Sports

38

Music and A.I.

CRACKED MUSIC Companies are now using AI to create recommendation feeds on music platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify. This could lead to artists making shorter, snappier songs to reach more people. — Soundcloud / Pitchfork

37

Memorial Beer

CRACKED UNOPENED BEER AT MEMORIAL PUB: TED'S TRIBUTE TO WW2. Ted d'Auvergne was a Waihao Downs farmer who left a bottle of beer at the Waihao Forks Hotel when he set off for War in 1939. Sadly, he never returned and his bottle remains unopened at the pub as a memorial to all those who lost their lives in service. HOTEL FORKS NO NATURAL WAIHAO FORKS HOTEL XXXX Home BEER of The If 1 MUS - Bottle is — Source

36

Vincent van Gogh

A COUPLE RENOVATING THEIR HOUSE FOUND A CACHE OF VAN GOGH'S PAPERS STASHED UNDER GRAU THE FLOORBOARDS. UNION ASSURANCE OFFICE, A.D. I714, FIRE U L& No

35

Ed Sullivan

Ed Sullivan took heat for kissing Pearl Bailey on the cheek & shaking Nat King Cole's hand. He also had a Ford executive thrown out of the theater for — Know More

34

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs

GRACKED.COM national MCLS Nathan's Famous used fake doctors to sell hot dogs. When Nahum Handwerker opened his first hot dog stand in 1916, he used a few publicity tricks - including planting fake customers dressed in white coats. People assumed these were doctors from a nearby hospital - and if these cheap hot dogs were good enough for doctors, then they couldn't be all that bad. — Source

33

Horses

Horses might have been imported to North America, but they're actually American. The species evolved in North America, but got hunted to extinction by humans, except for a few horses that crossed into Asia and then Europe. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: LiveScience

32

Zoos

Britain's Colchester Zoo uses mirrors to help flamingos breed in captivity. Flamingos apparently aren't too enthusiastic about breeding when there's not a lot of them around, but mirrors make it look like there's a big flock. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Parks and Recreation

Every episode of Parks & Recreation has 60 hours of raw footage. ! For every 22-minute episode, they shot roughly 60 hours of bloopers, improv, and scenes that were written but would later need to be cut. CRACKED.COM — ource: Parks & Recreation': 15 Behind-The-Scenes Facts

30

Cowboys

At least on some trails in Texas, about 25% of all cowboys you'd see were Black. Turns out, Black cowboys were a lot more plentiful in the Old West than Western shows and movies would lead you to conclude. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Alan Ruck

CRACKED ALAN RUCK (CAMERON IN FERRIS BUELLER) HAD TO WORK AT SEARS AFTER THE FILM'S RELEASE. Не only made $40,000 from the film, and had to take a warehouse job at Sears in between other gigs. — Source

28

SNL

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM WE NEARLY GOT AN AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO AS A FULL-LENGTH MOVIE. A G It was supposed to star Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin, but things just didn't work out - apparently, the stumbling block was the ownership of the characters. — Source

27

Sleep

CRACKED The answer to why we sleep, according to neuroscientists? To clean our brains, of course. Neuroscientists believe they have found the answer to why we sleep: cleaning the brain. When we slumber, a network of transport channels through our brains expands by 60%, increasing the flow of cerebral spinal fluid. This surge clears away metabolic waste products, such as ß amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease. — Science / Slate

26

Ghost Sightings

CRACKED GEORGE V Prince George V, then serving as a midshipman on the H.M.S. Bacchante, saw the legendary ghost ship the Flying Dutchman in Australian waters back in 1881. The Dutchman is a harbinger of doom but, as it happens, the prince survived. — Marine Insight / Britannica

25

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm voiced a 0OO sentient. toilet. ORACKED COM In the episode O.T. The Outside Toilet, Gene discovers an advanced, talking toilet in the woods and VOWS to protect it from Max Flush, the toilet hunter.

24

Lyndon B. Johnson

The first African American presidential secretary was announced on a game show. $ MR. DALY Instead of letting the world know about his appointment through a boring press conference, Lyndon Johnson wanted to use What's My Line?, a hit game show where people guessed what job guests had. The secretary, Geraldine Whittington, said OK, and history was made. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Historical Facts That Don't Get Mentioned

23

Jeff Gordon

JEFF GORDON drives for Team Kwik-E-Mart 6 -GRACKED.com In one of the quickest Simpsons cameos ever, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon crosses through frame with a casual Hey, Moe. The bartender accurately observes, I bet we never see him again. — EW

22

The Muppets

Muppets started the trend of post-credits scenes. 1979's The Muppets Movie kickstarted the trend in the '80s, which Ferris Bueller's Day Off was a part of ---and Ferris inspired the post-credits scenes in the MCU. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Family Guy

FAMILY GUY'S 2005 KEVIN SPACEY IS A SEXUAL PREDATOR JOKE GOT BY FOX CENSORS BECAUSE IT WAS AKNOWN RUMOR AT THE TIME. Reportedly, Fox Standards and Practices is lax with two things public rumors and things so outrageous they have no credibility. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

20

Camels

Camels' Humps Store Water CRACKED.COM Unfortunately, no, camels aren't built like some sort of weird living Super Soaker. Their humps are filled with regular old fat. It's their unique blood cells that let them store more water than other animals. Also, Joe Camel isn't real, and they HATE cigarettes. — Business Insider

19

Falling TV Injuries

In the US, there are almost 12,000 injuries per year due to falling TVs. To compare, there were only 57 unprovoked shark attack bites worldwide in 2020. Be more afraid of your beloved TV showing JAWS than a shark attack. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE There was a subplot about Harold and Kumar's friends going to Krispy Kreme, but the company refused to allow their name to be used, so it had to be changed to a nonexistent food chain. We lost what could've been a more perfect film. — Source: Chicago Tribune

17

King of the Hill

KING OF HILL THE One of the most memorable one-time characters was the flirty policewoman who CRAME put the moves on Hank. She was voiced by Kathy Bates. — Source: 37 Celebs Who Secretly Voiced Animated Characters

16

Joker

When Arthur climbs into his fridge in Joker, that was all Joaquin Phoenix. They just set up cameras and lighting around the set so he could do anything he wanted and it would look good, and he climbed inside the fridge. CRACKED.COM — Source: IndieWire

15

Figs

CRACKED FIGS ARE BELIEVED TO BE THE OLDEST FRUIT CULTIVATED BY HUMANS. They were introduced to our agriculture systems over 11,000 years ago. — Nitr/Shutterstock
The New York Times

14

Banned Books

Kurt Vonnegut MOST BANNED BOOK SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE CRACKED COM On the coarse language in his books, Vonnegut said, And we all know, too, that those words really don't damage children much. They didn't damage us when we were young. It was evil deeds and lying that hurt us. — Source: Carnegie Mellon Library

13

Bosnia

GRACKED BOSNIA'S FESTIVAL OF SCRAMBLED EGGS. The U.S. might celebrate spring with a spring cleaning, but Zenica, Bosnia, kicks off the season with Čimburijada - a tribute to scrambled eggs. They cook them in a large pan in a city park, then spend the day partying, BBQing and jumping in the river. — Source

12

Bootleggers

During Prohibition, bootleggers would try to mimic the tastes of different drinks with strange ingredients. For instance, to imitate bourbon, they would add dead rats and rotten meat. Juniper oil was used for gin, and creosote for scotch's smoky flavor. CRACKED.COM

11

World War II

After WWII, a special force of Jewish soldiers hunted down and executed former Nazis. They operated until 1960, and eliminated hundreds of escaped Nazis. Their main target: high-ranking SS officers who were never prosecuted for their crimes. tHEy callEd tHEMSElVES tHE avENGERS. GRACKED.COM http://www. express CO uk/expressyourself/93194/The-real-avengers- The-Jewish-survivors-who-hunted-the-Nazis — Source: 21 Long-Game Revenge Schemes

10

Twinkies

MYTH: TWINKIES WILL LAST FOREVER, GUYS! NEVER DATE: IPIRATION FACT8 THEY ACTUALLY LAST ABOUT A MOnTH. The urban legend goes that Twinkies aren't made

9

Shin A-lam

If you challenge a ruling, you can't leave the court FENCING www.allsta CRACKED.COM When Shin A-lam contested a controversial call at the 2012 Olympics, she was forced to stand on the piste while the call was reviewed, which took 75 minutes. She was essentialy forced to filibuster for a fair call, and was ultimately dragged off by security.

8

McDonald’s

McDonald's suggested its low-wage earning workers take smaller bites of food to feel more full: McDonald's RESTAURANT LOVIN IS GREATER THAN WATIN McDonald's The employee website offered other resources, such as to quit complaining to reduce stress and a sample budget that assumed employees worked 70 hours a week and paid $600 in rent. CRACKED.COM — 15 Impressively Evil Things McDonald's Has Done

7

Satellites

Ariel-1, Britain's very first satellite, was put into orbit on April 26, 1962. It was accidentally destroyed weeks later after the US military detonated a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon called Starfish-Prime in the upper atmosphere. GRACKED.COM — Source

6

Jeremy Clarkson

CRACKED TOP GEAR JEREMY CLARKSON Jeremy Clarkson got the boot from Top Gear after getting into a fight with a producer. It started because the producer told Clarkson the hotel kitchen was closed and he couldn't get a hot meal. — Source

5

Lipstick

Most brands of lipstick contain fish scales. Pearl essence or pearlescence found in lipstick is a byproduct of fish scales, mostly from commercially fished herring. Skin creams also contain cerebrosides, the brain tissue of livestock. CRACKED.COM — Huffington Post

4

Bridges

GRACKED LIVING BRIDGES EXIST IN INDIA. For centuries, people in the state of Meghalaya have made living root bridges out of Ficus elastica trees. These bridges are created by guiding the roots to grow together. — Source

3

King Herod

WORST HISTORICAL CHILDCARE A SPECIAL DAY FOR BEATING KIDS In Medieval England, kids were given a beating on December 28th to remind them of how cruel King Herod was. That was the day that King Herod commanded for all babies under two years old to be killed. CRACKED — Giotto/Wiki Commons
History Learning Site

2

St. Nick

St. Nick had a crooked nose From studying the remains of the man behind Santa Claus, researchers know jolly ol' St. Nick had a badly broken nose that healed asymmetrically. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Tropicana

CRACKED CO Tropicana installed an artificial sun in Trafalgar Square to promote their fruit juice. The 'sun' produced 4 million lumens of light (imagi

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