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40 Random Bits of Trivia That Erupted Seductively From Inside a Giant Birthday Cake

You’re about to have a very happy birthday indeed

40 Random Bits of Trivia That Erupted Seductively From Inside a Giant Birthday Cake

March 03, 2025

If you happen to be reading this on your birthday, you don’t know how lucky you are! Whatever your friends and family had planned for you is nothing compared to this gift of a list. And hey, even if it’s not your birthday, you can always bookmark this bad boy for a later date.

As you’ve probably already noticed, these lists stay active on the site for quite some time. So year after year, it’ll be the gift that keeps on giving!

40

McDonald’s

The first McDonald's drive-thru opened next to a military base in Arizona. 5 McDonald's SERVICE SYSTEM HAMBURGERS McDonald's 25 have Sold OVER 1 MILLION Soldiers at the base couldn't show up in public in a work or duty uniform, so a drive-thru was set up to allow them to buy at McDonald's anyway. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

39

The Breatharians

CRACKED SHADY TIES MICHELLE PFEIFFER AND THE BREATHARIANS The group claims to get all their nourishment from the sun. They were very controlling, Pfeiffer said. I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially draining. When researching cults for a film, she realized she was in one, and left. — Source

38

Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin stepped in when a computer docking system failed during a space flight. GRACKED.COM On NASA's Gemini XII flight, the computer docking system failed and Buzz Aldrin success- fully calculated the dock- ing trajectory using a sex- tant and a slide rule. — Source

37

3 Musketeers

HALLOWEEN treats moskeleers 70 ALORIES 2MMusketeers you are appreciated 3 AR Musketeeis 3 Musketeers bar Raise The Thanks FOR keep iT 100 Musketeer being you 160 uou 3 MUSKETEERS BARS GOT THAT NAME because they had vanilla-, strawberry-, and chocolate-flavored bars in each package. They'd later just stick to chocolate, as it was the most popular of the three. CRACKED.COM — ZikG/Shutterstock, Marshmallowz/Shutterstock
OldTimeCandy.com

36

Redheads

We call them redheads instead of orangeheads because we didn't have a word for orange until the 500s Red was one of the first color words, but the word orange didn't show up in the English language until after the arrival of the fruit to England. CRACKED.COM — Source: All Things Linguistic

35

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift grew up on Christmas tree farm She spent some of childhood on Pine Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania, which she honors in her Christmas single aptly called Christmas Tree Farm. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

34

The Man in the High Castle

Amazon needed a way to promote its new series. They went with Nazi symbols on the subway. The series was called The Man In The High Castle and worked

33

Checkers

Marion Franklin Tinsley beat a computer program at checkers by looking 64 moves ahead. Considered to be the greatest checkers player who ever lived, Tinsley beat the program Chi- nook by picking the only available winning strategy after Chinook made a fatal error during gameplay. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

32

The Dishwasher

The dishwasher was invented by a WIDOWED SOCIALITE Josephine Garis Cochran was a socialite from Ohio who had the idea to invent a machine that would make washing dishes easier so her servants wouldn't chip her china. She was successful, and in 1886, was granted a U.S. patent for her invention. CRACKED — Leszek Glasner/Shutterstock
United States Patent and Trademark Office

31

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves was in an awful movie because someone forged his signature. Keanu never signed up to play a serial killer in 2000's The Watcher but some friend signed up for him. Keanu couldn't prove that wasn't his signature on the contract, so he was forced to make a movie he wanted nothing to do with. — More: Keanu Reeves Was Forced Into Making His Worst Movie

30

COVID-19

CRACKED COVID-19 CASES SOARED AS MILLIONS LACKED ADEQUATE HEAT. In the UK, around 10% of the 63,000 extra deaths in 2020-21 were linked to not having enough heat. In the U.S., one study found that colder weather can lead to more COVID-19 cases. — Freer/Shutterstock,
MIA Studio/Shutterstock
BBC

29

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Heath Ledger's performance was partially inspired by Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. Not only did Ledger use the character of Alex to help form his speech pattern as the Joker, but kept clippings and pictures of the character in his Joker diary for inspiration. CRACKED.COM — Mental Floss

28

He-Man

He-Man was a toy before it was a TV show. When trying to sell the toy a Mattel sales rep told distributors a TV show was in the works- which was a lie. However, the lie sold the toy- forcing Mattel to create a TV show around the action figure. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Edward Scissorhands

The lead role in Edward Scissorhands was originally offered to Tom Cruise. CRACKED.COM Cruise declined because he wanted a happier ending. Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, John Cusack, William Hurt, Robert Downy Jr., and Michael Jackson had all been considered. — Source

26

Condiment King

THERE WAS A BATMAN VILLAIN NAMED CONDIMENT KING. CRACKED Не was defeated by slipping on his own ketchup. — Fandom

25

Mirrors

A Chinese superstition says having mirrors in a couple's room adds another person to the relationship. GRAGKED.COM A mirror facing the bed pro- motes intrusion of a third party into the couple's rela- tionship and possibly encour- ages infidelity, because the reflection of the mirror dou- bles the energy and luck of those sleeping on the bed. — Source

24

Elisha Gray

This is Elisha Gray, inventor of the 5 variable resistance telephone. cross the bottom of A box B ). G piece was Hello to the of the The were w which Before variable resistance, voices transmitted via the water reviel V telephone line were garbled, now water also was Alexander Graham Bell the made as in the ram (Jig 1). bribed a patent officer into the boket named Zenas Wilber murina to keep the of the voice was long planed me an eye out for patent ble from-S- which applications related to the ... talked into the telephone. When Gray's

23

Superman

SUPERMAN COMICS PREDICTED THE ATOMIC BOMB. MEANWHILE, IN A SECRET UNDER- GROUND WORKSHOP, AN OLD ENEMY OF A Superman SUPERMAN CHUCKLES TO HIMSELF... comic from 1945 SUCCESS AT LAST! THE MOST POTENT WEAPON EVER INVENTED showed Lex IS MINE-PROVED AND PERFECTED- READY TO BRING ME WHATEVER Luthor creating an I DESIRE! outlandish new device called an atomic bomb, to instigate chaos in the city of Metropolis. It was so NOTHING CAN LET'S SURVIVE THE SEE! on-the-nose, the BLAST OF THIS ATOMIC BOMB! Defense Department ordered DC Comics to pull the story. Just months later, the U.S. nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. — Source

22

Sugar

Sugar is not the only thing that causes cavities. You may think that avoiding candy is enough to protect yourself against cavities. However,arbohydrat

21

DNA Tests

OOH Taking an at-home DNA test can destroy your military career. If you're a member of the armed forces, a 23andMe test can cause worse than awkward family conversations. The tests can find genetic markers for medical conditions that'd get you booted out of the military, where you are not protected by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. CRACKED COM — Source

20

Bill Paxton

When Bill Paxton died in 2017, storm chaser fans paid tribute to his role in Twister. Forn Colins Colorado Prnbi LDoCk On their Spotter Network, they — Source: Variety

19

The Neverending Story

CRACKED There were three Neverending Story films made, all with totally different casts, the last barely related to the original book. While there were high hopes it would kickstart an enormous German-based fantasy movie empire, things didn't quite pan out that way. — Source / The Guardian

18

Forks

The Italian church said forks were a tool of the debil. CRACKED.COM When forks made their way to Italy in the 11th century, rich people started collecting them, but the church insisted that actually using them was an affront to God. Man was meant to twirl his spaghetti, ostensibly, by jabbing his fingers into the bowl and walking circles around the table. — Ancient Pages

17

Harvard

Harvard has a book bound in human skin. The doctor who had Des destinees de l'ame bound said A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 19 Spooky-As-Hell Now-You-Know Facts

16

Smoke-free Hong Kong

CRACKED HONG KONG: GLARING ENCOURAGED. In Hong Kong, people are now encouraged to give smokers disapproving looks in an effort to make the city smoke-free. — Sky News / VOA News

15

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

During the filming of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Jeffrey Wright gifted Jennifer Lawrence a Tiffany & Co. box. But instead of being filled with jewe

14

Ghana

Ghana banned a single Boeing 747 that has been plagued with mechanical issues. DELTA CRACKED.COM The 25-year-old plane had to turn around on its way to Ghana's capital, return- ing to NYC after a five hour flight to nowhere. The same plane had to turn around on its way to Prague the previous day. — One Meal At A Time

13

Landing Strips

Each time a plane lands, 1 to 1.5 pounds of rubber are left on the runway The rubber needs to be removed regularly to create friction necessary for landing. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Zippers

CRACKED.COM YOU HAVE UNZIPPED A YKK LATELY. YKK If you're wearing anything with a zipper right now, it's very likely the letters YKK are stamped on it. The Japan-based YKK Group makes about half the zippers in the world. — Source

11

Corkscrews

Product CORKSCREWS Original BULLET REMOVER Purpose Bullets used to commonly get stuck in guns, and people needed a safe way to dislodge them, which is — Read More: The 5 Most Insane Original Uses For Famous Products

10

Cars

Cars will lead to teen sex! So feared parents in the 1920s, along with thinking cars would make teens disobedient and turn them less religious. To be fair, these parents were -percent correct. — Source: American Quarterly

9

Yu Gwan-sun

In 1919, at the age of 16, Yu Gwan-sun fought for Korean independence, protesting Japanese colonial rule. She was sent to prison, where she organized a large-scale protest a year later. She kept fighting for independence despite torture which eventually led to her death. top She's been called the Korean and Joan of Arc. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

8

Squid

GIANT SQUIDS' EYES ARE BIGGER THAN BASKETBALLS Scientists believe they may have giant eyes to help them detect their giant predator, the sperm whale, while in the darkness of underwater. CRACKED.COM — NPR

7

Bank Robbers

WEIRD WORLD In Minneapolis, robbers tried to hold up a bank with a vial of HIV. It's not really clear if there was HIV in the vial, and the FBI is investigating everything. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Paul Ryan

PAUL RYAN WAS HIS HIGH SCHOOL'S PROM KING. The former speaker of the United States House of Representatives was also voted the biggest brown-noser in his class. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Atlantic

5

Space

IN MOVIES, SHIPS TOUR COLORFUL NEBULAE. BUT SPACE IS ALMOST ENTIREL Y EMPTY. You'll generally be looking out at nothing. Even if you stare right at one of the few sights, it'll never look like the cool colorful photos from the Hubble telescope. NASA adds those colors to depict types of atoms detected by different filters. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Dodgeball

They Originally Lost In The First Script C e Average CRACKED.COM de In the original ending to the film, Thuber had the Average Joes losing the tournament. But in addition to that, Steve The Pirate steals a treasure chest from a Treasure Island ship to give to the team. This is why the money at the film's end is a treasure chest. — FilmSchoolRejects

3

Birds

CRACKED SCIENTISTS GOT A BUNCH OF BIRDS DRUNK. FOR SCIENCE. It was to see if that made them worse at singing. (It did! Duh.) — Source

2

Jaws

A MAN WAS ALMOST EATEN BY THE SHARK FROM JAWS. While riding the ride based on the film, a man fell in and was almost devoured by the giant robotic shark. CRACKED.COM — More: A Man Was Almost Eaten By The Shark From 'Jaws' ... The Ride

1

Unfortunate Product Names

AYDS CRACKED.COM Made to aid your weight loss regimen, this diet pill's name couldn't survive an epidemic, no matter how hard the company denied it being a problem. — Source: The New York Times

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