5 Clever Blink-and-You’ll-Miss-It Real-World Effects in Movies

5 Clever Blink-and-You’ll-Miss-It Real-World Effects in Movies

21 Feats for Which People Were Briefly Famous

21 Feats for Which People Were Briefly Famous

30 of the Most Insane Things People Have Seen at A Party

30 of the Most Insane Things People Have Seen at A Party

5 Ancient Entertainment Events That Would Still Make for A Pretty Good Saturday

5 Ancient Entertainment Events That Would Still Make for A Pretty Good Saturday

21 Parts of Modern Technology That Are Pure Scams

21 Parts of Modern Technology That Are Pure Scams

40 Hard-Nosed Bits of Trivia That Can Get Into Your Brain the Easy Way or the Hard Way

What’ll it be, hot shot?

40 Hard-Nosed Bits of Trivia That Can Get Into Your Brain the Easy Way or the Hard Way

April 01, 2025

Knock knock, little brains. We know you’re in there. Listen, we’re not leaving until all of these facts are in there, so you might as well just open up and let them in.

We don’t want to start cramming them in your ears, but if you don’t start letting them in right now, you leave us no choice.

40

The USSR

In 1966, the USSR put out a gas fire with a nuclear bomb. The fire had been burning in a gas well for three years, and they'd tried everything from capping the well to reducing the flow of gas. The bomb put out the fire in 23 seconds. The Soviets were so delighted, they did the same thing with four more gas fires over the years. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 13 Movie (And Other Cool Stuff) Now-You-Know Facts

39

Led Zeppelin

DRUMMER KEITH MOON, WHEN INVITED TO PLAY FOR A NEW BAND, THOUGHT THE IDEA WOULD GO OVER LIKE A LEAD ZEPPELIN. They changed the spelling because they didn't want people to use the wrong pronunciation of lead. CRACKED.COM http://www.classicbands.com/names.html — Source

38

Child Labor

CRACKED CHILD LABOR The amount of kids doing work instead of going to school has gone up to 160 million around the world, which is 8.4 million more than four years ago. And because of the coronavirus, even more children are in danger of having to work. — Unicef / NY Times

37

Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility was at first credited as being written By a Lady. CRACKED.COM Jane Austen didn't publish her first novel under her real name in 1811, and took care to conceal her identity. — Source: History Today

36

The Amazon

There are real, flesh-and-blood dogs with two noses in the Amazon rainforest. The Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound has a really good sense of smell, as you might expect, even though it's not terribly handsome, as one explorer said. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 13 Amazing Now-You-Know Facts About The Amazon Rainforest

35

Advent Calendars

Advent Calendars Deihnachts Kalender to CRACKED COM In the mid-1800s, German Lutherans made chalk marks on doors to count the days leading up to Christmas. The first printed advent calendar was created in 1908, inspired by the creator's mother's handmade version. — Origins Of 14 Christmas Traditions, Explained

34

Doom

Someone calculated just how fast the Doom guy is. Redditor u/Phytor has done the math on this long-debated issue. Не concluded that Mr. Doom Man weighs 1,204 lbs, and still manages to walk at a speed of 49.5 miles per hour. That's faster than Usain Bolt (on a motorbike). CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Random Facts to Make Your Life More Factual and/or Random

33

Hooters

Hooters used to operate an airline. Hooters Air got started in 2003, and every flight had two Hooters girls (who would come in from local restaurants). It folded after three years, and lost Hooters $40 million. — Source: Business Insider

32

Milk

MYTH: MILK BUILDS STRONG BE BONES. CRACKED.COM This myth started when schools were provided nutritional material that boasted the importance of dairy in your diet, when studies cannot link milk consumption with healthy living and especially stronger bones. Who gave them this material? The National Dairy Council.

31

Japan

In Japan, there are actual companies that can help you set up a new life. Yeah, kinda similar to the one in Breaking Bad, apparently - it's a thing, and there's even a word for people who want to escape: jouhatsu. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs had the chef at Apple's cafeteria study at Japan's Tsukiji Soba Academy. Jobs loved Japanese food, and he wanted the cafeteria chef to be able to make sashimi soba, a dish Jobs had created himself. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Louis XVI

During the French Revolution, they caught Louis XVI because GNAT his face was on money. BRE 17 NES s ASSIGNATS DES FRANCOIS NAT par le décr Avril 1790, sanctionné LOUISXVLROL T CU While running to the countryside, Louis and Marie Antoinette (both disguised) were stopped by a postmaster who thought he recognized Marie. Once he compared the guy with her to a 50-franc note, he was sure. Pretty soon, they were arrested, then beheaded. CRACKED COM — Source

28

Worms

Many berries have tiny worms in them that we're probably eating. CRACKED.COM Blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries have little transparent worms in them which eventually turn into fruit flies. The species Dro- sophila suzukii first appeared in the United States in 2008, and are safe to eat.

27

Minecraft

Minecraft is helping the United Nations develop living spaces. CRACKED.COM The Block by Block Foundation works with the game to help neglected urban spaces get an architectural upgrade. — Source

26

Lance Armstrong

Investing in Uber is what enabled Lance Armstrong to survive financially. Although he'd lost millions, his investment in Uber ballooned - when he invested, Uber's valuation was $3.7 million, and it later went to $120 billion. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Charlie Rose

Fallen Celebrities Then vs. Now CHARLIE ROSE hosted his eponymous talk show from 1991 to 2017. НЕ WAS FIRED FROM PBS AND CBS due to allegations of sexual harassment dating from 1991 to 2011. Не tried a comeback in 2022 by interviewing a billionaire. Sheesh, holding water to climate-collapsing obscene wealth sure is a great look, Charlie. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Meat

Meat sealed in a vacuum pack is naturally purple, they just color it red to make it look better. That's done because purple meat looks pretty weird to consumers, of course - so carbon monoxide, rosemary extract and/or nitrite are added. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig's whole body $9.5 MILLION CRACKED.COM Не took this policy out for 2008's Quantum of Solace. According to a stunt coordinator, he does a lot more than Pierce used to do. — Source

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22

China

In China, kids' video game time is strictly limited. On week days, minors can play online games up to 90 minutes per day, but they can't play at all between 10 PM and 8 AM. On weekends, they can play for up to three hours a day. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan with 8 ounces of weed. In 1980, on Wings' first tour of Japan, he spent 9 days in Tokyo's Narcotics Detention Center. Не said, I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything to smoke over there. The stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I'd take it with me. The tour was canceled and the band broke up. CRACKED — Source / GQ

20

Monarch Butterflies

CRACKED THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY: 2,500 MILES OF FLAPPING. The monarch butterfly is famous for its yearly trip of 2,500 miles across North and South America. Disappointingly, it's now on the endangered species list. — IUCN

19

Pizza

In 2014, then-Mayor BILL de BLASIO was laughed at for using a knife and fork to eat pizza at a Staten Island pizzeria. (It's usually eaten with your hands in New York City, something you'd think the mayor would have known). CRACKED — Dennis Van Tine/ABACAUSA (via The New York Times)
The New York Times

18

Fort Taber Park

Huge and abandoned A Civil War-era fort complex Fort Taber Park in Massachusetts has old military buildings, like a big granite fort and four smaller artillery hills. Those are 19th-century structures, but you can see an outline of the original, 18th-century wooden structure too. CRACKED — Allan Wood Photography/Shutterstock
Atlas Obscura

17

The Pens

Product Placement Sudden Death THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS FREE This movie, made by the people who owned the team, had current and former players, local announcers, and even the team's mascot, Iceburgh. Iceburgh is beheaded in the movie, but it isn't the real mascot, it's a terrorist wearing the costume. CRACKED — Universal Pictures
7 Times Movie Product Placement Backfired Hilariously

16

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

ICONIC '90s FRONTMEN THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES Featured in Clueless, they went platinum in 1997 with The Impression That I Get. In 2022, Barrett was fired as the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live after he reportedly produced right-wing anti-vax videos. The band broke up five days later. CRACKED — TheMightyMightyBossToneS/YouTube
The A.V. Club

15

Tom Cruise

CRACKED VE WITH Rec ТОМ CRUISE Born on the Fourth of July Tom Cruise's performance in Born on the Fourth of July earned him his first Oscar nomination, showcasing his ability to modulate rage and convey emotion through a powerful story about an injured Vietnam veteran. — EW

14

Forrest Gump

The original author of the Forrest Gump novel wrote a sequel to the book. The Rollicking Sequel to the #1 New York Times Bestseller Forrest Gump GRACKED.COM It was titled Gump and Co, and in it Gump crashes the Exx- on Valdez, helps de- stroy the Berlin Wall, and fights in Opera- tion Desert Storm. — Simon and Schuster

13

Taco Tuesday

Taco John's owns the term Taco Tuesday. They have issued hun- dreds of cease and desist letters demanding com- panies stop holding Taco Tuesdays, which we feel goes against the spirit of the event. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Chowhound

12

Orphans

Colleges received orphaned practice babies. CRACKED.COM In the early to mid-1900s, orphaned babies were lent out to college home eco- nomics programs where they were taken care of en- tirely by groups of stu- dents in order to learn child-rearing skills. — Stitcher

11

Tippi Hedren

Alfred Hitchcock Не harassed actresses outside the set. In one infamous case, The Birds' Tippi Hedren rejected Hitchcock's advances, and he reacted by throwing live birds at her for five days. After shooting was over, he proceeded to ruin her career by blacklisting her for years. CRACKED.COM — More: 12 Classic Movie Moments Made Possible by Abuse and Murder

10

Schindler’s List

steven spielberg refused a paycheck for schindler's List. The movie being a close and personal project for Spielberg, he refused to take a salary for it. His share of the profits went to the Shoah Foundation, a history archive for the Holocaust and other tragic events. GRACKED.COM — Source: /Film

9

The Nanny

The Italian dub of The Nanny got rid of Nanny Fine's Jewish heritage. The Italian La Tata (lit. The Nanny) was just a redub of the American original, but it made significant changes to the story, making Fran Fine an Italian immigrant and removing any mentions of her or her family's Jewish heritage. CRACKED.COM — Source: 5 Wildly Wacked-Out Foreign Takes On Pop Culture

8

Marcus Rashford

Manchester United star player Marcus Rashford went hungry as a kid. Не explained, My mum, she did the best she could. I remember she used to go to a shop called Poundworld and everything was under a pound. We would schedule our allowance. So we would get seven yoghurts and we could only have one yoghurt a day.KED.com — Source

7

The Cold War

In 1992, President 995 19 993 George H.W. Bush met 199 with Russian President 1999 Boris Yeltsin. 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 the 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 At the meeting, they 5 1996 1997 994 1995 formally declared that 992 1993 the Cold 1993 War is over. 1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 NOW YOU KNOW: THE '90s CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Amazing, Now-You-Know Things That Happened In The 1990s

6

Star Trek

Geordi LaForge was based on a disabled Star Trek superfan. His name was George LaForge, he'd suffered from muscular dystrophy, and he showed up all the time at fan conventions. Не made friends with Gene Roddenberry, and Roddenberry remembered him when he was creating characters for The Next Generation. CRACKED.COM — To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe

5

Prince

Prince CRACKED.COM The Artist preferred everything in his dressing room be wrapped in cling wrap, SO he could unwrap it himself. Bubble wrap sounds like it'd be more satisfying, but what do I know? — 16 Oddly Specific Celeb Demands

4

Acne

Having acne makes you more likely to finish college. Fi It also makes you more likely to have a better high school GPA, and better grades in high school English, math, science, and history. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED COM — Source: University of Chicago

3

Bill Hader

CRACKEDCON Bill Hader's most memorable moment on Saturday Night Live was playing in a punk band with Dave Grohl. In a sketch about aging rock stars, H

2

Malaria

There is an upside to malaria. Scientists have discovered that people who were infected with the malaria virus were less likely to succumb to Ebola an

1

Hot Fuzz

POLICE T FUZZ (HE Hott Fuzz became Hot Fuzz SO Simon Pegg wouldn't be asked in Q&As about the second 't.' CRACKED COM

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