12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Sunday, March 23, 2025
You’re a Hope man! Your grandfather did The Tug, your father did The Tug and I’ll be darned if you’re not gonna do The Tug!
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Manhattan Runs on Steam Power
While most cities around the globe have moved on to hot water, Manhattan still has an archaic, city-wide web of steam pipes for heating and cleaning purposes. The 105-mile network heats 90 million square feet of industrial space, 700 square feet of commercial space and 1.8 billion square feet of residential space.
The Soviets Are the Only Ones Crazy Enough to Fire a Gun in Space
NASA has never run a test involving firearms in space, but Russia was very curious in the 1970s. In 1975, they set up a rapid-fire cannon on the Salyut-3 space station, programming it to fire off 20 shells as it deorbited. It’s unclear if they learned anything beyond “gun works.”
Dolphins Surrounded the Capsule That Brought Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Home
There’s footage of dolphins surrounding the two astronauts when they splashed down after their 286-day ordeal. The Soviets used to carry guns to and from space for a similar reason — in case bears circled their capsules in the Russian tundra.
The Earth Will Be Consumed by the Sun, Right? Not So Fast…
Astronomers have observed a rocky planet orbiting a white dwarf at approximately the same distance we orbit our Sun, suggesting it’s possible for our planet to survive the dramatic explosion that’ll occur when the Sun dies.
Two Guys With the Same Name Went on a Crime Spree Together
Two British men named Bernie McDonagh teamed up on a 10-day crime spree for some reason, driving a Lexus around town and stealing things like watches, a necklace and a TV.
A German Man Evaded a Speeding Ticket by Wearing a Cookie Monster Costume
Police are trying to identify a person caught on a speed camera wearing a full-body Cookie Monster costume behind the wheel. If located, the driver faces a $44 fine.
A Missing Dog Returned Like a Cartoon Character Floating Across a Room on the Wafting Scent of a Delicious Sausage
When a couple lost their chihuahua in a field, they spent the next five days camping out and cooking sausages nonstop, hoping to catch her attention. Penny the chihuahua showed up on the fifth day, which happened to be her birthday.
A 127-Year-Long Tug-of-War
Hope College’s annual freshman-versus-sophomore tug-of-war, sometimes called The Pull or The Tug, has been going on since at least 1898. Rare pauses in the tradition include world wars and COVID.
Quantifying the Most Haunted Roads in the World
Car rental service SIXT looked at Google and TikTok searches combining road names and phrases like “ghost” and “haunted.” By those metrics, the most haunted road in the world is South Africa’s R33. Stateside, New Jersey’s Clinton Road comes in at number one (number two in the world), followed by Florida’s Interstate 4 and Wisconsin’s Bray Road.
A Radio Station Rigged New Zealand’s Fish of the Year Competition
Two afternoon radio hosts put their thumbs on the scale and encouraged their listeners to vote for the blobfish as the fish of the year. It paid off, winning by just 300 votes.
Another Weird Fish Constantly Licks the Ocean Floor With Its Six Tongue-Legs
The sea robin’s body and face are pretty average, as far as fish go. But when it moves, it appears to scramble across the seafloor with its six spindly legs. They’re covered in organs similar to our taste buds that can detect prey and other organic matter when they’re thrust down into the sand.
The Human Race Underwent a Trial Separation on a Species-Wide Scale
A new genetic study has concluded that humans split into two distinct populations about 1.5 million years ago, but then started intermingling again about 300,000 years later. We’ve been happily canoodling together for the past 1.2 million years.
