38 Astute Bits of Trivia That Are Pickin’ Up What You’re Puttin’ Down

These know exactly what your brain wants — and needs
38 Astute Bits of Trivia That Are Pickin’ Up What You’re Puttin’ Down

Want random facts? Say no more. These already know which ones to dole out to your brain. They’ve taken a page out of the social media algorithm’s book and began tailoring fact topics to you and only you. 

Cus you’re our special little fact-seeker, aren’t you?

Nintendo

Nintendo sold more Switch consoles in its first year than Wii U consoles in its entire lifetime. SWITCH NINTENDO SWITCH In late 2017, the Nintendo Switch was the fastest sell- ing console in US history, and in November 2018 it was the fastest selling of all the 8th generation con- soles in the US. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Ford

Ford once created a vehicle made out of plant materials. Ford's 1941 biological car was made of soybean, wheat, hemp, flax and ra- mie fibers in a soy-based phenolic resin that weighed 1,000 pounds less than a steel car. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Smell

Losing one's sense of smell strongly predicts death within five years. The loss of sense of smell predicts death more accu- rately than a diagnosis of cancer, heart failure or lung disease, the only oth- er common cause of pre- dicting it more accurately being severe liver damage. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Wealth

70% of millionaires do not consider themselves wealthy. $5 million is the level at which most rich people feel they have no con- straints on activities, ac- cording to a survey of 4,500 affluent investors by UBS. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Turtles

The last surviving witness to the Crimean war was a turtle. Timothy the tortoise served as a mascot on HMS Queen during the bombardment of Sevas- topol in 1854. She (yes, Timothy was a girl) died in 2004, at age 160. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Razors

Hickam's dictum is a counterargument to Occam's razor in the medical profession. LORIO While Occam's razor sug- gests a doctor should as- sume the simplest solution - а single cause for multi- ple symptoms, Hickam's dictum states: A patient can have as many diseases as he damn well pleases. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Platypuses

Platypuses and Echidna do not have stomachs. Its gullet connects di- rectly to its intestines. There's no sac in the middle that secrete powerful acids and di- gestive enzymes. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Russia

Russians used a biplane during WWII that was purposefully slow. 28 The Polikarpov Po - 2, used on the Eastern Front, was so slow that its maximum speed was the stall speed of Ger- man planes, making it hard to target. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Harry Potter

Helena Bonham Carter accidentally ruptured Neville Longbottom's eardrum. CRACKED.COM While filming Harry Pot- ter and the Order of the Phoenix, she accidental- ly perforated Matthew Lewis' eardrum when she stuck her wand into his ear canal.

XXX

The 'XXX' on alcohol bottles in cartoons denotes how many times it was distilled. CRACKED.COM Moonshine alcohol jugs are typically marked with 'XXX' in cartoons because it needs to be distilled 3 times to reach nearly 100% pure alcohol. Each 'X' sig- nifies a distillation.

Uranus

Uranus and Neptune belong to a separate category of giant planets called Ice Giants. CRACKED.COM This is because less than 20% of their mass is made up of hydrogen and helium. True gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn are over 90% hydrogen and helium.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe would have been the first mainstream star to go topless in a Hollywood picture if her last movie was finished. GRAGKED.COM Something's Got to Give was shot in 1962. It was Monroe's last work, but from the beginning its production was disrupted by her personal troubles, and after her death the film was abandoned.

Condors

Conservation efforts to save the California condor resulted in the extinction of the condor louse. CRACKED.COM The California condor louse exclusively parasitiz- es the California condor. During efforts to save the condor from extinction, it became extinct itself due to all condors being de- loused.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams made an audience member laugh so hard that they were taken away in an ambulance. CRACKED.COM When Robin Williams ар- peared on 'Inside the Actors Studio' in 2001, one mem- ber of the audience devel- oped a hernia from laughing so hard and was taken to a hospital after the show.

Credit Cards

Unwed women couldn't get a credit card up until 1974. po BNL CLASSIC GRUPPO BNP PARIBAS 1922 ١٩٩٩ 5000 icoPo 60 VALID THRU MasterCard ٥٤/١ ДЕДА B VISA CRACKED.COM Banks could refuse to issue a credit card to a woman unless her husband co-signed for the card. A di- vorced woman was consid- ered too much of a risk be- cause she couldn't keep a marriage under control.

The BBC

A torture chamber in 1984 was based on a BBC conference room. CRACKED.COM George Orwell named Room 101 in his novel after a conference room at the BBC head- quarters where he had to sit through numer- ous tedious meetings.

Dating

WEIRD WORLD Because of a blind date, one woman was locked down in a random apartment. She went on a blind date with a guy, and then a snap lockdown in Zhengzhou, China, hit - - and she had to stay at his place for days. CRACKED.COM

FedEx

WEIRD WORLD FedEx sees the need for anti-missile lasers on its cargo jets. FedEx Express They want to put a missile defense system that directs infrared laser energy toward an incoming missile, in an effort to interrupt the missile's tracking of the aircraft's heat. CRACKED.COM

Restaurants

WEIRD WORLD A Canadian restaurant was accepting dog photos instead of vaccine proof. It turns out that staff, who should have been accepting either proof of vaccination or a negative test, were accepting dog photos -- so the restaurant got shut down. CRACKED.COM

World War II

A WWII submarine had a reindeer onboard for six weeks. The British sub HMS Trident carried Pollyanna the reindeer, a personal gift from a Soviet admiral, back to England. She ate so much food (plus some navigation charts) that she got too big to walk out, and had to be lifted out with a winch (a sailor with a broom helped). CRACKED.COM

Peter Pan

CRACKED.COM Peter Pan The inspiration for the character wasn't happy about it. Peter is based on Peter Llewelly Davies, who reportedly hated being associated with him (and was miffed that J. M. Barrie didn't leave him his estate.)

Bruce Springsteen

In 1963, Bruce Springsteen bought his first guitar for $18. His signature, one-of-a-kind guitar is insured for $1 million to $5 million. CRACKED.COM

Pandas

1/2 of all panda births are twins However, it's very rare for both to survive to adulthood. The mother will pick the strongest cub to care for, abadoning the weaker one. CRACKED.COM

TVs

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

The World’s Most Expensive Parking Spot

The world's most expensive parking spot costs $1.3 million A luxury building in Hong Kong sold a spot for more than $10,000 per square foot. CRACKED.COM

The Office

In 2020, Americans watched over 57 billion minutes of The Office MICHAEL SCOTT PAPER COMPANY INC. Netflix streams for the Dunder Mifflin crew were far ahead of the second most streamed show, Grey's Anatomy, at 39.5 billion minutes. CRACKED.COM

Kowloon Walled City

Kowloon Walled City had a population of 3.25 million people per square mile The former military fort was the most densely populated place to ever exist. Compare that to Manhattan's 27,000 people per square mile. CRACKED.COM

T-rexes

There were likely billions of T-rexes GRAGKED.COM For over 2.5 million years, 20,000 adult T-rexes roamed the Earth at a given time, with an estimated 2.5 billion existing over time.

Becoming Radicalized

Becoming radicalized is often triggered by negative life events FAFO ID PROUD BOY CRACKED.COM Friends and social groups can help prevent radicalization to extreme ideologies through intervention.

Trans People

Transgender people's brains are more like their identified gender from an early age Research shows brain structure and activity in transgender adolescents more closely resembles the patterns of the self-identified gender than the one assigned at birth. CRACKED.COM

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs prevent flooding. CRACKED.COM One study showed that coral reefs are responsible for preventing $5.3 billion in U.S. property damage.

Snow

It snows plastic GRAGKED.COM Thanks to plastics in antifreeze products, there are minute particles of plastics in snow and rain.

LGBTQ

The majority of LGBT Americans identify as bisexual 54.6% of LGBT Americans identify as bisexual, compared to 24.5% as gay, 11.7% as lesbian, and 11.3% as transgender. CRACKED.COM

Brands

We like feminine brand names better. CRACKED.COM Coca-Cola, Nike, and Disney are all examples of linguistically feminine names that are perceived as warmer. Take that, Axe Body Spray.

Happiness

For happiness, expect bad news before it's delivered CRACKED.COM If you're waiting for news, studies show those who practice preparing the silver linings of bad news were more content while waiting and experienced less negative emotion after the waiting ended. It also doesn't take away from joy if the news turns out to be good.

Anxiety

Having anxiety can lead to greater levels of religious belief CRACKED.COM A recent study showed that being anxious can focus our attention and memory on supernatural beings

Mammoths

Woolly mammoths and humans may have overlapped in New England CRACKED.COM From a mammoth rib fragment found in now-Vermont, scientists suspect humans and wolly mammoths may have both arrived to New England around 12,800 years ago.

Mars

Mars just might have life beneath its surface CRACKED.COM A new study says that the rocks of Mars' crust might create a similar environment as the one beneath the Earth's surface that supports microbial life.

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