50 Random Facts List #55

Faking the moon landing in 1969 would have been harder than actually going to the moon.

2. In the 1890s service on the Empire State Express rail service between New York City and Buffalo was about 1 hour faster than Amtrak's service in 2013.

3. The entire US-Canada border is defined by 20 foot deforested area called "The Slash".

4. The dog (Terry) from Wizard of Oz was paid $125 per week which was more than some of the other actors in the film.

5. The Vatican City has the highest per capita wine consumption of any country in the world.

Lottery winners in Australia can choose to remain anonymous. This rule was implemented after an 8 year named Graeme Thorne was kidnapped for ransom then murdered after the father won a lottery in 1960.

7. Vitamin D is actually a hormone, and can greatly affect your sleep quality and many other bodily functions.

8. Japanese train drivers must physically point at all important signs and warnings to show that they have noticed it and are aware of it.

9. Springsteen isn't pissing on the American flag on the album cover of Born In The USA. "We took a lot of different types of pictures, and in the end, the picture of my a*s looked better than the picture of my face...I didn't have any secret message."

10. Sean Astin (Bob Newby, Superhero and Sam Gamgee) is the adopted son of John Astin (Gomez Addams).

EA tried to buy Valve (American video game developer company) for $1 billion.

12. The filming of Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Beach" permanently damaged the ecosystem of the island where it was filmed, prompting Thailand's Supreme Court to get involved in the legal case against 20th Century Fox.

13. The foot-measuring tool ("Brannock Device") used by shoe stores was invented by Charles Brannock in 1927. He was advised to make it out of plastic so regular replacements would be needed, but he insisted on steel. Today, most Brannock Devices survive 10-15 years of daily use before wearing out.

14. A Roman soldier once farted, causing a riot that lead to the deaths of 10,000 people.

15. After analyzing losses over North Vietnam in 1968, the US Air Force invested in upgrades for its F-4 jets while the Navy created an advanced combat school for its pilots: TOPGUN. The Navy saw kill ratios climb to 13:1 while the Air Force saw no improvements.

The official definition of 1 second is based on a quantum mechanical phenomenon, namely "the duration of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of a Caesium 133 atom's outermost electron".

17. Apple reportedly paid U2, $100 million as part of a deal to install their album "Songs of innocence" for free, automatically onto Apple User's Devices which caused an outrage amongst the users.

18. In 2002, a study found that the sun provides the Earth with more energy in one hour than humans can use in a year.

19. According to Johnny Cash's autobiography, he got addicted to painkillers after one of his ostriches challenged his authority. He attempted to discipline the bird with a large stick, but failed; the ostrich broke five of his ribs and slashed into his stomach, almost disemboweling him.

20. Before his execution, the Marquis de Favras (French aristocrat), upon reading his death warrant stated, "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes".

The area code for Cape Canaveral in Florida is 321 to mimic the countdown sequence of spacecraft launches.

22. The Koopas in Super Mario are based on Japanese myth creatures who hid in toilets to fondle women's butts while they went to the bathroom.

23. The Mormon church has a vault (able to withstand a nuclear attack) that stores genealogical history.

24. It takes thousands of years for light to escape the sun, then 8.3 minutes to reach earth. The sunlight we see is thousands of years old.

25. A "Lifetime Warranty" only covers an estimated lifespan of a product (which can just be a couple of months or years) and does not necessarily equal an actual human lifetime.