33 Bizarre to Brilliant Random Facts That’ll Leave You Speechless | Random List #179

After Neil deGrasse Tyson tried to persuade rapper BoB that the Earth isn't flat, the rapper released a diss song against him called "Flatline" in which he expands his views on the Earth being flat. In response, Tyson and his rapper nephew responded with their own diss track titled "Flat to Fact." 

2. A small group of developers behind Medal of Honor video game broke away from that series due to the increasing control of EA. They instead created a new game and called it Call of Duty.

3. In 1920s Paris, Irish novelist James Joyce would get drunk, start fights, and then hide behind Ernest Hemingway for protection, screaming, "Deal with him, Hemingway!"

4. In Norse mythology at the end of the world (Ragnarok) the gods--Odin, Thor, Loki, and the others--as well as all humans, will die. Evil triumphs over good and the world will be engulfed in water.

5. All airplanes must have a green light on their right wing, and a red light on their left wing, to indicate the direction of travel to other planes.

The first firemen to respond to the Chernobyl meltdown stood above the burning core, which emitted radiation at 30,000 roentgen per hour. When they died a few weeks later, their bodies were so radioactive they were buried in coffins made of lead with the lids welded shut.

7. Breakfast being “the most important meal of the day” originated in a 1944 marketing campaign launched by General Foods, the manufacturer of Grape Nuts, to sell more cereal. During the campaign, grocery stores and radio advertisements promoted the importance of breakfast.

8. There is a "honeymoon phase" for people who acquire a new job that usually ends after the first year of employment. Happiness levels dip after the first year, and stress levels continue to rise and rise each year thereafter.

9. Monkeys aren't supposed to eat bananas. The bananas that humans consume are so full of sugar that monkeys will get diabetes if it is a regular part of their diet.

10. A Los Angeles homicide detective named Steve Hodel believes that his deceased father killed the Black Dahlia, after he found a picture of him with Elizabeth Short. He later discovered that his father had been one of the prime suspects at the time of the murder.

According to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a virgin cat in Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten.

12. A rabbit named Dory helped save her owners life when he slipped into a diabetic coma. When Simon Steggall passed out watching TV, Dory jumped on his chest and thumped furiously. Her odd behavior caught the attention of Steggall's wife (she thought he was just sleeping) who called for help.

13. When Salvador Dali was exhumed 28 years after his death in 2017 for DNA tests, it was discovered that his famous “10 past 10” mustache still remained perfectly intact.

14. A freed slave named Samuel McCulloch was the first Texian soldier to be wounded during the Texas Revolution, in 1835. A law later prohibited freed slaves from residing in the Republic of Texas but specifically excluded McCulloch, his family, and his descendants in recognition of his service.

15. To test the Dr. Fox Effect, researchers once created a jargon-filled, contradictory, and nonsensical lecture. Audiences rated the lectures highly if the presenter was expressive, even though the lecture was gibberish.

The Ikh Khorig or Great Taboo is an area of almost a hundred square miles in Mongolia believed to contain Genghis Khan's resting place. The area was patrolled by elite guards and their descendants for centuries and was only opened to archaeologists in 1989.

17. In curling, good sportsmanship and politeness are essential. Congratulating opponents on plays and abstaining from trash talk are part of what’s known as the “Spirit of Curling.”

18. The inspiration for creating SimCity game came when its creator Will Wright was developing a helicopter shoot'em up and found that he enjoyed messing around with the tool that creates the landscape maps more than the game itself.

19. Leonardo da Vinci’s last name isn’t “da Vinci.” It just means “from Vinci” as in Vinci, Florence in Italy (where he’s from).

20. In the Godfather, Vito Corleone's cat was actually a stray cat that they found in the middle of the Paramount lot.

The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico is now known as the Great Carrier Reef.

22. One way the Romans measured time was through Saeculum - the period of time from the moment an event occurred (for example the founding of a city) until the point in time that all people who were alive to see it happen were dead.

23. Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pastafarians) are allowed to officiate weddings in New Zealand.

24. In the 1940s, the Canadian government deliberately starved indigenous children and used them as test subjects just to study the value of vitamins.

25. The reason mint feels cold is due to it containing menthol. Menthol activates the same receptor (TRPM8) that detects cold temperatures, so the brain will interpret it as something cold.