35 Awesome Random Facts That You’ll Want to Instantly Share – Part 78

The Ice Bucket Challenge actually helped fund the discovery of a gene linked to the cause of ALS. The gene, NEK1, and its variants held clues to understanding and treating the disease.

27. After being threatened by the KKK for releasing the R&B track "What a man" in 1968, Linda Lyndell didn't perform again for 35 years, only making a comeback after Salt-N-Pepa sampled the song in their hit "Whatta Man".

28. Fatal Familial Insomnia is an inherited brain disease that eventually causes one to be incapable of sleep. It has no known cure. It involves progressively worsening insomnia, which leads to hallucinations, confusional states like that of dementia, and eventually death.

29. In 1996, Dave Chappelle was in a spin-off from Home Improvement, called "Buddies". It premiered on March 5, 1996, and was canceled on April 3, 1996, after just five episodes.

30. The creators of ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ ended up with so much footage after production that they actually made a second 90-minute film called ‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Film,’ which investigated a group of unprofessional bank-robbing thieves called “The Alarm Clock.”

Janis Joplin recorded her most famous song Me and Bobby McGee only 3 days before she died.

32. Studies show that cats understand human commands, but don't care to follow them.

33. Derek Paraviccini is an autistic musical savant. Although born blind and barely able to care for himself, he plays piano with superhuman clarity and accuracy.

34. Multimillionaire Richard B. Mellon and his brother Andrew had a game of Tag going. This game of Tag lasted for nearly seven decades. When Richard was on his deathbed, he called his brother over and whispered, “Last tag.” Poor Andrew remained “It” for four years until he died.

35. There is a "Robot Scientist" named Adam. In 2009, "Adam became the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators."