26Dwarves
Tolkien popularised "dwarves" as the plural of "dwarf" to differentiate his fantasy dwarves from humans with dwarfism, for whom the correct plural was "dwarfs". The dwarf trope became so entrenched that "dwarves" is now widely recognized as the standard plural of "dwarf" even for humans.
27. In 1965, Soviet Union detonated a nuclear device near the Chagan River to create an artificial lake with a volume of about 10 million cubic meters under its Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program. To date, the lake is slightly radioactive and is nicknamed “the atomic lake.”
28. Evidence suggests that sloths grow algae in their fur and then eat it. This algae-farming is thought to be aided by moths that live in the fur, and whose growth the sloth actively promotes.
29. In Friday the 13th movie (1980), an actual snake was killed in the scene where one is found in one of the camper's cabins. The snake's handler, who was unaware of the snake's fate, was incredibly upset and had to be held back by crew members after it happened.
30. There was a Cola named Jolt Cola, which was launched in the 1980s as a stimulant for students and young professionals with the slogan “All the sugar, twice the caffeine.”
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Lincoln Memorial
There is a 43,000-square-foot basement underneath the Lincoln Memorial that was forgotten about until 1974. It has its own plant life and ecosystem and graffiti from the original workers.
32. The juggling done by David Bowie’s character in Labyrinth was actually performed by juggler Michael Moschen, who had to do all the tricks blind while standing behind Bowie. He won a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” for his techniques a few years later in 1990.
33. In the original stories, Sherlock Holmes was addicted to cocaine. When author, Conan Doyle, learned more about the dangers of cocaine, he wrote that Sherlock Holmes had quit cocaine by being gradually weaned off of it by Watson.
34. Harriet Tubman suffered a violent head injury as a child causing her to frequently slip into sleep-like states. These would produce vivid dreamlike hallucinations that Tubman interpreted as messages from God and she therefore devoted her life to freeing southern slaves through the Underground Railroad.
35. While making Moana, Disney producers visited the South Pacific and assembled an "Oceanic Story Trust" comprised of local cultural experts to advise on the accuracy of details. Maui was originally bald but he was redrawn with a full head of hair as hair symbolized mana (power) in Polynesian culture.
