35 Random Trivia: Interesting Facts You Probably Didn’t Know – Part 120

97% of French Cognac is exported to the USA, where the majority of consumers are African-American. World War 2 soldiers stationed in France returned to America with a taste for it and by the 50s, Cognac companies marketed it directly to the Black middle and upper classes through Jet and Ebony magazines.

27. Singapore was forcibly expelled from Malaysia becoming an independent country against its wish.

28. Splenda, the common household sweetener, was first discovered in 1976 when a scientist at a British college accidentally misheard directions. He tasted a substance instead of testing it, and from then on the sweet taste of Splenda was discovered.

29. A pedestrian scramble is a type of traffic signal movement that stops all vehicular traffic, allowing pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same time. Research has shown that it can reduce pedestrian casualties by 38%.

30. There are companies who openly provide clients with hired actors to pose as fans, paparazzi, security guards, and professional paid protesters.

Dysthanasia is the opposite of Euthanasia and happens when a person is kept alive artificially despite being terminally ill without regard to their quality of life.

32. During one particular surgery, surgeons were able to drain all the blood from a patient in order to remove a clot from his artery and keep him alive for 20 minutes by reducing his temperature to 20 degrees Celsius.

33. The 2011 Earthquake in Japan moved so much mass towards the Earth's center that every day since then has been 0.0000018 seconds shorter.

34. In 1896, the coroner who oversaw the death of the first person (Bridget Driscoll) by automobile stated in court "I hope that this never happens again." It's estimated that over 7 million automobile deaths have happened since then.

35. Giraffes have a natural blood pressure of about 280/180 and have a complex series of mechanisms in their circulatory system to prevent brain hemorrhage as their heads rapidly change elevation, such as when standing up from taking a drink.