35 Strange Impressive Random Facts You Should Know | Random List #199

- Sponsored Links -

1James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

American actor James Earl Jones had a terrible stutter as a child and was functionally mute for 8 years because of it. A high school teacher helped him end his silence through Jones' love of poetry.


2. It's illegal to die in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Norway) because dead bodies don’t properly decompose because of how far north it is. If someone is dying, every effort will be made to ship them to the mainland.


3. In Canada, in the event that you need to call 911 for someone who’s overdosed, you won’t get arrested for possession of controlled substances or charged under “The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act.”


4. Julie d'Aubigny was a 17th-century traveling swordswoman. Among her other exploits, when her female lover was sent to a convent, she also entered the convent, stole the body of a dead nun, placed it in her lover's bed, escaped with her lover and burnt the convent down.


5. Legendary director/actor/pilot John Huston once flew over a celebrity golf tournament and dropped 5,000 ping pong balls on it.


Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History


6John Kani

John Kani

The language spoken in Wakanda is Xhosa, an official language of South Africa and Zimbabwe and John Kani who played King T'Chaka is a native speaker of that language.


7. Disney's Space Mountain uses fans to blow air on you to create the illusion that you are going faster than you really are.


8. The scene in Fight Club where Tyler Durden is explaining the cost of a recall when "A car built by my company crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside" is based on an actually leaked memo from GM and Ford.


9. During World War 2, King George VI was at war with Germany as the King of the UK, but as King of Ireland, he was also at peace with Germany and validated the credentials of German ambassadors. After World War 2, he was at war with himself as King of India and separately King of Pakistan.


10. In Germany, a doctor diagnosed a case of cobalt poisoning because the symptoms matched a case shown in an episode of Dr. House and he went on write a book on how to apply Dr. House’s diagnosis in real life.


- Sponsored Links -

11Great Depression

Great Depression

During the Great Depression, the state of Arkansas was in such bad financial shape that the treasurer at one point reported a balance of $4.62 for the entire general revenue fund of the state.


12. The largest number of graves of any cemetery for U.S. personnel killed during World War 2 is located in Manila, Philippines. It has 17,206 graves. 16,636 of which were U.S. personnel.


13. Golf balls were once smooth. Golfers eventually realized that old, beat up balls flew farther. Modern day golf balls now have dimples around them because they increase turbulence, which allows them to fly farther.


14. The Parliament building in Bucharest is so massive that even though it already contains both lower and upper houses of parliament, three museums, and an international conference center, 70% of the building is still empty. The heating and electrical bill alone amounts to $6 million a year.


15. The Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant was much closer to the epicenter of the 2011 Earthquake than the Fukushima Power Plant, yet it sustained only minor damage and even housed tsunami evacuees. Its safety is credited to engineer Hirai Yanosuke who insisted that it have a 14 meter (46 feet) tall sea wall.


- Sponsored Links -

16Princess Diana

Princess Diana

After the death of Princess Diana, radio station XFM banned certain songs that might upset people. Banned songs included Drive by The Cars, Airbag by Radiohead and anything by the Crash Test Dummies.


17. Although being a giant box office success, movie theater business was less enthused about the movie "A Quiet Place" because the ambiance of the movie was such that any type of loud eating was shamed leading to people not buying any food. Cinemas normally earn more from food than tickets.


18. The Loyal Wives of Weinsberg were part of the surrender negotiation according to which all women could leave with them whatever they could carry and the defenders (men) would be imprisoned. The women carried their belongings and their husbands on their shoulders, saving them from being imprisoned.


19. At the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack, many people thought it was a drill. One sailor said, "This is the best goddam drill the Army Air Force has ever put on!" 


20. Even before the surgeon general issued his report on the dangers of tobacco, Mad Magazine went on an anti-smoking crusade ridiculing big tobacco, as agencies, and even smokers. Also before it became law, Mad Magazine's offices were smoke-free and none of their content featured smoking.


21Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan

On August 26, 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan described a disturbing dream to his bandmates in which he witnessed his own funeral. The next day, he tragically died in a helicopter crash.


22. When Jimmy Carter was the president, he once accidentally left the nuclear launch codes in the pocket of his suit jacket and sent it to the dry cleaners. They threw it in the bin.


23. The cheese Parmigiano-Reggiano is a large target of organized crime in Italy. From 2013 to 2015, an organized crime gang stole 2039 wheels of it from warehouses in northern and central Italy.


24. Mushroom Death Suit is embroidered with thread infused with mushroom spores that grow from the body after burial. These mushrooms digest the body as it decomposes and neutralizes many of the environmental contaminants found in the body—including pesticides, preservatives, and heavy metals.


25. Comedian Conan O’Brien, the host of the US talk show Conan, is a Harvard graduate and is on the board of directors for the John F. Kennedy presidential library and museum.

1
2
- Sponsored Links -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here