36 Seriously Curious Random Facts That’ll Turn Your World Around | Random List #19

The directors for Guardians of the Galaxy wrote a script with actual dialogue for Vin Diesel so that he would know what inflections to give when he said his lines as "I am Groot".

2. Black musician Daryl Davis, who dissolved Maryland's KKK by befriending its members.

3. In May of 1993, a Japanese Doomsday cult (Aum Shinrikyo) situated deep in the Australian Outback reportedly set off some form of an explosion that registered as seismic activity.

4. A scientist named Carl Djerassi not only developed the birth control pill, but also wrote over 1200 papers on different subjects, and wrote one of the first artificial intelligence programs in 1965. A program called DENDRAL, which could automatically discover unknown forms of medications.

5. Talking to yourself improves concentration and mental recall

Airplane windows were once square until 3 fatal crashes in the 50's were caused by the windows. Corners are weak points(4 on a window) and stress/pressure can cause these points to crack

7. Jetlag from traveling west is associated with depression, while jet lag from traveling east is associated with mania

8. Movie trailers were originally shown after the movie, which is why they were called “trailers”

9. In 1988, a one-eyed pilot (Carlos Dardano) landed a Boeing 737 on a narrow grass levee after dual engine failure. No one was seriously injured. The plane was repaired at the site of the landing and remained in service until December 2016.

10. Spotify has a CPR playlist. All the songs on the playlist have a tempo of 100 to 120 bpm, which is the same tempo at which one should give chest compressions during CPR. Coincidently, two of the songs are: "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees.

They shot "The Karate Kid" entirely on the camcorder before they filmed it for real (and it's on youtube!)

12. In 1971, a barber by the name of Merle Robbins from Reading, Ohio invented a card game called Uno. The barber invented Uno to help resolve an argument between his sons about the rules to Crazy Eight.

13. China had a civil war at the same time as the American Civil War, resulting in 30 million dead

14. Upon hearing his former Vice President John C. Calhoun's talks of secession in the 1830's, President Andrew Jackson said to him, "If you secede from my nation I will secede your head from the rest of your body."

15. A road called the King's Highway was built from Boston MA to Charleston SC starting in 1650, on the order of King Charles II. Its northern section had been a Native American path for so long before that it was dug 2 feet into the ground, and it evolved into the first highways in North America.

When Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne was growing up, one of his public school teachers was H. G. Wells.

17. In 2007 Paul Boyd, an animator for cartoon series Ed Edd 'n' Eddy, was shot dead in public by police after suffering a breakdown from his bipolar disorder

18. For 150 years, whenever a new heir was born to the Annheiser-Busch brewing family, they would be fed five drops of Budweiser before even having their mothers milk

19. An astronaut named John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich when aboarded during the first manned gemini space flight.

20. The last Nazi soldiers to surrender in World War 2 did so on September 4, 1945, two days after the official Japanese surrender.

Volvo invented 3-point seatbelt and gave it away to save lives

22. The Chinese word for 'superfluous', 画蛇添足 literally means to draw legs on a snake.

23. Lord of the Rings actor Ian McKellen turned down an offer of $1.5 million to officiate a wedding dressed as Gandalf, saying "I am sorry, Gandalf doesn't do weddings."

24. In Ontario, Canada, the disabled do not need fishing licenses. Possession of any number of disabled service documents (e.g. Parking permit, etc.) is equivalent to a fishing license.

25. There is such thing as False Awakening where you think that you have awoken from a dream and proceed with your daily life but you are actually still dreaming