37 Notable Random Facts Worth Your Attention | Random List #163

Sir David Attenborough is the only person to win a BAFTA for a programme in black and white, color, HD, 3D, and 4K.

2. It is illegal to include the Emergency Broadcast system alert tones in any broadcast media in any context unless it's coming through the actual Emergency Broadcast System. Even when remixed to sound different, networks can be fined thousands of dollars for each time the tone is broadcast.

3. There are contact lenses that are worn overnight which temporarily reshape the cornea, allowing the user to have a perfect vision during the day without having to wear glasses/contact lenses.

4. In 1986, Harrods, a small restaurant in the town of Otorohanga, New Zealand, was threatened with a lawsuit by the famous department store of the same name. In response, the town changed its name to Harrodsville and renamed all of its businesses to ‘Harrods.’

5. During Prohibition, moonshiners would wear "cow shoes." The fancy footwear left hoofprints instead of human shoe prints, helping distillers and smugglers evade police.

When Robin Williams auditioned for the part of Mork, an extraterrestrial from the planet Ork, Williams sat on his head when offered a chair. He was hired on the spot, the producer later commenting “Williams was the only alien who auditioned for the role.”

7. The Japanese government has been hosting speed-dating events in hopes of increasing marriage which hopefully will lead to more children as the country’s population has dropped by more than 1 million since 2010.

8. Juan Catalan spent nearly 6 months in jail for the murder of a teenage girl until his lawyer found unused footage from HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' that proved he had been at a Dodger's game with his 6 years old daughter.

9. George Washington actually wanted to end slavery but never did because he feared it would divide the new nation.

10. The crew of Planet Earth II filmed the mass birth gathering of Saiga Antelope, only to witness a disease spread and wipe out more than 150,000 antelope within 3 days.

“Weird Al” Yankovic would take dates to see The Naked Gun without telling them he was in it. He would also wear the same Hawaiian shirt he wore in the movie.

12. Cruise ships have morgues in them. On average, roughly 200 people die on cruise ships each year so most ships have the capacity to store up to 10 bodies at a time.

13. The "Jews are money hungry" stereotype can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when Jews were allowed to lend money with interest, but Christians were not as it was against their religion.

14. Sam Houston, after whom the city of Houston is named, was deposed as governor of Texas by the legislature after refusing to support the Confederacy, saying “you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it.”

15. In 1995, NASA astronomer Bob Williams wanted to point the Hubble telescope at the darkest part of the sky for 100 hours. Critics said it was a waste of valuable time, and he'd have to resign if it came up blank. Instead, it revealed over 3,000 galaxies, in an area 1/30th as wide as a full moon.

On 1945, when American politician Bess Myerson became the first Jewish candidate to win the Miss America contest, organizers tried to get her to change her name, sponsors dropped her and country clubs refused her because she was Jewish. In response, she toured the USA with the Anti-Defamation League.

17. In 2013, a prisoner named Dagens Nyheter in Sweden escaped “because he had a toothache and wanted to go to the dentist.” He broke out of prison, visited the dentist, and turned himself back in where he received an extra day to his month-long sentence as punishment.

18. High IQ is associated with various mental and immunological diseases like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, ADHD as well as allergies, asthma, and immune disorders.

19. According to new research, memories can be passed down to later generations through genetic switches that allow offspring to inherit the experience of their ancestors. This may explain how phobias can develop.

20. A cow is not a cow until it has had at least one calf. Until then it is called a heifer.

Oliver Stone admitted to being on ecstasy during a 1997 celebrity episode of Jeopardy. He won the game (and $15,000 for charity) and credits the drug with increasing his response time on the buzzer.

22. In 1960s, a Mexican prostitute named Magdalena Solis was paid to imitate an Incan Goddess as part of a scam. She began to believe she was a Goddess so she took over the cult and began sacrificing her followers.

23. In 1736, mathematician Leonhard Euler was trying to find a way to cross every single one of the seven bridges of Königsberg exactly once. He realized that this was, in fact, impossible and based on that created a new area of mathematics called Graph Theory.

24. There are enough saunas in Finland for the entire Finnish population to take a sauna at the same time.

25. The Statue of Liberty cost the French an estimated $250,000 (more than $5.5 million in today’s money). The money came from fundraising efforts such as auctions, a lottery, and boxing matches, both in Europe and the U.S.