39 Rather Splendid Random Facts That’ll Knock You Off Your Feet – Part 276

In 1924, a Chinese-American writer named Ben Fee went to a San Francisco restaurant named Almond Blossom and was refused to be served because he was Asian. He returned the next day with 10 white friends who each ordered the most expensive dish i.e., porterhouse steak. Fee was again refused service. He then “confronted” his friends. They walked out, leaving the food unpaid for.

2. In 2019, a nurse named Jessica Anderson set the record for the fastest marathon in a nurse's uniform, but was originally rejected by Guinness World Records, because she was wearing scrubs and pants, and not a blue and white dress, apron, and a nurse's cap. After backlash, they backed down and accepted her record.

3. The Lakota language, spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux Native American tribes, is gendered. For ‘Dances With Wolves,’ Kevin Costner and many Native actors spoke the female-gendered language because the language tutor on set was a woman.

4. Certain random number generators use internal thermometers of a computer for input as the small fluctuations in CPU temperatures are extremely unpredictable.

5. Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, saved a baby's life whilst filming Carpool Karaoke. A hysterical woman approached the set screaming "My baby can’t breathe.” Kiedis calmly took the child and restored its breathing through CPR. He then resumed filming the show.

Linda Blair fractured her spine whilst filming The Exorcist (1973), later suffering from scoliosis. Linda was rigged to a mechanical bed that shook her so-violently; she broke her back. The shot was used in the final film and her screams of pain were real.

7. The mansion used on the ABC reality tv series, The Bachelor, is owned and lived in by a family. The family moves out and takes their furniture with them two times a year for 42 days of filming. This allows ABC to redecorate their house each season.

8. Giraffes have a blue tongue to protect them from sunburn because they graze on the tops of trees for up to 12 hours a day in the direct sunlight. Their tongue contains melanin, the same pigment responsible for tanning.

9. Profanities, vulgarities, and obscenities are all distinctly different from one another. Profanity relates to religious matters like blasphemy. Obscenity typically relates to sexual matters. Vulgarity is a coarse language.

10. In Argentina, the 29th day of each month is Gnocchi Day, with almost all families eating gnocchi. The tradition started because the 29th of the month was just before payday, so money was tight, and only potatoes and flour were left. For extra luck, everyone gets a peso under their plate.

Giving a shot of ketamine to heavy drinkers after reactivating their drinking-related memories led to a rapid decrease in urges to drink and a prolonged decrease in alcohol intake over nine months.

12. A golden retriever named Toby saved his owner Debbie Parkhurst from choking to death on an apple slice by jumping on her chest until it dislodged. He also licked her face to keep her from passing out.

13. Charlie Cox actually received an award from the American Foundation for the Blind for his portrayal of blindness as Matt Murdock in the Daredevil series.

14. There are no legal ways to be buried in the Arctic town of Longyearbyen in Norway. In 1950, they discovered bodies of residents from the 1918 flu pandemic which had not begun to decompose in the cold. Scientists fear that the corpses, preserved in permafrost, could still contain live strains of the virus.

15. There is as much vitamins and nutrients in frozen vegetables as in fresh ones. This is due to the fact that they have been quickly frozen after picking to preserve their properties, unlike "fresh" ones that can stay for days in storage or display.

Michael Houghton, the co-discoverer of the hep-C virus declined the $100,000 Gairdner award in 2013 because they wouldn't include two other co-discoverers.

17. Eddie Van Halen once put a gun to Fred Durst’s head and demanded Durst return music gear Eddie Van Halen had left at Durst’s house after a failed jam session.

18. During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Molson delivered a fully-stocked beer fridge to Team Canada Olympic House. The only way to open the fridge was to use a Canadian passport on the electronic passport reader.

19. While driving in Wisconsin, Elvis Presley drove up on a man being assaulted by 2 others. Elvis got out and in a karate stance, threatened to take the 2 shocked thieves on. A monument now marks the scene where Elvis saved the day.

20. A cabbie who has been nicknamed “Cupid Cabbie” has collected the names and phone numbers of over 2,000 New Yorkers and organized over 100 dates, over 30 of which have led to long-lasting romances.

People Walker is a for hire service in Los Angeles where you can hire people to walk with you, motivate you, walk you home, listen to your problems and keep you company all while walking about.

22. German citizens in Ohrdruf were forced to view the inside of the Ohrdruf labor camp (the first concentration camp liberated) and bury the dead. This practice was repeated at other camps.

23. Shortly after English comedian Benny Hill died in 1992, grave-robbers dug up his grave under the mistaken belief that he was buried with copious amounts of gold and jewelry. He was re-buried with a 1-foot thick slab of concrete on top to prevent future dusturbances.

24. Wild camels living around a nuclear test site in the Great Gobi Desert can drink saltwater with a higher salt content than seawater.

25. 1 in 6 women have herpes, which is double the male rate. This is due to anatomical differences that make it easier for women to become infected.