39 Surprising Random Facts No One Told You – Part 265

People scored higher in a mental agility test while wearing a lab coat that they believed was a doctor's coat. The effect was not there when they believed the same white coat was a painter's coat. The study showed that we embody associations we have with particular clothes.

2. The ‘Attack of the Dead Men’ was a battle of World War I that took place at Osowiec Fortress, in Poland during World War 1. The incident got its name from the bloodied, zombie-like appearance of the Russian combatants after they were bombarded with a mixture of poison gasses, chlorine and bromine, by the Germans. Germans stationed at the Osowiec stronghold, effectively panicked at the sight of ‘dead men coughing blood’ attacking, causing them to flee.

3. USS William D. Porter was the only vessel in US Navy history to have its entire crew placed under arrest after they accidentally fired a live torpedo at a vessel carrying the President of the United States and the Secretary of State.

4. Former professional athlete Bo Jackson frequently refers to himself in the third person, a habit he developed as a child due to his severe stutter which made it difficult for him to say "I." 

5. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United Kingdom declared war on Japan nine hours before the United States, partially due to Winston Churchill's promise to declare war "within the hour" of a Japanese attack on the United States.

In 1920, a young American woman named Bessie Coleman found a financial sponsor through a newspaper, traveled to France, and learned how to become a stunt pilot. She returned to the US as the first woman in the country to hold a pilot's license. She was of African and Native American descent.

7. In 1930, a group of Southern white women formed the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching. By 1940, they had more than 100 chapters and 4 million members and helped elect anti-lynching candidates across the South. The association folded in 1942.

8. Generic SNES space shooter “Phalanx” had an old man playing banjo on the cover, not for any relation to the game itself, but purely as a marketing technique to differentiate itself in the crowded space shooter market. “Banjo man” does not appear in the game at any point.

9. On the set of “Big Fat Liar,” where John Cho played Hong Kong director Dusty Wang, he refused to do an accent because he did not want to do an accent in a children’s comedy where young people would be laughing inadvertently at an Asian stereotype.

10. In 2015, people who ate the Burger King Halloween Special had their poop turn bright green. This was due to the combination of food colorings in the burger's bun, which was black for the occasion.

The fridge in US president’s limo is always fully stocked with his blood type.

12. The “Chinese gooseberry” was rebranded as the “kiwi fruit” when New Zealand began exporting them to the USA during the Cold War.

13. KFC only became a success in Japan after a junior store manager made up a lie that Kentucky Fried Chicken was a staple during American Christmas.

14. It’s not a crime to escape prison in Germany and Belgium, because according to their constitution freedom is a basic human right.

15. The 'Expert Wizard Amendment' in New Mexico (1995) required psychiatrists and psychologists to dress up as wizards in court proceedings if they provided expert testimony. It was revealed to be satire before the vote, yet passed the New Mexico Senate unanimously. It was not signed into law.

Anti-Work Movement is a philosophy that sees work as the cause of unhappiness, and should, therefore, be avoided. Although associated with anarchists and communists today, its roots can be traced back to the Ancient Greek Cynics.

17. If you ever got shrunk down to the size of an ant, not only would everything look bigger to you, but the world would also appear almost a million times darker, the light would no longer appear straight meaning that the world around you would be covered in a haze of blurriness and shadow.

18. In 2013, a 31-year-old woman named Natasha Marie Harris in New Zealand died from cardiac arrhythmia which was ultimately linked to her unhealthy habit of drinking 6-10 liters a day of Coca-Cola.

19. A study in 2019 found that kids associate beards with being old and strong, but unattractive. As kids grow older into teenagers, they dislike beards even more. However, women with children see bearded men as better fathers.

20. Rachel Jackson, Andrew Jackson’s wife was once attacked as an adulteress. She then died during the 1828 Presidential election after falling into a deep depression. At her funeral, Jackson said, “May God Almighty forgive her murderers. I never can.”

Cats show you their butt to “politely open themselves up to a sniff” as a way of showing that they are comfortable with you.

22. The character of Ian Malcolm in "Jurassic Park" was nearly written out of the script. The writers planned to combine him with the character of Dr. Grant, but Jeff Goldblum wanted to be in a Steven Spielberg movie and asked Spielberg to keep the character.

23. The wealth of a Samurai in feudal Japan was measured in terms of koku. One koku was supposed to be the amount of rice it took to feed one man for a year, which was equivalent to around 180 liters.

24. The only existing film footage of Anne Frank is posted on YouTube by the Amsterdam museum ‘The Anne Frank House.’ The girl next door to Anne is getting married and the footage shows a 13-year-old Anne leaning out of a window to get a good look at the bride and groom.

25. Benazir Bhutto, the only female Pakistani Prime Minister was a Harvard graduate and served as Prime Minister from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. After losing the election in 1997, she went into self-exile in Dubai. She returned to Pakistan in 2007 to run again but was assassinated during a rally.