40 Intense Random Facts That Will Blow You Away – Part 236

Prehistoric hunter-gatherer tribes had an average group limit of 50 people. Incidentally, modern research shows that in the video game World of Warcraft, maximum group player cohesiveness occurs at a limit of 50 players.

2. Bessie Coleman was an American aviator and the first black woman to earn a pilot's license. Because flying schools in the United States denied her entry, she taught herself French and moved to France, earning her license from France's well-known Caudron Brother's School of Aviation in just 7 months.

3. The collapse of the Soviet Union directly correlated with the resurgence of Cuba’s amazing coral reef. Without Russian supplied synthetic fertilizers and agricultural practices, Cubans were forced to depend on organic farming. This led to less chemical runoff in the oceans.

4. Sir George Everest did not want Mount Everest named after him. He objected that his surname could not be written in the Hindi language and that it was difficult for the locals to pronounce.

5. Cowboy boots are designed for safety. The high heel prevents your foot from sliding through the stirrups, trapping your foot but if it does and you fall off the horse the lack of laces allows your foot to slide out of the boot preventing you from being dragged by the horse.

The first black baseball player wasn't Jackie Robinson, but rather Moses Fleetwood Walker, who played in the 1880s despite rampant racism. He was also an inventor, newspaper editor, hotel owner, opera house manager, postal worker, and a published author on race theory.

7. When Adolf Hitler joined the DAP, the predecessor of the Nazi Party, he was member number 555. However, he was only the fifty-fifth member of the party as they started counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party.

8. An officer of the United States Air Force named William Howard Hughes who had a security clearance and expertise in rocket self-destruct technology vanished in 1983. Authorities feared he had defected to the Soviet Union. In June 2018, however, he was found living in California under an assumed name.

9. Robert Downey Jr. provided his DVD commentary in Tropic Thunder as Lincoln Osiris, a nod to a joke in the film that Lazarus never breaks character until he completes the DVD commentary.

10. Jesus was often depicted performing his miracles with a magic wand in early Christian art.

When legendary artist Salvador Dali went to the screening of a new surrealist art film in 1936 he became enraged and knocked over the projector half through claiming the filmmaker had stolen the idea for the film from Dali’s mind. He yelled: “He stole it from my subconscious!”

12. Marlon Wayans was cast as Robin in Batman Returns. Producers decided that, with The Penguin and Catwoman, the movie was too crowded and decided to cut out Robin. Despite not getting to actually play the role, Wayans was still paid $100,000 and receives royalty checks up to this very day. 

13. During a 2011 census for the Czech Republic, 11,000 people listed their religion as "Knights of the Jedi."

14. In 2002, a Marvel comics writer based an alternate version of Nick Fury on Samuel L Jackson, using his image without permission. Jackson discovered this and nearly took legal action. Marvel offered to cast him as Fury if the character was ever in a movie. Jackson took the deal.

15. Jet Li was a Chinese citizen until 2003, United States citizen from 2003 to 2009, and has been a naturalized Singaporean citizen since 2009. He is said to have chosen Singapore for its education system for his two younger daughters.

In 2018, Simon Shelton, the actor that played the Teletubby, Tinky Winky, died alone on a street in Liverpool from alcoholism at the age of 52.

17. The US government created a raisin cartel that was run by raisin companies, which increased prices by limiting the supply and forced farmers to hand over their crops without paying them. The cartel lasted 66 years until the Supreme Court broke it up in 2015.

18. Michael Jackson composed songs despite not playing any instruments. He would build each element of a track with his voice, so pitch-perfect that studio musicians could match chords to his singing.

19. A man named Jacob French walked across Australia, from Perth to Sydney, dressed in a Stormtrooper costume to raise money for a charity that helps cheer up hospitalized children. Over 9 months he traveled 3000 miles (5000km), lost over 26lbs (12kg), went through 7 pairs of shoes, and raised more than $100,000.

20. A 27-year old man named Raphael Samuel from India attempted to sue his parents for giving birth to him without his consent. He claims it is wrong to bring a child into the world because they have to put up with lifelong suffering.

Mozart sold the most CDs in 2016, beating out Adele, Drake, and Beyoncé, even though all of those artists had Grammy-winning hits that year.

22. An Australian World War 1 general named John Monash was so good at organizing battles and overseeing the wellbeing of his troops, that during the Battle of Hamel in 1918, he managed to arrange the delivery of hot meals to troops, even up to the front line.

23. Walt Disney took out multiple loans to finance Snow White, even mortgaging his own house to pay for it. At the time, insiders in the film industry thought the film would bomb and called it “Disney’s Folly”. Even Walt’s wife, Lillian, thought it would bomb.

24. When US-born giant panda twins arrived in China, they struggled with local food and language. Mei Lun & Mei Huan were confused by "have you eaten up" in Chinese but responded to English "come here". They preferred "Western fast food" biscuits instead of local "wowotou" (steamed cornbread).

25. In 1965, 6 boys from Tonga skipped school and 'borrowed' a boat. After a storm and 8 days adrift, they survived alone on a small rocky island for 15 months. They stayed friends and worked together to survive and stay fit. After their rescue, they were jailed (shortly) for stealing the boat.