42 Simply Ridiculous Random Facts That Are Absolutely True | Random List #273

Worker ants take up to 250 naps everyday, with each nap lasting just over a minute. This equates to 4 hours and 48 minutes of sleep per day.

27. Young Komodo dragons roll around in entrails and feces to avoid being eaten by older, cannibal Komodo Dragons.

28. In 2008, the BBC created a film trailer for a nature documentary featuring flying penguins. It was hosted by Monty Python’s Terry Jones and directed by Professor Alid Loyas, an Anagram for April Fools Day. Indeed, the trailer premiered April 1st, as an elaborate April Fools prank made using CGI.

29. The Roman punishment for the killing of parents was known as Poena cullei ('penalty of the sack') and it consisted of being sewn up in a leather sack, with an assortment of live animals including a dog, snake, monkey, and a chicken or rooster, and then being thrown into a body of water.

30. Anteaters do not produce their own stomach acid. Instead, the ants consumed are digested in the very own acid the ants carry in their bodies: Formic acid.

There is a subculture in Japan for tricking out and drag racing old full-size Dodge Ram Vans called “Dajiban” (literally “DodgeVan” with a Japanese accent).

32. In December 2018, an explosion 10 times that of Hiroshima happened over the Bering Sea in Earth’s atmosphere that largely went unnoticed. It happened due to a meteor.

33. Vin Mariani was a mixture of wine and cocaine that was popular in Europe during the late 1800s. Two popes were known to drink it and it was so much enjoyed by Pope Leo XIII that he was used on posters promoting the product. The creator won a Vatican gold medal for creating it.

34. "Sussudio" was just a word that came out of Phil Collins' mouth when he was playing around with a drum machine. He wanted to replace it with another word in the actual song, but couldn't find the right one, so he just left it in the final lyrics and named the song "Sussudio."

35. Beirut Chess is a chess variant in which players secretly equip one of their men with a “bomb”, which can be detonated at any time, wiping out all pieces on surrounding squares.

There is an opposite to “déjà vu”, they call it “jamais vu.” It’s when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time, is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar.

37. Dance marathons provided food, shelter, and morbid entertainment during The Great Depression. People died from exhaustion and attempted suicide after dancing for weeks and it was very lucrative.

38. A ghost light is a single bulb left burning in a theatre when it’s dark. Some argue it’s meant to chase away spirits; others say it lights the way for the ghosts that are said to inhabit virtually every theatre. Either way, the light ensures no one takes an accidental tumble off the stage.

39. Swifts (highly aerial birds), spend most of their lives flying in the air and can fly for almost an entire year, without ever landing. 

40. During the Russian Civil War, there was a faction called the Green army that consisted of peasants who opposed all sides and fought to protect their communities from requisitions or reprisals.

Green Tobacco Sickness is caused by nicotine exposure from handling tobacco leaves. It causes nausea and vomiting that can lead to hospitalization.

42. 80% of plane crashes occur in the first 3 or last 8 minutes of a flight.