43 Random Ridiculous Facts That Are Absolutely True – Part 110

A Dutch vegan and animal rights activist named Nancy Holten applied for a Swiss passport, but her application was rejected because the locals found her too annoying. Holten had campaigned against the use of cowbells in the village and her actions annoyed the locals.

2. Statisticians have found that cities that have an “erotic services” section on Craigslist see a 17% decrease in the number of women being murdered.

3. The Albuquerque Fire Department dispatcher named Matthew Sanchez hung up on a teenager who was trying to help 17-year-old victim of a drive-by shooting sued the County and received at settlement of $25,000.

4. After Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, her brothers hired an imposter so that they could collect gifts on her name fraudulently.

5. Saint Lawrence was executed on a giant grill. After suffering pain for a long time on the grill, legend says he cheerfully declared, “I’m well done. Turn me over!” From this derives his patronage of cooks, chefs, and comedians.

Navy Seals who carried out the Osama Bin Laden kill mission, forgot to bring a tape measure and had to measure Laden's height by making a six feet tall Seal lie down next to Laden's corpse.

7. When Sean Connery dated Julie Hamilton, she originally wasn't attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, declaring him to be the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her life.

8. American garbage truck drivers have an average annual salary of $40,000, greater than the nationwide average of $30,000 among all high school graduates.

9. The founder of Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, hated how commercialized the holiday had become. She said, “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.”

10. The outrage that ensued when gold miners cut down the “Mammoth Tree” at California’s (now) Calaveras Big Trees State Park inspired the national park system over 160 years ago.

Maple trees aren’t the only trees tapped for syrup. The sap from Pine, Birch and Black Walnut trees also produce edible syrup.

12. Elvis Presley was quite gifted in the martial arts. He reached the level of First Degree Black Belt and one of his instructors was quoted saying “In martial arts, he wasn’t Elvis, The Entertainer. He was Elvis, The Black Belt, with 15 years’ experience.”

13. A competitor named Arrhichion at the 54th Olympiad (564 B.C.) had his neck snapped in a wrestling match resulting in his death but also won the match posthumously as his opponent tapped out.

14. Cannabis was an important part of Japanese culture from prehistoric times until their defeat in World War 2. It was used by the navy for ropes and the air force for parachute cords.

15. The world record for most monogamous marriages is 29, held by Glynn Wolfe. When Wolfe died, none of the 29 women he legally married, and none but one of his children, attended the funeral service.

In 1916, Albert Einstein wrote an article proposing a more efficient shape for wings. The plane built with his wings barely left the ground.

17. In 1832, after the death of philosopher Jeremy Bentham, his body was preserved and displayed in the University College London. Sometime later his preserved head was placed in secure storage after it was stolen by several students and found in a luggage locker at a Scottish railway station.

18. In 2014, the European Union paid the Dutch consulting firm Ecorys 360,000 euros (about $428,000) to research the effect piracy had on sales of copyrighted content. They then hid the report as it suggested that piracy was generally harmless.

19. In 1999, Sergio Motsoeneng finished in the top 10 in famous Comrades Ultra-marathon by exchanging places with virtually identical brother Fika at toilet stops. Brothers were caught after a newspaper published photos showing them wearing watches on opposite wrists.

20. Many popular rural-oriented television shows, including Lassie, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Hee Haw, were all canceled in 1971 in what is known as the "Rural Purge"

In 'The Sandlot' movie, the guy who played the grown-up version of Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, and who stole home for the Dodgers, is the real-life older brother of the kid who played Benny.

22. The Soviet Union gave John F. Kennedy a dog named Pushinka. Pushinka was the daughter of Strekla, one of the first dogs to go into space and come back alive.

23. According to the FDA, most store-bought honey is adulterated with cheaper ingredients that are not honey.

24. Happy cows actually do produce better milk. Higher levels of serotonin (a chemical associated with feelings of happiness), led to improved blood calcium in cows, reducing the chance of disease and improving the nutritional quality of the milk.

25. In 1969, Jimi Hendrix sent a telegram to Paul McCartney asking him to join a supergroup along with Tony Williams and Miles Davis. McCartney never received the message.