44 Random Refreshing Facts That’ll Stimulate Your Morning – Part 49

In 2015, a journalist wanted to prove that the media will be quick to grab on any scientific claims to make the news. He fabricated a study that claimed chocolate helps in weight loss, got it published, then released it. He succeeded, fooling 20 countries.

27. Serial killers act similarly to bees. Serial killers commit a crime near their home, but far enough to prevent arousing suspicion. Similarly, bees collect pollen near their hive, but far enough from predators. Scientists found algorithms from studying bee behavior to catch felons.

28. It has been proven that rear-facing seats on planes are safer in the event of a crash, however, due to passenger discomfort and costs, they are only common in military aircraft.

29. Steven Spielberg's ex-wife (Amy Irving) received a divorce settlement of $100 million after a judge invalidated a prenuptial agreement he had written on a napkin.

30. The United States Department of Justice has filed a forfeiture complaint in federal court to seize the rights to the movies "Dumb and Dumber To" and "Daddy's Home," on the grounds that the movies were financed using money stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund.

In 2016, a 13-year-old named Joey Warchal spotted an incorrect prop in the Al Capone museum exhibit because he casually knows the production timeline of antique radios.

32. Alec Guinness agreed to appear in Star Wars only after he negotiated a deal that doubled his initial salary offer, guaranteed he wouldn't have to do any publicity for the film, and that he would be awarded 2.25% of all gross royalties paid to George Lucas.

33. There is enough residual blood in illegally dumped syringes to get positive DNA identification and it was used to successfully trace needles ditched on school property in Darien, Connecticut in the USA.

34. Shipping children through parcel post service was initially legal in the United States. The U.S. Post Office banned the practice in 1920.

35. In 2001, Charles Ingram won the grand prize (£1,000,000) on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" by having a friend in the audience cough on the right answer. He was suspected of cheating, and after review of the recordings, the accusation was confirmed. He was charged for deception.

Frances Gabe, in the 1980s, built and patented the world's only self-cleaning home. The patent contained 68 inventions. She died in obscurity last year at 101 years old.

37. A poem by Simon Armitage removed more than 2 tonnes of pollution from the environment. The poem In Praise Of Air, on display at Sheffield University, was printed on a specially treated material capable of purifying the air around it through catalytic oxidation.

38. The flavor Blue Raspberry is based on a real fruit, the whitebark Raspberry. Although the fruit's actual color is a deep purple, the fruit provided a way for candy makers to use blue dye.

39. A recently discovered fearsome Jurassic crocodile has been named Lemmysuchus, after Motorhead frontman Lemmy.

40. The Soviet KGB fabricated evidence linking the Central Intelligence Agency to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and passed the material to unwitting conspiracy theorists in the United States, according to the Mitrokhin Archive based on KGB files brought to the West by a defector.

Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz, had a guest appearance on Sesame Street which scared so many children it was never aired again.

42. The most deadly mammal in the world other than humans is the dog with about 30,000 deaths a year, but the majority of these dogs are infected with rabies.

43. In 1815, an American minister named Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet traveled to Britain to learn methods to teach the deaf. After being denied by the British, he learned his methods from the French. As a result, ASL has a 60% similarity to French sign language and is almost unintelligible to a British sign language user.

44. In 1938, pitchers intentionally walked and pitched around Hank Greenberg as he closed in on Babe Ruth's (at the time) record of 60 home runs in a season, because they didn't want a Jew to break Ruth's record.