47 Thoughtful Random Facts To Help You Get Smarter Everyday | Random List #29

American president John F. Kennedy told the Secret Service to keep Jackie Kennedy away from shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She married him after Kennedy's assassination.

27. Mathematician Leonhard Euler's work touched upon so many fields that he is often the earliest written reference on a given matter, so in an effort to avoid naming everything after Euler, some discoveries and theorems are attributed to the first person to have discovered them after Euler.

28. The stars in the Brazilian flag represent the stars in the sky at the day and hour of its independence.

29. While filming Poltergeist, Oliver Robbins truly got choked during a take by the robot clown doll. It wasn't until the boy turned purple that Spielberg realized what was actually happening.

30. There are still 10 people that are living in iron lungs.

Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day holiday, later became unhappy with its commercialization and began organizing a petition to rescind Mother's Day. She was placed in a sanitarium, and people connected with the floral and greeting card industries paid the bills to keep her there.

32. Retronyms are the words created to differentiate between two words, where previously no clarification was required, like an acoustic guitar.

33. The Greek origin of the word "idiot" was used to mean someone who did not participate in politics and public affairs.

34. Wild marijuana grows all over Northern Japan.

35. During the Cold War, the BBC planned to air "The Sound of Music" after a nuclear strike to improve the morale of survivors.

In 1961, a yoga teacher named Anne Hamilton-Byrne was able to convince hundreds of people that she was the female reincarnation of Jesus creating a horrific cult in Australia called "The Family", one of the only known cults led by a woman.

37. It would take a person 59 days straight to count to one million. A man named Jeremy Harper counted up to it for charity in 2007. He counted for 16 hours a day and raised $10,000 (one penny per number).

38. The Roman Empire typically avoided using slave rowers, instead preferring freemen, because they were more motivated.

39. Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington in 2006. He still has 30 birdshot pellets stuck inside him, which has led to heart issues and a change in voice.

40. Bots are more active on the internet than people. Only 48.2% of internet traffic is human, and bad bots outnumber good bots.

Black Garlic is made by heating whole bulbs of garlic over the course of several weeks, a process that results in black cloves. The taste is sweet and syrupy with hints of balsamic vinegar or tamarind.

42. British intelligence once executed "Operation Cupcake" to hack an online al-Qaeda magazine, replacing bomb making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes.

43. In 2010, Paul the Octopus, from a German aquarium in Oberhausen, correctly predicted every single World Cup match outcome for the German National Team that year. He received death threats when he accurately foresaw their semi-final loss.

44. In the 1980s, 92 high ranking officials (judges, lawyers, policemen, and a state legislator) were arrested and indicted in the Chicago area for corruption; including profiting from murder, bribery, racketeering, etc. Operation Greylord involved the first listening device ever placed in a judge's chambers.

45. Tom and Jerry's episode (The Cat Concerto) where Tom performs Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1946.

Moko, a dolphin helped rescue two beached whales in 2008. Humans had tried and failed to help the whales and were ready to give up when the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales and led them to safety.

47. Upon restoration of Apethorpe Palace in England, it was discovered that the bedrooms of King James and Duke George Villers were connected through a secret passageway. It had been long suspected that King James and Villers were gay lovers.