50 Random Facts List #112

A set of triplets named Robert Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman were intentionally separated at birth and given to three sets of parents with intentionally varied socioeconomic backgrounds as part of an experiment. It was uncovered when two of the triplets happened to attend the same college in 1980. The next day, after spotting a photo of Shafran and Gallan together in the news, Kellman contacted the pair to inform them that he believed he was their third brother, making them not twins, but triplets.

27. The ingredient in spicy peppers, Capsaicin, is sometimes strong enough to cure prostate cancer.

28. Mechanical prosthetics date back to the 16th century when wounded knights needed mechanical fingers to properly grip their swords or lance.

29. German Reformation leader Martin Luther was extremely antisemitic and advocated forced labor, expulsion, the burning of synagogues, of Jewish schools, and of Jewish books, and even their murder.

30. In 1930s, a Welsh Spiritualist medium named Colin Evans claimed to be able to levitate with the help of spirits. People demanded their money back after learning that he was simply jumping up in the air.

Mark Twain based the character Huckleberry Finn on a real person named Tom Blankenship. Tom was 4 years older than Twain, and they knew each other growing up in Hannibal, Missouri.

32. Gyros, döner and shawarma, which are similar types of food cooked on a vertical rotisserie, all mean “turning” in different languages.

33. Edna Mode, the superhero costume designer in 'The Incredibles', is voiced by Brad Bird, the film's director. Bird voiced Edna during story boarding sessions, after which the production team couldn't find an actress who could do the voice better than him.

34. There is a second Pope in Egypt. Pope Tawadros II was selected as the 118th pope for the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria on November 4, 2012.

35. The U.S. Air Force successfully deployed a reconnaissance drone (Lockheed D-21) capable of Mach 3.3 almost 50 years ago.

Most places in the Southern United States named Lincoln are named after the Revolutionary War general Benjamin Lincoln rather than Abraham Lincoln.

37. In order to open a Taco Bell franchise, Taco Bell requires you to have a minimum net worth of $1.5 million and at least $750,000 in liquid assets.

38. The pansy is quite a durable flower. It can survive with little water and freezing temperatures, despite the derogatory use of its name as an “unmanly” or spineless person.

39. An officer named David Blair was transferred off the Titanic shortly before she sailed. He packed his quarters quickly and accidentally left the ship with a key in his pocket, the key to the crow's nest cabinet where they kept the lookout's binoculars.

40. Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on February 12, 1809. Both lost their mother at a young age and, despite their differences in upbringing, both men saw themselves as autodidacts (education without the guidance of masters such as teachers and professors or institutions such as schools).

China sends seeds into space, then uses the resulting mutated seeds to produce abnormally large crops.

42. In computing, half of a byte is called a nibble.

43. American Stunt performer Evel Knievel completed over 75 motorcycle jumps in his lifetime (including one in a steam powered rocket), broke his bones 433 times over the course of his career but ended up dying of diabetes and pulmonary disease.

44. The helicopter that crashed during the Bin Laden raid did so because in the training exercises, they used a chain fence, rather than a solid wall like what surrounded the real compound. The solid wall meant heat got trapped and rose up, causing the helicopter to have different flight properties.

45. A Chrysalis and a Cocoon aren't the same thing. A Butterfly Caterpillar makes a Chrysalis by hardening its own skin while a Moth Caterpillar makes a cocoon from debris and its own silk.

During the Hoover dam construction, the first worker to die was J. G. Tierney and the last person to die was Patrick William Tierney, J.G. Tierney’s only son who died 14 years later exactly on the same date (December 20) after his death.

47. There is a Newspaper Prop that has been used in different movies for over 50 years.

48. Yoga breathing and mindfulness has been shown to help victims of childhood trauma reduce emotional and physical symptoms.

49. A professor of forest ecology named Suzanne Simard tested a theory that the trees could communicate with each other. She discovered that when a Douglas Fir tree was in the shade, a Birch tree shared its carbon with the other tree.

50. The couple (Andrew and Peggy Cherng) that founded the restaurant company Panda Express both have degrees in Mathematics. The husband has a masters and the wife has a Ph.D.