50 Random Facts List #116

If the genealogy of the early Germanic chroniclers is true, Queen Elizabeth II is descended from the Norse God Odin.

27. In 2014, shareholders of the fast food restaurant chain Olive Garden voted to replace the company's entire board of directors after investors got into a disagreement over the promise of unlimited breadsticks.

28. There was an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' in which three astronauts survive a crash landing and wander through the desert until the last man alive realizes he never left earth. Rodd Serling would use a lot of this plot for a film he helped write called "Planet Of The Apes"

29. In 1924, an English mountaineer named George Mallory may have been the first person to reach the summit of Everest. He was last seen 800 feet from the summit but never returned. He carried a picture of his wife with him that he said he would leave at the summit which he did not have when his body was found 75 years later.

30. The best man’s original purpose was to serve as an accomplice in case the bride needed to be kidnapped from disapproving parents.

The Spanish Flu, which killed 5% of the world’s population, was especially lethal to healthy adults. This happened because their strong immune reactions ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths among those groups.

32. The very last Peanuts comic strip, in which creator Charles Schultz ended the story of Charlie Brown and said farewell to his fans, was drawn by Schultz in November 1999. He would die in his sleep three months later, the night before the final comic was published.

33. During a visit to London, Boris Yeltsin nearly caused a diplomatic row by trying to hug the Queen. Afterward, it was suggested that the Russian should in the future be advised that apart from handshakes, people do not 'handle' the Queen.

34. Baristas at the CIA Starbucks do not write down the names of the customers on their cups and there are no frequent-customer award cards.

35. Edison offered $50,000 to Tesla if he succeeded in improving the efficiency of Edison's prototypical dynamos. Despite Tesla making a great deal of progress, Edison claimed that the offer was a joke.

Action movie star Steve McQueen was offered the leading role of Close Encounters by Steven Spielberg, but McQueen declined since he couldn't cry on cue. Spielberg offered to remove the scene but McQueen said it was the best part of the film.

37. A 91-year-old woman named Dorothy Steel made her big film acting debut as a merchant tribal elder, who advises Chadwick Boseman’s character in Marvel’s "Black Panther." She sent in her audition tape and Marvel executives said “Who is that old lady? We want her.” She began her acting career at the age of 88.

38. In 1997, Mexican film director Guillermo Del Toro's father was kidnapped in Mexico and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $1 million for his release. James Cameron became aware of this and paid the ransom, even recommending a negotiator.

39. The last woolly mammoth died out 1000 years after the pyramids at Giza were built.

40. A study on human psychology conducted by researchers found that men aren’t really attracted to women’s butts, but rather the implied spinal curvature that creates the illusion. The spinal curvature positively affects the ability to have children.

Of the 13 languages attested from before 1000 B.C., only two languages (Ancient Chinese and Mycenaean Greek) have descendants who continue to be speak them to this day.

42. American lawyer Robert S. Abbott founded 'The Chicago Defender' in 1905 for just $7. With the top circulation of any Black-owned newspaper in the States, it made him a multi-millionaire and contributed to “The Great Migration.” Thanking his ex-landlady for encouraging him, he gave her an 8 room house.

43. A German man named Gunther drove the same car for 549,000 miles through 177 countries on a 26-year road trip. His wife Christine joined him for most of the journey, where they traveled to nearly every country on the planet.

44. A man named Derek helped father nearly 500 children through sperm donation because of many men being dead or left unable to reproduce after World War I in postwar Britain.

45. Polar bears actually have black skin and clear hollow fur. The clear and hollow fur enables the sun rays to get to the black skin that keeps the polar bears warm in the cold climate.

North Korea plays basketball with different rules. Slam Dunks are 3 points, Three-point “nothing but net” shots are worth 4 points and teams lose points when they miss free throws.

47. The British and Irish plug is regarded as the safest wall socket in the world.

48. In 2014, a Colorado woman named Kyra Kopestonsky sang opera to scare away a mountain lion that had been stalking her while hiking. The local sheriff said it was only the second stalking incident reported in 34 years but the woman was "obviously educated as to what to do in this unexpected situation."

49. A German soldier named Oskar Gröning, who worked at Auschwitz but was able to hide it for 40 years, decided to publish his story after meeting a Holocaust denier, even though he was incriminating himself by doing so.

50. Camels originated in North America some 45 million years ago and roamed as far north as the Arctic. 3-5 million years ago, they crossed the Bering land bridge to Eurasia and eventually migrated south. They also ambled down to South America, where they evolved into llamas and alpacas.