50 Random Facts List #211

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1Don't Stop Me Now

Don't Stop Me Now

A neuroscientist named Dr. Jacob Jolij determined the most "feel-good" songs of all time... and #1 was "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.


2. When Ringo Starr temporarily left the Beatles in 1968 because he felt side-lined, his fellow Beatles sent him a telegram telling him that he was the best drummer in the world and that they loved him. He returned, and found his drumkit covered in flowers, spelling out "Welcome Back, Ringo."


3. There is a “dead spot” in the Black Sea where scientists have found ships as old as 1200 years preserved well enough to see chisel marks from the original builder.


4. Spiders don't have muscles in their legs. They extend them using a system of hydraulics powered by their blood pressure. When they die, spiders' legs curl up because the blood pressure is gone.


5. American singer Kid Rock didn't grow up in a trailer park, but on a six-acre estate with a 5,628-square-foot house and its own apple orchard.


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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History


6Broccoli

Broccoli

You can’t find broccoli in the wild since it was created by humans by breeding it from wild cabbage.


7. After Nike released Air Jordan sneakers in 1985, the NBA banned Michael Jordan from wearing them because its colors didn't match his team's uniform. Nike supposedly paid the fine of $5000 the NBA charged Jordan each game so he would continue wearing them.


8. Several months before Russell Crowe won the Oscar for Gladiator, the FBI warned him that the al-Qaeda were planning to kidnap him as part of a “cultural destabilization plot”. For nearly two years, the FBI guarded Crowe in public and refused to give him any details about the threat.


9. In 1906, a Moroccan serial killer was sentenced to be walled up alive after he was found guilty of murdering 36 women (the bodies were found buried beneath his shop and garden). His cries for help were heard for two days before he went silent.


10. In 1907, French waiters went on strike for the right to have mustaches. In France prior to 1907, mustaches were a symbol of class and stature, while waiters were seen as lower class and thus - not mustache-worthy.


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11Korean Air

Korean Air

In 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 accidentally strayed into Soviet Airspace, leading to the plane being shot down. To prevent such a tragedy, US President Ronald Reagan declassified a critical military tech and that is how we got GPS for civilian use.


12. In 2000, late professional wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow received second-degree burns over 40% of his body after he rescued 3 children from a burning house. He spent 10 days recovering in a hospital.


13. Jimi Hendrix’s contract for Woodstock stipulated that no act could play after him. The scheduled performance times went so far off that he didn’t take the stage until 9 am Monday morning. Most people had already left, and only about 10,000 people actually saw him play.


14. Iron Man was considered such a minor character when Marvel Studios began developing the 2008 movie that about 30 writers passed on writing the script, and Marvel produced three animated "advertorials" to introduce the character and show audiences that he wasn't simply a robot.


15. If you took out all of the empty space from between and within the atoms making up each human being, the entire human race would fit into the volume of a sugar cube.


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16Raymond Washington

Raymond Washington

Raymond Washington, the Crips main founder was appalled to find his organization escalating from fist-fights of his era to gunfights and hoped to build a truce with the Bloods before distancing himself and ultimately dying in a drive-by.


17. Animal life in Chernobyl is thriving, not because the radiation is gone (there’s still a lot of it), but because there are barely any humans living in that area.


18. After TJ Miller got accused of sexual misconduct and called in a fake bomb threat, Dreamworks hired an impersonator to dub over his lines in How To Train Your Dragon 3 to match his performance exactly (it had already been animated) in order to not change the film but still dissociate him from it.


19. In 1923, a dog named Bobbie was separated from his owners and lost. Six months later, Bobbie appeared on their doorstep mangy and scrawny with feet worn to the bone; he walked over 2500 miles (4000 km) of plains, desert, and mountains an average of approximately 14 miles (23 km) per day.


20. The Guy Fawkes mask used by a number of activist groups (including anti-capitalist groups) is copyrighted and owned by Time Warner. Every time a mask is purchased, Time Warner get paid.


21Mr. Abraham Wald

Mr. Abraham Wald

In World War 2, a few engineers wanted to reinforce the (returned) fighter planes where most of the bullet holes were. Mr. Abraham Wald then said: Let's reinforce them where no bullet holes are instead - because apparently, airplanes hit in these spots did not return.


22. The Japanese usually leave out most of their history from the early 1900s to World War 2 from their high school curriculum.


23. Florida passed a bill in1967 which would allow Disney to build their own nuclear power plant at Disney World. That law still stands.


24. "Celebrity psychiatrist" Dr. Isaac Herschkopf (left) manipulated a patient into cutting off his family, giving him his home, signing over his bank account, and amending his will to leave everything to the doctor's wife. Yet, Dr. Herschkopf still maintains his medical license in New York City today.


25. During World War 2, Gilbert Seltzer led a secret platoon of men within a unit dubbed the 'Ghost Army'. It was made up of artists, creatives and engineers. Their job was to outwit the Germans and create deceptions from inflatable tanks to scripted bar conversations. This unit's work led to the big US wins.

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