50 Random Facts List #220

The Ibrahim Prize is a $5 million payout plus $200,000 per year given to African leaders who were democratically elected and left office after their term was up as part of their criteria. For 7 of the 12 years, it was offered, it was never awarded to anyone.

27. A study of Holocaust survivors found that they passed their trauma on to their children. Their children were found to have an increased likelihood of stress disorders when compared to Jewish families who were living outside of Europe during World War 2.

28. Anthony Pellicano is a Hollywood fixer who was recently released after 15 years in prison for multiple indictments. He walked out to a six-figure trust that was funded by high-level executives and Hollywood stars for his silence while he was incarcerated.

29. Sue Jones-Davies, who portrayed Judith in Monty Python's Life of Brian, later became Mayor of Aberystwyth. She discovered that the town had banned the Life of Brian for 30 years, and her first act was to overturn the ban and stage a screening with Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

30. The song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, was originally meant to have been sung by Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was scrapped after Elton John himself intervened, saying “I don't want a big, stinky warthog singing my love song!"

People with depression feel better after listening to sad music.

32. Jazz on bones or "Ribs" were bootleg vinyl recordings made from old x-rays with holes burned in the middle from cigarettes. In the '50s and '60s they were a black market method for smuggling banned music into the Soviet Union such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley.

33. A 13-year old girl named Eliza Armstrong was purchased for £5 by journalist W.T. Stead in his attempt to expose sex slavery in Victorian London. Though his newspaper story led to tighter laws protecting women and girls, he was still arrested and jailed for abduction and procurement.

34. The U.S. Constitution forbids members of Congress from holding ‘any office under the United States’ concurrent with their congressional service. Legal scholars have concluded that individuals holding military commissions should be barred from serving in Congress.

35. Anoka, Minnesota was the first U.S. city to put on a Halloween celebration when they did so in 1920 to divert youngsters from Halloween pranks. It was also proclaimed "The Halloween Capital of the World" by Congress in 1937. Today, tens of thousands of people visit Anoka annually for Halloween.

In 1991, the Republican Party accidentally sent out a fundraiser invitation to Eazy-E. He trolled everyone by donating and attending a luncheon at the White House with George H.W. Bush.

37. After Warren Harding’s Teapot Dome scandal, the House and Senate were given subpoena power for review of tax records of any US citizen without regard to an elected or appointed position, nor subject to White House interference.

38. Simon in Simon Says (children's game) is different in other countries. In France it's Jack Says, Chinese is Teacher Says, Norway is The King Commands, and Ireland is O'Grady Says.

39. Staring into someone's eyes for 10 minutes straight may cause disassociation and hallucinations.

40. Juice Jacking is a type of cyberattack where public USB charging points double as data connection points, installing malware or copying data. Free USB charging points can be used to steal your data.

Rainforest canopies have their own soil that is completely distinct from the soil on the ground. This "canopy soil" forms on the tops of branches from the death of mosses and plants, and sustains a high richness of fungal species that regulate nitrogen and nutrients in the forest.

42. Louis de Bourbon, Count of Soissons who after betraying Louis XIII and successfully beat his army at the Battle of La Marfée, accidentally killed himself when lifting the visor of his helmet with his pistol after the battle was over.

43. In 2012, 300,000 students in Montreal protested for over 100 days over a 75% hike in tuition prices.

44. There were about 60,000 attempts to get across the Berlin Wall. 5,000 people managed to escape through the Wall, with an estimated death toll of 136.

45. The majority of infections from swimming pools and hot tubs are caused by cryptosporidium, a diarrheal disease caused by microscopic parasites which are released (anally) into the water and then consumed (orally) by fellow swimmers. Hotel pools are the primary place of infection.

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist and a teacher who devised the periodic table. In 1867, one day after working for three straight days, he got the inspiration from a dream: "Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper.” He named his discovery the “periodic table of the elements.”

47. 15 years after having been shot and left for dead during a forced march to a concentration camp, physicist Bruno Touschek initiated and drove the development of AdA -- the world's first antimatter storage ring.

48. Jackfruit is one of the biggest food trends among vegetarians, vegans, and even meat lovers. While it is technically a fruit, its consistency is similar to that of chicken or pork.

49. Ancient Chinese physicians kept a small ivory "medicine doll" in their desks to help them treat female patients, who were forbidden from showing too much skin to a male other than their husband. Women seeking medical attention would point to the areas on the doll where they had discomfort.

50. French author Denis Vrain-Lucas made hundreds of thousands of francs by forging letters written by historical figures. It took 15 years for him to be caught, even though his letters (many supposedly by ancient Romans or Biblical figures) were all in modern French, and written on watermarked paper.