50 Random Facts List #27

Octopuses are so smart that they’re given puzzles so they won’t get bored in captivity.

2. Pork is popular in Spain because it was used to show that you were not a Jew or Muslim during the Inquisition.

3. Ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals so that they will open the carcass and leave the scraps more accessible to them.

4. In 2016, an Israeli team of researchers invented a breathalyzer that can detect 17 different diseases, including two types of Parkinson's, Crohn's, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease, and cancers including lung cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer.

5. Fujitsu made a device called the "iPad" in 2002. Apple had to pay $4 million to Fujitsu to buy the trademark.

Humidity levels can rise in the summer through "Corn Sweat" which is water evaporating from corn plants.

7. Mike Myers loosely based his Dr. Evil character on his former SNL boss Lorne Micheals. Dr. Evil's phrase "throw me a frickin' bone here, people," was supposedly something Michaels said many times at script meetings for SNL.

8. The Defense Department spent an estimated $100 million for airline tickets that were not used over a 6-year period and failed to seek refunds even though the tickets were reimbursable.

9. The average life expectancy of a flamethrower operator in combat during World War 2 was less than 10 minutes.

10. As a male Swiss citizen, Roger Federer was compulsorily required to serve in the armed forces. However, in 2003, despite already having become a tennis pro, he was deemed 'unfit' because of a back problem and was relieved of his obligations.

Willie Nelson sold his first song for only $50 and the cost of a restaurant bill that he couldn't afford. "Family Bible" went on to reach #7 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, but Nelson had no regrets about the sale, saying, "I felt if I could write one hit song, I could write another."

12. Rosie O'Donnell hated the movie 'Fight Club' so much that she spoiled the ending on her talk show and urged viewers not to see it.

13. The Tetris effect (also known as Tetris Syndrome) occurs when people devote so much time and attention to an activity that it begins to pattern their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. It takes its name from the video game Tetris.

14. Volkswagen sells sausages and ketchup. It is also their best selling product, selling millions more than their cars.

15. Many people who believe in the Flat Earth theory also believe that flat-top mountains are actually giant tree stumps.

Toyota's Tundra pickup is made of 70% Domestic parts, which ties the Ford F-150 for "Most American truck." RAM trucks came in 3rd at 61% domestic parts. Chevy and GMC trucks came in last behind Nissan with less than half of their parts made in America.

17. Cate Blanchett's Academy Award for playing Katherine Hepburn in "The Aviator" made her the only actor to win an Oscar for portraying another Oscar-winning actor.

18. MTV's "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" contributed to a drop in teen birth rate.

19. Male infants show a stronger interest in the physical-mechanical objects while the female infants show a stronger interest in social objects.

20. 8 of the 14 vaccines that are routinely recommended today were developed by an American microbiologist named Maurice Hilleman.

A 4chan prank resulted in VH1’s Save the Music program donating $10,000 to buy musical instruments for Boston's Horace Mann School for the Deaf.

22. A 59-year-old man entered a hospital complaining of chest pains was found to have a three-chambered reptilian heart, as opposed to a four-chambered mammalian one.

23. OJ Simpson's father was a well-known drag queen in the San Francisco area and died of AIDS in 1986.

24. In the TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the governor of California was targeted for termination. At the time of filming, the governor in office was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

25. Launching a nuclear weapon in the Chicago city is punishable by a $1,000 fine.