50 Random Facts List #33

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26Empress Michiko

Empress Michiko

The current Empress of Japan, Empress Michiko is a Hibernophile and has a keen interest in Irish mythology most notably ''The Children of Lir'' and recites I See His Blood Upon The Rose by Joseph Plunkett as a party piece and even speaks passable Irish.


27. A 2005 research by the University of Miami on lethal injections in the U.S. found that the post mortem blood concentration of anesthetic (Sodium thiopental) in 43 out of 49 executed inmates were lower than that required for surgery. 21 inmates had concentrations consistent with awareness.


28. In 1919, a dog named Tang saved 92 people after their boat capsized in stormy seas. The dog jumped into the stormy seas with the boat's tow rope in his mouth and swam to shore, where the rope was used to tow the boat in.


29. The Trachtenberg speed math system can be used to multiply large numbers in your head. It was developed by a jew named Jakow Trachtenberg while being held in a Nazi concentration camp. He developed this technique as a distraction from the horrors surrounding him.


30. Some breakfast cereals, like Wheaties, are fortified with enough iron that individual flakes can be lifted and carried using common magnets.


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31Viking

Viking

A single Viking is said to have killed 40 Saxons at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, temporarily halting the advance of the entire Saxon army.


32. When King William II of England was 'accidentally' shot through the lung with an arrow, his body was abandoned by the nobles, found by a peasant and returned to Winchester Cathedral by farmers.


33. Chicago had a huge heat wave in 1995 that killed hundreds, and that 41 victims' bodies were never claimed. They were buried in a mass grave in Homewood, Illinois.


34. Top Gear staged breakdowns of the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster, making electric cars seem unviable. Show defenders said that it was all in fun.


35. The US still hasn't used up all of the Purple Hearts minted in anticipation of a bloody landing of Japan in World War 2.


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36Blue and red eraser

Blue and red eraser

The hard blue end of an eraser wasn't designed for erasing ink. It is meant for erasing pencil from a heavier paper that would otherwise wear down the softer, pink side.


37. Apple in the 80s paid gaming magazines to downplay Mac's gaming abilities, which was better than the PC's, to project them as professional tools.


38. In the Victorian era, people used rocking bathtubs, tubs of water that could be sloshed back and forth to recreate the feel of the ocean in their homes.


39. The government of Nazi Germany memorialized the victims of European witch trials of the 16th to 18th centuries, as they thought witchcraft represented the remnant of an indigenous "Aryan" religion untainted by the Judaic influence of Christianity.


40. Eazy-E, former rapper, and N.W.A member was not buried in a suit and tie, but instead a flannel shirt, jeans and a Compton cap, reminiscent of what he wore.


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41Bowhead whales

Bowhead whales

Bowhead whales have an average lifespan of over 200 years. That means there are whales alive today who personally witnessed humanity go from three master schooners to the modern ships we have today.


42. The Treaty of Watertown was the first foreign treaty signed by the United States, establishing a military alliance with Wabanaki First Nations. To this day, Wabanaki citizens of Canada are allowed to join the U.S. military.


43. Flamingos can sleep in ponds that freeze around their legs at night, drink boiling water, and survive conditions that expose them to arsenic and poisonous gases.


44. Cocaine is an ideal treatment for nosebleeds, being a good local anesthetic while simultaneously lowering bleeding by means of vasoconstriction.


45. In the 17th century, an old man on trial openly confessed to being a werewolf but claimed to be good-natured, stating that he regularly went to hell with other werewolves to battle the witches and wizards of Satan to ensure a bountiful harvest.


46Battle of Wuhan

Battle of Wuhan

In 1938, China's Nationalist government ordered the opening of dikes on the Yellow River to create a flood and slow the Japanese advance to Wuhan. While the advance was delayed, the flood also caused around 500,000 to 900,000 Chinese civilian deaths.


47. The samurai scene in Kill Bill where The Bride fights against the Crazy 88 was so bloody that the MPAA wanted director Quentin Tarantino to cut it in order to maintain an R rating. To get around it, he altered the colors in the scene to black and white.


48. Eliot Ness, the man famous for bringing down Al Capone's bootlegging empire during Prohibition, eventually became a raging alcoholic and often told glorified stories of his exploits while drinking in taverns.


49. The Lazarus reflex is a reflex movement in brain dead patients which causes them to briefly raise their arms and drop them crossed on their chests in a position similar to some Egyptian mummies. The reflex is often preceded by slight shivering motions of the arms, followed by goose bumps.


50. The "Punt gun" an eleven-foot rifle meant for killing roughly 50 birds in one shot, which was eventually banned due to it decimating wild bird numbers.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. number 23. So evidently Paris wasn’t occupied during world war 2?!?!?! just how bad are your sources? Claiming only Moscow, London and Helsinki were occupied (Ummm When was LONDON occupied, the Germans never made it across the English Channel in anything but an airplane, and the Germans never took Moscow either. please correct that misinformation.

    959

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