50 Random Facts List #47

In 1977, Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, a poor Indian artist, rode a second-hand bicycle for 4 weeks and 3 days from New Delhi to Gothenburg in Sweden to meet his love Charlotte Von Schedvin because he didn't have enough money. They married and have 2 children.

27. In 1911, 2 teenage boys (Vandersarl brothers) with no money, no formal education or training, and no flying skills successfully fabricated, built, and flew a Bleriot aircraft. The aircraft was restored and flew again in 2012.

28. In 1982, Universal Studios sued Nintendo on the grounds that Donkey Kong was an exact copy of Universal-alleged owned King Kong. The judge ruled that Universal acted in bad faith by threatening Nintendo's licensees and it had no right over King Kong due to being in public domain.

29. Wilmer Valderrama purchased the Vista Cruiser used on "That '70s Show" for $500 when the series ended.

30. 90% of the world's population lives in the northern hemisphere.

The backstory of Casper the Friendly Ghost is that he was a young adolescent who went sledding all day and died of pneumonia.

32. General Ferdinand Foch (Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in World War I) said of the Treaty of Versailles "This is not a peace treaty. This is an armistice for twenty years." The Second World War began 20 years and 64 days later.

33. Vincent Van Gogh didn't start to paint until the age of 28 and only started drawing at the age of 26. In the 9 years, until his death at 37, he painted over 800 paintings.

34. Edward Bernays manipulated the fashion industry to make green the "in" color in 1934 just to sell more Lucky Strike cigarettes. He is also the man who made Bacon & Eggs a typical American breakfast!

35. In 2010, Microsoft held a funeral to mark the death of the iPhone when it launched its own line of phones.

Twenty babies born in Britain since the World War 2 have been named Adolf.

37. Different dolphin species will attempt to speak a 'common language'. When Bottlenose and Guyana dolphins come together in the waters near Costa Rica they change the way they communicate and begin using an intermediate language.

38. 'Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends' is actually a song dedicated to Billie Armstrong's father who died of cancer on September 1st, 1982.

39. Warranty void stickers have no legal standing in the US thanks to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

40. During the 51 day siege by the FBI on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, the FBI used sleep deprivation to try to force the suspects out. This included around the clock broadcasts of jet planes, screams from rabbits being slaughtered and "These boots were made for walking".

Hippo sweat has a reddish-orange coloration that acts as a natural sunblock. The sticky substance also helps regulate the hippo’s body temperature and discourages bacterial infection.

42. The English meaning of 1 billion which was 1 million million, was changed in 1975 to adopt the American meaning which stands at 1 thousand million.

43. In a 1986 interview, Jackie Gleason said he considered suing Hanna-Barbera for The Flintstones being a copy of The Honeymooners, but passed when his lawyers cautioned, "Do you want to be known as the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air?".

44. Even though the sun won't die for another 5 billion years, humans only have about 1 billion years left on Earth because the sun will change and become hot enough to boil and evaporate our oceans.

45. There are squirrel monkeys living in the wild in Florida.

George Foreman was originally paid 40% of the profits for endorsing the George Foreman Grill. At the peak of the grill's sales, he was making 4.5 million dollars a month.

47. The Mayans revered bees so much that they had funerals for them.

48. In 1970s, Jewish applicants to the math department of Moscow State University were given select problems. These were designed to prevent them and other "undesirables" from getting a passing grade.

49. Paricutín is a volcano that emerged suddenly on 1943 from a farmer's land in a matter of a day. Now peaking at 9200ft, it's still the first ever volcano whose birth has been witnessed by human eyes.

50. In 1942, in a German POW camp north of Toronto, the prisoners rebelled using pipes and sticks and were subdued by a group of baseball bat wielding Canadians (The Battle of Bowmanville).