50 Random Facts List #51

The United States Airforce maintains a fleet of Boeing E4-B "Doomsday" planes. They are capable of being airborne for a week. They cost nearly $160,000 per hour for the Air Force to operate, and have a 5 mile long trailing wire antenna to communicate with nuclear submarines.

27. The reason there was a talking robot in Rocky 4 was because Stallone used that robot at home to help his autistic son. So he wrote it into the script so that he could have his son on set with his robot and care worker.

28. "Pee paint" is a special paint that repels pee back on the pee-er. Cities use it in an attempt to reduce public urination on walls.

29. Snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan was accused of disrespect by an opponent for using his opposite hand to take a shot. To prove he wasn't bringing the game into disrepute, he played 3 frames with his left-hand against a former world championship runner-up (Alain Robidoux), winning all 3.

30. Rum-Running is smuggling alcohol over water. Boot-Legging is smuggling alcohol over land.

Charlie Chaplin was into young girls. He fired an underaged girl (Lita Grey) from his movie after refusing to abort his child and narrowly escaped a sex scandal by marrying her in secret.

32. The USS Johnston was saluted by a Japanese destroyer captain as it was sinking, after spending nearly 3 hours squaring off against 23 Japanese ships, including 4 Battleships, 8 Cruisers, and 11 destroyers.

33. The graphics company Nvidia is named after the Latin 'Invidia', which means 'envy'. This is also the reason why they use the color green, as in "green with envy".

34. Dolphins and whales can die under their own weight if on land. Without water to support their size, they can end up crushing their own organs.

35. 1920s ‘Little Albert experiment.’ Johns Hopkins University chose a nine-month-old infant from a hospital and attempted to ‘condition a phobia in an emotionally stable child.’ They successfully made him fear Santa, rabbits, and other furry animals.

Monowi is a town in Nebraska which has a population of one person (Elsie Eiler). She is the Mayor, pays taxes to herself and acts as bartender and librarian.

37. Jackie Chan sings the Cantonese version of "I'll Make a Man Out of You" on the DVD for the Disney movie Mulan.

38. In 1940, 75% of Americans dreamt almost always in black and white, and today over 12% of people still dream in only black and white.

39. The Chinese takeout box was an American invention originally designed to hold oysters and is rarely used for food in Asian countries.

40. In former US President Gerald Ford's senior year as a football player at the University of Michigan, when Georgia Tech refused to play if a black player named Willis Ward (and Ford's best friend on the team) took the field, Ford threatened to quit the team in response.

“The Compton Cowboys” is a group of young African-American men that have found peace and turned their backs on gang violence through the care and riding of horses in urban Los Angeles.

42. Egypt has compulsory military service for males, but only if they have a brother. If they have no siblings or only a sister, they are exempt.

43. Actress Roseanne Barr was hit by a car at age of 16, and the hood ornament went into her brain and through her skull. Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for 8 months at Utah State Hospital, where she had a baby, which she gave up for adoption.

44. The ancient Chinese used natural gas for lighting purposes around 500 B.C., using bamboo pipelines to transport the gas for miles.

45. Seattle-caught salmon has been found to contain cocaine, antidepressants and pain relievers.

A French man named Frédéric Bourdin was able to successfully impersonate an American family's lost son for 3 and a half months before being caught and deported back to France.

47. The term Checkmate is, according to the Barnhart Etymological Dictionary, an alteration of the Persian phrase "shāh māt" (شاه مات) which means, literally, "the King is helpless".

48. Bill Cosby's legal fees are being paid by his home insurance since he has a policy that covers anything that might defame him.

49. The Beatles were signed to EMI (Electrical and Musical Industries) in 1962 and with their insane success, the label funded the research that lead to the CT scanner, which EMI released in 1972.

50. The Melanesian men named Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana who helped rescue JFK during World War 2 were invited to his inauguration but were prevented from going by British officials who felt they weren't dressed well enough to travel.