50 Random Facts List # 54

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1Bill Gates

Bill Gates

During his 2009 TED talk, Bill Gates opened a jar of mosquitoes saying “Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. I bought some… I’ll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected” & waited for a minute before telling the audience that the bugs were malaria-free.


2. Quarterback Sam Bradford has earned over $114 Million over his 7 year career in the NFL and has never once been to the Playoffs or Pro Bowl.


3. In 2014, CVS stopped selling tobacco products in favor of promoting good health, losing over a billion in revenue.


4. In 1919, William Little was an African American soldier who fought in World War I. He was lynched because he refused to take off his uniform when he got back home to Blakey, Georgia.


5. John F. Kennedy had a younger sister named Rosemary, who received a lobotomy which made her unable to walk or speak. This was his and his brother's main motivation for all they did for individuals with special needs.


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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History


6Death row

Death row

Death row inmates in Japan are held in solitary confinement and “told [when] they are to be hanged just hours before they are taken to the gallows.” Their families are notified only after their demise.


7. Colonel Charles Young was the first African American to reach the rank of Colonel in the US Army. After being denied promotion to brigadier general under the guise of fitness, he rode on horseback from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. to disprove rumors of his poor health.


8. A Japanese Village (Fudai) was spared being destroyed during the 2011 tsunami by its huge seawall. A wall that its previous mayor had been harshly criticized for the building.


9. Patrick the Wombat was the world’s oldest wombat at 32 years and died a virgin. He had a Tinder profile and rode around in a wheelbarrow.


10. Elvis Presley and his entourage would rent out roller skating rinks to throw $15,000 worth of fireworks at each other while wearing "air force jump-suits plus gloves, helmets, and goggles."


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11King Haakon VII

King Haakon VII

When Prince Carl of Denmark was offered the throne of newly independent Norway in 1905, he refused to take it unless the Norwegian people agreed that they wanted a monarchy rather than a republic. He won the resulting referendum with 79% and became King Haakon VII.


12. Sally Ride had a female partner for more than 25 years, making her the first known LGBT astronaut.


13. Most pizza sold in Italy is specifically created to match the tourists' expectations of what authentic pizza is, not to match authentic Italian recipes. Tourists then go home and open up pizza shops to recreate this "authentic" experience. This is called the Pizza effect.


14. Tokyo has been destroyed and rebuilt on average, from 1608 to 1945, once every five years.


15. If you spent one day on each of the islands in the Phillippines, it would take you almost 21 years to visit them all.


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16Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten

Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten

Prior to their music careers, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten would often perform Alice Cooper covers on the streets for money. People would pay them to stop.


17. In 2009 Airmen Colton Read went in for gallbladder surgery and woke up with both legs amputated. Military doctors punctured his aorta and waited 8.5 hours to get him proper medical care. Read isn't legally allowed to sue for damages.


18. The warm-blooded Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is so powerful, it can cook its own flesh with sudden bursts of muscle activity.


19. In 1996 and 1997, Emily Rosa, at the age of 9, tested 21 therapeutic touch practitioners whether their claims to detect "human energy fields" were true. After finding they were right only 44% of the time, she published the results on 1998, becoming the youngest person to have a research paper published.


20. There was an anti-gang unit in the LAPD that had ties to the Bloods. Over 70 officers were implicated in misconduct like shooting civilians, robbing banks, beating suspects (or worse), stealing cocaine, and framing civilians. Some believe the unit was involved in the murder of Biggie Smalls.


21Joseph Sampson Gamgee

Joseph Sampson Gamgee

J.R.R Tolkien got the name for Samwise Gamgee from a doctor called Joseph Sampson Gamgee, the inventor of the 'Gamgee tissue', an absorbent gauze surgical dressing made from cotton wool. Hence, Tolkien named Samwise's wife in The Lord of the Rings books Rosie Cotton.


22. Dover Castle is the largest castle in England. There are over 3 miles of secret wartime tunnels snaking deep into the cliff. Many of these tunnels are still undiscovered.


23. At the height of the siege of Sarajevo in 1994, Iron Maiden's frontman Bruce Dickinson and his band decided to smuggle themselves into the city and give a concert despite constant shelling and sniper-fire. When their arranged UN heli-transport bailed, they hitched a hike in the back of a truck.


24. The Norwegian immigrant and World War 2 veteran Andrew Haines requested and was granted a Viking funeral by the U.S. Coast Guard.


25. More Africans have access to cell phone service than piped water and electricity.

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