50 Random Facts List #61

- Sponsored Links -

1Gladiators

Gladiators

Gladiators in Ancient Rome used to carry product placements out in the arena. This was present in an early script for Gladiator (2000) but was removed out of fears that it would be viewed as anachronistic.


2. Sony sold its waterproof Walkman in a bottle of water to prove it was really waterproof.


3. Only 11% of Japanese people are willing to fight for their country, the lowest in the world. In both Morocco and Fiji, it is 94%.


4. Native Americans in the 1964 movie 'Cheyenne Autumn', (because no one on the set spoke their language) would say crude remarks that made it into the movie. In the scene where the treaty is signed, you can hear (but not understand) them mocking the size of the colonel's p*nis.


5. Within a split second, the human nose modifies the moisture of inhaled air to a constant relative humidity of 75%, and the temperature to a constant of 98.6°F (even if the air is 40°F or 100°F).


Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History


6Brandolini's law

Brandolini's law

Alberto Brandolini, a programmer from Italy, in 2013 formulated the Bullsh*t Asymmetry Principle also known as Brandolini's law which states: “The amount of energy needed to refute bullsh*t is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it”. It highlights the difficulty of debunking bullsh*t.


7. The creator of Maker's Mark bourbon did not have time to distill and age whiskey to taste test it, but he had created seven possible grain recipes and was unsure which to pick. He baked bread with each one, and the best tasting bread was picked as the grain "mash bill" recipe for Maker's.


8. 96% of U.S. pet-custody cases involve dogs. Only 1% involve cats.


9. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the best selling record in Australia for 27 years.


10. All the 360 kgs of lunar soil samples brought back from the Apollo missions have now rusted after corroding their vacuum bottle seals and being exposed to water and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.


- Sponsored Links -

11Glenn Seaborg

Glenn Seaborg

In 1980, nuclear physicist Glenn Seaborg transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth into gold at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Seaborg's technique would have been far too expensive to enable routine manufacturing of gold, but his work was close to the mythical Philosopher's Stone.


12. A 19-year old boy named Tom Lyle Williams created the mascara "Maybelline" in 1915, when his sister Maybel used a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to darken her eyelashes after a mishap.


13. In 2006, Michael Vick started a charity for at-risk youth. The charity spent $20,000 of its budget on programs for kids, paid $97,000 to a friend of Vick's who acted as the foundation's "fundraiser" and gave the remaining $50,000 in its bank account to Vick's financial adviser.


14. In 1968, Vermont banned billboards to preserve the state's natural beauty. It is one of 4 states in USA to do so.


15. Steve Martin has a ringing in his ear called tinnitus, which he received while filming a pistol-shooting scene for the film, Three Amigos in 1986. He was quoted saying, "You just get used to it, or you go insane.”


- Sponsored Links -

16No Mans Land

No Mans Land

There is an island in Massachusetts named “No Mans Land”. The island is now an unstaffed animal refuge and is closed to public use due to safety risks from “unexploded ordnance”, as it was previously utilized by the U.S. Navy.


17. The "Mile Into The Wild" Walkway is an elevated walkway in The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado. The Sanctuary is a refuge for more than 450 Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves and other rescued carnivores. It's elevated because the animals do not consider sky as territory, allowing humans to observe them without causing a fight or flight response.


18. In November 2016, India gave its citizens less than 4 hour's notice that their two largest bills (worth about $8 and $16) would no longer be legal tender. They were only allowed to exchange a max of ₹2000-4500 ($31-70) per person per day, and ATMs were still running out of cash up to 5 months later.


19. Ice-T has never drunk liquor or done any drugs because being an orphan he felt if he ever got addicted or got into trouble with drugs or alcohol he wouldn't have any family to help him.


20. A vigilante in Bristol, England has been sneaking out at night for 10 years to fix grammar and punctuation errors on signs such as “Herberts the Bakery,” using stickers and an 8 foot long tool he calls the “Apostrophizer.”


21Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was still Vice President of the United States when he shot Alexander Hamilton and continued to perform his duties despite being wanted for murder in New Jersey and New York.


22. During Argentina's dictatorship, opponents to the regime were drugged, flown out over the Atlantic, and pushed out of planes alive with weights attached to their feet so no bodies would be found as evidence.


23. Not receiving adequate human touch can have emotional and physical consequences. This is called "Skin Hunger".


24. Drivers in New York City spend an average of 107 hours per year searching for parking at a cost of $2,243/driver in wasted time, fuel and emissions.


25. Matthew McConaughey's brother, Rooster McConaughey, named his son Miller Lyte and got free beer for a year.

1
2
- Sponsored Links -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here