50 Random Facts List #61

American singer Kathleen Hanna accidentally coined the term '"Smells like Teen Spirit". Teen Spirit is a deodorant for young girls, which she thought Kurt Cobain smelled like.

27. In the 1950's, the Muslim Egyptians laughed at the idea of imposing the hijab on women.

28. According to Plutarch (Greek philosopher), the traitor Bessus was executed by having two trees forcibly bent towards each other, tied him to both, and then the trees released, causing an agonizing death in which the ligaments, tendons, muscles, and organs would slowly come apart as the trees straightened.

29. Plans for the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II have been extensively prepared by most British government and media organizations since the 1960s. The codename is Operation London Bridge.

30. In a 1988 episode of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" called "The Wall", the Chipmunks play a concert at the Berlin Wall and see it crumbling down, only to awaken from a dream and say, "It was just a dream, but it doesn't have to be." 11 months later, the Berlin Wall came down in real life.

There is a "boiling river" in Peru where over 6 km of the river can reach temperatures as high as 86°C/187°F. The river is considered extremely remarkable due to the nearest volcanic system being more than 700 km away.

32. In 2011, a fossil of a new genus species of Dinosaur called the Nodosaur was found in Canada with its body mostly intact and its skin still on.

33. Scottish-American actor John Barrowman, who is gay, auditioned to play Will on "Will & Grace" but was turned down for being "too straight". The role went instead to Eric McCormack, who actually is straight.

34. The Swedish propaganda/warship Vasa sank 100m into its maiden voyage and was recovered 333 years later. Today it is the oldest preserved ship and can be seen in a Stockholm museum.

35. Freddie Mercury wrote the song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in just 10 minutes while lounging in a bath.

American industrialist J. Paul Getty, with a net worth of $1.2 billion in the 50s, scolded his wife (Teddy Getty Gaston) for spending money freely on the treatment of their 6-year-old son (Timmy) after he went blind from a brain tumor. When his son died 6 years later, Getty didn't attend the funeral.

37. "The Winchester – Shaun of the Dead" received 10,000 votes for a Lego project but Lego decided that "This is the first time we’ve felt that we should turn a LEGO CUUSOO idea down".

38. Modern capital letters are characterized by straight lines and supple curves to make them easier to carve into stone. Lowercase letters were only used for everyday writing and weren't originally used in conjunction with the uppercase.

39. In 2015, a woman named Roseanne Di Guilio who lived in a house that straddled the New York - Connecticut border lost half of her house because her mortgage provider did not pay the property taxes.

40. A liver transplant only requires a small section from the donor, because it will regenerate to the full size of the recipient. Interestingly, a child can receive a transplant and the liver will grow normally as they mature.

In 1871, Clement Vallandigham, a lawyer and Ohio politician, defending a man accused of murder accidentally shot himself while demonstrating how the victim might have accidentally shot himself. His client was cleared.

42. A Czech brewery (Protivin brewery) uses crayfish to ensure the purity of its water supply. The crayfish are fitted with tiny sensors which monitor heart rate and movement to detect when the animals react to impurities in the water.

43. About 20 apple cores' worth of apple seeds contains enough cyanide to kill the average person.

44. The huia bird went extinct in 1907 and its call was never recorded, but it exists today because an elderly Maori man imitated in 1949 from memories of his childhood.

45. In 1960s, a man (Irvin Wise) tried to develop contact lenses for chicken aggression but failed because they fell out or blinded the birds. Later his son (Randall Wise) started a company, sold it for millions, and used that money to carry on the family dream of developing chicken contact lenses. He also failed.

When Arthur Rubinstein (Polish American classical pianist) was invited to play for delegates at the 1945 inauguration of the UN, he was so angry that neither a Polish delegation nor a Polish flag was included, he made his point by performing the Polish national anthem extremely slowly and loudly.

47. The Buer (Demon) is known as the great president of hell. Only appearing when the sun is in Sagittarius, Buer goes about teaching natural and moral philosophy, herbology, and is particularly good at healing men of their illnesses.

48. There's a drug called Antabuse. It helps recovering alcoholics by making them very ill if they drink even a small amount of alcohol.

49. Darkthrone drummer and black metal legend, Fenriz, was elected as a councilman in Norway in 2015. Thinking he wouldn't have to do anything, his campaign was a picture of him holding his cat that said, "Don't vote for me".

50. Just after the big bang, there was a giant cold spot in the universe which cannot be explained but may have been caused by our universe colliding with another.