50 Random Facts List #73

In 1995, China set out to return a desert (Loess plateau) bigger than France back to a flourishing ecosystem after centuries of desertification to combat dust storms, flooding and boost the local economy.

27. The world's first ever half-hour, completely computer-animated TV series was the Canadian show ReBoot.

28. Humans can gain the ability to see ultraviolet light. We simply have a layer in our eyes which filters it out. Individuals who suffer eye damage from disease, injury or surgery have sometimes gained the ability to distinguish ultraviolet light.

29. James Smithson, the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institute, was English and never actually stepped foot in the United States. His reasoning behind leaving such a vast inheritance to a foreign country is unknown.

30. In 1973, a volcano erupted on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. Rather than fleeing to safety, the residents of the island sprayed the advancing lava flow with seawater in order to form a wall and direct the lava into the sea.

The shaka or 'hang loose' gesture originated when a Hawaiian named Hamana Kalili lost his three middle fingers in a sugar mill accident.

32. A Melbourne woman posted a photo on Facebook of a "creep" she claimed was taking photos of her children in a shopping center, and it was shared thousands of times. The man had actually taken a selfie at a Star Wars store display set up for people to take selfies

33. The Church of Scientology had a prolific espionage group called the "Guardian's Office" that was dedicated to infiltrating the United States government to steal or destroy confidential records and spread propaganda.

34. The term "Boycott" came from the Irish Land War when absentee landlord Captain Charles Boycott was subject to social ostracism in 1880 when he attempted to evict eleven tenants from the land.

35. In Singapore, a $17,000 Mitsubishi car is sold at $104,000 due to taxes and fees imposed on the automotive industry by the Singaporean government, in an effort to limit traffic congestion and air pollution.

German chocolate cake was made by an American whose last name was "German".

37. The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest ancient stores of knowledge that was burned down, losing anywhere between 40,000 - 400,000 scrolls. It is said that even today, scholars still mourn its loss as one of the largest known scholarly losses of all time.

38. The TV show 'Black Mirror' derives its name from the reflection you see in a switched off screen or monitor.

39. When Ed Sheeran won a Grammy in 2013 for "The A-Team" he wasn't deemed famous enough to perform alone so Elton John insisted on a duet with him.

40. Albert Einstein worked until a few hours before his death, and he left 12 pages on his bedside. The last line in those pages was the last equation he ever wrote.

Vin Diesel is a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan and has even written a D&D guide in the past.

42. On average, more than 6000 cell phones are lost in Walt Disney World every year.

43. In France, it is illegal to publish photographs of a handcuffed suspects, as they are not to appear guilty until proven so.

44. In 2000, "Take Me To The River" was used in the popular animatronic singing toy "Big Mouth Billy Bass". According to Teenie Hodges, he made more money in royalties from that version than from any previous versions.

45. One bite from the Lone Star Tick can cause a permanent allergy to meat.

J.K.Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was originally written for the charity Comic Relief. 80% of the cover price goes to charity, and sales of the book has raised $30 million since 2001.

47. The longest palindromic word included in the Oxford English Dictionary is tattarrattat, meaning a knock at the door. It was coined by James Joyce in "Ulysses."

48. The Deep Scattering Ocean Layer was initially mistaken by early sonar for the seabed. It turned out to be composed of millions of deep-sea fish.

49. The mutant heroine, Kitty Pryde was named by comic book artist John Byrne in honor of a former classmate to whom he'd promised to name his first original comic character after.

50. It is illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey and Oregon.