50 Random Facts List #74

John Lennon and Yoko Ono once visited an astrologer who told them John would be shot and die on an island. So disturbed were they that they canceled their extended Greek Isles vacation. 10 years later he died on Manhattan island.

2. One of the most well-known Presidents of the USA, Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt, was against putting "In God, We Trust" on currency, saying it would "cheapen such a motto by use on coins, postage stamps, or ads".

3. Actor Martin Sheen has been arrested 66 times for protesting and other civil disobedience.

4. The FBI once ran a 2-year investigation on a fictional anti-goth cult, Church of the Hammer, before realizing it was a parody.

5. Gene Wilder agreed to play Willy Wonka only if he could limp out of the factory and then somersault when he meets the children.

"Burking" is death by asphyxiation caused by someone sitting on your chest and holding his hand over your mouth and nose. It is named after the Scottish serial killer William Burke, who used this method in order to leave few marks on the victims which he then sold to Anatomical Institutes.

7. In 2013, a New York-bound flight from Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing when a woman would not stop singing Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" in midair.

8. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law gave their paychecks for the movie 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' to Heath Ledger's daughter Matilda Ledger.

9. There was a contract between Disney and Robin Williams stating that the Genie from Aladin could not be used in any sort of merchandising or tie-in products. After Disney broke the contract, Robin received a Picasso painting as an apology.

10. The Mosque of Paris saved Jews during World War 2 by providing them with fake Muslim IDs.

Many Japanese companies including Canon, Toyota, and Suzuki use adoption to declare the heir to the business. The current Suzuki CEO is a fourth-generation adopted child.

12. The Nazis kept a secret list of people to be immediately arrested after the invasion of England. The list included numerous political leaders, but also Virginia Woolf (English writer), Aldous Huxley, H.G. Wells, and the head of the Boy Scouts.

13. One time on The Price Is Right the sound effects for the big wheel were not working so the audience provided them.

14. Sylvester Stallone's distinctive facial paralysis is the result of a doctor misusing tongs during Stallone's birth, severing the nerves in Stallone's lower left cheek.

15. 20 sided dice were used in the ancient world. Examples of the dice have been found from Ancient Greece, Rome, and even Egypt.

Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair airlines, has his own taxicab company with just one cab so he can legally use the bus lanes to avoid traffic jams.

17. George Clooney once pranked Brad Pitt by putting a pot plant bumper sticker, which had "fu*k cops" written on it, on the back of his car, leading to him getting pulled over by the cops. Clooney figured, "There's no way you don't get pulled over."

18. Gwen Stacy was killed off in the Spider-Man comics because Stan Lee was in a rush to get to a meeting in Europe; wanting to get his writers out of his office, he told them, "If that's what you wanna do, okay," without realizing what he'd just agreed to. He came back to find Gwen dead.

19. A toy doll called My Friend Cayla became infamous for asking its owners personal questions, saving the answers and being hackable at the same time.

20. The Hungarian prime minister named Pál Teleki committed suicide when his country entered World War 2 on the axis side.

The source of the mythical Jackalope may have been a virus that causes rabbits to produce horn-like growths.

22. 3.5 billion years ago a day only lasted 12 hours.

23. Bill Bixby, who played the original Incredible Hulk's David Banner, had a 7-year old son who died in 1981 of a rare infection. His wife committed suicide as a result of their loss. Bill's next marriage ended in divorce at the same time he was diagnosed with cancer. Bill died in 1993 at the age of 59.

24. In 1985, Neil Armstrong (far right) and Edmund Hillary (second from left) went to the North Pole together.

25. Mussolini drastically altered the area surrounding the Colosseum, leveling hills and removing ruins, including the base of the Colossus of Nero.