50 Random Facts List #77

One of the first winners of the Miss USA pageant (Mary Leona Gage) was stripped of her title when it was revealed that she was married and had children as being a wife and mother were against contest rules.

27. In England and Wales, deaths caused by willingly taking "unreasonable" risks aren't called accidents, they're called "misadventures."

28. Sue Finley (Engineer) who is 80 is the longest-serving female employee at NASA. She has a role in nearly every US unmanned space probe, and some missions of other nations.

29. Cattle ranches have been replacing 10 to 50% of cattle feed with the rejected gummy worms and fruit loops from manufacturers to save money, and they've been doing this for years.

30. Lobster used to be considered low-quality food that was eaten by the poor, and was served in prisons to the inmates.

Sarah Winchester, the widow of the founder the Winchester Company, built a confusing mansion to ward off the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. At its zenith, the house consisted of over 200 rooms, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces, 2,000 doors, several trapdoors, and multiple spy holes.

32. George H.W. Bush is the longest living president in US history.

33. When James Cameron was an unknown director, he sold the rights to "The Terminator" for $1 so that he would be allowed to direct the movie.

34. When the mother of Shaka Zulu (one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu kingdom) died, he ordered that any woman who became pregnant in the year of mourning was to be executed, anyone not sufficiently sad was to be executed, and calves would have their mothers slaughtered so that they would know his pain.

35. A Japanese Twitter user had his account permanently suspended for making a death threat against a mosquito.

The third Monday in January is typically considered to be ‘Blue Monday’, allegedly the most depressing day of the year. Factors contributing to this theory include debt, miserable weather, post-Christmas blues, failing New Year’s resolutions and low motivation.

37. Architect Antoni Gaudí wasn't able to finish the Sagrada Família (Unfinished Roman Catholic Church) because he died after being struck by a tram. He was left laying for hours and then only given rudimentary care because he was assumed to be a beggar due to his shabby clothes and lack of identity documents.

38. The Queen is the 43rd Great-Granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

39. Dr. Carlos Montezuma was a Native American who was stolen by another tribe and sold to an Italian photographer, who took him to Chicago to be educated. In 1889, Dr. Montezuma was one of the first Native Americans to receive a degree in medicine. Later he fought for Native American rights.

40. When you see a calico cat, you can be 99.9% certain it's a "she".

The closest living relative of the pronghorn (also known as the American antelope) is actually a giraffe.

42. In the mid-1800s people believed that traveling by train could cause insanity due to the high speeds.

43. The Nazis produced a film inside the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp to falsely show the International Red Cross that the inmates were being treated humanely. The camp was 'beautified' and wholesome activities were staged. After filming, most of the 'actors' were sent to Auschwitz and executed.

44. The Tetris Company emerged from a Soviet agency. Today, it licenses it's trademark and doesn't make the game anymore. Instead, it sues people who make unlicensed clones.

45. In the late 80’s, Nintendo partnered with Sony to produce the “Nintendo PlayStation”. After a licensing agreement went bad, Sony independently marketed the console under their own name and the rest is history.

Disney perpetuated the myth that lemmings commit suicide by importing lemmings, throwing them into a river, and letting them drown.

47. Powerpoint was originally developed for the Apple MacIntosh. It was acquired by Microsoft in 1987 after generating $1 million in Mac sales.

48. The human brain takes 1/10th of a second to interpret incoming information. Because of this we are technically always living in the past and our brains have to predict what is going to happen in the next 1/10th of a second so we can react accordingly.

49. Darius I executed nobleman Intaphernes’ entire family, excluding his wife’s brother and son. She was asked to choose between her brother and son. She chose her brother to live. She said she could have another husband and another son, but she would always have but one brother. Darius spared them

50. American wine under 7% alcohol must display nutritional information, but wine above 7% alcohol does not have to.