26 Invention Merit Badge Discontinued
Only 10 Boy Scouts have ever earned the Invention merit badge, as it required getting a real patent. It was discontinued in 1915, making it the rarest badge in Scouting history.
27. In 1974, drinkers at a British pub invented toe wrestling so the UK could finally have a world champion in something. But in 1976, a Canadian visitor showed up, entered the competition-and won. Defeated at their own game, the Brits quietly ended the so-called “World Championship.”
28. Haribo’s sugar-free gummy bears were pulled from shelves in 2014 after customers complained they caused violent digestive issues. The culprit? Maltitol-a sweetener known for triggering gas, cramps, and epic diarrhea.
29. In 2004, Jessica Simpson launched edible beauty products-like Butterscotch Toffee Body Wash and Belly Button Love Potion. Lawsuits poured in, including claims of yeast infections and bee attacks, and the line was quickly discontinued.
30. Bill Watterson used to secretly place signed Calvin & Hobbes books on local bookstore shelves. He stopped when he found out fans were flipping them online for big bucks.
31 Gordon Ramsay Ends ‘Kitchen Nightmares’
Gordon Ramsay quit Kitchen Nightmares partly because all the stress and bad food took a toll on his digestive system.
32. Levi’s stopped using the rivet at the base of the fly in their jeans after too many customers burned their crotches while squatting near campfires.
33. Colored toilet paper was all the rage in the ’70s-people matched it to their bathrooms. But health concerns and environmental warnings tanked sales, and companies quietly stopped making it.
34. Boeing once used depleted uranium plates as counterweights in 747s and helicopters. While they were relatively safe, some of those plates went missing, and by 1981, they scrapped the practice for good.
35. Esurance retired their cartoon mascot Erin after she became an unexpected target of Rule 34 fan art. She was supposed to sell insurance-not star in internet fantasies.
36 Mr. T Removes Gold Jewelry
Mr. T gave up wearing his iconic gold chains after helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. “It felt disrespectful,” he said-so he ditched the bling out of empathy.
37. Once macaroni and cheese became cheap and widely available, high-end restaurants dropped it from their menus.
38. Jimmy Kimmel Live! stopped airing live after just one year, thanks to actor Thomas Jane unleashing an uncensorable storm of F-bombs during a broadcast.
39. Navy SEALs were once waterboarded during training-until morale tanked because no one could actually pass it. The brutal practice was quietly scrapped.
40. Dog poop used to turn white because dog food contained bone meal. When companies removed it, the white crusty turds of the past disappeared too.
41 Pokémon Card Birthday Ban
A rare Pokémon card with the move “Birthday Surprise” was banned from competitive play because too many kids started lying about their birthdays to get the damage boost.
42. The ring-tab beer can design was pulled in 1975 after people started choking on the metal tabs. Today, those old tabs are considered collectible artifacts.
43. The Dodge Viper wasn’t killed off by low sales-it was airbags. New safety rules required side airbags, but redesigning the Viper’s chassis would’ve ruined the car’s look (and headroom), so they pulled the plug.
44. Hood ornaments were phased out by brands like Jaguar and Cadillac after it became clear they turned minor fender benders into deadly accidents for pedestrians.
45. In the late ’80s, McDonald’s tried adding made-to-order pizza to its dinner menu. Customers hated the wait, and it therefore flopped. When they were discontinued, some franchises were stuck with $50,000 pizza ovens they couldn’t use.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Dunkin’ Donut Handle Removed
The original “Dunkin’ Donut” had a little pastry handle for dipping into coffee-but it was discontinued in 2003 because it had to be cut by hand.
47. Frito-Lay’s 100% biodegradable SunChips bags were pulled after customers complained they were too loud. The crinkling became a nationwide joke-and a dealbreaker.
48. Croquet was dropped from the Olympics after its 1900 debut when only one person showed up to watch.
49. A true James Bond Vesper martini can’t be made today-Kina Lillet, the key ingredient, was discontinued and reformulated in 1986. The version in Casino Royale is technically a myth-unless the bar had vintage stock.
50. The original Pledge of Allegiance used the “Bellamy salute,” but it was scrapped during WWII when people realized it looked exactly like the Nazi salute.
RE: Fact #41 (Pokémon Card Birthday Ban) – Crazy, right? Three-quarters of those sweaty 100 tournament players all share a birthday! Happy birthday, everyone.
Wasn’t there also a problem with an old Yu-Gi-Oh card? People had to shake hands, but some made a real mess of things.
That Yu-Jo Friendship card makes your opponent shake hands, but only if you have Unity. It’s a handshake in the game, not real life.
There’s also a rule in the tournament, seriously. If you or your clothes are super dirty or stinky, you might get in trouble.
The birthday paradox is a thing.
RE: Fact #38 (‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Drops Live Format) – Johnny Carson wanted to do *The Tonight Show* live, but his crew weren’t having it. They wanted to get home at a decent time.
Funny, considering how much he fought to get extra vacation time.
That’s a pretty cool fact I learned today!
RE: Fact #30 (Watterson Stops Sneaky Book Signings) – It sucks how the signed memorabilia business has messed things up for fans. I’m so lucky to have a ball my favorite baseball player signed for me—I was grown up, but he still signed it, and it’s in a case in my office now. But a ton of people my age just flip that stuff, which makes some players not want to sign for adults anymore.
RE: Fact #10 (A.A. Milne Ceases Pooh Stories) – I’ve seen that wiki page, and the title’s a bit of a simplification, right? It’s more like a distant dad, and the kid was bitter about getting picked on because of those books.
RE: Fact #42 (Ring-Tab Beer Can History) – They’re not really historical artifacts; you can still find drinks served with those bottle tops everywhere.
Yeah, they’re totally in the Middle East.
I’m guessing those Southeast Asian factories are still using old, but well-maintained machinery instead of buying all new stuff.
RE: Fact #1 (Doctors Abandon “Cancer Battle” Terminology) – Chemo wiped me out, and all that positive talk? Didn’t help. I got my butt kicked. Luckily, science pretty much beat the cancer before it got too bad.
I heard all the “fight cancer” slogans, but the only real comfort, besides my wife, came from this old guy, hurting himself, who just put his hand on my shoulder and said, “This sucks, huh?” That’s not exactly t-shirt material, though.
I should add, this positive stuff works for a lot of people—great for them—but I don’t think everyone needs a constant dose of it.
Losing my mom to cancer made those “fighting” metaphors really bug me. It felt like it blamed her for not trying hard enough, like it was all her fault. Sometimes cancer wins, and that’s just it.
Fifteen years ago, I lost my dad to cancer. Hearing people talk about “fighting” cancer or “not letting it win” always makes me cringe a bit, because it feels like they’re implying my dad didn’t try hard enough. Going through something like that, whether it’s you or someone you love, really changes how you see the impact of words.
I survived cancer. My motto was basically “Screw cancer, screw this whole thing.” I liked the nurses who just said, “This sucks, want some water?” All the “fight cancer” stuff didn’t work for me. I just figured, let’s poison me and see who wins. I just existed for five months while getting hammered. Am I stronger? Nah. Did I win? Nope. Now I just have more empathy for sick people, I notice when people cough way more, and mosquitoes leave me alone.
RE: Fact #16 (Kadabra Removed from Pokémon Cards) – I’ve always wondered how Uri Geller became so famous; that spoon-bending trick is a one-hit wonder, right? But he’s been milking it forever. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of the guy, so maybe I’m not the best judge.
RE: Fact #46 (Dunkin’ Donut Handle Removed) – Seriously, don’t tell me it’s impossible to build a machine that makes donuts with a little bump.
RE: Fact #27 (Toe Wrestling Championship Ends) – So, why did we Brits come up with so many sports, huh? It’s like, we invent one, it gets big, other countries jump in, so we have to make up a whole new game, and the whole thing starts again!
Lots of countries love sports like cricket because beating Britain at their own game feels really good.
Those two guys really messed up taking that football to Brazil.
My Brit mate and I were having a go at each other – me slagging him off about England’s rubbish cricket, him firing back with a witty remark about how just because the English invented the language, doesn’t mean they’re any good at it. He was a funny guy.
RE: Fact #11 (McDonald’s Ditches Beef Tallow) – So this rich dude had a heart attack and then said McDonald’s is bad for you. He dropped three million bucks on the whole thing. Seriously?
RE: Fact #20 (Post-WWI Anti-German Sentiment in U.S.) – But it’s way better than lettuce—fermented cabbage!
RE: Fact #44 (Hood Ornaments’ Pedestrian Hazard) – Rolls-Royce cars still have that fancy hood ornament, but it’s super safe. It’s on a special retracting thing that tucks it away right away if there’s a crash. It also stops anyone from stealing it.
RE: Fact #32 (Levi’s Rivet Sparks Fire Hazard) – The back pockets too had extra rivets. They made seats wears out so they too were discontinued. Those rivets were there to beef up the pockets—stuffing them with ore used to rip weaker ones to shreds.
Those little pocket rivets are seriously hot after a dryer cycle. But the worst? Full-zip PJs, hands down. I definitely pinched my skin in the zipper when I was a kid. Ouch!
RE: Fact #45 (McDonald’s McPizza Flop) – I used to work at McDonald’s back in the 90s. Those pizzas? Amazing! Ready in five minutes, and super popular. I really miss them.
They used a garlic buttery breadcrumb thing on the bottom of the crust to make it super crispy – amazing for a 5-minute pizza! I loved McPizza and was so bummed when they got rid of it.
They were awesome! I worked there back then. To save time and money, they switched to those frozen pizzas. Big difference in taste – customers noticed right away. Sales tanked, and they were gone within a year; we were only selling a couple a day by the end.
RE: Fact #26 (Invention Merit Badge Discontinued) – Wow, only five years after Scouting began? Ten years is pretty good, considering that.
That’s some serious Baden-Powell and scouting history knowledge!
Baden-Powell started scouting in the UK. W. D. Boyce started the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.
Back in the 1900s, a big group made a game out of personal goals, and people really went all out to get them all. These days, we’re constantly bombarded with stuff vying for our attention, gamification is everywhere, but back then it was much rarer. Think about it: fewer than half of movie theaters even ran ads, and radio ads didn’t show up until the 1920s. Collecting tobacco cards was super common—a brilliant marketing move, really. We get hit with so many things trying to grab our attention now compared to a hundred years ago.
Even without tons of other entertainment options, advertising’s psychology is so incredibly advanced and everywhere that we’re practically in a suit of armor compared to people in the 1900s. To us, collecting merit badges is just another thing people try to make us value. Back then, though, it would’ve been a big deal for kids—and adults wouldn’t have ignored it either. It’s tough to grasp how important those things were to people then because we’ve been getting those same kinds of messages our whole lives. It’s like if we only spoke a few words every few months – every conversation would feel huge.
Yeah, people still really value merit badges. If the adults do their job right, earning one is a big deal and makes scouts feel proud of what they’ve done.
What you said about how things have changed over time is totally true. I’ve chatted with some family who were scouts ages ago, and what they say about their merit badges – and their whole scouting experience – backs up what you posted on factrepublic.
RE: Fact #4 (Crack Babies Misconception Dispelled) – I was born in 1990, right in the middle of the crack epidemic. My parents adopted me, and they were given all this advice about how to raise me, but my mom basically ignored it and treated me like any other kid. I owe her a ton for how well I turned out.
That’s awesome, dude! Give your mom a call and tell her thanks.
The instructions she was given was actually the *official* medical treatment back then! It was in medical journals—based on basically nothing. And it only stopped being used pretty recently.
Even if those “crack baby” claims were true – kids have all sorts of behavioral issues that parents and schools deal with. So, seriously, what gives?
I wasn’t a crack baby, just a really premature infant. Back in the 80s, they didn’t get that babies need tons of human contact. I spent weeks alone in an incubator. Didn’t find out until my twenties that this totally gave me PTSD, which my rough life made worse. It’s so bad it actually changed my brain.
I’m good now, don’t worry. But I’m so happy babies get the benefit of skin-to-skin contact now.
It was all about racism.
RE: Fact #37 (Macaroni and Cheese Loses Prestige) – It’s funny how fancy mac and cheese is back in style at fancy restaurants, but now it’s all fancy ingredients like truffles and, you know, super-expensive cheese.
RE: Fact #6 (Guinness Stops Fattest Animal Records) – I tried to break a world record once—a 101-layer dip! I thought I was the first, but Guinness doesn’t do food records unless you plan to eat or give it away afterward. Makes sense, right? They don’t want food going to waste.
RE: Fact #3 (SC Johnson’s Eco-Friendly Wrap Decision) – It’s a small price to pay for some self-respect.
It’s been a while since I worked in a restaurant, but back in the mid-to-late 2000s, they still used that cling film stuff everywhere. I even swiped a huge roll from my last job – I hardly ever use it, but it’s great when I need it.
RE: Fact #22 (Chimp Experiment Alters Infant’s Behavior) – That kid totally bounced back, becoming a super successful real estate guy and even ran for president! His hair, though? Never quite the same.
Has any presidential candidate ever *escaped* being drawn as a chimp?
Barack Obama, surprisingly.
RE: Fact #13 (Vending Machine Flight Insurance Ends) – I could’ve sworn I saw a movie, maybe Airplane or one of those Airport movies, where some guy who looked like Sonny Bono bought flight insurance and a bomb at the same time. I’m not totally sure which one though.
Totally right, twice! Airport had a story about a guy who tried to blow up a plane with a bomb so his wife would get the insurance money. Airplane II makes fun of that – Sonny Bono brings a bomb on a space shuttle! And then there’s that classic line: “Attention everyone! Please go to the lounge if you’re not carrying a bomb.”
RE: Fact #16 (Kadabra Removed from Pokémon Cards) – To be fair, Kadabra’s got some serious mind-bending spoon skills.
That lawsuit would be hilarious—”Hey, here’s a spoon we picked. Prove you can bend it!”
In 1991, Geller sued James Randi for a whopping $15,000,000 for saying Geller had fooled even top scientists with tricks like the ones you used to find on the back of cereal boxes. The case got tossed when Randi showed up with the actual cereal box!
Was James Randi his main rival, too?
So, Geller’s dumb lawsuit about a cartoon rat? It totally made me find out about his awkward stuff with James Randi.
RE: Fact #14 (Pals Battalions Disbanded After Somme) – It was the same during the U.S. Civil War; a town could lose all its young men in a single battle.
Yeah, a bunch of American towns just vanished because of it. With all the men gone, the women and kids had to move in with family or whoever would have them.
Civil War soldiers? They were all ages, from fifteen-year-olds to guys in their late forties.
Toward the end, the Confederacy was drafting everyone from fourteen to sixty years old.
Virginia has some towns that really suffered during different wars. Port Republic, for example, lost every single man over four years, and Bedford’s where you’ll find the D-Day Memorial.
Sometimes, in my Civil War class, I’d try to give students some perspective by pointing out that it took four years to wipe out entire Civil War regiments, and eight months to devastate WWII units, but British troops at the Somme suffered the same losses in just eight hours.
RE: Fact #7 (Milk Carton Missing Children Halted) – Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train” video actually helped find 26 missing kids and teens.
AS Roma puts a missing child’s video with every player announcement, and it’s worked out pretty well for them.
I heard some of them ran away from awful home lives, and got punished when they were sent back.
RE: Fact #26 (Invention Merit Badge Discontinued) – My big thing was earning my beekeeping merit badge.
Pulp and paper is my quirky hobby, haha
I was really happy to earn my fingerprinting merit badge – A Canadian RCMP officer taught it to me.
I used the old Environmental Science textbook. Remember, the one with all that nature observation journaling?
RE: Fact #28 (Haribo Stops Sugar-Free Gummy Bears) – That reminds me of those fat-free potato chips they tried making with olestra. Olestra can really mess you up – diarrhea, cramps, gas, the works. And sometimes it’s pretty bad. Not exactly what you’re hoping for after a snack, right?
RE: Fact #33 (Colored Toilet Paper Fades Away) – I remember those colored toilet papers – so pretty, soft, and fluffy! Totally different from that recycled pink stuff that came later. That’s seriously the cheapest toilet paper you can find in Romania; I’ve only ever seen it in Eastern Europe.
RE: Fact #35 (Erin Esurance Retires From Ads) – Erin’s not the only one who got burned. That monster-trainer show with the, uh, *suggestive* characters? It got *so* popular for NSFW stuff that if you searched for it, you’d find way more porn than the actual show’s website. After Nintendo cracked down on Paheal—the biggest site hosting all that—they just renamed the tag to “Porkyman” to stay out of trouble.
I think e621 had to rename their My Little Pony tags to “My Small Horsy” for the same reason.
Hentai-Foundry was one thing. e621 groups “mlp” together, so you don’t see it right away in the top searches. But honestly, e621 has way more mlp stuff than Hentai-Foundry does.
RE: Fact #49 (Bond’s Vesper Martini Obsolete) – Nope, but it’s really, really close. Bartenders, writers, and bloggers found that Cocchi Americano tastes almost exactly like the old Kina Lillet. So, ever since Cocchi came back to the US, bartenders have been using it in classic cocktails that used to have Kina Lillet, like the Corpse Reviver #2 and the Vesper—that Bond martini from Casino Royale.
RE: Fact #17 (Gotye Returns to Band Roots) – I read this thing about Gotye doing awesome charity stuff. He was asked about making more music, and basically said he’s happy with what he’s done and prefers to focus on causes he cares about. Turns out, he could totally retire just from the money that one song makes.
RE: Fact #44 (Hood Ornaments’ Pedestrian Hazard) – Seriously, kids were constantly snipping them off to make necklaces.
Aww, man, not the H! That’s the best thing about having a Honda. What’s the fun if you can’t show it off?
RE: Fact #22 (Chimp Experiment Alters Infant’s Behavior) – Their son said he was a chimp-kin. Those psychologists should’ve just gone with it.
RE: Fact #25 (Dr. Kelsey Blocks Harmful Drug) – Kelsey really wanted to give credit to her assistants, Oyam Jiro and Lee Geismar, and her bosses at the FDA who supported her.
RE: Fact #2 (CVS Ends Tobacco Sales in 2014) – It’s a long game, but their clients will probably live longer because they don’t smoke.
Is it though? Yeah, but it’s way more profitable in the long run.
A smoker gets cancer from smoking and usually kicks the bucket in under a year, maybe costing healthcare a few hundred thousand bucks.
Someone living to 90? That’s easily a million or more for the healthcare system. So, people living longer, even if they’re sick, makes big pharma a ton of money, but it’s awful for taxpayers.
Is that what he meant?
RE: Fact #8 (China’s Pizza Hut Ends Salad Towers) – Pizza Hut used to be great! The food, vibe, and service were all top-notch. It was the perfect spot for a date or hanging out with friends. Then it kinda became the McDonald’s of pizza.
RE: Fact #29 (Jessica Simpson’s Edible Makeup Fails) – This friend of mine, we used to chill, kissed a girl who, get this, was drenched in that edible body spray stuff. It totally burned his mouth, and they ended up at the ER ’cause she blew up in a crazy rash too. The early 2000s were insane.
RE: Fact #40 (Dog Food Changes Color of Poo) – Wow, that’s weird! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white dog poop in a long time. Thanks for explaining!
Haven’t seen one of those since ’99.
RE: Fact #50 (Bellamy Salute Replaced) – Mussolini borrowed the Hitler salute, using it because of its connection to ancient Rome. But the US’s founding was inspired by the Roman Republic, not the Empire like Italian Fascism was, so the meaning was totally different. And, by the way, the fasces symbol—which is on the House of Representatives’ seal—was already used in the US long before Italian Fascism existed.
RE: Fact #37 (Macaroni and Cheese Loses Prestige) – Yeah, totally! Rare things are easier to price, and people think they’re worth more.
RE: Fact #4 (Crack Babies Misconception Dispelled) – I was a kid in the 80s, and I remember all the “crack baby” scare. Crazy to think how much of what we were told back then was just plain wrong.
Whoa, think about all the crap we swallow every day!
Hey D.A.R.E. and all you devil worshippers!
KISS was supposedly Knights in Satan’s Service, and AC/DC was Anti-Christ/Devil-Child, haha.
RE: Fact #11 (McDonald’s Ditches Beef Tallow) – Thanks, Malcolm!
RE: Fact #33 (Colored Toilet Paper Fades Away) – I remember those supermarket aisles, all those pastel colors, back when they still sold it.
I recall a 90s commercial for a self-help book. It highlighted a tip on page 225: don’t buy colored toilet paper.
RE: Fact #25 (Dr. Kelsey Blocks Harmful Drug) – During grad school, she helped out with the whole sulfanilamide mess. Her team figured out that diethylene glycol in the drug was what was hurting kids. Pretty amazing she was involved in two huge turning points for American public health.
RE: Fact #13 (Vending Machine Flight Insurance Ends) – Every airport had them when I was a kid. It was a total rip-off, preying on people’s fear of flying.
Honestly, flying was way riskier back in the day. Plane crashes happened a lot more often, even though there were fewer planes around.
RE: Fact #43 (Airbag Regulations End Dodge Viper) – That’s a really flimsy excuse, seriously weak. Those curtain airbags aren’t huge; they easily fit in the A-pillar, before the front door.
RE: Fact #36 (Mr. T Removes Gold Jewelry) – He made up that quote. The real one was, “Being a spiritual guy, wearing all that gold felt wrong, like I was sinning against God after spending time with people who have so little.” Weird, huh? He’s not wearing it anymore, but he’s not selling it either.
RE: Fact #13 (Vending Machine Flight Insurance Ends) – My dad would sometimes buy insurance policies on his travel buddies as a prank. They weren’t always thrilled.
That’d be funny.
I’ve got you covered, pal. Watch your back.
RE: Fact #37 (Macaroni and Cheese Loses Prestige) – Lobster used to be cheap because there was so much of it, but now it’s crazy expensive.
It wasn’t just for the lower classes; it was thought cruel to give it to slaves or servants.
So, in coastal New England, old labor contracts often limited how many times a week employers could serve this stuff. They thought of it as a giant underwater bug—which, really, it is; they’re both arthropods. It’s weird they’re now considered a delicacy, but they’re actually pretty tasty.
RE: Fact #47 (Noisy SunChips Bags Pulled) – Those bags were seriously noisy! Eating chips out of them in public was a total nightmare.
I grabbed a Subway sandwich, heard it, tossed it back, and went “Ugh, what was THAT?”
I opened one, and wow, did it set off every car alarm around! My whole family thought their ears were going to explode.
RE: Fact #29 (Jessica Simpson’s Edible Makeup Fails) – Apparently, she ate a ton of that edible body whip stuff during a photoshoot and was sick for three hours afterward. Her publicist said it was a 24-hour flu, though.
I remember that episode of her show. They totally played up the pregnancy angle, haha
RE: Fact #49 (Bond’s Vesper Martini Obsolete) – That during a poker tournament with a $10 million buy-in. I am sure they’ve got to have some seriously top-shelf booze.
Kina Lillet and Lillet Blanc aren’t actually liquors, they’re fortified wines with added flavorings. An opened bottle will last about six months in the fridge.
RE: Fact #46 (Dunkin’ Donut Handle Removed) – I worked there twenty years ago—definitely not handmade. It’s all about that extra dough they can squeeze out for a tiny profit.
RE: Fact #6 (Guinness Stops Fattest Animal Records) – They also stopped giving out prizes for playing Russian Roulette over and over.
And the youngest pilot ever, same deal.
RE: Fact #40 (Dog Food Changes Color of Poo) – It was totally an 80s thing. Made it easy to see when it went bright white, though.
RE: Fact #21 (Roosevelt’s Boxing Injury Ends Career) – So, Dan Tyler Moore came back to the States right before that Spanish-American War thing and joined the 15th Infantry. He was in Cuba for a couple of years, then switched to artillery and served in the Philippines. In 1904, he became a military aide to Roosevelt and even sparred with the President – who was a pretty keen boxer, apparently. During one of their boxing matches, Moore accidentally really clocked Roosevelt in the eye, blinding him. Moore didn’t find out what happened until 1917 when he read Roosevelt’s account of how he lost his sight. Roosevelt didn’t name him, but Moore knew it was him. Moore said something like, “Seriously, isn’t it awesome that Roosevelt never even told me what I’d done?”
That guy was a total badass. I heard he’d go camping solo in the wilderness for a whole month, even while he was president—though I’m not sure how true that is. He really championed wild places in this country.
This guy was seriously incredible. He beat crippling asthma just through willpower, quit a sweet government job to fight in a war, and was a historian, bird expert, police chief, cowboy—the works! He even decked a guy who pulled a gun on him, went on safari, chased down river bandits who stole his boat, gave a 90-minute speech after getting shot, explored an uncharted Amazon river, and wanted to fight in WWI when he was almost 60!
RE: Fact #47 (Noisy SunChips Bags Pulled) – …and four months later, they were back, problem solved.
RE: Fact #26 (Invention Merit Badge Discontinued) – Getting a patent costs around ten grand, right?
I’m not sure how much things cost back in 1911, but it probably cost a fortune. I wonder if the original badge let them get a lawyer, or if that poor scout was on his own?
Be cheap, be self-sufficient, and steer clear of lawyers!
RE: Fact #39 (Navy SEALs Halt Waterboarding) – How do you survive waterboarding?
RE: Fact #11 (McDonald’s Ditches Beef Tallow) – Yep, I worked nights cleaning up at a McDonald’s, and part of that was changing the fry oil every night. They used two kinds of lard, one animal, one plant-based—different fryer settings for each. The “red box” lard was for fries and hash browns, the plant-based oil was for Filet-O-Fish and other stuff. We tossed both into the same container at the end of the night if they were used up. After 1990, they simplified things. And yeah, the fries back in the 80s were way better.
RE: Fact #18 (Rick Moranis Leaves Acting in 1997) – Raising two kids is a huge time commitment.
RE: Fact #30 (Watterson Stops Sneaky Book Signings) – I’m a big Bill Watterson fan—I really wish he’d secretly start a new comic strip!
RE: Fact #15 (Beatles Cease Touring Due to Noise) – The Rolling Stones? Same thing happened to them! Crazy screaming fans, so they’d sometimes goof around and play Popeye – nobody even noticed.
Back then, sound systems just weren’t good enough for big stadiums. If they had been, maybe the Beatles would’ve toured more and made fewer, less exciting records.
Yeah, they played Shea Stadium with 30-watt amps, plugged into the PA. That PA was built for easy listening, not a rock band. Even if you could hear them over the crowd, it probably would’ve sounded terrible.
Spinal Tap totally dodged that bullet.
RE: Fact #1 (Doctors Abandon “Cancer Battle” Terminology) – I beat colon cancer twice, but it wasn’t some big fight. I had treatment and surgery, and now I just gotta keep a close eye on things. Doesn’t mean I fought harder than anyone else who didn’t make it, like my dad.
RE: Fact #28 (Haribo Stops Sugar-Free Gummy Bears) – That maltitol they gave me before my MRI? Almost didn’t make it home without an accident.
All sugar alcohols do that. The big difference is how much you can eat before the side effects hit.
Those jerks put it in low-cal ice cream…what’s the point of fewer calories if you can’t eat more? Jerks.
RE: Fact #23 (Roger Moore’s Age Ends Bond Role) – That guy was really classy.
RE: Fact #32 (Levi’s Rivet Sparks Fire Hazard) – So that’s why my pants always rip in the crotch, huh? A bunch of lazy miners who never knew what underwears were.
Been there, done that—underwear’s no match for that kind of heat. The thing is, you’re sitting down, so the rivet pulls away and you don’t feel the burn. Then you stand, it gets tight, and *wow*, it’s hot! A bit of cotton ain’t gonna cut it.
Try wrapping your hand in a t-shirt next time you grab a hot cookie sheet—you’ll see what I mean.
RE: Fact #30 (Watterson Stops Sneaky Book Signings) – Neil Gaiman’s sneaky – he always hits up the airport bookstore and signs a few books on the sly.
Brandon Sanderson does that too; he calls it “Brandalizing.”
A couple months ago, Brandon and Dan Wells were chatting on their podcast. Dan mentioned how German bookstores totally hate his idea and refuse to let him do it. Brandon’s response? “If I get enough ‘no’s, I just ignore them and do it anyway.”
RE: Fact #20 (Post-WWI Anti-German Sentiment in U.S.) – Before World War I, German was the second most popular language in the US. Lots of newspapers and magazines were in German, and some Midwest towns even had town meetings in German. My grandpa’s family was from Switzerland, and he only learned English in school because his parents spoke German, even though he was born in Wisconsin.
My grandma, too. Her family had been in the US for ages, but everyone in my town spoke German – it was a German town.
My grandma, born around 1939, only spoke German until she started kindergarten. She grew up in a place where everyone spoke German. I’ve picked up some German over time, and we can still chat in it, though it’s pretty rough.
We’re talking Central Texas here – tons of Germans lived (and still live) around here.
Back in the late 1800s, if you wanted some ethnic food in the US, you mostly went to a German place. Eastern and Midwest cities were packed with huge beer gardens – think beer, outdoor tables, good food, live music, and tons of kids running around. Even people who weren’t German went there for the beer and great food. Then World War I and Prohibition hit, and most of them closed down.
RE: Fact #27 (Toe Wrestling Championship Ends) – What if these guys found out about Lewis Hamilton?
No need to get ahead of ourselves – Jackie Stewart, a British driver, won Formula One in 1973. But he retired right after, skipping the 1974 season. Maybe that’s what gave someone the idea for toe wrestling.
RE: Fact #23 (Roger Moore’s Age Ends Bond Role) – His last Bond girl’s mom was younger than him, which apparently freaked him out so much he quit after *A View to a Kill*.
RE: Fact #14 (Pals Battalions Disbanded After Somme) – It wasn’t a whole military unit, but this BC ghost town, Walhachin (it’s west of Kamloops on Highway 1), lost almost all its men to WWI. So many didn’t come back, the place got deserted.
RE: Fact #48 (Croquet’s Olympic Demise) – That’s way more than the WNBA.
RE: Fact #34 (Boeing Drops Uranium Counterweights) – This makes total sense—depleted uranium isn’t very radioactive, but it’s super dense. Saying “we’re using uranium plating” just wouldn’t be good PR, though.
RE: Fact #48 (Croquet’s Olympic Demise) – I’d totally watch Olympic Croquet.
RE: Fact #7 (Milk Carton Missing Children Halted) – Man, I’ll never forget how awful I felt as a kid seeing those missing kids posters at Walmart. Seeing one that said “missing since 1998” back in 2007 really messed me up.
RE: Fact #42 (Ring-Tab Beer Can History) – Huh, I thought it was ’cause tons of people cut their feet on them.
I sliced my foot open on one of those things when I was four!
And kids today would never believe how awesome it was to have a curtain made from those things. My sisters had one on their bedroom door—it was the coolest!
RE: Fact #12 (Metallica’s Music Used in Interrogations) – A friend of mine went to the Air Force Academy in the 90s. He told me they had to endure that Barney song on repeat during some kind of obstacle course – stuck in a tiny room, no less!
So, it sounds like my dad went through something similar during his SEARS training. They do this crazy survival course – a mock POW camp that lasts for days. They really go all out – waterboarding, beatings, tiny spaces, starvation, even being stuck in a room with awful music and screaming babies, the whole nine yards. He’s got some wild stories, some even kinda funny in a messed-up way, but it definitely changed him. I wish he hadn’t had to go through it, but I get why they do it; that kind of training could totally save your life if you crash behind enemy lines.
I bet you meant SERE. The idea of Sears running a survival school is pretty funny, though.
I heard about this guy who had to fix washing machines with just a screwdriver and a hammer. People kept bugging him the whole time, questioning his skills. He said it was the worst five weeks ever.
SERE: Survive, evade, resist, escape.
RE: Fact #12 (Metallica’s Music Used in Interrogations) – That’s total crap. Some random dude said it, and the website even contradicted itself! Metallica actually said this: James Hetfield said he’s glad their music is helping Iraqis get used to freedom, and joked about it being torture, saying they’ve been torturing their families with it forever! They also put a statement on their site saying they *never* asked the military to stop using their music.
RE: Fact #31 (Gordon Ramsay Ends ‘Kitchen Nightmares’) – Yeah, I get it. Watching Kitchen Nightmares gave *me* indigestion! Those places were seriously disgusting, and the food? Often undercooked, to boot.
Every time I watched, the meat was totally raw, and he ate it anyway.
I found a couple of decent spots, but most of the restaurants were pretty bad – nobody wants to eat crap food.
RE: Fact #16 (Kadabra Removed from Pokémon Cards) – Getting a Pokemon based on yourself, then freaking out about it.
Yuri is a bit of a goofball.
Those guys are broke and need cash. Seriously, Pokémon totally ripped off Uri Geller with Kadabra. Why else would they use spoons in its design, other than to reference him? Especially since its Japanese name is YunGeller.
It’s still fair use, I don’t think Sid Vicious’ people could sue over that Toxtricity thing.
Lots of people do that spoon-bending thing, it’s been linked to psychics forever, and the Abra thing? Definitely psychic.
RE: Fact #3 (SC Johnson’s Eco-Friendly Wrap Decision) – The article didn’t really back up the headline, but I found a better one. Turns out, Saran Wrap’s sales tanked—down from 18% of the market in 2004 to just 11% now. That wasn’t just because of competition. After they changed the formula they couldn’t claim it was the best anymore, so they cut back on advertising. It wasn’t a huge shock, though, because the whole cling wrap market was getting smaller as people switched to Ziploc containers and bags.
RE: Fact #3 (SC Johnson’s Eco-Friendly Wrap Decision) – I finally figured out why plastic wrap’s not as sticky as it used to be!
My wife’s been saying that forever, and I’m just now seeing it! I gotta show her this article right away.
RE: Fact #9 (Guinness Ends Sleep Deprivation Record) – I’m curious, how much crazy stuff doesn’t make it into the Guinness Book of World Records anymore? It’s unbelievable how many dumb things people try to do to get famous.
RE: Fact #22 (Chimp Experiment Alters Infant’s Behavior) – That kid looks like a tiny mouse! I’m no expert, though.
That’s Stuart.
He’s Stuart Paulson.
RE: Fact #9 (Guinness Ends Sleep Deprivation Record) – I can’t even imagine what those hallucinations were like. I pulled an all-nighter for four days straight in college—part of some stupid pledge thing—and by the end, I was totally seeing and hearing stuff that wasn’t there. Never again.
I saw some wild stuff during Army training.
I was up for five days straight at the end of jungle warfare school. If I even paused for a second, I started hallucinating.
RE: Fact #39 (Navy SEALs Halt Waterboarding) – Waterboarding’s awful, trust me. I tried a “safe” version for school, and it was brutal. I can’t even fathom what the SEALs go through. And the worst? Adding chili peppers to the water – you might die quicker, but it’ll be way more agonizing.
I totally gave myself an accidental waterboarding in the shower once while washing my face. It was seriously terrifying.
RE: Fact #3 (SC Johnson’s Eco-Friendly Wrap Decision) – at least it still clings to itself if not what you’re trying to put in on. 😉
RE: Fact #28 (Haribo Stops Sugar-Free Gummy Bears) – Ice Breakers mints do the same if you eat too many…found that out the hard way. LOL.