Random #327 – 50 Awesome Random Facts

Big Bertha, the oldest known Earth rock was discovered in 2019 embedded in a boulder brought back from the moon by Apollo 14. It is the first discovered meteorite from Earth.

27. 15 years before the Columbia shuttle disaster, Atlantis (STS-27) experienced similar tile damage during lift-off, leading to the crew believing they were going to die on re-entry. Infuriated with mission control's lack of concern, pilot Gibson planned to let loose on MC in the remaining seconds of his life.

28. Daniel Day-Lewis listened to Eminem's 'The Way I Am' every morning at 5 am to prepare for his role 'Gangs of New York' in 2002. He is also a big fan of Snoop Dogg.

29. In 2021, Banksy's partly-shredded painting 'Love is in the Bin' was resold for $25.4 million. It originally sold in 2018, in un-shredded form, for $1.4 million.

30. Walgreens grew dramatically (from 20 to 525 stores) during prohibition in the 1920s because they sold "prescription" alcohol (and milkshakes).

In Nazi Germany, men giving each other a 'lustful glance' was punishable by up to six months in prison.

32. Despite the popular depiction in films and television, Manhattan has almost no alleys. The Commissioners Plan of 1811 designed the city's grid layout without alleyways to maximize the limited space. The few alleys that remain mostly predate that plan.

33. The half-life of an isotope of Tellurium is 160 Trillion times greater than the Universe's Age (Approximately 13.8 billion). The very-long-lived radioisotope Tellurium-128 thus has the longest known half-life among all the Radionuclides of around 2,200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.

34. A popular treatment for Asthma in the early 20th century was a special brand of cigarettes. Asthmador cigarettes contained no tobacco but instead contained Datura Stramonium, a hallucinogenic plant.

35. Turkish Airlines had an Airbus A340-300 that was nicknamed "Deli Mike" ("Crazy Mike" in Turkish) due to its record of odd and harmless technical issues that persisted even after repairs, such as turning lights on randomly (and off again on its own, as if it knew when the pilots were intervening).

The Nazis believed strongly in the myth of Atlantis. Under the guidance of Heinrich Himmler, archeologists spread the idea that Germans were descended from a superior race of Atlanteans.

37. Corporations such as Wal-Mart, P&G, Hershey's all take what is called corporate-owned life insurance otherwise known as "dead peasant insurance" on their employees to hedge against the financial cost of losing key employees to unexpected death.

38. Dr. James Simpson first showed the effects of chloroform on humans in 1847. He sat with his assistants nightly trying chemicals. After they collapsed and came to after using chloroform, he recognized its anesthetic potential. He nicknamed the first baby delivered by chloroform "Anesthesia."

39. The Nazi Germany Parliament was derisively referred to by Germans as "the most expensive singing club in Germany", since it couldn't do much other than sing the National Anthem during its sessions.

40. January 14 was traditionally the day of "the Feast of the Ass", an event dedicated to celebrating all the donkeys in the Bible.

Koushun Takami, the author of the Japanese horror novel, Battle Royale, had a nightmare where a teacher commanded him and the other students to kill each other. He vividly remembers the expression on his face and his own terror in the dream, which got him to write the book.

42. The feud between Howard Hughes and Frank Sinatra over the affections of Ava Gardner culminated in Sinatra driving a golf cart through a café window and a resulting fist-fight in which Sinatra lost two teeth. This feud ultimately led to the Mob’s withdrawal from Vegas.

43. During a flight from Taipei to Los Angeles, a Chinese Airlines Boeing 747SP not only performed a 360-degree roll but also pulled 5 gs twice after their number 4 engine failed. Aside from a broken foot and strained back, all passengers and crew were unharmed.

44. Kate Warne, the first female detective in the United States uncovered the 1861 Baltimore Plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln.

45. Some plants such as Venus Flytrap can be put under like animals using anesthesia and in that state the leaves wouldn't close to trap the bugs.

If grazing animals eat too many corn lilies, their offspring are likely to be born with one eye. This is because a chemical found in the corn lily plant interrupts brain development, causing the fetus to present with cyclopia.

47. Arctic Shrews are solitary animals. One study showed that if you place two shrews in the same cage, one will be dead within days, even without showing any signs of injury.

48. The Mercedes G-Wagon was originally commissioned by the Shah of Iran, but he was overthrown before he ever got one.

49. Kennedy and Lincoln were not the only US presidents to suffer brain damage while in office. Teddy Roosevelt suffered permanent damage to his sight after a boxing match with his military aide staged in the White House.

50. The stars in the Paramount logo honor the 22 actors and actresses put under contract in 1916 by film producer and founder Adolph Zukor.