Random #362 – 50 Credible Random Facts

Rapper Redman exposed MTV Cribs as completely fake and revealed that MTV would routinely rent out mansions to make guests appear wealthier than they actually were.

2. Among the victims of the SS Atlantic wreck, a woman disguised as a man was discovered. She was greatly admired by her shipmates, and one of them remarked, "I didn't know Bill was a woman. He drank his grog as regularly as any of us and was always begging or stealing tobacco. He was a good fellow, and I'm sorry to hear that he was a woman."

3. TLC became the first all-female group to sell 10 million copies of an album with "CrazySexyCool." However, they were unhappy about earning only $50,000 each for the album while the record company made $75 million. As a result, they held Arista Records President Clive Davis hostage until the NYPD intervened.

4. The US Navy approached the Village People to use "In the Navy" in an advertising campaign for television and radio. The band granted the rights to the song for free on the condition that the Navy assist them in shooting the music video. The Navy provided them with a warship, several aircraft, and plenty of sailors.

5. Beekeeping suits are white because bees have developed an aggressive defensive response to dark figures approaching their nest, which white suits help counteract.

The human eye does not contain blue or green pigments. The appearance of blue or green eyes is due to Rayleigh scattering, the same phenomenon that makes the sky appear blue. Consequently, blue and green eyes can seem to change color depending on the lighting conditions.

7. In 1559, King Henry II of France participated in a jousting tournament to celebrate his daughter's marriage. During the event, a lance splintered on his helmet and lodged wood into his eye and brain. He succumbed to his injuries ten days later. His death marked the beginning of the decline of jousting in France.

8. Pringles cannot legally refer to themselves as "chips" because they are not made by slicing potatoes. They are made from the same powder used in instant mashed potatoes.

9. Podcaster Dan Pashman created the new pasta shape cascatelli in 2021 to maximize its "sauceability," "forkability," and "toothsinkability."

10. An American POW named Marcus McDilda, during World War II, was questioned about US atomic bombs following the bombing of Hiroshima. Initially, he claimed he had no knowledge about them, but when threatened with death, he "revealed" that the US possessed hundreds of atomic bombs and that Tokyo and Kyoto were the next targets.

In 1998, a preservation group began the restoration of Ben Franklin's residence in London. During their rehabilitation work, they uncovered a secret, windowless room beneath his garden that contained the remains of 15 individuals.

12. Despite outside temperatures as low as -49°F, an igloo can maintain an internal temperature ranging from 19°F to 61°F solely through body heat.

13. In 2022, a chess robot broke the finger of its 7-year-old human opponent during a chess tournament in Moscow after the boy made a swift move without waiting for the robot to complete its turn.

14. The acronym "R.I.P." has been engraved on tombstones since at least the fifth century. It stands for "Rest in Peace," which is the English translation of a Latin phrase with the same acronym.

15. When flies land on your food, they essentially spit on it because they need to release digestive juices to liquefy it into a predigested, slurpable soup that they can ingest.

Liu Yiqian, a former taxi driver turned billionaire, purchased a $170 million painting in 2015 with his American Express card, earning enough reward points for a lifetime of first-class travel for his family.

17. In 1938, Studebaker created the world's "largest living advertisement" by planting 8,000 pine trees in the shape of "STUDEBAKER," visible when viewed from the sky. Despite Studebaker's absence for over 50 years, their pine tree logo still thrives and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

18. In 2010, the PS3 game "MAG" received recognition from Guinness World Records as the "Most Players in a Console FPS," featuring 256 players participating simultaneously in matches.

19. Switzerland remains the only country in the world that acknowledges the dignity of plants in its constitution.

20. The video game industry experienced a severe recession in 1983, with US video game revenue plummeting from $3.2 billion in 1983 to $100 million in 1985. Nintendo is credited with revitalizing the industry through the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

Six doctors conducted an experiment in which they each swallowed a Lego head to determine the typical transit time of commonly swallowed objects. They presented their findings using a "Found and Retrieved Time" (FART) score, which averaged 1.71 days.

22. During the infamous Paul Masson wine commercial shoot, Orson Welles was not drunk but rather under the influence of a sleeping pill. After a few hours of rest, Welles was able to complete the commercial within an hour, and the director described him as a delight to work with.

23. Desperation pies are defined by their use of inexpensive staple ingredients for filling. These pies were particularly popular during periods of depression, the World Wars, and before the advent of refrigeration. Varieties include green tomato pie, shoofly pie, chess pie, and vinegar pie.

24. Ernest Hemingway had a transgender daughter named Gloria Hemingway (born Gregory Hancock Hemingway). Gloria, who was an American physician and writer, lived most of her life publicly as a man. However, she grappled with her gender identity from a young age and underwent surgery to transition in her sixties.

25. A funeral home in Michigan offers a drive-thru option where you can view the deceased through a window and pay your respects. The location also provides a registry book and a memorial box for dropping off cards.