Random #373 – 50 Remarkable Random Facts from Around the Globe

Despite maintaining neutrality during World War II, Switzerland was accidentally bombed over 70 times, with the majority of incidents involving the U.S. One such accidental bombing took place in Zurich in 1945, leading to the court-martial of the American pilots. The presiding officer in this case was Colonel Jimmy Stewart.

27. Director Werner Herzog sporadically hosts his own film school, which covers unusual topics such as "the art of lockpicking," "creating your own shooting permits," and "the thrill of surviving unsuccessful gunfire," among other subjects.

28. The Great Sheep Panic of 1888 saw tens of thousands of sheep, spanning an area of 200 square miles, simultaneously break free from their enclosures in southern England, creating a scene of apparent terror and chaos.

29. Clochafarmor, a standing stone in Ireland, is reputed to be the place where the wounded hero Cú Chulainn tethered himself to remain upright while battling his enemies until his demise.

30. Bobby Sands, a member of the IRA, was elected to Parliament in 1981 while serving a 14-year prison sentence for his involvement in a furniture company bombing. However, before taking his seat in Parliament, Sands succumbed to a hunger strike he had organized, leading to his death.

In 2021, a hiker who was lost on a Colorado mountain for 24 hours disregarded calls, texts, and voicemail messages from rescue teams because he did not recognize the phone number.

32. During World War II, the Japanese Navy devised the "San Shiki" anti-aircraft shell. Weighing 3,000 pounds and measuring 18 inches in width, it was intended for use on battleships. Upon detonation, it produced a 5-meter-long flame burning at 3,000 degrees Celsius for enemy planes to fly through.

33. In 1859, Delos Ashley and David Jack acquired the majority of the California town of Monterey for $1,000. David then unethically evicted their tenants and claimed their products, including Monterey's cheeses. Jack sold these cheeses, which became so popular that his customers referred to them as "Monterey Jack's Cheese."

34. A 25-year-old named Clare Torry, who provided wordless vocals for Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky" on their iconic album Dark Side of the Moon, completed her recording session in just two and a half takes. She received £30 for her performance.

35. The extent of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War was approximately 100 times the cumulative impact of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 2016, France enacted a Food Waste Law that prohibits supermarkets from discarding unsold food. The law mandates that supermarkets must either compost their surplus produce or donate it to charity.

37. Eagles possess the ability to distinguish rabbits from two miles away as distinct objects rather than just blurry dots. This is due to their large eyes, which can occupy more than 50% of their head, and their retinas containing five times more cells compared to humans.

38. The New Mexico Fish and Game Department introduced several dozen South African oryx in the 1970s to provide new hunting opportunities. The oryx has since become invasive in New Mexico, with thousands of them in the wild, causing disruptions to local ecosystems.

39. President Ulysses S. Grant was renowned for his equestrian skills. From a young age, he could train and lead entire teams of horses independently. He also set equestrian records at West Point that remained unbroken for decades.

40. Ralph Teetor, a blind mechanical engineer and inventor, developed modern cruise control in response to his driver's propensity for accelerating and decelerating during conversations.

In the mid-1980s, there was a Nerds cereal that came in a box with two separate compartments, each featuring its own flavor. Additionally, it included a mail-in offer for a two-sided Nerds bowl equipped with a "Nerd Gate" that, when lifted, allowed milk from one side of the bowl to flow into the other.

42. During the 16th and 17th centuries, weddings often featured savory pies instead of wedding cakes. Some bride pies even incorporated live birds or snakes, serving as a means of entertainment during the wedding festivities.

43. In 2016, Nabisco introduced Swedish Fish Oreo cookies, which contained a "Swedish Fish flavor creme." However, the general consensus on social media was overwhelmingly negative regarding this unique flavor combination.

44. The claim that Shakespeare invented 1,700 words is unfounded. Scholars now understand that many of the terms he used were already in circulation. Early citations had limited source material, which led to the myth of Shakespeare's word invention due to an overreliance on his works.

45. Quebec observes an unofficial 'Moving Day' on July 1, when people throughout the province traditionally relocate to new apartments.

It wasn't until 1970 that the exclamation point consistently had its own key on most typewriter keyboards. If your typewriter lacked this key, the convention was to type a period and then subsequently type an apostrophe above it.

47. The segment in Fantasia (1940) depicting the beginning of life and the age of dinosaurs was initially intended to include the evolution of mammals and humans. However, this part was cut to appease creationist viewpoints.

48. In 1807, during a celebratory hunt, Napoleon Bonaparte found himself surrounded by an army of domesticated bunnies.

49. In the 2013 DVD and Blu-ray complete series of the show Breaking Bad, an alternate ending features Bryan Cranston in bed with his Malcolm In The Middle co-star, Jane Kaczmarek, portraying their characters Hal and Lois. This serves as a playful nod to the final scene from the show Newhart, where Bob Newhart wakes up in bed next to Suzanne Pleshette, who had portrayed his (different) character's wife on The Bob Newhart Show over a decade earlier. This ending hinted that the entire plot of Newhart was a dream by Bob Hartley, his character from The Bob Newhart Show, adding a surreal twist to the series' conclusion.

50. In 1950, a group of Scottish students reclaimed the Stone of Scone, a Scottish relic seized by an English king centuries ago. When authorities discovered it missing, they temporarily closed the Scottish border for the first time in 400 years. However, upon capturing the students, they chose not to prosecute them, fearing potential backlash.