1 Kenan Thompson’s SNL Role
In 2013, Kenan Thompson, a cast member of Saturday Night Live, refused to continue portraying black women on the show, urging SNL to hire black women for those roles instead.
2. In 2001, Tadamasa Goto, a Yakuza mob boss, made a $100,000 donation to UCLA. In return, he received a liver transplant, enabling him to bypass the waiting list. During the same year, 186 individuals in the Los Angeles area lost their lives while awaiting liver transplants. The FBI was also involved in the deal.
3. Theodor Morell, Adolf Hitler’s quack personal physician, prescribed cocaine eye drops, heavy doses of oxycodone, and amphetamines to Hitler, sometimes administering them up to 20 times daily. To alleviate Hitler’s excessive flatulence, he recommended “Doktor Koster’s Antigas Pills,” a concoction of atropine and strychnine.
4. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, the defeated Indian king Porus responded, “Treat me as one king would treat another.” Impressed by his response, Alexander indeed treated him royally, returning his territories, appointing him as a satrap of his empire, and granting him additional lands.
5. Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, and his wife Claudia grew dissatisfied with recipe alterations at KFC after selling the company. In 1968, they established the Claudia Sanders Dinner House. However, the new KFC owners initiated a lawsuit, which ultimately resulted in an out-of-court settlement.
6 Marines’ Umbrella Ban Lifted
The U.S. Marine Corps forbade male members from using umbrellas while in uniform until 2019.
7. Anthony Hopkins once scoured all of London in search of the book “The Girl from Petrovka.” Failing to find it, he returned home, only to discover the manuscript of the book on a bench. The thief had dumped the author’s copy from a stolen car.
8. Cartels are Mexico’s fifth-largest employer, making up 175,000 members.
9. The September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center in New York City houses the remains of 1,150 unidentified victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.
10. In 1932, as a final effort to prevent Hitler from seizing power, Brüning, the German Chancellor, attempted to restore the monarchy.
11 First Shot Suicide
Edmund Ruffin, who purportedly fired the first shot of the Civil War, ultimately took his own life (his body draped in a Confederate flag) to avoid submitting to “Yankee rule.”
12. Kim Jong-il’s renowned five-hole-in-one golf record was actually a simple journalistic error-reporters misinterpreted his scorecard, which had been filled out in shorthand by the scorekeeper, resulting in the incorrect reporting of his score.
13. One of da Vinci’s students simultaneously painted a better-preserved exact replica of the Mona Lisa in the same studio as Leonardo. It shows details that are no longer visible in the original Mona Lisa.
14. President John F. Kennedy survived four assassination attempts before his tragic death in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
15. In 1903, The New York Times predicted that it would take humans 1 to 10 million years to perfect a flying machine. The Wright Brothers achieved this feat just 69 days later.
16 Ghana’s Witch Camps
Ghana hosts six witch camps, providing shelter to approximately 1,000 women. These camps offer a refuge for women accused of witchcraft, shielding them from the threat of violence from their neighbors.
17. Lensey Namioka, born in China, bears a name that cannot be written in Chinese. Her linguist father identified two Chinese syllables, “len” and “sey,” which aren’t used in words and thus lacked corresponding Chinese characters. Consequently, he christened his next daughter “Lensey,” and she remains the sole individual known by this name.
18. Following his demise in 68 A.D., there circulated a prevalent conspiracy theory suggesting that the Roman emperor Nero was still secretly alive.
19. The final soldier of the British Empire to perish in World War I was the Canadian George Lawrence Price, who succumbed two minutes before the end of the war.
20. In the film “Dirty Dancing,” Patrick Swayze found Jennifer Grey to be rather “unprofessional,” and during one scene, Grey repeatedly succumbed to laughter when Swayze stroked her side. They attempted this particular take 20 times, with Grey bursting into laughter every time.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Coca Leaf Importation Fallout
In 2003, Maywood Chemical Works-now owned by Stepan Company-imported over 385,000 pounds of coca leaf for the production of Coca-Cola, sufficient to produce $200 million worth of cocaine, all of which had to be legally disposed of, likely through incineration.
22. In 1975, “Belle Chase John Doe,” an unidentified 17-year-old suicide victim, left a note requesting that the police refrain from identifying him. A hurricane later destroyed all records and information relating to his case.
23. In 1870, the United States voted on a treaty proposing the annexation of the Dominican Republic, with the ultimate goal of incorporating it as a state.
24. Naturalization in Liechtenstein is subject to popular vote, with only candidates who have actively engaged in local community life for 10 or more years likely to be accepted as citizens.
25. Boris Yeltsin lost 2.5 fingers on his left hand while attempting to open a grenade as a teenager.
