Random #393 – 50 Fun Facts Straight Out of Oven

Welcome to “Random #393 – 50 Fun Facts Straight Out of the Oven,” where we dive into an eclectic mix of fascinating tidbits that are sure to entertain and enlighten you. Whether you’re a trivia enthusiast or just looking to impress your friends with some quirky knowledge, these fun facts will do the trick. From historical oddities to bizarre animal behaviors, and astonishing feats of human achievement, our collection of fun facts covers a wide range of topics. Get ready to discover 50 new fun facts that are fresh, intriguing, and straight out of the oven!

1 Spielberg Earns Degree Unconventionally

When Steven Spielberg reenrolled at California State University in 2001 under a pseudonym to earn a degree in film and electronic arts, he was able to use Jurassic Park to pass paleontology and Schindler’s List to pass advanced filmmaking.

2. Professional ice hockey player Duncan MacPherson disappeared at the age of 23 in 1989, and his body was found frozen 15 years later in a shallow crevasse at the Stubai Glacier ski resort in Austria. According to author John Leake, MacPherson’s body showed significant trauma, including amputations, consistent with injuries from a snowboarding accident and subsequent accidental death by a snowcat driver who buried him instead of reporting the incident.

3. During “Hell Week” of Navy SEAL training, candidates receive no more than 4 hours of sleep over five and a half days while enduring continuous mental and physical stress.

4. Chinese Emperor Qin Er Shi, considered the “Son of Heaven,” was prohibited from being seen or heard by others. Ministers rarely had the chance to address him. He endured strict isolation, leading him to commit suicide at the age of 22.

5. Verified up to 19 digits, the Goldbach Conjecture asserts that every even number is the sum of two primes.

6 Ole Bentzen Dies Laughing at Film

Danish audiologist Ole Bentzen died from heart fibrillation during the screening of the 1989 movie “A Fish Called Wanda.” Extended laughter caused his heart rate to increase, ultimately leading to his death. Newspapers reported that he “died laughing,” which story writer John Cleese considered using for publicity but ultimately found inappropriate.

7. Most escaped mental patients simply return home and resume their everyday activities.

8. To protect trade secrets, the thirteenth-century Venetian glassmakers’ guild would imprison a glassmaker’s family if he left the city. If he still didn’t return, they would send an assassin to kill him.

9. Swedish pop group Ace of Base got their big break when a record producer accidentally got their demo stuck in his tape player, forcing him to listen repeatedly to what would become “All That She Wants.”

10. In 2012, Korean yoga master Choi Gap-bok escaped from prison by squeezing through the food slot at the bottom of his cell door. Measuring just 5.9 inches tall and 17.7 inches wide, the slot allowed Choi to slip out after applying skin oil to his body while the three guards slept.

11 King Eadwig’s Coronation Scandal

Eadwig, who was the King of England from 955-959 A.D., reportedly abandoned his coronation feast at the age of 15 to engage in a threesome with his future wife and her mother. The archbishop had to intervene, dragging him back to the coronation.

12. During the 1590 siege of Paris, severe food shortages drove desperate Parisians to grind human bones into bread. As the city faced starvation, people resorted to collecting bones from cemeteries, including the Holy Innocents Cemetery, and processing them into flour to make bread.

13. After actor Sean Astin turned 18, he left numerous personal items at his mother’s house. When he returned for them, he found many items, including the treasure map from “The Goonies,” missing. “It’s an item that would probably be worth $100,000 now,” he said. “And I think my mom threw it out.”

14. In 1998, the FBI attempted to extract DNA from cigarette butts smoked in 1971 by the unidentified airline hijacker known as D.B. Cooper. They discovered, however, that the Las Vegas field office had destroyed the butts while in their custody.

15. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) during a six-day cocaine binge. His wife, Fanny, remarked: “That an invalid in my husband’s condition of health was able to do the manual labor alone of putting 60,000 words on paper in six days seems almost incredible.”

16 2024 Los Angeles Heist Mystery

On Easter Sunday of 2024, someone accessed the GardaWorld cash storage facility in Sylmar and stole $30 million in what is considered the largest heist in Los Angeles history. The culprit managed to breach the facility and disappear with the loot without anyone noticing until the next day.

17. In 2012, a British man named Wesley Carrington bought a metal detector and, within 20 minutes, found gold from the Roman Age worth £100,000 in the local woods.

18. Dean Karnazes holds the record for the longest non-stop run, having run 350 miles (560 km) in 80 hours and 44 minutes in 2005. Karnazes has a physiological advantage in that he doesn’t seem to have a lactate threshold, allowing him to run such distances without sleep.

19. Armand Hammer, a businessman, was one of the owners of the Arm & Hammer baking soda brand. It’s fascinating to note that the brand existed 30 years prior to Hammer’s birth.

20. Mud Daubers is a type of usually non-aggressive wasp that is believed to have caused at least two fatal plane crashes. In 1996, these wasps obstructed the pitot tubes of an aircraft, resulting in a crash that claimed the lives of all those on board.

15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History

21 Human Genome Project Completion

The Human Genome Project started in 1990, and by 2003, scientists had successfully documented 92% of the genome. However, it took until 2022 to map the final 8% and complete the sequencing of the human genome.

22. In 2019, the BBC interviewed a man who married a fictional girl. Interestingly, 12% of people in Japan reported falling in love with anime or game characters. According to sociologist Masahiro Yamada, the rise in pseudo-relationships is due to a demanding work life and a dwindling pool of well-paid men.

23. Steve Jobs signed a typed letter in 1983 that read, “I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs,” and it sold for $478,939 at an auction in 2022.

24. The most expensive error banknote is a US $20 bill with a Del Monte fruit sticker stuck to it, which sold for $396,000 in 2021. A college student discovered it in 2003 after obtaining it from an ATM and selling it online for $10,000. Experts surmise that a bored employee likely purposefully placed the sticker.

25. Since the American Civil War, Eddie Slovik has been the only American soldier to face court martial and execution for desertion. After repeatedly deserting his unit during World War II, he faced execution in 1945.