1 Man Pitches Tent, Gains Fame
In 2012, over 2,000 Koreans gathered to watch a single man pitch a 24-man army tent after he claimed on an internet forum that he could complete the task in under two hours. The event became so large that it attracted corporate sponsors. The man succeeded, taking about an hour to finish.
2. Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve Corporation, owns an armada of luxury yachts valued at around $1 billion as of 2024.
3. At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, an American woman grabbed Adolf Hitler’s face and forcefully kissed him while he was signing autographs. This incident enraged him, leading to the dismissal and demotion of most of his security staff for failing to stop her.
4. Kurt Gerstein, a Nazi officer, attempted to alert the world to the Holocaust by sending detailed reports to Swedish, Swiss, Dutch, and Catholic officials. Despite his efforts, these warnings proved largely ineffective. He died by suicide in 1945.
5. The Spice Girls co-wrote all their songs. When they parted ways with their original management, they allegedly stole the master recordings from the management office to ensure they retained creative control over their music.
6 Code Removal Causes Internet Chaos
In 2016, a software developer named Azer Koçulu deleted his open-source JavaScript package named Kik, which consisted of just 11 lines of code. This small package turned out to be a critical dependency for many major software projects, causing widespread internet disruptions after its removal.
7. In 2005, Joaquin Phoenix flipped his car in an accident. Werner Herzog, who happened to be nearby, told him to “just relax.” When Phoenix responded that he was fine, Herzog replied, “No, you’re not,” and stopped him from lighting a cigarette while gasoline leaked into the car cabin.
8. Tommy Cooper, a Welsh magician and comedian known for his “clumsy magician” act, suffered a massive heart attack, collapsed, and died on stage during a live broadcast. Twelve million viewers and the studio audience initially laughed, believing it was part of his act.
9. Hugh Grant got caught with a prostitute in his car because he repeatedly pressed the brake pedal with his foot, causing his brake lights to flash erratically and attract police attention.
10. David Letterman once insulted Quentin Tarantino on his show. In response, Tarantino called him, threatening to come to New York and “kill” him. Letterman countered by offering to pay for Tarantino’s flight and letting him choose the method of battle. Tarantino agreed and chose “bats.”
11 Flappy Bird: Addictive Hit Game
Released in May 2013, Flappy Bird became a sleeper hit in early 2014. By the end of January, it was the most downloaded free game on the iOS App Store, earning its developer $50,000 daily. However, he removed it, citing guilt over the game’s addictive nature and excessive use.
12. In 2015, a man named Joel Burger married Ashley King. To celebrate the union, Burger King paid for their wedding.
13. On November 29, 2001, Mike Myers received the final letter George Harrison ever wrote. A fan of satire, Harrison handwrote the letter to express his admiration for Myers’ Austin Powers movies. Myers received it on the set of Austin Powers 3 the same day Harrison passed away.
14. The oldest barrel of drinkable wine, produced in 1472, has only been tasted three times: in 1576 to celebrate an alliance, in 1716 after a fire, and in 1944 when Strasbourg was liberated during World War II.
15. Chinese eunuchs, who had both their penis and testicles removed in a single procedure, served as high-ranking civil servants. They were considered “pure,” and those castrated before the age of ten were termed “thoroughly pure.” This system, which began in 146 A.D., lasted until 1924, with the last Imperial eunuch passing away in 1996.
16 Orangutan Star’s Hollywood Downfall
Joe Martin, a captive Hollywood orangutan actor from the black-and-white era, starred in over 50 silent films and lived a life resembling that of a free human. He wore clothes, carried his own keys, attended film premieres, and even worked with children. Unfortunately, his career ended after he attacked multiple people, leading to his downfall.
17. Martha Stewart did not go to prison for insider trading. Instead, she was convicted of lying to the FBI.
18. Movies starring or produced by Will Smith or Adam Sandler generated $3.7 billion in gross revenue from 2000 to 2015. These films contributed 20% of Sony Pictures’ domestic gross and 23% of its profits during that period, making the studio heavily reliant on these two actors.
19. Despite its popularity and cult following, the movie Idiocracy grossed only $495,303 at the box office, far below its production budget of $2.4 million.
20. Switzerland abolished tipping in 1974, following a tax dispute over gratuities. Prices incorporated service charges and replaced tipping with higher wages.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Cher’s Racy Navy Music Video
The US Navy had no idea Cher would wear a racy outfit when they agreed to let her film “If I Could Turn Back Time” on the battleship Missouri. They only saw her now-iconic fishnet bodysuit once filming began, and the crew’s wild reactions in the video are completely genuine.
22. While filming Metropolis (1927), filmmakers often ended up with more children on set in the evening than they had in the morning. Children from the poorest areas of Berlin would sneak onto the set or climb fences to enjoy the warm rooms, games, toys, cocoa, cake, and regular meals.
23. The famous painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch does not depict a person screaming. Instead, it shows someone reacting to hearing a scream.
24. Chuck Jones, one of the original Looney Tunes directors, strongly disliked Space Jam. He criticized the premise that Bugs Bunny would ask for help to fight the Monstars, believing Bugs would have handled them on his own.
25. Children develop and share their own unique folklore, known as “childlore,” which includes rhymes, games, and rituals. This folklore typically fades by adolescence and often goes unnoticed by adults.
RE: Fact #24 (Looney Tunes Director Critiques Space Jam) – Seriously, it’s true. If it wasn’t a big deal to the movie, Bugs would’ve totally skipped the basketball game and spent the whole time messing with the Monstars’ heads for even *thinking* about challenging him.
Around here, we call him Big Bugs, and he was seriously not someone you wanted to mess with. He didn’t need anyone’s help to handle things. If you asked Bugs for a hand, he wouldn’t ask you for one in return.
Bugs Bunny and Lyndon B. Johnson teaming up? That’d be awesome!
Nah, I think he totally would’ve played along. He’d show, the ref would say they needed four more players, and Bugs would be all “Sure thing!” Then *poof*, he’d be behind the ref with a funny mustache, “Dugs Dunny” he’d say. Then *poof* again, and it’s “Mugs Munny” in cool shades. He’d keep doing that, “Hugs Hunny” and “Lola”—Bugs in lipstick.
The Monstars would complain, but the ref (who’s also Bugs, obviously) would just shrug and say, “Whatever.”
Ever think Bugs Bunny was cute in that dress?
Get this, Bugs Bunny’s at first, second, and short! That’s already a thing, haha.
The toons won mainly because of that “Michael’s Secret Stuff” thing. Bugs tricked his teammates—they were so gullible, they actually believed the stuff made them better at basketball. It was all a plan to help them chill out and focus. Plus, it made the aliens’ loss even worse! So yeah, I think calling the movie “Bugs psychologically tortures a bunch of aliens” is pretty accurate, even if it’s not obvious right away.
That’s a great point! Bugs totally used the “get the gang together” thing to trick Lola.
RE: Fact #40 (Johnny Depp Saves Courtney Love) – Ugh, not again! Time for CPR.
Insurance costs were getting crazy by then.
After the River thing, Depp just hangs out outside the club every night.
This club is seriously the worst I’ve ever encountered.
Man, what a shame about River Phoenix. He was incredibly talented.
RE: Fact #25 (Children’s Unique Folklore: Childlore) – We’d make up games and stories, mostly to pull the wool over younger kids’ eyes. They’d believe anything!
It wasn’t really harmful, but it had a spooky vibe, so we felt safer in a group.
The main parts were: making up possessions, running from a ghost we never actually saw (that would send us scattering around the farm, finding new hiding places), and splitting up so someone could have a solo scare – we’d build it up so much!
I think they sometimes figured it out, but they went along with it anyway.
Good times.
Also, clouds are made of cotton candy, and airplanes sometimes use nets to catch it.
My four-year-old thinks there’s a real haunted house in town because some older kid told her. I’ve said ghosts aren’t real, but she says the kid saw it, so it must be true! I just told her it’s miles away, so no ghosts can get to us.
If I ever find out who told my three-year-old about sharks in the bathtub drain…
I made up names and stories for all the woods near my house—for my cousins and the other neighborhood kids. Some was stuff I’d heard older kids say, some was kinda true, and some I just plain made up. Eventually, I even started believing my own stories!
RE: Fact #48 (Checkmate Decides Chess Title Once) – In shogi, not resigning when you’re clearly beaten is bad form. It’s like saying your opponent’s too dumb to win.
RE: Fact #42 (Eel Reproduction Mystery Solved) – Nobody’d ever seen humpback whales mate before 2022. Then someone got a picture, only it was two males getting busy. Talk about a rollercoaster! That photographer—picture of a lifetime, right? Then BAM! It’s two guys. THE PICTURE OF A LIFETIME!
RE: Fact #28 (Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Explained) – I just saw that on Matlock.
Just wanted to mention that.
RE: Fact #11 (Flappy Bird: Addictive Hit Game) – Remember those crazy expensive used phones, just because they had Flappy Bird? Those were the days!
RE: Fact #36 (Empress Elisabeth Assassinated Anonymously) –
Like the title says, just any random royal will do.
RE: Fact #35 (Limb Surgeons Share Common Surname) – Stay away from Dr. Killem?
My mom had a coworker, Dr. Coffin. Seriously, a hospital! Talk about a bad name, haha.
I totally remember reading a book in 7th grade about a nurse named Ms. Kadaver, or something close to that.
RE: Fact #25 (Children’s Unique Folklore: Childlore) – Anyone remember any childhood stories?
Brown cows give chocolate milk.
Don’t breathe and touch a circle near graveyards, or a ghost will get you.
Cooties are icky things boys mostly get. There’s a shot, but it doesn’t really work, you need it almost every day. To get it, chant: “Circle circle dot dot, now I’ve got my cootie shot. Circle circle square square, now I’ve got it everywhere. Circle circle knife knife, now I’ve got it all my life.”
I had, like, three imaginary friends. They were total troublemakers; I blamed them for everything bad I did.
Cooties? Mostly boys, huh? That’s totally wrong! It’s been proven – girls spread them way more. Seriously, that old idea is just a big lie.
Back in the early 90s in Scotland, kids were saying this rhyme: “Wee Maggie Thatcher, throw her up and catch her! Squish, squish, squish; wee Maggie’s deid!” I bet versions of it were all over playgrounds in the 80s too, and just stuck around for a bit.
RE: Fact #48 (Checkmate Decides Chess Title Once) – They played D4, and I’m done for.
Want to stop Snape from getting that Philosopher’s Stone?
It’s you!
I once played a chess master in a simultaneous exhibition. I only knew d4 and e4 openings, which is pretty basic. Usually, in these things, white uses at least three different openings because otherwise, black can easily cheat and look at other games nearby. But I only knew two! So, of course, white played something completely different against me. I was clueless and totally rushed because you have to move quickly. I didn’t expect to win, but I got crushed. Basically, I lost the game before it even started; I could’ve resigned right away.
RE: Fact #15 (Chinese Eunuchs’ Remarkable Civil Roles) – Some parents would even castrate their sons—a desperate attempt to escape poverty. Working in the Royal Palace as a eunuch meant wealth for the whole family. They’d keep the, uh, removed parts, drying and saving them to be buried with the eunuch, hoping he’d be whole again in the afterlife. Sadly, many kids died from infection or bleeding during the procedure. The survivors were left incontinent, needing diapers. Though they couldn’t have kids, they’d often adopt a relative’s son to keep the family name going.
The Byzantine Empire, as well.
Yeah, there’s some overlap, but the Medieval Romans only took out the testicles, unlike the Chinese. That stopped the incontinence.
The main reason for using eunuchs was that they couldn’t get involved with the empress or let romantic interests distract them from their jobs. Plus, since they couldn’t have kids, they wouldn’t plot against the emperor to benefit their own children.
They couldn’t have kids, so no heir to the throne meant no plotting against the emperor for their own children’s benefit.
Boy, oh boy, I’ve got some tales to spin! Lots of emperors were played like fiddles by powerful eunuchs in Chinese history – or so the old stories say.
Sure, they’ve got lots of other relatives to work with.
RE: Fact #50 (‘Going Postal’ Slang Origin) – I worked Postal Service help desk support back in ’06 and ’07. First day, they made it clear: joke about “going postal,” you’re fired.
My uncle worked for the post office from the late 90s to 2003, right when they were updating things. His county decided not to replace their delivery jeeps; instead, they’d have employees use their own cars as the jeeps died. So, my uncle put two bumper stickers on his car: “Disgruntled Employee Of The Month” and “AK-47, weapon of choice of the U.S. Postal Service.” They tried everything—making him remove them, fining him, firing him—he even went to court! Because it was his personal car, the stickers were on before he used it for work, and he hadn’t agreed to any restrictions, he won! He kept his stickers, and that old jeep got fixed for way longer than they planned. He’s the reason for all those strict rules now. He thought the whole thing was hilarious.
It was the same story when I was there from 2008 to 2014.
It’s been weeks and still no 2015-2024 update! I’m about to lose it!
RE: Fact #39 (Japan’s Exploitative Black Companies) – Being an American in Japan, I’ve seen a lot of shady companies taking advantage of foreigners, especially those who aren’t familiar with their rights. Many of these places, and I worked for one, make you sign totally illegal contracts because they know you don’t understand Japanese law, and some people are just desperate to be here. If you complain, they’ll usually just pay you off rather than fight it in court. Japan doesn’t have the same legal culture as the US, so it’s easier for them to get away with it.
That’s why anyone thinking of teaching English in Japan should know it’s all about the money, not the quality of teaching. They just want bodies in the classroom, and they’ll use and abuse you until you quit.
And the way Japanese bosses treat their staff is crazy! I’ve seen people in tears after a boss chewed them out. It’s usually Japanese workers, they’re less likely to do it to foreigners, but even small mistakes get you a serious scolding. American bosses would get punched if they talked to their employees like that! Sometimes, after messing up, workers have to write apology letters.
Let’s just say I’ve seen some crazy stuff.
Me too! I teach English in Tokyo, so I can still do my Kyokushin and MMA training. They’re only interested in the contracts, though.
I had my appendix out and they wanted me back at work the *very next day*! They really laid on the guilt trip when I said no – I couldn’t even stand up straight because of the pain.
I love Japan, but the work culture is brutal.
I follow this one Japanese Twitch streamer, and she’s worried sick about her stepdad. He’s killing himself with work – midnight to 4 AM shifts! She’s begged him to find something better, but he’s got this strange idea that his company’s the best, so why would he leave? He thinks he has to keep it at the top.
She grew up in America for a bit, and I think that’s colored her view of it all. She just doesn’t get that work culture. Her first job was at Taco Bell, which probably didn’t exactly give her the best insight.
Japanese work culture is seriously messed up, though. The US is bad in its own way, but Japan’s got some seriously weird stuff going on too.
I really enjoy watching videos of Japanese craftspeople, but honestly, that level of dedication seems unsustainable.
My first job here was awful. It wasn’t even teaching English, but they totally took advantage of the fact that most of us were foreign workers on visas, using every manipulative trick in the book to control us. Even though I knew my visa didn’t depend on staying with them, they really made me think I’d never find another job. I only realized I was being abused after I randomly tossed my resume online, got a job at a much better (though boring) Japanese company, and read an article about workplace abuse—it was like, a NYT article or something. It’s like seeing someone in a bad marriage—you wonder why they stay, right? That’s exactly how it felt. The abuse only stopped after my husband and I got married and I got my three-year visa; they suddenly lost their control over me.
I’ll never forget my first day at GEOS. The owner spent a half hour on a video call just yelling at forty-plus managers—they just sat there and took it.
Finding a country that *doesn’t* have worker exploitation problems is tough, even in places known for strong worker protections like Germany.
RE: Fact #26 (First Alleged Space Crime Disproved) – I picture robot cops arresting people for space crimes.
I picture the Men in Black.
I picture Han shooting Greedo.
That’s the black robot cop from Futurama.
Time to take him down a peg.
RE: Fact #23 (The Scream Depicts Hearing Scream) – After checking out the Munch Museum in Oslo, I’d say *The Scream* isn’t even one of his ten best.
I checked out the Satyricon and Munch exhibits – wow, what a museum! I’d totally go back.
Man, I’m such a big Satyricon fan, I really wish I’d been able to check out that exhibit.
RE: Fact #39 (Japan’s Exploitative Black Companies) – Quitting your job in Japan is seriously tough – it’s seen as super disrespectful. People often work for the same company their whole lives!
It’s a real problem.
Lots of Japanese workers pay for help quitting; it’s like the cost of a nice dinner for peace of mind.
Crazy, right? A whole industry popped up because workplaces are *that* bad.
Some people even had their resignation letters ripped up THREE TIMES! They even bowed and begged to quit, and still got nothing.
I thought *my* old job was bad!
Some people are forced to do over 100, or even 200 hours of overtime each month!
Wow.
My company’s got an office in Asia, and when we hire people there, they really like the idea of a 40-hour work week, weekends off, and getting paid for extra hours. Sure, they might have to stay up late for US meetings sometimes, but it’s still better than working under the local companies.
I’ve been in Singapore a while now, building a new team for my company. Biggest surprise? The work culture. I actually have to *tell* them to stop working – even when there’s nothing to do! They still want to work weekends and nights, even after I say, “No, seriously, don’t.”
American work life is looking pretty bleak right now.
Wow, telling those anonymous bosses to get lost for someone else feels really good.
I’d love that job! It’d be awesome to tell people off all day.
RE: Fact #2 (Valve’s Gabe Newell’s Yacht Armada) – He’s got a bunch of yachts, not warships. Or if you want to be fancy, a flotilla.
RE: Fact #19 (Idiocracy’s Disappointing Box Office Run) – My buddy and I snuck into a theater after seeing *The Illusionist*. Only a handful of other people were there. Right before the movie started, the lights came on – turns out, none of us had tickets. We all just kind of looked at each other, shrugged, and left.
RE: Fact #20 (Switzerland Ends Tipping Practice) – In Japan, tipping just isn’t a thing. If you try, they’ll probably give it right back, thinking you made a mistake. It’s just not part of their culture; they expect everyone to do a good job.
In the US, though, tipping’s all messed up. Because there’s this unspoken minimum tip, it’s not really a reward for good service anymore—it’s more like a hidden extra charge, a way to get away with paying low wages.
I got some delicious Japanese sweets, and the bill was something like a dollar in yen. I told them to keep the change and walked away.
Then, one of the shop girls chased me down the street – about a hundred meters – bowed, and gave me my change back! I was totally puzzled.
I had to get my buddy who was living there to explain. Turns out, tipping isn’t a thing there at all.
RE: Fact #45 (Daryl Hannah’s Autism Journey) – That diagnosis was pretty rare back then, even a decade later. I wonder what the whole story is.
Back then, they just put people away. It was rough, but times were tough all around. No special school programs, no early help, and almost nobody knew about it.
Especially for women and girls.
Early intervention is a really big deal. It’s heartbreaking to think how many autistic people were isolated and struggled to communicate, when simple things like speech therapy could have made all the difference.
Yeah, I was one of those kids. Born in ’68, locked away from ’78 to ’86 for being a “bad kid.” It wrecked my life; nobody took it seriously back then.
Wow, you spent eight years in a mental institution? I was only there for a week – I can’t imagine what that must have been like, losing your whole childhood.
RE: Fact #16 (Orangutan Star’s Hollywood Downfall) – They should totally make a movie about this guy.
He pulled off two amazing zoo escapes! First time, he let the wolves and the elephant loose—talk about a distraction! Most people wouldn’t even think of that.
Ken Allen, that orangutan at the San Diego Zoo, was a real escape artist! He’d sneak off and wander around, checking out the other animals. And sometimes he’d bring a few girlfriends along.
Wow, Joe Martin was defending kids, women, and animals? That’s wild!
So, it’ll have to be Colin Farrell with tons of makeup, since another orangutan’s out of the question and CGI wouldn’t work. Or maybe Garry Oldman.
RE: Fact #20 (Switzerland Ends Tipping Practice) – It’s just fair, right? Servers deserve a good wage, not just tips.
Lots of servers are total hypocrites about tips. They complain about low wages, but fight against higher pay and getting rid of tips because they make more in tips than they would with a raise.
It’s a total crabs-in-a-bucket situation.
We’d make less in tips if our hourly pay went up.
Tip me more, I don’t get paid enough hourly.
Waitstaff practically *beg* for lower wages so customers pick up the slack. But they expect those tips, so it’s not really charity, right? It’s a sneaky extra charge disguised as guilt.
The whole thing’s rigged so bosses can pay less, then let their employees blame the customers. A quick fix is needed, but the servers won’t cooperate, so what can you do?
Getting rid of tipping needs a law, just like that post said. Otherwise, restaurants that try it lose their workers to places with better tips.
Even though some servers would earn less, most servers would actually make more money overall.
RE: Fact #42 (Eel Reproduction Mystery Solved) – They hadn’t actually *seen* it happen before 2022, so no solid proof. Why? Tracking eels to the Sargasso Sea is a real pain. Ever tried catching one? They’re slippery little buggers, and they’ll wrap themselves around your arm to get away! The whole eel story is pretty amazing, though. Check out this Radiolab episode about it.
Seriously? Tracking eels to the Sargasso Sea is a pain. Ever tried to grab one? They’re slippery little buggers, and they’ll wrap around your arm to get away.
They don’t actually swim all the way across the Atlantic holding on, you know.
Ha, right? They totally use them like sled dogs, but in the ocean!
🥺
Tracking eels to the Sargasso Sea is a real pain. We’ve just gotten better satellite tags that fall off on their own and are way more reliable, so we get the migration data even if we lose the eel. Before, tagging an eel was useless if we couldn’t find it again to get the tag back.
Directly sampling endangered eels in specific spots is a nightmare; we even got the basics wrong (scientists thought eel migration was fast, reaching the spawning grounds in time for the next spawning season, but actually it’s much slower—they might take one or two spawning seasons to get there).
Basically, we finally have the tech to figure out a lot about their migration.
RE: Fact #23 (The Scream Depicts Hearing Scream) – Seemed like a little kid home alone, splashing on some aftershave.
RE: Fact #13 (George Harrison’s Final Letter to Myers) – For a sec, I thought his gushing letter was sarcastic.
RE: Fact #33 (Marathon Winner’s Public Toilet Break) – I saw a funny clip the other day – some Aussie runner told the cameraman to stop filming her butt ’cause she’d had an accident! Happens more often to top runners than you’d think.
Edit: Turns out it was Taylor Knibb, the American triathlete. Big respect to her.
RE: Fact #50 (‘Going Postal’ Slang Origin) – I worked for the US Postal Service briefly. Any postal employee using the term “going postal” or any variation, even as a joke, results in being immediately fired by the USPS.
RE: Fact #38 (Child Abduction Panic Debunked) – There was a big panic about daycare and preschool abuse and satanic rituals, but it was all false.
RE: Fact #24 (Looney Tunes Director Critiques Space Jam) – Chuck Jones was right about Bugs Bunny. That’s the whole deal: Bugs keeps to himself unless you mess with him—then he’ll totally wreck you. All on his own.
Back in the Looney Tunes days, there was this thing where Bugs Bunny had to get hit three times before he’d fight back. Made him look less like the aggressor.
So, what’s the deal with saying “Bugs Bunny” three times in the bathroom mirror?
So, you’re talking about Chuck Jones’ Bugs Bunny, right? Lots of animators worked on Bugs, not just Jones. Bugs didn’t always look like that—he changed over time, and Jones really shaped him into the character we know and love.
Bugs isn’t exactly a team player.
Lots of people don’t get it, but Bugs Bunny is seriously messed up. He’s practically nuts.
RE: Fact #25 (Children’s Unique Folklore: Childlore) – There’s this sad article from the 90s about homeless kids in Miami who made up their own religion, kinda like folklore. Their myths were all about everyday stuff – like how abandoned fridges were gateways to hell because they’re so dangerous.
That was a depressing but interesting read. Kids talking about demons and angels are just working through their ideas about gang violence.
This is way more heartbreaking than that comment lets on. My heart breaks for those kids.
RE: Fact #10 (Letterman Challenges Tarantino to Duel) – Tarantino acts tough, like the guys in his movies, but he’s really just a big film geek.
If I remember correctly, he had to buy a new Rolex band after he messed up a movie critic’s watch in a fight at an LA restaurant.
People would think twice before decking a celeb. Or maybe Tarantino found someone even nerdier than him.
That cheap bracelet broke during a little fight between movie nerds, haha.
RE: Fact #1 (Man Pitches Tent, Gains Fame) – Setting up those tents was a nightmare—so many people, so many different ideas on how to do it!
Seriously? “Hold this pole, be right back,” then five minutes of nothing. What gives?
My boss made me do it! I’m totally off the hook, haha!
Not many people have weighed in, and a few of the opinions changed direction halfway through.
RE: Fact #29 (Fred Rogers’ Hidden Playful Humor) – Back in ’84, I was on Nantucket, waiting in line for a sandwich at this place called Something Natural, right? This older guy in front of me drops a quarter. I picked it up to give it back, but then I realized it was Mr. Rogers! I fumbled it, dropped it again. He just laughed and said, “Looks like we’ve both got the clumsy hands today!” What a great guy.
Whoa, you actually met that guy in Nantucket? Tell me more!
Did he get lowered down a well in a bucket?
His place on Nantucket, the Crooked House, was out west. We passed it once, but never actually saw him.
RE: Fact #13 (George Harrison’s Final Letter to Myers) – He also put up some money for Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
It was a really risky movie for its time, so getting the money together was a huge problem.
Fun fact: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull helped pay for Holy Grail.
RE: Fact #7 (Werner Herzog Saves Joaquin Phoenix) – Hearing Werner Herzog’s voice after a car wreck? I’d have thought I’d kicked the bucket and was chatting with the Almighty.
RE: Fact #8 (Comedian Dies On Live TV) – I once read this story about a London cabbie who gave Tommy Cooper a lift. Tommy handed him a tea bag and said, “Here, have a drink on me!”
That detail seemed kinda random at first, but then I remembered those iconic London black cabs.
So, a black cab driver, not a black cab *driver*. More like an Uber Black back then.
RE: Fact #49 (Tintin Comics Break Directional Rule) – As a kid, I devoured Tintin comics, and I’m not convinced that rule’s set in stone. It was probably more of a guideline back then, not something they stuck to all the time because it was just too hard. I looked around online and found lots of examples proving the opposite. There are pages in *The Blue Lotus*, *Tintin in America*, *The Black Island*, and *The Secret of the Unicorn* showing Tintin moving right-to-left while doing things like ambushing his enemies and generally being on top of things. The idea that right-to-left movement always means he’s losing is just wrong – in some of those examples he’s winning! And sometimes it’s just the easiest way to move the story along. I bet there are tons more examples if you really dug into the whole series.
Sounds like you’re on Wikipedia update duty!
RE: Fact #14 (World’s Oldest Wine Barrel Tasted) – It still totally looks and smells like wine, even though it’s super old! Experts checked it out way back in 1994 and said it was amazing—beautiful color, incredible smell, all sorts of complex flavors like vanilla, honey, and nuts. And tests showed it’s definitely still wine!
RE: Fact #43 (Plane Liquid Ban’s True Origin) – That shoe bomber’s the reason we gotta take our shoes off at the airport.
An underwear bomber would be super awkward.
RE: Fact #6 (Code Removal Causes Internet Chaos) – There’s always a relevant xkcd comic.
So, “leftpad” is a piece of cake to swap out—any newbie coder could do it in an hour. It only exists ’cause Node.js has a goofy module system. But the xkcd comic’s about OpenSSL, a super important security thing used everywhere. Everyone freaked when they found out it was basically one person keeping it running. Then companies started throwing money at it, and OpenBSD even forked it to make it more organized.
That’s awesome!
RE: Fact #44 (Vigilante Killer Inspired Dexter Morgan) – He was only 14 when he started killing those guys who killed his pregnant girlfriend… Can you believe he got a girl pregnant before he was even 14? Skipped right over childhood, it seems.
Apparently, the wiki says he’d already started killing before they even got together. He was a fugitive when they met.
RE: Fact #15 (Chinese Eunuchs’ Remarkable Civil Roles) – Europeans probably did something similar with boys who were amazing singers.
Crazy, right? They lived a full thirteen years longer than other guys back then. I saw it on an old QI episode.
Wow, Dr. House says mango juice prevents cancer! I doubt those guys lived longer ’cause they were castrated; it’s more likely that regular guys back then died younger from things like war and hard labor.
Yeah, just the testicles went, so no bladder issues.
I’m not sure if I’ve got this backwards, but a castrato is someone who was castrated as a kid so they could sing high notes. I doubt they were trained to sing *then* rewarded with castration, though – who knows? The past was pretty awful.
RE: Fact #22 (Children Sneak Onto Film Set) – That magazine quote’s awesome! They were worried about the kids getting hurt during the flood scene, but it turned out the kids were amazing. They were super enthusiastic and happy to jump in the cold water—they were totally in charge! They acted scared and desperate perfectly. Only sometimes did they need a reminder not to goof off and look at the camera.
RE: Fact #36 (Empress Elisabeth Assassinated Anonymously) – Back in 1898, despite warnings she might get whacked, 60-year-old Elisabeth snuck off to Geneva. But someone at the Hôtel Beau-Rivage spilled the beans – the Empress of Austria was staying there!
Around 1:35 pm on Saturday, September 10th, 1898, Elisabeth and her lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma Sztáray, walked from the hotel to catch a boat. The Empress hated crowds, so they went without her usual crew.
As they strolled along, this 25-year-old Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, came up to them, trying to peek under her parasol. Just as the boat was leaving, he seemed to trip and reached out – actually, he’d stabbed her with a sharpened file hidden in a handle.
Lucheni’s original target was the Duke of Orléans, but he’d left town. After a Geneva newspaper outed Elisabeth’s secret identity, Lucheni decided she’d do.
He said, “I’m an anarchist. I came to kill a royal, to show those who are suffering and doing nothing about it what can happen. It didn’t matter which royal, I just wanted a crown.”
The whole thing was a really unfortunate case of someone giving away her location.
RE: Fact #13 (George Harrison’s Final Letter to Myers) – So, Myers says the letter also had this bit: “He says, ‘Dr. Evil says “frickin’,” but any Scouse dad worth his salt knows it’s really “friggin’,” like in “four of fish and finger pie”—get it? He also said, ‘Thanks for the movies, they were a blast!'”
I’m so confused, what’s the deal with “four or fish and finger pie”? Am I even allowed to ask?
Google says “a four of fish and finger pie” is British slang for both fourpennyworth of fish and chips, and, well, it’s also got a racier meaning related to fingering.
Four quid’s worth of fish and chips, and getting jiggy with the girls.
RE: Fact #18 (Will Smith, Adam Sandler Blockbusters) – Adam Sandler flicks aren’t always amazing, but the guy’s a total pro who gets along great with everyone on set. You always hear how much fun they had filming, how much they love him, and how grateful they are for the experience. He makes bank – for himself, the studio, and the whole crew. Best actor ever? Probably not. But he’s seriously good at what he does.
The main takeaway? Being great at your job isn’t the only thing that matters; people also want to work with someone nice.
I watched Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me, and Uncut Gems. He’s a really good actor, when he puts his mind to it.
RE: Fact #22 (Children Sneak Onto Film Set) – Warm games and toys are awesome.
RE: Fact #36 (Empress Elisabeth Assassinated Anonymously) – Wow, that early 1900s anarchist hit list was something else! The US President, the Russian Tsar, the French President, the Spanish Prime Minister, the King of Italy, the King of Greece—the list went on and on.
So, it’s not surprising, given how the army crushed the strikes, how the elite felt about unions, and how undemocratic things were back then. Even then, it was a really controversial topic among anarchists, and lots of them rejected “propaganda of the deed” – Emma Goldman and others, for example.
Nineteenth and early twentieth-century anarchists were way crazier than today’s. Think car bombs and stabbings, and in places like Spain and Ukraine, they even pulled off armed rebellions.
Those were real activists, always pushing their cause. These days, most anarchists are just internet tough guys. Honestly, the internet’s pretty much killed off real activism. Those old-timers would probably be disgusted by today’s “leftists.”
RE: Fact #49 (Tintin Comics Break Directional Rule) – Good guys go left to right, bad guys go the other way. In Attack of the Clones, the clones mostly moved right to left – a big hint at what they’d do later. It’s a neat trick you see a lot in movies and stuff.
RE: Fact #34 (Hijacker’s Parachute Escape Fails) – That’s gotta be DB Cooper’s brother, DA Goober.
RE: Fact #20 (Switzerland Ends Tipping Practice) – Massachusetts just voted down a proposal to raise server wages to the state minimum. It lost big—64% against it, only 36% for it. Surprisingly, a lot of servers themselves were against it.
A lot of servers actually opposed the idea.
Most servers make way more in tips than they would with a higher hourly wage. Who’d trade $300 a night in tips for just $100?
RE: Fact #12 (Burger King Pays Wedding Costs) – Nah, I’m not trading “King” for “Burger.”
RE: Fact #31 (Capsaicin Tape Deters Rodents) – I’m gonna get these for the house cords, and that dog’s gonna learn its lesson!
Sounds good. Spicy wire’s gotta be safer for the dog than letting it chew on a live wire, right?
RE: Fact #18 (Will Smith, Adam Sandler Blockbusters) – During the North Korea hacks, someone leaked emails complaining about all the Adam Sandler movies they were making.
That was almost exactly ten years ago.
Things have changed a lot. Now Adam Sandler makes cheesy stuff for Netflix, and Will Smith’s kind of disappeared.
RE: Fact #9 (Hugh Grant’s Brake Light Blunder) – Big mistake, Hugh! Everyone knows it’s behind the gas station dumpster, in the alley. And Liz Hurley’s at home waiting, and he’s with a hooker? Serves him right.
A player once told me, “there’s nothing like a fresh catch.”
RE: Fact #6 (Code Removal Causes Internet Chaos) – Seriously, screw the people who take advantage. If you use free software and treat the people who make it like crap, don’t whine when things go south.
Don’t be a hypocrite, basically.
RE: Fact #14 (World’s Oldest Wine Barrel Tasted) – Down in the Strasbourg University Hospital cellars in France, there’s this amazing wine cellar. They make around 150,000 bottles a year – some of the best wine in the world! The money they make buys medical equipment. It’s been around since 1395 and was a big part of the hospital – patients sometimes paid for treatment with wine or vineyard land. Back in the 1700s, patients even got two liters of wine a day!
I am somewhat of a patient myself, you see.
Don’t complain if I do.
Two liters? Wow, that’s a lot. You’d be sick after a few weeks of that, even if you weren’t already.
That wine was probably pretty weak, more like the old-timey low-alcohol beer they used to make.
Man, everything was super intense back then. It felt like everything – wine, water, even just walking down the street – was trying to kill you.
RE: Fact #38 (Child Abduction Panic Debunked) – People still believe this myth. Most of these cases—like 90%—are kids who run away and come back. Each one gets counted as a missing kid. The others are usually about custody battles. It’s tough to get exact numbers on stranger abductions, but they’re really rare.
I think the reports don’t tell the difference between the same kid running away lots of times. So, one kid could run away and come back a hundred times, and it’d count as a hundred missing kids.
It’s the same deal with child trafficking, only worse. If you report your kid missing to the cops and say you think they might be trafficked, it gets added to the numbers, even if they’re not. Even if you find them an hour later, perfectly fine, they still count. And if your kid runs away the next day and you report it again, that’s two kids counted as trafficked.
So, even though everyone freaked out about little boys being snatched by strangers, the numbers actually show that most missing kids are runaways. And most of the cases where a stranger takes a child involve teenage girls, not young boys. Plus, the idea that millions of kids disappear each year is way off—it’s really only a few hundred stranger abductions annually. People also got confused and mixed up stranger abductions with parents taking their kids.
Wow, 95% runaways? That’s seriously messed up data; they shouldn’t be mixing those two things up.
If that “1 million kids a year” figure is accurate, then only 50,000 were actually abducted. And of those, only a few hundred were taken by strangers. Almost all the “kidnappings” were actually family taking kids.
Turns out, most abuse comes from family, not some random stranger like on TV. Thinking only strangers are dangerous is super risky; it makes parents miss the abuse happening right under their noses.
RE: Fact #17 (Martha Stewart Convicted for Lying) – Clinton wasn’t impeached for the blow job itself, but for lying about it.
RE: Fact #35 (Limb Surgeons Share Common Surname) – I got snipped at Dr. Dick Chopp’s office—he’d retired, but still owned the place.
RE: Fact #21 (Cher’s Racy Navy Music Video) – The Navy PR people figured she’d be in a sailor suit. They tried to shut down filming, but gave up in the end. The Navy got a ton of complaints, but for the last few years of Missouri’s time in service, the crew used the song as their unofficial “wrap-up” tune — played after getting supplies from other ships at sea.
RE: Fact #4 (Nazi Officer Warns of Holocaust) – That’s a real bummer.
No surprise there. Nobody wanted Jewish people in their own countries back then. It was all, “Take ours, but keep yours.”
So you don’t think I’m making things up, here’s what Canada’s immigration director, Fredrick Blair, said back in the 1930s: “I don’t have a problem with Jewish people because they don’t farm, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone that a country that’s always encouraged farmers to immigrate might prefer other groups.”
Lots of places in Canada had “No Jews Allowed” signs back then. When asked how many Jews should be allowed in, Blair said, “None is too many.”
Compared to other Allied countries, Canada took in way fewer Jewish refugees—less than 5,000 between 1933 and 1948. We only started letting in Jewish war orphans in the 1950s.
And here’s the weird part: we welcomed a whole bunch of Nazis. Most of the 14th SS Galician Division that left Europe ended up in Canada. We even had monuments to them until recently. I love Canada, but our history is seriously messed up.
Sorry for the long rant!
He’s a good guy on the wrong team, at least. Those guys usually don’t get the credit they deserve. Everyone knows Oskar Schindler, right? But how many people know about Albert Göring or Chiune Sugihara and what they did to help Jews during WWII?
What’s even sadder are the bad guys on the “good” team. They’re often just as awful, and way more forgotten than the heroes on the losing side.
This awesome WWII story’s about Witold Pilecki, a Polish spy who got himself captured and sent to Auschwitz to spy and start a resistance group. He escaped, gave his reports, and then fought in the Warsaw Uprising. After that, he was in another German POW camp until the war ended. He compiled everything into reports for the Allies, then went back to Poland, knowing the new communist government would kill him. They tortured him, gave him a fake trial, and executed him. What a hero.
RE: Fact #45 (Daryl Hannah’s Autism Journey) – Wow, I’m autistic, born in ’80, and pretty much left to figure things out on my own. It’s wild that she got diagnosed as a kid back in the 60s without major setbacks. I always heard that wasn’t common until much later.
I’m an 80s kid, and didn’t get diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD till middle school. By then, I’d already taught myself to read and hide my struggles—pure stubbornness and years of being labeled lazy. I was smart, but homework and tests were always a nightmare.
Turns out, that diagnosis was wrong. I actually have ADHD and ASD, which I hear is pretty common for girls. Getting a proper diagnosis as an adult is tough though, we’re just too good at hiding it.
She was likely nonverbal when she was five; that was the main thing they looked at back then to make that diagnosis.
RE: Fact #19 (Idiocracy’s Disappointing Box Office Run) – DVD rentals alone brought in 9 million.
Direct-to-video movies get a bad rap, but they’re surprisingly profitable. There’s a reason Bruce Willis and Steven Seagal made so many action flicks—people really watch them!
RE: Fact #47 (Leprous King Baldwin’s Crusade Success) – He beat Saladin when he was just sixteen.
The movie Kingdom of Heaven mentions that win.
Guess what? Edward Norton played Baldwin.
When I was sixteen, I won big. I felt immortal, like I’d live forever. Turns out, I won’t even hit thirty. No one knows when their number’s up, or what’ll happen. Kings and dads can pull strings, but ultimately, you’re in charge of your own life. Remember, whoever’s pushing you around, your soul is yours. And when you face the music, you can’t blame anyone else—not even if it was inconvenient to be good. Just remember that.
Seriously awesome. It’s a big reason why it’s my favorite Ridley Scott film, maybe even one of my all-time faves.
RE: Fact #41 (Stegosaurus Skeleton Fetches Millions) – fu*k Kenneth Griffin and fu*k Citadel.
I wish Apex would suddenly attack Kenneth Griffin.
It’s called thagomizing, thanks to the Far Side comic.
RE: Fact #28 (Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Explained) – My buddy, a super smart scientist and engineer at J&J way back when, wouldn’t let them reuse equipment used for asbestos without a serious cleaning. They wanted to make bandages with it! He fought them tooth and nail, even threatened the New York Times. They cleaned it, but then fired him.
He was a really good guy!
So sorry for your loss.
Good on them for cleaning the machines, even if they were pressured into it. Better to do one good thing and one bad thing than nothing good at all.
They kinda messed up, but they picked the least bad option.
It’s called Pinto math in the risk/reward game, and it’s mostly out of favor now. Not because people are suddenly nicer, but because it’s just too pricey.
Seriously lucky he wasn’t found dead, ruled a suicide.
They weren’t exactly Boeing engineers.
RE: Fact #3 (Woman Kisses Hitler, Chaos Ensues) –
Imagine the blow-ups years later—him still bringing up “the Hitler incident” whenever he’s had too much to drink.
Let’s assume he survived the war.
So, I stumbled across his headstone, just FYI. He died five years after the war ended—long enough to see Hitler for what he was and get really mad at his wife about “the Hitler incident.” His wife, Carla, lived way longer than him, passing away in 1985.
That guy fought Nazis in the war, and it was really personal for him.
He’s got the perfect comeback: “Yeah, well, I never kissed Hitler!”
She smooched the guy who offed Hitler!
Don’t smooch any dictators in the parking lot!
RE: Fact #50 (‘Going Postal’ Slang Origin) – In the original 1996 Jumanji movie, remember when that game character shows up in the real world? He goes to a sporting goods store to get a new elephant gun, and the guy behind the counter asks him if he works for the post office.
I didn’t get that at all! So weird.
That scene! It finally clicked.
In Jingle All the Way, Sinbad plays a postal worker who’s always about to lose it. That role inspired the violent video game Postal. And remember that Simpsons episode where Ned Flanders goes all Charles Whitman on a clock tower and starts shooting? A mailman whips out a gun and shoots back!
Postal came out in ’97, and then bam—no more killings until 2006. Three that year, and three since. Nobody knows why they stopped; there were thirteen in the eleven years before that. Weird, huh? The game came out, killings stopped for ten years, and it’s still super rare.
RE: Fact #48 (Checkmate Decides Chess Title Once) – Great players can see defeat coming a mile away and just accept it. It’s the same in Starcraft tournaments – you don’t need to watch your opponent flatten your base to know you’ve lost.
That 1929 StarCraft tournament was a wild one!
Building all those extra pylons crashed the stock market.
Back in college, I played this awful chess game. My opponent was about to checkmate me in three moves – I figured she’d have to mess up six times in a row for me to win! I told her that and offered her the game, but everyone around us freaked out and made me keep playing. I actually won! She got way better than me later, but sometimes your brain just… doesn’t work right. And let’s be honest, I wasn’t very good then.
She messed up six times.
She was totally flirting with you.
Early on, just keep playing – your opponent might mess up. But at the top levels, dragging out a lost game against a 2500-rated player? That’s kind of insulting, like you don’t think they can finish you off.
RE: Fact #49 (Tintin Comics Break Directional Rule) – In Japan, they call Tintin “Tantan” – the original name sounds a bit like a rude word in Japanese.
Belgium’s neighbor just started calling him Tim, out of the blue. Something about Germans preferring “Tim” because it sounds more “real” to them, I guess.
The Dutch call him Kuifje, because of his awesome quiff. I always thought that for a kinda nameless, mysterious guy with almost no backstory, calling him by his hairstyle was way funnier than “Tintin,” which sounds like a regular French name, and doesn’t really mean anything. It just felt right, you know, for a kid’s adventure hero. He’s a guy with a quiff – that’s it! The name linked to his look made the comic books cool. It’s like Batman’s bat symbol or Superman’s S – super iconic. Quiff guy!
It always cracks me up when Westerners toast with “chin chin”.
Hey, that Japanese “Moshi moshi!” phone greeting? Sounds a lot like a kinda old-fashioned German slang word for, uh, you know… down there. It’s like saying “fanny,” but a bit outdated.
So, it’s probably because in French, it’s said “Tantan.” Even without the suggestive meaning, タンタン is still the best way to write it in Japanese—they usually just match the sounds, not the spelling.
And yeah, chinchin and tintin sound pretty similar in Japanese. It’s a bit tricky to explain, but Japanese doesn’t really have a “ti” sound; “chi” is the closest.
Hey, fun fact: We Frenchies clink glasses and say “chin chin” when we toast. Apparently, the Japanese find that either hilarious or totally weird.
RE: Fact #35 (Limb Surgeons Share Common Surname) – So, I’ve got a bunch of Dr. Dockters around here, and tons of dentists named Dennis. It’s a weird coincidence, right?
And, seriously, I never thought I’d find a footnote so funny – amazing!
Plus, I’ve also had doctors named Gasch, Gore, Pierce, and Payne. All skin docs or general practitioners.
RE: Fact #50 (‘Going Postal’ Slang Origin) – So, it wasn’t just random acts of violence. Post office workers back then had it really rough – tons of mandatory overtime, awful bosses, crazy pressure to meet targets, and no job security, even though they were federal employees. Things changed a lot too as the USPS updated and automated in the 70s and 80s, making things even tougher. The phrase “going postal” came about after a bunch of shootings at post offices, the worst being in Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986 where 14 people died. That led to big changes in workplace rules and mental health help, but sadly, “going postal” stuck around as a way to describe serious anger or workplace violence.
Wasn’t that also because of all the WWII and Korean War vets getting jobs at the post office? They got a raw deal, people didn’t understand them, and some really lost it.
DeJoy’s to blame for this mess. Our union president totally sold us out—it’s crazy corrupt. We’ve been without a contract for 500 days, lost a ton on our retirements, and the new contract is actually a pay cut!
Ever check out the USPS page on factrepublic? Man, most stations are a mess – they can’t hold onto people, and the hours are brutal. I’m talking seven days on, one day off, over 300 days a year for the past four years. And get this – I’m about to pull 70+ hours a week for six or seven weeks straight.
Are you making a good living?
RE: Fact #33 (Marathon Winner’s Public Toilet Break) – Seriously, she still won after all that? Crazy, right? She’s so amazing, even a quick stop wouldn’t slow her down.
My cats go crazy after they poop – they zoom around like crazy! Maybe that’s what happened to her?
It’s way more motivating to win even when things go wrong during the race, instead of losing when things go wrong.
RE: Fact #36 (Empress Elisabeth Assassinated Anonymously) – Everyone knows her as Sisi, and she was like the Diana of her time in German-speaking Europe. They still churn out tons of shows and movies about her.
Crazy, right? Her son and his boyfriend planned a suicide pact, which is why Franz Ferdinand became heir and got whacked. Sissi’s life – total rollercoaster of awesome and awful.
Watching *Die Kaiserin* on Netflix and reading this – she’s such a historical legend!
The German title gave it away – it was definitely about her.
RE: Fact #40 (Johnny Depp Saves Courtney Love) – It’s his club, so another overdose out front would be really bad for business. But seriously, good for him.
I think those ODs actually help the business. I only found out about this place because of them.
I gotta get her out of this mess I keep making every night!
It’s on me, even though I didn’t make her do any of it.
RE: Fact #23 (The Scream Depicts Hearing Scream) – It’s like a selfie of him, showing how he felt about nature’s wildness. He painted it a few times; one version even includes his buddies in the background. He got this intense feeling, like nature was screaming, right after visiting his sister at a mental hospital. And, it’s a real place you can actually go see.
RE: Fact #31 (Capsaicin Tape Deters Rodents) – Man, I wish my old car had better protection. Cost me $2500 to fix all the damage after some critter chewed through the biodegradable wiring!
That’s not true; there’s no such thing as biodegradable and edible wiring.
Rodents gobble this stuff up, even if it’s not food, because the coating’s soy-based. But hey, someone on factrepublic pointed out a study showing soy and non-soy wiring are equally tasty (or not tasty!) to rodents.
RE: Fact #22 (Children Sneak Onto Film Set) – Francis Ford Coppola, not to be outdone, hired a ton of people—like, a whole bunch of sweatshops full of war orphans—to do the special effects for his awesome movie, Megalopolis.
“Critically acclaimed,” my butt. Saw it last night – total garbage. Seriously, it was like watching some high school kid’s drug-fueled play.
I was excited about the idea, but the actual result? Total chaos. A real train wreck.
A bit of a mess, like a Gilliam movie that didn’t quite work.
I waited 20 years for Megalopolis, and wow, it was worth it.
RE: Fact #34 (Hijacker’s Parachute Escape Fails) – Never, ever combine “homemade” and “parachute.”
RE: Fact #12 (Burger King Pays Wedding Costs) – I’m officially changing my name and my fiancée’s name to Ferrari and Bugatti!
My college buddy wed a Ferrari, but they both kept their own last names for work – which is a bummer.
Turns out, Ferrari’s a pretty popular last name in Italy—third most common, actually.
Fun fact: Ferrari’s a common Italian last name, kind of like Smith. In Poland, it’s Kowalski.
RE: Fact #45 (Daryl Hannah’s Autism Journey) – I’m curious what she focuses on when she gets into a character. I loved her anger in Kill Bill Vol. 2, and I wonder if she tackles roles differently than other actors.
Lots of autistic people have to pretend to be someone they’re not to fit in – it’s like acting all the time. Anthony Hopkins is autistic.
RE: Fact #6 (Code Removal Causes Internet Chaos) – Azer Koçulu, wiped out a tiny Javascript program called “left-pad” – just eleven lines of code that added spaces to text – from a code library. He did it because of a fight with Kik Messenger over a name. Kik basically stole his name, and he retaliated. Turns out, “left-pad” was super important; tons of huge websites and apps like Facebook, PayPal, Netflix, Spotify – even Kik! – relied on it. So for a bit, Koçulu single-handedly messed up several massive companies by deleting those eleven lines. It was wild.
Azer Koçulu got rid of the package because of a fight with Kik Messenger over who owned the “kik” name. Kik basically bullied him out of it, even though Koçulu owned it first. That’s not the whole story, though. Kik had no claim to that name, just like Toyota doesn’t own example.com/toyota. Koçulu’s not the villain here; Kik are.
It was just eleven lines of code, and the most ridiculously over-the-top way to do “left-pad,” honestly.
RE: Fact #10 (Letterman Challenges Tarantino to Duel) – It’s true, they didn’t actually fight, and Dave even had Quentin on his show years later—like it was no big deal.
Right before the show, the host cornered Tarantino in the makeup room and asked for an apology. Tarantino wasn’t exactly eager, but his publicist talked him into it.
Letterman said on the Smartless podcast that he always preferred to avoid seeing his guests before the show.
RE: Fact #30 (Man Executed for Swedish Heresy) – So, the article says the Catholic Church officially backed transubstantiation in 1215—that the Eucharist bread and wine actually *become* Jesus’ body and blood. Then in 1303, this priest in Östby rats out Botulf for having different ideas about it. Botulf fesses up, apologizes, does seven years of penance, and gets off. But in 1310, he’s back at church, and the same priest asks him if he believes the bread *is* Christ’s body. Botulf’s like, “Nope. If it really was, you’d have scarfed it down ages ago! I’m not eating Jesus’ body! I’ll obey God, but not in a way that’s impossible for me. If someone ate *you*, wouldn’t you get revenge? God’s way more powerful.” Then he said more stuff the priest wouldn’t write down. A new archbishop had him arrested, threatened to burn him if he didn’t change his mind, and Botulf just said, “That fire won’t last long.” They burned him on April 8, 1311.
Wow, what a legend!
He makes some good points, actually.
That fire’ll die down soon.
It’s crazy to get a death sentence and still get to choose how you go.
RE: Fact #38 (Child Abduction Panic Debunked) – Crazy story: My cousin’s whole family had a neighbor whose kid got snatched right in the middle of the day.
RE: Fact #37 (Trojan War’s Absurd Box Office) – I’m totally baffled. Why didn’t they try to recoup some of their losses by screening it, since it was already finished?
I’m so confused. Why only two theaters, and why did they yank it? Was it on purpose, or a mess-up?
RE: Fact #42 (Eel Reproduction Mystery Solved) – I love this story from the history of how we understand evolution. For ages, Europeans ate tons of eels – all sorts: big silver ones, yellow ones, dark brown ones, even tiny clear ones. People ate them for thousands of years, so much so they’re now critically endangered. But the mystery was, nobody knew where they came from! Old beliefs said they were spontaneously created from mud, but scientists were stumped.
It wasn’t until the early 1900s that we realized all these eels were just different stages of the same species: the European eel. Even then, we didn’t know where they came from. Then someone looked at ocean currents and figured they spawned in the Sargasso Sea. That’s a really long trip across the Atlantic for those eels! We finally proved this in 2022 by tracking one. And then everyone moved on to the next crazy animal mystery – barnacle geese!
It’s pretty crazy how continental drift has made the eels’ yearly journey longer and longer over millions of years. It wasn’t such a huge deal eons ago, but now it’s a seriously long trek – thousands of miles!
That’s a bit much, and besides, it misses the point. Immaculate Conception isn’t about Jesus’ birth – it’s about Mary being born without original sin, so she could be Jesus’ mom.
Whoa, seriously?
European eels swim halfway across the Atlantic to breed. Crazy, right? I mean, some people travel even farther just to try and hook up. So I get it.
RE: Fact #46 (Hawking’s Trademark American Accent) – The DVD extras say they wanted to use his usual computer voice when they added him to Futurama. He loved the show, so he went to the studio to record his lines himself.
The Futurama crew must have been stoked to have him on board—that’s amazing!
He popped up for a sec in a Next Gen episode, with Einstein and Newton.
RE: Fact #26 (First Alleged Space Crime Disproved) – Lesbian Space Crime? That sounds pretty cool.
That’s a sweet band name!
RE: Fact #40 (Johnny Depp Saves Courtney Love) – I went to The Viper Room in L.A. a couple years back. It was way smaller than I thought it would be, and kinda grungy. Seriously, I bet a ton of drugs have been used in that bathroom, haha.
I grew up nearby, and spent my teens and twenties partying a lot in Hollywood. It always surprises me when people think it’s nice. It’s just as rough as any other big city, and the dive bars are just as disgusting. Maybe a different kind of gross than you’d find in the East, Midwest, or South, but gross nonetheless.
I grew up in the Inland Empire, partied all over LA and Pasadena, and now I’m on the East Coast. People my age act like LA is this glamorous place, but it’s totally rough around the edges—and that’s what makes it fun! It’s not all fancy clubs and hot people; you’re more likely to get trashed at the Echo, listen to some girl sing into a beat-up mic, then drive forever to Corona for those amazing, disgusting Miguel’s Jr. burritos and puke outside an El Pollo Loco. It’s got its own weird charm, you know?
Oh, and I should’ve said “people my age” because older folks always go on about California being some crime-ridden communist hellhole. It’s *my* crime-ridden communist hellhole, so I get pretty annoyed!
Seriously, just one bathroom for the whole club?
I’d totally lose it.
The main room has a wall with a one-way mirror facing the stage. Behind it’s a little room with theater seats overlooking the club and stage – I’ve watched shows from there, it’s awesome.
RE: Fact #44 (Vigilante Killer Inspired Dexter Morgan) – Pedrinho Matador, also called Killer Lil’ Pedro or Killer Petey, was a Brazilian serial killer who hunted down and killed suspected criminals, especially a whole gang after his pregnant girlfriend was murdered. He was officially convicted of 71 murders but said he’d killed over 100 drug dealers, rapists, and murderers. He spent 34 years in prison before getting out in 2007, then went back in 2011 for inciting a riot and holding people against their will. He served seven years of an eight-year sentence and was released in 2018 for good behavior.