1 Earth’s Mysterious 26-Second Pulse
The Earth has a “heartbeat” that beats every 26 seconds. Scientists have detected a rhythmic microseismic pulse originating from somewhere in the ocean, yet its exact cause remains a mystery.
2. Oscar winners are forbidden from freely selling or disposing of their trophies. They must first offer them back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for just $1.
3. In 1980, the BBC played a bold April Fool’s prank. They announced that Big Ben would be replaced with a digital display and renamed “Digital Dave.”
4. In 1989, Val Kilmer punched and threw actress Caitlin O’Heaney to the floor during an audition for The Doors. Although the scene didn’t call for violence, director Oliver Stone reportedly laughed it off. Ultimately, the company paid O’Heaney $24,500 to not discuss the allegations publicly.
5. Despite his father’s strong opposition, 19-year-old Fabio Lanzoni moved to the U.S., and within 48 hours of his arrival, he walked into Ford Modeling Agency without an appointment-and walked out with a $150,000 contract. The very next day, Gap Inc. hired him for a launch, and soon after, he began posing for up to 15 book covers a day.
6 Thailand Declared War-Ignored Entirely
Thailand declared war on the United States in 1942. However, the Thai ambassador to the U.S. refused to deliver the declaration, leading the U.S. to simply ignore the war declaration.
7. Harvard initially denied Good Will Hunting permission to film on campus. However, alumnus John Lithgow intervened. When the location manager explained the situation, Lithgow made a single phone call-and secured permission to film in Harvard.
8. In 2015, a Washington Post reporter, Christopher Ingraham, wrote an article calling Red Lake County in Minnesota “the absolute worst place to live in America.” But after visiting the county, he completely changed his mind, and six months later he moved there with his family.
9. Eva Longoria spent $6 million to save a film-based solely on her agent’s advice. Looking back, she calls it the best money she ever spent. The film she saved was the 2014 Hollywood superhit movie John Wick.
10. The Crimean War unexpectedly popularized facial hair in Victorian Britain. Many returning soldiers had grown beards and mustaches to protect themselves from the cold-and their rugged look soon caught on at home.
11 Disney Villain’s Real Horrific Death
John Ratcliffe, the Jamestown governor who is portrayed as the villain in Disney’s Pocahontas, met a gruesome end in real life. After being deceived, ambushed, and captured, Native women skinned him with mussel shells, tossing each strip into the fire as he watched. They saved his face for last-then burned him at the stake.
12. In January 2015, video game speedrunner Niftski made gaming history by completing Super Mario Bros. (NES) in 4 minutes, 54.56 seconds. Remarkably, his run was just 0.3 seconds slower than the game’s theoretical perfect time.
13. While filming The Shawshank Redemption, producers faced an unusual ethical hurdle. The American Humane Society objected to using a live maggot in a scene where a crow had to eat one. As a result, the crew sourced a maggot that had died of natural causes.
14. In 2012, a South Carolina woman named Tracy discovered that her ex-boyfriend had been secretly living in her attic for nearly two weeks. Her adult sons and nephew found him asleep in the back of the attic, which prompted him to flee. Shockingly, they also noticed he had rigged the ceiling vents to watch her in her bedroom.
15. Steven Spielberg required actors to take a leap of faith when working with him. He insisted they forgo upfront salaries in favor of backend compensation-just like he did-explaining, “If my film makes no money, I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same.”
16 Justice Delayed Retirement for Pension
In 1878, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ward Hunt suffered a debilitating stroke. Although he could no longer attend court or deliver opinions, he refused to resign for four more years-solely to qualify for his pension.
17. While filming Planet of the Apes in 1967, the cast self-segregated in a strange, almost method-acting way. Actor Charlton Heston observed, “The chimpanzees ate with the chimpanzees, the gorillas with the gorillas, the orangutans with the orangutans, and the humans off by themselves.”
18. Steven Spielberg fabricated the now-famous story of sneaking into Universal Studios at age 21 dressed in business attire and commandeering an unoccupied office. In reality, he first entered the lot at 16 during a school break-an opportunity arranged by his father.
19. In 1978, the Khmer Rouge captured a New Zealander named Kerry Hamill, suspecting him to be a spy after his yacht accidentally drifted into Cambodian waters. Following his arrest, Hamill was imprisoned at the infamous S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. In a forced confession before his execution, he cleverly embedded clues for his family-using his home phone number as a fake CIA code and naming Colonel Sanders as his commanding officer. These small acts of resistance became part of his tragic legacy.
20. In 2017, Microsoft announced plans to retire its classic Paint software in favor of Paint 3D. However, after overwhelming support and nostalgia from users, the company decided to offer both. Eventually, it dropped Paint 3D-but original Paint remains available even today.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 King Returned to Captivity Voluntarily
King John II of France was captured by the English during the Hundred Years’ War. He secured a temporary release to raise his ransom, while his son Louis remained a hostage. John then returned back to captivity voluntarily when Louis escaped. He famously declared, “If good faith were banned from the Earth, she ought to find asylum in the hearts of kings.”
22. CEO of Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aimé, fought hard to include Wii Sports as a free pack-in game for the Wii console. Although he eventually succeeded, Shigeru Miyamoto initially opposed the idea and was reportedly not pleased.
23. In the 1790s, France built a nationwide network of signaling towers known as the Chappe telegraph. Using giant mechanical arms to form symbols, operators could relay complex messages across the country in about an hour-decades before the invention of electric telegraphs.
24. Heath Ledger personally directed both of the Joker’s hostage videos in The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan originally asked Ledger to shoot the first clip to capture the Joker’s twisted perspective. However, after seeing the chilling result, Nolan trusted Ledger to direct the second video as well.
25. Harry S. Truman remains the last U.S. president to serve without holding a college degree. Although he briefly attended Spalding’s Commercial College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, he never completed a formal degree.
RE: Fact #44 (Butterflies Remember Caterpillar Life) – So, they basically zapped caterpillars whenever they smelled something specific—like, a lot, about 70% of them learned to avoid it. Then, when they became moths or butterflies, they still steered clear of that smell, even though it wasn’t hurting them anymore. This shows that their memories and nervous system stuck around even after they transformed.
RE: Fact #28 (Salamander Injects Pheromones Through Bites) – Salamanders are awesome, but I’d never heard of this one! Turns out it only lives on the east side of Pigeon Mountain in Georgia. Pretty crazy, a truly unique species.
RE: Fact #16 (Justice Delayed Retirement for Pension) – Isn’t that pretty unfair? Things were way tougher back then, and it’s not like he asked for a stroke. I’d be doing the same thing if I were him.
RE: Fact #10 (Facial Hair’s Crimean Comeback) – I read somewhere that guys started shaving clean because of WWI—gas masks made it necessary.
RE: Fact #21 (King Returned to Captivity Voluntarily) – World War I British Army Captain Robert C. Campbell was captured by the Germans in 1914. He asked the Kaiser to let him see his dying mom, and the Kaiser said okay, as long as he promised to come back. Campbell visited his mother for two weeks and then went right back to the prison camp, staying there until the war ended.
Keeping your word wasn’t unusual for prisoners of war, even way back when. During the Civil War, neither side could really handle all the prisoners – the camps were awful, disease-ridden, and starved. Some officers figured it was easier to let prisoners go, as long as they promised to go home and not fight again. Most soldiers were poor farmers, so getting back to their farms was a much better deal than dying in a camp.
RE: Fact #22 (Wii Sports Almost Didn’t Happen) – Nintendo totally blew everyone away with that move. Best decision ever, then they got arrogant and the Wii U flopped. Remember Duck Hunt with the original NES? Bundling games sells systems. They’ll probably do the same thing with the Switch 2 – get greedy, mess up, and then learn their lesson.
One Christmas, Mom said no Xbox 360 because we couldn’t afford games, too. Then, bam! A holiday bundle with Forza Motorsports 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance showed up – best Christmas ever! Maybe she always planned on getting it, but she warned my brother and me a month early so we wouldn’t be bummed.
RE: Fact #24 (Heath Ledger Directed Joker Clips) – Sure, I’ll rewatch The Dark Knight again.
RE: Fact #23 (France’s Pre-Electric Chappe Telegram) – They also used colored lights at night—different colors meant different letters. Scientists figured out red and blue were easiest to see from far away, but blue glass was tough to make back then, so they went with green and red instead. Railroad folks used that same idea a hundred years later for their signals, and eventually, it made its way to traffic lights. That’s why you’re stuck in rush hour.
RE: Fact #8 (Reporter Moved to ‘Worst’ Place) – I’m curious how anyone could jump to that conclusion without even being there.
RE: Fact #9 (Eva Longoria Saved John Wick) – She got twelve million back, six million profit. She wasn’t in the sequels.
RE: Fact #2 (Oscar Trophies Can’t Be Sold) – So, can I keep the trophy and sell it, or does my kid get it next?
RE: Fact #15 (Spielberg’s No-Pay Movie Rule) – I remember reading somewhere that Spielberg really looked out for Ke Huy Quan’s deal on *Temple of Doom*. His family had just come from Vietnam, and Spielberg made sure they got a fair share.
RE: Fact #37 (Cockney Rhyming Slang ) – Loads of rhyming slangs are out there, like “apple and pears,” “rubbity-dub,” and “busy bee.” Dimwell Street slang is weird though – it doesn’t actually rhyme! Nobody knows why, maybe it’s super complicated with secret rules, maybe Dimwell’s just a weirdly named place, or maybe it’s just made up to mess with outsiders, which is pretty common for slang.
RE: Fact #6 (Thailand Declared War-Ignored Entirely) – Thailand was basically Japan’s puppet during World War II. The US probably thought their declaration of war was a bit much.
Then Thailand jumped in and attacked British Burma, Malaya, Laos, and Cambodia for the Axis powers – so it’s pretty clear who was fighting whom.
RE: Fact #16 (Justice Delayed Retirement for Pension) – It’s not the worst justice decision ever.
RE: Fact #25 (Truman: Last Degree-Less President) – Fun fact: His middle name is just “S,” not an abbreviation.