1 Eminem Became Too Heavy Recognize
American rapper Eminem overdosed in 2007 and, during his struggle with prescription drugs, he gained weight, at one point reaching 230 pounds, or about 100 kg, before he got sober. The change made him so unrecognizable that he once overheard two teenagers arguing over whether they were really looking at him. One of them dismissed the idea with a simple line: “Eminem ain’t fat.”
2. In 2007, American actress Katherine Heigl won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama for playing Izzie Stevens on “Grey’s Anatomy.” In 2008, she removed herself from Emmy consideration and said she did not feel the material she received on the show that year deserved a nomination. The comment caused major backlash and became one of the key controversies tied to her eventual exit from the series.
3. In 1883, Krakatoa erupted in Indonesia with a blast estimated at 310 decibels, making it one of the loudest sounds ever recorded in history. That number sits far above 194 decibels, the usual maximum sound limit in air before pressure waves stop behaving like ordinary sound.
4. In 2019, about 180,000 bees living in three hives on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris survived the fire that destroyed the cathedral’s spire and much of its roof. Beekeepers later confirmed that the hives had stayed intact, and because bees do not have lungs and breathe through tiny tubes called tracheae, the smoke did not choke them the way it would choke humans. Instead, the smoke calmed them, and they stayed inside the hives until the danger passed.
5. Ghana is one of the world’s biggest importers of secondhand clothing, where many locals call the imported garments “Obroni Wawu,” meaning “dead white man’s clothes.” The phrase grew from the idea that the clothes looked too high-quality for someone to throw away while still alive.
6 ALF Ended In Government Custody
In 1990, the sitcom “ALF” ended with its alien lead about to leave Earth and return to his home planet. Before he could escape, federal agents captured him, turning the finale into a bleak cliffhanger instead of a clean goodbye. The show ended before NBC could tie up the ending, leaving ALF’s fate in limbo for years.
7. In 1991 , hikers in the Alps found a 5,300 year old man naturally preserved in ice near the border of Austria and Italy . Scientists later studied the remains of Ötzi , and found that his last meal was ibex meat and grains . They also found more than 60 soot tattoos around his joints and spine, along with his copper axe, flint knife, fire-starting kit, and grass cloak.
8. In 2008, a 33-year-old Wisconsin woman named Wendy Brown stole her daughter’s identity and enrolled at Ashwaubenon High School. She said she wanted to get her high school diploma and join the cheerleading squad. Brown reportedly attended cheerleading practices, received a cheerleader’s locker, and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach’s house before authorities uncovered the deception.
9. In 2025, researchers linked the rise of colon cancer in adults under 50 to early-life exposure to colibactin, a DNA-damaging toxin made by certain strains of E. coli and related gut bacteria. The study found colibactin-linked mutations more often in tumors from younger colorectal cancer patients, and researchers said the damage may begin in the first 10 years of life.
10. During the making of “Fight Club” in 1999, American singer and actor Meat Loaf closely shadowed director David Fincher instead of spending much time in his trailer. He sat behind Fincher so he could see exactly what the director saw during filming. Meat Loaf became so involved in the process that he even helped Fincher choose which take to use for some scenes.
11 London Pays Rent For Lost Land
Since 1211, the City of London has been paying rent to the Crown for a plot of land in Shropshire, although the location of the land has been lost to history. Rather than cash, the annual payment is made in the form of a billhook, a knife-like tool used in agriculture, and an axe.
12. Warm-blooded mammals are naturally resistant to most fungal infections, as their body heat creates a “thermal barrier” that many fungi cannot withstand. Researchers have argued that endothermy, or internal heat production, may have evolved partly because it protected animals from deadly fungal pathogens. That heat comes at a high energy cost, but it also helps explain why fungi infect mammals far less often than plants, insects, and cold-blooded animals.
13. English knight William Marshal rose from obscurity to become one of the most celebrated warriors of the Middle Ages, reportedly winning about 500 tournaments. He saved Eleanor of Aquitaine from capture, unhorsed Richard the Lionheart in combat, and later journeyed to the Holy Land. Marshal also helped redraft Magna Carta and, at about 70 years old, personally led a charge that helped save England from a French invasion.
14. Before British politician Margaret Thatcher became the United Kingdom’s first female prime minister, she worked as a research chemist at Oxford University. In 1951, she co-authored a scientific paper on the “saponification of alpha-monostearin.” Thatcher later said she felt prouder of earning her science degree than of becoming prime minister.
15. In 1967, American marathon runner Kathrine Switzer entered the Boston Marathon despite an unofficial ban on women competing in the race. She wore bib number 261 and became the first woman to officially run the marathon. Fifty years later, she returned to the Boston Marathon with the same number. The race then retired bib 261 in her honor.
16 Delta Crew Predicted Its Scandal
In 1988, Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashed shortly after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and its cockpit voice recorder later became a major part of the investigation. The recording showed the crew discussing drink mixes and dating habits during takeoff procedures instead of maintaining a sterile cockpit. One pilot even joked that if they crashed, “the media would have some kind of juicy tidbit.” The embarrassing public release helped push a law restricting public access to cockpit voice recordings.
17. When France first defined the meter, it set the length as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator. French astronomers Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain were sent to measure the meridian arc needed for the calculation. But an error in the survey went unnoticed for decades, and the resulting meter ended up about 0.2 millimeters too short.
18. In 1973, Cheeseface became the dog on National Lampoon’s infamous cover that warned, “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog.” The cover turned him into one of the magazine’s most memorable jokes, built around a fake threat to a real dog. Three years later, an unidentified hunter shot and killed Cheeseface on his owner’s farm.
19. In 1995, American actor Nicolas Cage starred in “Leaving Las Vegas” and later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. Cage said he never received the $100,000 salary he was promised for the film. Director Mike Figgis also said he never received his own $100,000 fee, while the studio claimed the $4 million movie never made a profit despite grossing $32 million.
20. After Amish men marry, they grow beards but continue shaving their upper lip so they do not grow a mustache. The custom traces back to the Amish community’s origins in Switzerland, where mustaches were associated with military service. By shaving the mustache while keeping the beard, Amish men signal their commitment to pacifism.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Eminem Lost His Best Verse
During the recording of “Stan,” American rapper Eminem lost his original take of the third verse after a stoned engineer accidentally taped over his vocals. Eminem later said the first version was never heard by anyone outside the studio. He also said the lost take was “WAY better” than the version that ended up on the released song.
22. In mainstream films and TV shows, male nudity often uses prosthetic penises instead of an actor’s real body.
23. There used to be native bamboo forests in North America, composed of river cane, a plant that extended from New York to Florida and as far west as Ohio and Texas. These dense thickets of cane covered wetlands, riverbanks and floodplains before they were extensively cleared. Today, rivercane survives in scattered patches, but it remains one of North America’s native bamboo species.
24. As of 2026, the New York Police Department has overseas stations in 11 countries outside the United States for its counterterrorism work. NYPD officers use this program to gather information from international partners, and learn about attacks, threats and security tactics overseas.
25. In Victorian England, prisoners were made to work on a “crank machine,” a hand crank connected to a box filled with sand. When they turned the crank, the machine pulled cups through the sand inside the box, but produced nothing useful. Prisoners were often forced to turn the crank for hours a day, making the punishment intentionally exhausting and pointless.
RE: Fact #6 (ALF Ended In Government Custody) – I remember hearing that the cast hated the show because the set was full of trap doors for the puppet operators. They had to be constantly careful so they wouldn’t fall through.
RE: Fact #10 (Meat Loaf Shadowed David Fincher) – I remember a radio interview he did with Steve & Gary in Chicago back in the 80s where they just kept calling him ‘Mr. Loaf’ the entire time.
RE: Fact #31 (Jennie Wade Died Baking Bread) – Unfortunately, a bullet went through two doors and struck her in the shoulder. It lodged in her heart, kept inside by her corset, and she died immediately. Her mother later baked the dough she was kneading into fifteen loaves of bread to distribute to Union soldiers. After soldiers wrapped her body in a quilt, she was moved several times before ending up at Evergreen Cemetery, the site of the Gettysburg Address. In 1900, after persistent efforts from Georgia, she received a large gravestone and a perpetually flying American flag. Her grave is one of the few in the U.S. that keeps a flag raised for a woman; Betsy Ross’s grave is another.
RE: Fact #24 (NYPD Runs Overseas Police Stations) – If you’re curious about who’s footing the bill for these foreign stations, it’s not the taxpayers in NYC or the US. It’s funded through private donations, but don’t worry, those donations definitely don’t give the donors any special influence. Seriously, don’t worry about it. Actually, maybe don’t think about it too much, or the cops might show up at your door.
RE: Fact #13 (William Marshal Saved England At Seventy) – >Knighted in 1166, William spent his younger years as a successful competitor in military tournaments; 13th century chronicler Stephen Langton eulogises him as the “best knight that ever lived.”
RE: Fact #48 (Tarrare Swallowed Useless Spy Mail) – He may have also eaten a baby.
Yeah, the hospital he was at actually kicked him out because of that. His life story just gets more surreal the more you read about it: > Born in the French countryside near Lyons in the early 1770s, Tarrare ate so much that his parents kicked him out of the house when he was in his teens. According to Bondeson, Tarrare then spent a while touring the French provinces “in the company of robbers, whores, and vagabonds” before taking up employment with a traveling quack, swallowing stones and live animals to draw attention to the charlatan’s dubious medical cures. In 1788 he left the quack’s employment and made his way to Paris, where he performed on the streets, swallowing basketfuls of apples, corks, flints, and other objects. After one such show, he suffered an acute intestinal obstruction and had to be carried to the Hôtel Dieu hospital. After being treated by the surgeon there, he offered to show off his talents by swallowing the man’s watch and chain. The surgeon was not amused, and replied that he would cut Tarrare open with his sword to recover his valuable possessions.
I wonder if he had that eating disorder where you never feel full, combined with pica.
RE: Fact #3 (Krakatoa Broke The Sound Scale) – People often forget that the decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear. This isn’t just twice as loud as a rock concert, it’s exponentially louder.
Now I’m curious what that sounded like to anyone nearby. How far away could someone still hear it? Someone should do the math.
RE: Fact #3 (Krakatoa Broke The Sound Scale) – I wonder what the sound was actually like, was it just a massive boom or something more complex?
RE: Fact #29 (Coke And Pepsi Reached Space) – They do not drink soda in space now because carbonation causes burps, and without gravity, you would likely just end up burping up vomit.
RE: Fact #15 (Kathrine Switzer Claimed Bib 261) – There’s a caveat to that, though. Bobbi Gibb ran it as a “bandit” before her, but Katherine Switzer was the first woman to actually register and officially run it.
It honestly bugs me that Bobbi Gibb rarely gets the credit she deserves. She was definitely the first woman we know of to complete the Boston Marathon. Switzer was the second, just the first to do it with a bib.
RE: Fact #18 (Cheeseface Cover Joke Turned Deadly) – Fun fact: the author of Old Yeller actually bludgeoned his own dog to death behind his house for no reason, which horrified his wife and child.
It gets even worse. According to records, the son found their family dog, the one who inspired Savage Sam, chained and clubbed to death in a shed. The son committed suicide shortly after, and the author’s wife left him a month after the movie premiere.
RE: Fact #27 (David Attenborough Ran BBC Two) – He also pushed for switching tennis balls from white to yellow so they would show up better on color TV broadcasts.
He also created Pot Black in 1969 to help show off color TV using snooker. It really kickstarted snooker, taking it from a pub game to the most-watched sport on TV, with a third of the UK watching the 1985 world championship final.
Which means he is indirectly responsible for that famous commentator gaffe: “And he’s going for the pink. For those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green.”
RE: Fact #2 (Katherine Heigl Rejected Emmy Consideration) – The writing for her character was pretty weak to begin with. Like, she cut those wires and didn’t even get fired?
It is wild that any of the main characters kept their jobs after that. In real life, they’d all be facing serious jail time.
RE: Fact #43 (Air Florida Made Fatal Deicing Gamble) – This is exactly why a basic grasp of science matters! That white plume from a jet engine is mostly just water vapor.
RE: Fact #13 (William Marshal Saved England At Seventy) – He also served as regent of England until Henry III came of age. That man lived quite a life.
Supposedly, he told the young king, “By God’s sword, if all abandoned the king, do you know what I would do? I would carry him on my shoulders step by step, from island to island, from country to country, and I would not fail him not even if it meant begging my bread.” He was a legend.
Henry III probably woke up every morning thinking, “Yeah, I’m never living up to that.”
RE: Fact #29 (Coke And Pepsi Reached Space) – That is an accomplishment, but Pepsi has definitely done bigger things. Does anyone else remember Kendall Jenner and Pepsi bringing us world peace?
I remember when Pepsi offered a Harrier jet for Pepsi points. I recall a guy actually tried to claim it and sued them when they called the offer a joke.
Total failure of the legal system. False advertising has been everywhere ever since.
RE: Fact #7 (Ötzi Emerged From Alpine Ice) – Imagine just stumbling across a guy from 5, 300 years ago frozen in the ice. Those tattoos near his joints are really interesting; it makes you wonder if they were some form of ancient pain relief.
I’ve heard that the hikers who first found him actually thought he was a soldier who had died in WWI.
RE: Fact #37 (North Korea Exports Fake Hair) – Fake hair isn’t sanctioned by the UN, which gives the DPRK a steady stream of foreign currency. Chinese companies often outsource the labor-intensive work of hand-tying and cutting to North Korea to take advantage of low labor costs, making them responsible for about half of the world’s fake hair supply.
I’m kind of relieved it’s fake hair. With a regime like that, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the top exporter of the real thing.
I read a report a while back that they also sell the real stuff to China. That’s a pretty grisly thought.
Real hair? Why is that grisly? People grow it out, get paid for it, and cut it off all the time. Obviously, if it’s forced, that’s terrible, but that applies to any form of forced labor.
Not to be that guy, but the word you’re looking for is ‘grisly.’ It’s not exactly intuitive, though.
RE: Fact #11 (London Pays Rent For Lost Land) – So someone’s actual job every year is just tracking down a billhook to give to the Crown?
RE: Fact #17 (France Measured The Meter Wrong) – If you don’t find that impressive, try mapping it out with just a pencil. The distance from Dunkirk to Barcelona is a long way to go, even without accounting for all the other challenges.
RE: Fact #9 (E. Coli Linked To Cancer) – That is infuriating. I got E. coli from dirty water years ago, ended up in the hospital, and now I have to read that it potentially increased my cancer risk decades later. Sailing school really screwed me over.
It’s worth remembering the overall odds are still quite low, and some research suggests the gut microbiome might be more resilient after age ten. Still, keep an eye out for symptoms like blood or changes in bowel habits. It’s generally a good idea to push for a colonoscopy by 35; sometimes you might need to lean into your family history just to get insurance to cover it.
The word ‘diagnosed’ is the catch here. Since it’s appearing earlier, many people aren’t getting screened, so the actual case numbers might be higher than what’s officially recorded.
RE: Fact #42 (Jimmy Chamberlin Drummed Until Bleeding) – Corgan admitted back in 2011 that he was planning to kill himself throughout the entire recording process.
RE: Fact #44 (Matt Suter Survived Tornado Flight) – Maybe it helped that he was unconscious and just going limp. It’s similar to how drunk people sometimes survive car crashes better because they don’t tense up before the impact.
RE: Fact #38 (Daylyt Took Boos Literally Onstage) – I was at the Reading Festival back in 2002 when Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan pooped on stage, bagged it up, threw it into the crowd, and smeared it on himself. This feels pretty mild compared to that.
I remember being in a mosh pit at one of their shows when some guy kept swatting at Greg’s legs during a song to bug him. Greg eventually crouched down and held his mic out; the guy sang a line, then Greg sang a line. When the guy leaned in again to take his turn, Greg snatched the mic back and leveled him with a punch to the face. The guy hopped right back up with a bloody nose and started cheering and moshing like he had wanted to get hit all along. Simpler times.
RE: Fact #47 (F-111 Bomber Delivered A Heart) – That’s incredible, I’ve never heard that story before. Something similar happened in Germany back in 1982, I wonder how many other cases like this exist. In that instance, an F-104 Starfighter flew some rare medication from Munich to Sardinia.
And after 16 crashes, one of the 104s actually made it there in one piece /j
What’s the definition of an optimist? A Luftwaffe pilot who decides to quit smoking.
They were called the “widowmaker” for a reason. Also known as the F-104 “lawn dart”, it was basically a rocket with tiny wings and the glide ratio of a brick.
RE: Fact #39 (Toronto Film Debris Exposed Records) – A few days after 9/11, I snuck past the barriers to see downtown. Nothing had been cleared away yet. There was still an aircraft engine sitting in the middle of Broadway near St Paul’s. The thing that really haunts me, though, was seeing bits of payroll records from Cantor Fitzgerald stuck in the tree branches near Gold Street. We already knew by then that almost everyone at that firm had been killed.
RE: Fact #41 (Bothie Conquered Both Poles) – That is only “officially” or “on record”. I doubt people who can afford a trip to Antarctica care much about silly rules.
RE: Fact #39 (Toronto Film Debris Exposed Records) – I love how the takeaway here is that they clearly never planned on cleaning up their own mess.
That is not true at all. Big film sets have dedicated staff to handle cleanup, and they have to stick to strict rules to keep their filming permits. A major production like that had no reason to try and dodge their responsibilities.
RE: Fact #36 (Greg Oden Draft Class Outlasted Him) – Oden was drafted by the Blazers. Their current head coach, Tiago Splitter, was actually the 28th pick in that same draft.
RE: Fact #32 (Silent Parade Shook Fifth Avenue) – One of the banners literally said, “Mr. President, Why Not Make America Safe for Democracy?” Wilson had sent troops to Europe to “make the world safe for democracy” while ignoring lynchings back home. When NAACP leaders went to the White House the next day to present a petition, his secretary turned them away, claiming he was “too busy.”
RE: Fact #11 (London Pays Rent For Lost Land) – A friend of mine is actually allowed to drive sheep over London Bridge after completing her guild apprenticeship. She hasn’t done it yet, but she’s planning to. The City of London is full of weird, outdated stuff, the institutions are so old and wealthy that they never really go away, providing plenty of excuses to dress up and host fancy dinners.
The wild part about these rituals is the hierarchy. If you are a liveryman, even someone who works at a corner shop or supermarket is ranked higher during the ceremony than bankers, teachers, or lawyers. A random store clerk technically holds more seniority than them, right behind their manager. It all comes down to who was there first. And for anyone curious, HR consultants are at the very bottom of the ladder, right at the back.
Another strange one: for centuries, men under 60 in England were legally required to own a longbow and practice with it. It wasn’t fully repealed until 1960. Common law is pretty bizarre.
That law actually made sense for a long time, though. The longbow was a military game-changer, so it was logical to keep a trained reserve. Keeping it on the books until 1960 is silly, but that happens with old legislation all the time.
RE: Fact #46 (Kermit Washington Punch Nearly Killed) – It was a total sucker punch. Rudy was just running down the court when Kermit stopped, pivoted, and clocked him right in the face while Rudy was at full speed.
Rudy was running down the court toward a fight that Kermit, Kunnert, and Jabbar were already in. Kermit didn’t just stop out of nowhere; he saw someone running toward the scuffle and lashed out. It was a brainless situation for everyone involved.
He wasn’t running to join the fight; he was trying to break it up. His hands were down and he wasn’t throwing anything, he was caught totally off guard. I saw a documentary on this, maybe it was a 30 for 30, where they talked about how Rudy saw Kermit later in the tunnel and asked, “why did you hit me, Kermit?” while he was still bleeding.
RE: Fact #5 (Ghana Imports Dead Man Clothes) – Somewhere out there is a kid wearing a championship shirt for a team that hasn’t even won yet.
RE: Fact #9 (E. Coli Linked To Cancer) – Research into this is vital. The jump in colon cancer cases for people under 50 is massive, it’s risen by 51% over the last 30 years and now accounts for 1 in 5 cases, making it the top cancer killer for younger adults.
RE: Fact #20 (Amish Beards Reject The Mustache) – It wasn’t just an association, in some armies back then, mustaches were actually mandatory for officers.
As a lesbian who loves beards, I support this! We need more mustaches.
That’s interesting! I didn’t know it was mandatory. I’m lucky enough to have portraits of my family going back centuries, and you’re right, they all sported some pretty ridiculous mustaches.
RE: Fact #47 (F-111 Bomber Delivered A Heart) – It’s not quite as wild, but the Italian State Police use a Lamborghini Huracan to transport organs and blood across the country.
RE: Fact #19 (Nicolas Cage Won Without Pay) – There are so many stories about Nicolas Cage having money go missing or unpaid. I get the feeling he isn’t exactly a business genius.
You should check out that Charlie Sheen documentary. Nicolas Cage was probably in an even worse spot back in the nineties.
RE: Fact #46 (Kermit Washington Punch Nearly Killed) – Calling it a “fight” is a stretch. The guy just walked up and sucker-punched him.
RE: Fact #1 (Eminem Became Too Heavy Recognize) – Regarding the part about his health struggles: It would be incredibly frustrating to try and turn your life around, only to be so famous that you can’t even attend a support group without people hounding you for autographs.
I’m pretty sure there are private support groups specifically for celebrities now.
Yeah, that’s seriously rude behavior. Some people really have no boundaries.
RE: Fact #41 (Bothie Conquered Both Poles) – That is the only reason I have never been to Antarctica: I have too much of that dog in me.
RE: Fact #41 (Bothie Conquered Both Poles) – It’s a real shame you can’t take dogs to Antarctica anymore. Everything was going fine until that one dog from Norway ruined it for everyone.
RE: Fact #40 (Mewing Became A Jawline Myth) – My dentist told me to do this about 20 years ago because apparently a lazy tongue messes up your teeth. I do tell people to do it for pictures though, because it gives you a quick lift and makes a double chin look less obvious.
I have TMJ issues from all sorts of reasons, but knowing where to place my tongue helps when the pain kicks in. I didn’t realize until I learned this that I was pushing my tongue against my bottom teeth, which was causing muscle fatigue. That said, it definitely won’t change your actual jaw structure.
Mewing has basically become a healthier outlet for me than grinding or chewing things. I was a really anxious kid who would chew my cheeks bloody, grind my teeth, and chomp on stuff like Legos. A dentist eventually told me to press my tongue into the roof of my mouth instead, and it has replaced a harmful habit with one that does not cause any damage.
RE: Fact #50 (East Germany Used Family Hostages) – Only a small number of people were allowed to travel West, sometimes to visit a relative for a big birthday. East German retirees were actually encouraged to head West and stay; since they weren’t needed for the workforce anymore, the state saw them as a burden they didn’t have to support. The whole system was just so messed up.
When you look at a ruling class that’s totally psychopathic with no empathy and no accountability because they can’t be voted out, the way the Communist bloc operated starts to make sense.
RE: Fact #48 (Tarrare Swallowed Useless Spy Mail) – I’d bet money this whole thing was just a ruse to: A) Create a major diversion while something else happened. B) Test security at certain checkpoints. C) Help sniff out a spy in their own ranks. There’s no way they would actually trust someone so unreliable and conspicuous for a genuinely sensitive mission.
RE: Fact #12 (Body Heat Blocks Fungal Infections) – Quick tip: Both acne and dandruff can stem from the same type of fungus. If you deal with both, using an anti-fungal shampoo as a body wash can help. It might not clear it up completely on its own, but it is a solid starting point.
Just putting this out there for anyone struggling: Dandruff shampoos helped with my seborrheic dermatitis, but skipping even one shower caused bad flare-ups, and prescription topicals only made it worse. What worked for me instantly was a rinse with coarse sea salt dissolved in water at the end of a shower. I’d pour it over my head and use a soaked washcloth on my face for a minute or two if I had any flaking there. It definitely stings if you have a bad breakout, but using aloe or a good moisturizer afterward helps. I was basically cured within a week. Now, I just use a tea tree oil shampoo daily and a salt rinse once a month or so, the difference is night and day.
RE: Fact #19 (Nicolas Cage Won Without Pay) – I read that this type of thing was shockingly common for actors back then, which is why payments are now usually guaranteed regardless of a movie’s profit.
RE: Fact #17 (France Measured The Meter Wrong) – For surveyors using 18th-century tech, being off by only 0.02% is honestly a pretty solid result.
Analog surveyors for the win! Being off by only 0.2 mm over a full meter is pretty impressive given the era and the tools available.
That’s actually the tolerance level for some modern, high-end laser leveling gear.
RE: Fact #1 (Eminem Became Too Heavy Recognize) – This reminds me of Prince and his style. He once went out in just jeans and a t-shirt without any makeup, and he overheard some girls saying that couldn’t possibly be him because Prince was always too stylish to be seen looking like that. He supposedly decided then that he’d never leave the house looking that casual again.
On the other hand, Dolly Parton seems to really enjoy her downtime and anonymity with her husband when she isn’t dressed up for a performance.
RE: Fact #8 (Wendy Brown Became School Cheerleader) – Some people peak in high school. Others commit felony identity theft trying to peak a second time.
This feels even sadder than that. If she’s 33 and stealing her 15-year-old daughter’s identity, that means she had her at 17. She was clearly trying to relive the high school years she missed out on because she got pregnant so young.
RE: Fact #6 (ALF Ended In Government Custody) – I always find it interesting to read about how chaotic and dysfunctional that production actually was.
RE: Fact #47 (F-111 Bomber Delivered A Heart) – I initially pictured the patient being strapped into the bomber. It makes way more sense that it was just the heart.
RE: Fact #23 (America Once Had Bamboo Forests) – A farmer working on revitalizing these species and changing up American agriculture told me about this, and I had no clue! Historically, Indigenous peoples managed these rivercane ecosystems using fire and other techniques, which kept the forests from taking over the grassy areas.
There are some really impressive baskets made by Native Americans using rivercane.
RE: Fact #24 (NYPD Runs Overseas Police Stations) – These are just liaison offices, probably set up inside local police stations abroad. They aren’t out on patrol arresting people.
RE: Fact #25 (Victorian Prisoners Turned Nothing Useful) – You can’t fool me, I know those were just gooble boxes and we’re actually all powering a car battery.
You can’t just slap a sci-fi word onto another word and call it a theory.
RE: Fact #43 (Air Florida Made Fatal Deicing Gamble) – This was massive news when I was a kid in the mid-Atlantic. I was always so moved by the hero who kept passing the rescue line to others and the guy who jumped into the freezing Potomac to save people. The pilots’ final words are still so haunting to me: “16:00:48 CAM-1 Come on forward….forward, just barely climb.” “16:00:59 CAM-1 Stalling, we’re falling!” “16:01:00 CAM-2 Larry, we’re going down, Larry….” “16:01:01 CAM-1 I know it.”
RE: Fact #9 (E. Coli Linked To Cancer) – I have my own theories based on experience. My ex-husband died of colon cancer caused by Gardner’s Syndrome, which is an inherited condition. It wasn’t in his family, though, he was a spontaneous mutation. We didn’t realize until he was 36 and already sick, which meant our daughter had a 50/50 chance of inheriting it; she ended up with it too. I also have Hirschsprung’s disease, another spontaneous genetic mutation. My ex and I bonded over the fact that both our fathers served in Vietnam and were heavily exposed to Agent Orange. I’ve read that Chadwick Boseman’s father also worked in a textile industry with high dioxin exposure. I watched my ex fight for 13 years, and the suffering was unimaginable. It makes me furious thinking about what caused this.
That is an incredibly difficult situation. I’m sorry for your loss and for the stress you’re dealing with regarding your daughter. Out of curiosity, were you divorced when you took care of him, or were you still together?
We were married in 2000 and separated in 2002. We stayed legally married for a long time because we were co-parenting and needed to share health insurance before the ACA existed. In 2011, he told me doctors were dismissing his symptoms as hemorrhoids, so I stepped in to get him a proper colonoscopy. He was diagnosed with cancer and eventually passed away from complications. Even though we were divorced, he remained my best friend and we supported each other until the end. Our love just shifted over time.
My dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and passed away from leukemia years ago. My half-brother dealt with testicular cancer, and I’ve had ovarian and pituitary tumors along with precancerous polyps during a colonoscopy. I definitely need to look into this research.
The active toxin in Agent Orange, 2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD, is widely considered one of the most powerful carcinogens out there.
I’m an optometrist, and I actually spotted lesions in a 32-year-old patient’s eyes that led me to recommend a colonoscopy. It turned out he had colon polyps and Gardner’s Syndrome. Don’t skip your eye exams or dilation; it could genuinely save your life.
RE: Fact #46 (Kermit Washington Punch Nearly Killed) – A guy from my high school actually kicked off that whole incident by starting a fight with Kareem Abdul Jabbar of all people.
Brave man. Kareem had that reach, he could practically touch the ceiling without trying.
RE: Fact #40 (Mewing Became A Jawline Myth) – This is just an old photo trick. All it does is lift the area under your chin slightly to make it look thinner and hide a double chin.
RE: Fact #20 (Amish Beards Reject The Mustache) – Whenever I hear about Amish beards, I think of that guy ranting at a beard competition because he was so mad that a beard without a mustache didn’t count as a “real” beard.
Were there actually Amish folks at that event, or was that guy just acting completely unhinged?
It was a beard competition where guys showed off different styles. At one point, it looked like this one dude was just messing with another guy for sporting a Shenandoah, but when the footage cut back, he actually seemed pretty annoyed by the other beards in the running.
RE: Fact #37 (North Korea Exports Fake Hair) – If I recall correctly, South Korea relied on real hair exports to survive back in the day when the country was still very poor.
RE: Fact #16 (Delta Crew Predicted Its Scandal) – As a pilot, I think it’s vital that we at least have access to the transcripts. We have to learn from others’ mistakes. Also, that incident led to the sterile cockpit rule, no small talk about anything unrelated to the flight while you’re below 10, 000 feet.
RE: Fact #26 (Michael McKean Crushed Celebrity Jeopardy) – Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul did an amazing job moving actors known for comedy into serious, heavy roles. Beyond McKean, you had guys like Bryan Cranston, Bob Odenkirk, Bill Burr, Lavell Crawford, Rhea Seehorn, and even Carol Burnett.
I’ll die on the hill that character actors usually have way more range than those strictly known for drama. Adam Sandler has serious chops in Uncut Gems, and Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey had incredible chemistry in True Detective despite having done fluff in the past. It’s wild that audiences are surprised by this, since jumping from drama to comedy is arguably much tougher than the standard ‘stand there and look pretty’ routine most dramatic actors do.
RE: Fact #21 (Eminem Lost His Best Verse) – Rappers always spin these kinds of legendary tales. I don’t buy half of it.
I mean, it doesn’t sound that impossible. I’m sure things like that have happened to plenty of artists. If it can happen to a top artist, it can happen to anyone. That’s just my take, though, doesn’t really matter either way, since the song is great regardless.
RE: Fact #19 (Nicolas Cage Won Without Pay) – The “never made a profit” excuse is one thing, but these weren’t profit-sharing deals, these were meant to be base salaries for the work performed.
That’s exactly what doesn’t add up. Unless the contracts were specifically structured that way, a salary is supposed to be paid regardless of whether the film turns a profit.
A lot seems to be missing here. If they deferred their salaries in exchange for points, then the story makes sense. If it was just a standard salary, then the whole situation is bizarre.
RE: Fact #22 (Hollywood Fakes Male Nude Scenes) – Using real anatomy for those scenes seems like a continuity nightmare.
Setting aside other motives, that’s a valid concern. Things are constantly changing size and shape based on clothing, temp, and arousal. Trying to keep it consistent for a scene over multiple takes would be a huge hassle.
RE: Fact #35 (Hanshan Wrote Sutra In Blood) – The takeaway here is if you want to do something eccentric, make sure you have a patron lined up first.
Imagine being halfway through on normal paper, and then an Empress finds out and gives you the golden stuff, but that means you have to start all over again.
RE: Fact #14 (Margaret Thatcher Loved Chemistry More) – Margaret Thatcher studied chemistry at Somerville College and graduated in 1947. While working as a researcher, she even co-authored a 1951 paper in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture about the saponification of alpha-monostearin. Basically, saponification is just turning fat into soap, and alpha-monostearin is an emulsifier used in things like ice cream to keep oil and water mixed. Her research was all about how these molecules act. She later said she was prouder of being the first Prime Minister with a science degree than being the first female Prime Minister.
I didn’t know that. It reminds me of Angela Merkel’s science background, though she never really seemed to push for science as a major policy focus as a politician. Did Thatcher talk about science often?
She opened the Hadley Centre for Climate Change and spoke at the UN about climate dangers, but she also gutted a ton of research funding. Her economic policies were pretty destructive to British science and education in general.
Thatcher had an undergrad degree and, by all accounts, was a good but not elite student. Merkel earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry and was on a clear path to academia. They were in completely different leagues as scientists.
RE: Fact #36 (Greg Oden Draft Class Outlasted Him) – I really appreciate how Durant still sticks up for Oden when people label him a “bust.” I don’t think career-ending injuries should be held against high draft picks. In my view, Oden wasn’t a bust at all. Now, someone like Anthony Bennett, who is still bouncing around professional basketball… that’s a different story.
Durant has a ton of respect for the game and often gives credit to other players. His only real rivalries seem to be with random Twitter trolls.
RE: Fact #33 (Calaveras Skull Fooled Josiah Whitney) – As a geology student, I once joked about planting dinosaur fossils on landmasses that formed after the K-Pg extinction just to mess with people. Looks like I was beaten to the punch by a long shot.
It’s basically the creationist argument: Earth is only 6, 000 years old, and God planted those fossils just to test us.
And God must have put so much effort into that hoax, aging everything by hundreds of millions of years and organizing them perfectly by age just to make us think the Earth isn’t 6, 000 years old. Geological and paleontological shenanigans are the best.
RE: Fact #5 (Ghana Imports Dead Man Clothes) – It reminds me of the Macklemore song: “I’ll wear your granddad’s clothes, I look incredible.”
Yeah, and don’t forget the rest of the lyrics, “your grandma, your auntie, your momma, your mammy!”
I’d totally wear those vintage zebra print jammies second-hand and rock them.
RE: Fact #21 (Eminem Lost His Best Verse) – That sounds just like when a clumsy assistant accidentally wiped an entire finished Steely Dan track, which ended up getting cut from the Gaucho album.
RE: Fact #45 (Diesel Once Ran On Peanut Oil) – The engine was invented in 1892, but the actual fuel we call “diesel” came along later. Some industries still refer to it as “gas oil.”
RE: Fact #28 (Karl Benz Needed Driving Permission) – Benz patented the Motorwagen and put it into production for 600 marks each. Later, his company merged with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, the makers of Mercedes cars, eventually selling vehicles as Mercedes-Benz.
For a while, before the Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler brand was sold to Fiat, they were known as Daimler-Chrysler.
All those companies make products that are a nightmare to work on or find parts for, though some are fun to drive.
RE: Fact #9 (E. Coli Linked To Cancer) – I had precancerous issues at 21. Everyone needs to get checked. Insurance didn’t help me at all and I had to pay out of pocket, but don’t let a lack of coverage stop you from pushing for a diagnosis if you know something is wrong.
RE: Fact #39 (Toronto Film Debris Exposed Records) – Here is what happened: the production company mistakenly used what they thought was scrap paper for special effects on the street; they had gotten the paper from a local recycling firm; once they realized the mess included private medical records, they scrambled to collect it and brought in the recycling company to help clean up the street; the VP of the recycling company even showed up to help; the producer expected his crew to hold onto the records, but they ended up being hauled off by the recyclers; the producer contacted the VP immediately to make sure they were kept for any investigation and handed over the VP’s contact info to the authorities.
RE: Fact #15 (Kathrine Switzer Claimed Bib 261) – I’ve heard a few podcasts about her. She was a total badass. Pure punk.
RE: Fact #11 (London Pays Rent For Lost Land) – I’m always curious about the exact point where these kinds of requirements shift from being practical obligations to pure tradition.
RE: Fact #18 (Cheeseface Cover Joke Turned Deadly) – It really is a great cover. That dog’s expression is priceless.
RE: Fact #14 (Margaret Thatcher Loved Chemistry More) – I’m not a fan of hers, but her chemistry degree actually mattered. During the 80s, when scientists were sounding the alarm about CFCs and the ozone layer, she understood the science behind the warnings. She ended up playing a major diplomatic role in convincing other world leaders to phase them out.
She was also one of the first world leaders to bring up the dangers of carbon emissions. She gave several speeches on it back in the late 80s, including ones to the Royal Society and the UN.
Crazy that the person you hate most can actually be responsible for one good thing.
And honestly, as much as I hate her political and economic legacy, this is exactly why we need politicians who are actually educated and informed.
She also played a massive part in the fall of the USSR and keeping them from steamrolling other countries. People always focus on Reagan, but many forget the role Thatcher played.
RE: Fact #8 (Wendy Brown Became School Cheerleader) – This seems pretty straightforward. She was probably popular in high school, got pregnant at 16, and lost her social standing. For 16 years, she likely obsessed over those ‘lost’ years and felt like she was owed a second chance.
It was actually the opposite of popular. She suffered from an abusive mother, got pregnant at 16, and was bullied out of school. She was envious of her younger sister’s experience and, after struggling in an abusive marriage, she just wanted the childhood she never had. She was later diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder.
RE: Fact #15 (Kathrine Switzer Claimed Bib 261) – And surprisingly, her uterus didn’t just fall out.
Can you imagine if our uteruses actually did that? It’s wild how people used to think they weren’t attached to anything.
RE: Fact #38 (Daylyt Took Boos Literally Onstage) – It is wild that he had a dump ready to go for this but completely choked under the pressure.
RE: Fact #36 (Greg Oden Draft Class Outlasted Him) – People give Oden a hard time, but it’s honestly impressive that someone could get drafted at 45 and keep playing until they’re nearly 50.
RE: Fact #7 (Ötzi Emerged From Alpine Ice) – It’s wild that his attacker didn’t steal the axe or his gear, which really points to it being a murder. He had defensive wounds and was shot from behind, so he probably died within minutes.
RE: Fact #2 (Katherine Heigl Rejected Emmy Consideration) – It’s like when Denise Crosby left Star Trek because she didn’t feel her character had enough depth, or when Ed Skrein left Game of Thrones for a different movie role.
RE: Fact #42 (Jimmy Chamberlin Drummed Until Bleeding) – Jimmy and D’arcy were such a solid live rhythm section. I caught them at one show where they were completely locked in, and it is crazy to look back and realize they were likely dealing with some heavy stuff behind the scenes.
I think he was finally booted from the band during the Mellon Collie tour because of a heroin bender that ended with their touring keyboardist overdosing and dying.
That situation actually inspired Sarah McLachlan to write her song “Angel, ” which is why we ended up with all those sad animal commercials.
Yeah, it was the Mellon Collie tour. The tour got put on hold, and the drummer from Filter stepped in once Chamberlin was caught. Seventh-grade me was heartbroken because he was my idol back then.
RE: Fact #37 (North Korea Exports Fake Hair) – Is $188 million really their biggest export? That seems incredibly low.
True, but they bring in way more money from cybercrime and other illegal stuff. The country is still incredibly poor.
RE: Fact #25 (Victorian Prisoners Turned Nothing Useful) – Jokes on them. They thought it was useless effort, but all that friction was probably generating heat, physics has the last laugh.
Apparently, it was spinning a paddle wheel that smacked the warden’s bare butt. Turns out it was all just a weird sex thing.
Oscar Wilde in the afterlife: “Well, if I’d known that was the deal, I would’ve actually enjoyed it.”
RE: Fact #27 (David Attenborough Ran BBC Two) – It is wild how long he has been around. I am retiring in a few years, and I was not even born in the sixties. This man was already managing things at a high level before I existed.
RE: Fact #2 (Katherine Heigl Rejected Emmy Consideration) – I really liked her character until the storylines just got ridiculous. That’s exactly why I eventually stopped watching.
It went downhill fast. Early episodes weren’t bad, but then it jumped the shark and has just kept going. It reminds me of The Rookie, where people still enjoy the cast, but the plots have become so nonsensical lately because the writers are just throwing ideas at the wall.
The show is just silly at this point. You need a chart to keep track of everyone’s hookups, and it seems like that hospital doesn’t even have an HR department.
The best part of early Grey’s Anatomy was that they actually let main patients die every few episodes. They’d do everything to save them, but it wasn’t enough, which felt different from other shows where everyone usually has a happy ending. Like the bomb squad guy, he was a great character, they were clearly building up a romance, and then they just blew him up. The contrast of the main women getting ready together at the start of the episode and ending it cleaning up the aftermath was intense.
Scrubs had plenty of patient deaths too, and that was only a half-hour sitcom. They didn’t just use them for jokes, either.
RE: Fact #14 (Margaret Thatcher Loved Chemistry More) – Another wild fact: she applied for a job at Imperial Chemical Industries in 1948 but was turned down because the personnel team decided she was “headstrong, obstinate and dangerously self-opinionated.”
I’m no fan of hers, but you had to have nerves of steel to work in STEM as a woman back then. I’m sure the sexism was rampant.
RE: Fact #30 (Fungus Can Eat Jet Fuel) – That fungus is also the main part of what people call “diesel bug, ” which clogs up diesel fuel tanks. It is common on boats but can pop up anywhere. It used to be called Cladosporium, but now it is known as “Hormoconis resinae.”
RE: Fact #34 (Tiwai Smelter Drains New Zealand) – That’s why recycling aluminum is so important. It only takes about 5% of the energy to reuse it compared to producing it from scratch.
RE: Fact #49 (Joe Coleman Got Mouse Ban) – I know there was probably a character limit, but that summary really undersells the performance: > On October 22, 1989, Coleman staged a performance as Professor Mombooze-o at the Boston Film/Video Foundation. It began with 20 minutes of black and white vintage porn projected onto a screen, at the end of which Coleman burst through the screen hanging upside down on a harness and screaming as fireworks strapped to his chest exploded, like a baby born through a trial of fire and brimstone. After his then-wife Nancy Pivar cut him down, as if cutting the umbilical cord, and extinguished the fire, Coleman ripped the rest of screen apart to reveal a dead goat also hanging upside down. He then pulled two live white mice from his pocket, announcing, ‘This is Mommy and Daddy’. He proceeded to bite the head off ‘Daddy’ and spit it into the audience. Then did the same to ‘Mommy’, but swallowed the head. “This is Joe Coleman’s stone ritualization of his mother’s death, ” a 1990 article in Spin magazine reported about the performance. “Four days earlier, she had died of cancer.” Fittingly, this would be the last ever appearance of Professor Mombooze-o.
RE: Fact #49 (Joe Coleman Got Mouse Ban) –
What in the Warhammer 40K is this charge, lol?
I looked it up, apparently, an infernal machine is an improvised explosive device, basically a pipe bomb. The term dates back to an 1800s assassination attempt on the King of France where the contraption didn’t actually work.
RE: Fact #34 (Tiwai Smelter Drains New Zealand) – Aluminum smelting is incredibly power-hungry. These plants usually set up near hydroelectric dams with long-term contracts for cheap electricity. It’s a win-win since the plant gets low rates and the power generator gets a reliable base load.
Exactly. What’s strange is how AI data centers are being handled. Usually, industrial projects take years of planning, and I’ve seen refineries negotiate to have their own dedicated power station. Most even agree to power down during peak demand periods. This is great for households because it keeps electricity costs down without them subsidizing the new infrastructure. AI data centers don’t seem to have that kind of planning; they just build and hope the grid holds up. Smelters would never risk that because they’re way more price-sensitive. If it costs them $10 a pound to produce because of energy costs and their competitor pays half that, they’re out of business. Edit: The number of responses claiming “Daddy Musk is doing everything right” is pretty concerning.
Large energy consumers like AI data centers have to go through an approval process for grid connection. Some are even being built to run on local gas turbines or generators so they can be off-grid until they get an interconnect. Others are adding solar or battery storage to handle peak demand, which saves them money and makes it easier to get a grid connection they otherwise wouldn’t qualify for.
Actually, data centers definitely negotiate with utilities ahead of time. They have to, otherwise the business model wouldn’t work. The issue is usually that they secure great rates based on their high consumption, and the residential grid essentially ends up paying for the maintenance costs.
RE: Fact #44 (Matt Suter Survived Tornado Flight) – Like Ron White said in his special: “It’s not THAT the wind is blowing, it’s WHAT that wind is blowing.”
RE: Fact #8 (Wendy Brown Became School Cheerleader) – Wow, this was literally the plot of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode in season one. Though in that version, the mom used actual witchcraft to swap bodies with her daughter and curse the other cheerleaders.
Spoiler alert: she ends up trapped in a cheerleading trophy in the school display case. It definitely looks like those eyes are following you.
RE: Fact #13 (William Marshal Saved England At Seventy) – William Marshal was one of history’s ultimate heavy hitters. There is a story about how he saw his men losing heart during a siege, so at 50 years old, he personally raced up a ladder to lead the charge. Once at the top, he took out several enemies and hit an enemy commander so hard his sword went straight through the helmet and chainmail. His men were so inspired they followed him up and took the castle. Beyond being a total badass, he was known as a heartthrob at court, yet he had a long, happy marriage with a wealthy heiress whom he trusted to run their estates while he was away. There is no evidence he ever stepped out on her, which was pretty rare for nobles back then. The guy was a beast in a fight and arguably the most impressive guy in the room. Here is how he was described back then: “It did not take many years until William had grown into a tall boy. His body was so well fashioned that, even if he had been created by the sculptor’s chisel his limbs would not have been so handsome. I can tell you this because I saw them and remember them well. At the same time he had fine feet and hands, but all this was as nothing compared with his overall appearance. Anyone who had looked upon it would have found it so upright, so well formed, that, if his judgement were sound, he would have concluded that nowhere in the whole world was the to be found such a perfect body. His hair was brown, his face swarthy, but his features were so much like those of a true noble that he could have been Emperor of Rome.”
“Rich heiress” doesn’t even cover the Irish side of things. His wife was Isabel de Clare, the daughter of Aoife MacMurrough, whose father was Diarmuid MacMurrough, the guy who brought the Normans into Ireland. William Marshal was also responsible for a huge amount of Norman development in the southeast of Ireland, including the Hook Head lighthouse. He and Isabel are also ancestors of the current British monarchy, thanks to that Irish connection.
RE: Fact #33 (Calaveras Skull Fooled Josiah Whitney) – They found a skull in Skull County? Who wrote this, J.K. Rowling?