Random Fact Sheet #106 – 40 Facts That Will Make You the Life of the Party

During a house fire, due to their fight-or-flight response, it is common for children to hide from the fires. Since they cannot “fight” the danger, their natural response is to hide from it.

2. At $1.5 trillion, the Greater New York area's contribution to the US economy not only outstrips all other regions in the United States, it also exceeds the GDP of all but 11 countries.

3. The “Ecce Homo” painting which was turned into the "Potato Jesus" meme after a failed restoration has increased tourism in that area and the funds go towards the church-owned nursing home and the “art restorer’s” son who suffers from cerebral palsy.

4. Only 3 of the 15 highest grossing movies from the 1980s haven't been given a sequel, prequel or turned into a franchise. Those movies are E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Tootsie, and Rain Man.

5. Possession of child pornography in Japan currently carries a penalty of up to one year in jail or a $9,800 fine. The law was enacted in 2015.

In 1909, an East Harlem merchant named G. Herman Gottlieb found wild catnip growing and decided to sell it door to door in New York. He incited a feline riot and was arrested for drawing a crowd of cats.

7. Pablo Escobar burnt £1 million in cash in a single night to keep his daughter warm and prevent her from suffering hypothermia, while on the run from the police.

8. In the Original Nintendo Games that Mario's Hat was created due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware since hair couldn't be represented well.

9. A recent study showed that subjects preferred to give themselves electric shocks rather than occupy themselves with their own thoughts for 15 minutes. Most people seem to prefer to be doing something rather than nothing, even if that something is negative.

10. Giant 6-feet otters still exist in three remote river systems of South America. They hunt in packs and can even take on caiman, a species of crocodile.

Indian villagers working in jungle wear face mask behind their heads to save themselves from the Bengal Tigers. Tigers have been seen following people wearing the mask, but they have not attacked. By contrast, 29 people who were not wearing mask were killed in the span of 18 months.

12. NASA's 50-year project to research gravity and prove Einstein's theory of gravity was nearly abandoned after its research probe's instruments were off. It was saved by the donations of Dr. Turki Al Saud, a Saudi Prince whom holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics.

13. The song "...baby one more time" was actually written for the American R&B group TLC. It was suggested to Britney Spears after the band rejected it.

14. The climate of the Sahara undergoes enormous variations between wet and dry every 20,500 years due to a tilt of the earth. At present, we are in a dry period, but it is expected that the Sahara will become green again in 15,000 years.

15. During the Great Depression, a Canadian woman strangled her daughter, drowned her son, poisoned herself and left a note "I owe the drugstore 44 cents."

Stalin hated soldiers who surrendered and considered them traitors. This included his own son, Yakov Stalin. When informed that the Nazi's had captured Yakov and sought a possible prisoner exchange with the USSR, Stalin replied: "I have no son called Yakov".

17. Richard Benjamin Harrison (The Grandpa from Pawn Stars) was arrested for stealing a vehicle and was given the choice to go prison or join the military. He chose to join military. He ended up serving in the military for 20 years.

18. According to a report about movie theater popcorn by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, "A medium-size buttered popcorn contains more fat than a breakfast of bacon and eggs, a Big Mac and fries, and a steak dinner combined."

19. Mexican jumping beans are seed pods that have been inhabited by the larva of a small moth. The beans “jump” when heated because of the larva spasms in an attempt to roll the seed to a cooler environment to avoid dehydration and consequent death.

20. There was a hotel named Historic Anderson House Hotel in Wabasha, Minnesota. It was famous for the cats which hotel guests could stay with for overnight companionship.

DMX, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes attended the same junior high school (George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School) with Biggie Smalls, at the same time.

22. A handful of paper scraps recovered from the 300-year-old wreck of Blackbeard’s ship Queen Anne's Revenge have been identified as fragments of the 1712 book A Voyage to the South Sea, and Round the World.

23. Loveseats were not invented so that two lovers could sit together. Originally, they were just oversized chairs designed to allow more space for excessively wide women's dresses up until the 18th century.

24. Grapefruit has a number of adverse drug interactions, and when eaten with certain drugs, can lead to accidental overdoses.

25. The British invented the "toast sandwich" which is literally a sandwich with buttered toast as the filling. An 1861 recipe suggests adding salt and pepper to taste and that it "will be found very tempting to the appetite of an invalid."