Random Fact Sheet #171 – Break the Mold With These 35 Facts

Jeremy Spencer, who was one of the original members of Fleetwood Mac went out to a store while on tour in California in 1971 and never returned. The band, record producers, and the police searched for him for several days and discovered later that he had joined a cult called ‘The Children of God.’

2. An indentured servant boy named John Howland went overboard on The Mayflower and was miraculously saved. His descendants include the Bush family, FDR, writers Emerson and Longfellow, Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Chevy Chase, and over 2 million other Americans.

3. Before the Internet, chess players used to play each other all over the world by taking turns mailing a postcard to each other describing the move they had made.

4. Crickets are 65%-70% protein whereas beef is 17%-40% protein.

5. Usain Bolt suffered from scoliosis when he was younger and he therefore has an asymmetrical stride when he runs because his legs are slightly different lengths. Researchers aren’t sure if this lack of symmetry is a personal mechanical optimization by Bolt that makes him the fastest human or not.

In 2013, a 4-year-old boy named Paul Franklin fell and scraped his knee at a California beach. A couple of weeks later a black bump started growing on his knee. When squeezed, out emerged a live snail from the bump. The boy adopted the snail and named it “Turbo” after his favorite cartoon character.

7. James Lick, once the wealthiest Californian, donated the world's first permanently staffed mountaintop telescope to the University of California in 1888. His will only stipulated that he is to be buried under it and fresh flowers placed on his grave "always".

8. In 2016, a 155-year-old mousetrap kept on display in a museum in Berkshire caught a mouse.

9. Despite being banned from World War 2 military service, Charles Lindbergh's knowledge on fuel efficiency helped double the effective range of the P-38. The pilots he worked with were so grateful they let him sneak on a combat mission where he scored a kill.

10. In 1862, a British merchant named Charles Lennox Richardson was killed for getting too close to a Japanese feudal lord. His last words to his travel companions were: "I know how to deal with these people."

Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) battled cancer while filming the last Harry Potter movie. She continued with filming because she didn’t want to disappoint fans.

12. Dr. Joseph Goldberger proved in 1915 that pellagra was caused by poor diet in the South. Southern leaders refused to heed the advice of a northern Jewish doctor and pellagra wasn't eradicated until 1945 when federal law required flour to be fortified with thiamine, niacin, and iron.

13. Flight hijacking from the USA to Cuba during the 60s/70s was so common, pilots were equipped with detour flight plans and building a fake “Havana airport” in south Florida was seriously considered.

14. ‘Super-banana’ is a genetically modified fruit from Australia that contains increased levels of vitamin A. It could help prevent thousands of Ugandan children from going blind and dying from Vitamin A deficiencies.

15. Researchers at Cornell analyzing Youtube videos of heavy metal concerts found that mosh pits model the behavior of gas particles in equilibrium.

Despite the odds seeming very low, 93% of lost dogs are reunited with their owner, and even after 24 hours of being lost, 55 to 65% are found and brought back.

17. A New York couple named Matthew and Maria Emanuel dug up a safe with $52,000 of cash and jewelry in their backyard but didn't keep it. Inside they found wet money, lots of jewelry and also a paper with their neighbor's address. Eight years earlier their neighbors were robbed, so the couple returned everything.

18. All U.S. aircraft carriers are nuclear powered, meaning they can continuously sail for up to 25 years without needed to refuel.

19. In the Japanese departmental stores, the staff will offer to put a plastic cover on your shopping bag when it rains. The staff knows it is raining outside without looking because of a special BGM is played only when it rains.

20. The Rose Parade in Pasadena, California was started in 1890 as a way to convince East Coast residents to move to California by "showcasing California's mild weather" by proving the "flowers are still blooming and oranges are about to bear."

The reason beans actually give you gas is because of sugar found in beans called oligosaccharide that the body cannot fully break down. When these sugars move into the small intestine, they produce excess gas.

22. There is a service named Ossan in Japan where you can rent middle-aged men for ¥1000 ($9) an hour. The men, who have previous or current experience in a range of professions from engineers to marketing or management, meet up in person to offer everything from life advice to music lessons.

23. A Danish artist named Thomas Dambo creates giant wooden sculptures and hides them in the forests of Copenhagen.

24. In 1955, evangelist Jack Coe claimed to have divinely healed a 3-year-old of polio and told the boy's parents to remove his leg braces. This caused the boy constant pain, but Coe never faced jail time as medical malpractice did not cover divine healing. The next year, Coe died of polio.

25. Shaquille O'Neal left college early to join NBA, but later in his life he went back to school and earned his bachelor's degree, then a master's degree and now has a doctorate in education.