Random Fact Sheet #218 – 35 Wacky Facts That Will Add Some Fun to Your Day

Spiders can use earth’s electric field to fly “hundreds of miles.” They have been found 2.5 miles up in the air, and 1,000 miles out in the sea.

2. Chick-fil-A makes more per restaurant than McDonald's, Starbucks and Subway combined and it's closed on sundays.

3. A European fungus that accidentally spread to North America in 2006, has caused bat populations across the US and Canada to plummet by over 90%. Formerly very common bat species now face extinction, having already almost entirely disappeared over the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada.

4. The reason why the majority of police uniforms in the U.S. are blue is a result of the civil war. After the war had ended, there was a surplus of blue uniforms that got repurposed for police officers. The color became associated with policing.

5. A 48-year-old man named John Hamilton in Ohio was arrested because he would not stop cutting the grass at the local public park. The grass was over 12 inches long, so he decided to cut it. He claimed he was just trying to save the city some money.

The Haya people of Tanzania have been forging steel for over 2000 years. Investigation of their land led to the discovery of ancient furnaces that were then carbon dated and found to be around 2000 years old.

7. Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos went missing in 2004 and 2003, respectively, under similar circumstances in Naples, Florida. Both men were last seen being arrested by Steve Calkins, who claims he changed his mind about both arrests and let them go.

8. The slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" began as an anti-littering campaign in 1985 targeted at "bubbas in pickup trucks" who littered beer cans out of their vehicles and ordinary Texans who believed that littering was a "God-given right."

9. The first SMS text message ever sent was on December 3, 1992. It was sent by a 22-year-old test engineer from his computer to a phone. The message simply read "Merry Christmas."

10. In 1569, a Dutchman named Dirk Willems was jailed for his devotion to being an Anabaptist. He escaped from prison but when the guard pursuing him fell through the ice, Willems turned around to save the guard. He was then recaptured, tortured, and killed.

Surgically cropping a dog's ears or docking its tail can artificially alter the way dogs communicate with other dogs and humans. These procedures can have a significant impact on how dogs communicate and interact for the rest of their lives.

12. A woman escaped a serial killer (David Parker Ray) who’d held her captive for 3 days, by waiting until he had left for work, then used a key an accomplice had left behind to unlock her chains. She then fought the accomplice, stabbing them with an ice-pick, before running out. It led to the killer's arrest.

13. France has a law allowing colleagues to gift days off for parents of seriously ill children.

14. The Akan people of Ghana consider the second twin to be born as the elder, as they were mature enough to help their sibling out first.

15. Over 60 old police cars were purchased for the making of the 1980 movie Blues Brothers' chase scenes, and none of them survived.

Daddy long legs is actually not one of the most venomous spiders in the world as it lacks big enough fangs to bite. Its fangs are as long as a recluse, they lack venom, and they are harvestmen, not even spiders.

17. Chanel's directors were Jewish. During the Nazi invasion of France Coco Chanel used her position as an “Aryan” to claim sole ownership. The Wertheimers, anticipating the move, turned the control over to a Christian French businessman who, after the war, returned the company to them.

18. Tenzing Norgay was one of the first two men who reached Mount Everest. He didn't know when his exact birthday was. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter.

19. China was one of the only places in the world that did not release Elvis Presley's music at the time of its initial release. The few Elvis fans who managed to get their hands on his records often saw the material set ablaze by Red Guards and the government denounced his music as pornography.

20. When coffee first appeared in the Ottoman Empire, it was considered a drug and its consumption was forbidden.

American singer-songwriter Alice Cooper used to babysit Canadian actor Keanu Reeves.

22. Sour Patch Kids were originally called Mars Men, but the name changed in 1985 to capitalize on the popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids.

23. Lady Gaga has been named godmother to Elton John and husband David Furnish’s baby son Elijah. The pop singer is already the godmother to John and Furnish’s two-year-old, Zachary, and the couple were so impressed with her guidance that they doubled down on Gaga’s godmother duties.

24. During the Punic Wars, the Romans realized they had no clue how to build ships. They decided to rent row boats, run aground a Carthaginian ship, and plagiarize the designs. The entire first fleet of their new Navy was based off this ship, but learning to row proved more challenging.

25. Babies don't have object permanence, meaning the concept of something existing without them perceiving it is foreign to them. Anything they can't see, doesn't exist.