Random Fact Sheet #253 – 40 Most Uncommon Facts You Never Knew

Not only did the infamous Wicked Bible of 1631 contain the misprinted commandment "thou shalt commit adultery", but also that it contained "God hath shewed us his glory and his great-asse" instead of "greatness", suggesting that the errors were actually a sabotage.

27. From 1965 to 1968, the United States was dropping 32 tons of bombs per hour on North Vietnam. Seven million tons of bombs including 400,000 tons of napalm were dropped in Southeast Asia during the conflict. This is more than three times as many tons of bombs than were dropped in all of World War 2.

28. In 2005, a group of reporters swab tested 46 bathrooms in the EU parliament for traces of drugs. 41 of them tested positive for cocaine.

29. In 1945, a Roman Catholic nun named Elise Rivet volunteered to go to the gas chamber in place of a mother at the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Less than two months before Germany surrendered, she was killed at the age of 55.

30. On July 4, 1826, while on his deathbed, former president John Adams' last words were "Jefferson still survives", referring to former president Thomas Jefferson, who unknown to Adams, had died hours earlier, on the same day.

Oklahoma has the largest number of lakes made by dams in the U.S. at over 200 lakes. All of Oklahoma’s lakes are man-made by making dams. There are only a handful of natural lakes in Oklahoma.

32. A Venus flytrap can count the number of times its victims touch the hairs on its leaves. One-touch does nothing, two closes the trap, three primes the trap for digestion, five triggers the production of digestive enzyme. So, victims tell the plant to start killing it and how vigorously to do so.

33. Elton John once bought a tram while on a 3-day cocaine binge. He had the vehicle shipped from Australia, and two Chinook helicopters were needed to deliver it to his house.

34. While women weren't allowed to participate in the ancient Olympic Games, they actually had their own event called the Heraia which consisted of the same elements the Olympic Games that started out with; a foot race and religious festivities.

35. Many customer service agents can actually see what you are typing in the online support chat before you actually hit "send." 

Ulysses S. Grant's real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but it was entered incorrectly when he went to West Point. He was embarrassed by his real initials (H.U.G.) so he didn't tell anyone. He ended up going by Ulysses S. Grant for the rest of his life.

37. In 1861, the Japanese created an illustrated history of the United States called Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi (“Children’s Illustrated Tales from 10,000 Countries”) which is a mythology of bizarre tales about the country, including John Adams and his fight against a giant serpent.

38. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier during the Seige of Syracuse in 212 B.C., despite orders that he not be harmed. His last words were "Don't disturb my circles!"

39. A solar storm in 2012 with a strong Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) missed Earth by nine days. Had the CME hit Earth, it would have inflicted serious damage to worldwide electronic systems and cost up to $2.6 trillion. The recovery time from such a disaster would have been about 4 to 10 years.

40. Larry Thomas, the actor who played the Soup Nazi on 'Seinfeld', auditioned in a military uniform in character. He was nominated for an Emmy for the role after paying the $100 application fee himself.