Random Fact Sheet #279 – 40 Tidbits to Impress Your Friends at Parties

When Clint Malarchuk, a goalie in the NHL, had his throat accidentally slit by another player's skates, his main thought was to get off the ice as quickly as possible so his mother wouldn't see him die.

27. The first pipe organ was made 2200 years ago by Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria, making pipe organs 200 years older than Christianity. They weren't adopted by the church until 1000 years later when Charlemagne requested one for his private chapel.

28. The term "Slapstick Comedy" came from the comedy style known as “Commedia Dell'arte” in 16th-century Italy. The "slapstick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which make a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud and comical sound.

29. The only place on Earth where both crocodiles and alligators live together is in the United States, in the Florida Everglades.

30. In Japan, the law forbids drivers to use car horns and bicycle bells unless it’s necessary. That’s why city streets are very quiet.

William Pitt the Younger was admitted into Cambridge University at the age of 13 and became UK prime minister at the age of 24. He is the youngest prime minister in British history.

32. Ashvamedha was an ancient Indian ritualistic horse sacrifice where a horse was allowed to wander for 1 year protected by the king’s guards. If no rivals managed to kill or steal the horse after a year, it was returned and sacrificed in the city capital, legitimizing the sovereignty of the king.

33. Van Halen refused to make videos for their album 5150, so Warner Bros quickly cobbled together a video for the song "Dreams" by using stock footage of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels. The cheap video became a surprise hit on MTV and the Navy began to use it as part of their recruiting efforts.

34. Single malt scotch is required to be made completely and bottled in Scotland to be labeled as scotch whiskey.

35. Classical "angels" are the lowest tier of God's servants in traditional Christian Angelology. There are actually nine angelic orders, each with distinct responsibilities. The highest orders appear as firey beings with six wings, four-faced creatures covered in eyes, and chariot wheels.

Disposable diapers are the third largest individual constituent of municipal solid waste and need at least 500 years to decompose.

37. When the Australian film ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ (the first-ever full-length narrative feature film) was released in 1906, the screenings of the silent film were accompanied by live sound effects, including blank cartridges as gunshots and coconut shells beaten together to simulate hoofbeats.

38. Persian Emperor Nader Shah plundered so much loot during his invasion of Mughal India that he stopped taxation of Iran for the next 3 years.

39. The American English expression "Okay" (or O.K.) is nearly identical to the expression "Okeh" from the Amerindian Choctaw-Chickasaw language, which first appeared in print a decade earlier and means "it is so and not otherwise."

40. Between the 13th and 18th century, animals in Europe were often taken to trial for charges ranging from murder to criminal damage. Witnesses were heard from and lawyers were often provided to the animals. Pigs were found to be the most frequent and worst offenders.