Random Fact Sheet #288 – Kaleidoscope of Facts: 40 Unconventional Facts

Sanada Masayuki, the head of the Sanada clan in the 16th century, sent his older son to join the Tokugawa army and his younger son to the opposing army at the Battle of Sekigahara, the turning point in feudal Japan, to ensure the survival of the clan, regardless of the outcome.

27. According to a University of Chicago study, while the joy of receiving gifts lessens over time, the psychological benefits of giving do not. Participants’ happiness hardly declined if they repeatedly bestowed gifts on others, versus repeatedly receiving those same gifts themselves.

28. In 1992, a hurricane hit Hawaii where they were filming "Jurassic Park." Spielberg's crew had to be evacuated via helicopter; the pilot, Fred Sorenson, had previously met Spielberg while playing the pilot in the opening scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

29. Chuck E. Cheese Pizza was created by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell created the pizza and arcade restaurant to serve as a distribution network for his Atari games.

30. The Mayans had paper-based books (codices) that Spanish missionaries burned, causing "much affliction" among the surviving Maya. Only three codices survive today.

The famously isolated Sentinelese hunter-gatherer tribe appears not to know how to set fire. They rely on natural fire from thunderstorms and keep the embers burning as long as they can.

32. Fungi are evolutionarily more closely related to animals than to plants, and this was not recognized until a few decades ago.

33. European Starlings are an incredibly invasive species, introduced to the US by Eugene Schieffelin. Convinced the country needed every bird in Shakespeare’s works, he had approximately 100 starlings released in NYC in 1890. They are now one of the most abundant birds in North America, numbering at approximately 200 million.

34. Coca-Cola once ran a failed “Magican” campaign. They sold cans that contained spring-loaded tabs to dispense cash prizes. Prize cans contained a foul-smelling liquid instead of cola to prevent drinking. Though harmless, one child drank it and Coca-Cola ended the campaign 3 weeks later due to backlash.

35. In an attempt to trim out the listing Yamato, Japan's super battleship, the captain flooded the outer engine room, drowning three hundred men at their stations.

There is a Colombian species of Frog called Allobates Niputidea which in English translates to “Allobates Not a F*cking Clue.” This is because when discovered, the team had no idea how to classify it.

37. Many of the scenes in "Elf" were filmed at an abandoned psychiatric hospital in Vancouver. In the '50s, Riverview Hospital was home to more than 4,000 patients. The X Files, Supernatural, Saw, Deadpool 2, and many others have filmed scenes on the site.

38. Baseball right fielder Sammy Sosa suffered from an extreme back spasm before a game in 2004 as the result of two violent sneezes. He had to sit the game out and receive an epidural to bring down the inflammation.

39. In the 1870s and 80’s a Polish ophthalmologist named L. L. Zamenhof created a language named Esperanto, aiming for it to be an easy to learn universal language. His goal was to promote world peace and a better worldwide understanding of each other.

40. The best-selling Christmas song of all time, White Christmas, was written by a Jew whose own Christmas tradition was visiting the grave of his son who died on Christmas day in 1928 at the age of three weeks old. That son was Irving Berlin, Jr.