Random Fact Sheet #319 – Fact Fever: 40 Surprising Facts You Never Knew

A New Jersey history professor was once telling a story to his class about how a ranger saved his life in a canyon at night in Texas in 1940. The ranger had managed to track him down and coincidentally walked into the classroom right as the professor was telling the story.

27. There is a separate (FIA unofficial) land speed record for women, and the women’s record was broken by Jessi Combs (MythBusters) in 2019 during her fatal +522mph run.

28. Residents of Akron, Ohio have been terrorized by an unknown person who has been pooping on their cars for nearly 10 years.

29. Don Cheadle was uncredited for his major role in Ocean's Eleven due to him being denied top billing, alongside other cast members, so he refused to be credited at all.

30. Spirit Halloween, which is owned by Spencer’s, runs over 1200 locations each year for 4-8 weeks during the Halloween season. They spend the rest of the year scouting empty locations for the next Halloween season.

Carl Sagan’s Cosmos was once the most widely watched series in American public television and is still the most widely watched PBS series in the world.

32. Nikolai Vavilov was a Soviet botanist whose aim was to end hunger worldwide. He collected seeds of wild crops and deposited them in a seed bank to produce new strains of crops. Stalin denounced him and used him as a scapegoat for a famine. He died in prison from starvation.

33. In the early 2000s Serena and Venus Williams, along with their father Richard, were regularly accused of “match-fixing” when the sisters competed against one another. One incident, where Venus pulled out entirely from a semifinal match against her sister (tendinitis), had fans demanding refunds.

34. The Sun accounts for 99.86% of all mass in our solar system. Every other planet, asteroid, and comet only adds up to only 0.14%. More than two-thirds of that is just Jupiter. Over 50% of what’s left after Jupiter is just Saturn. Over 50% of what’s left after Saturn is just Neptune. And over 50% of what’s left after Neptune is just Uranus.

35. A study with over 1,600 patients concluded that acetaminophen is ineffective for low back pain and it worked no better than placebo to speed up recovery.

In 2012 as Valentine’s Day promotion, Pizza Hut offered a $10,010 “proposal package” that included $10 in pizza and breadsticks, limo service, a photographer, fireworks, and a ruby engagement ring.

37. Sea Urchins are called Sea Urchins because Hedgehogs used to be called Urchins until about the 15th century. Sea Urchins are Ocean Hedgehogs.

38. The most expensive first-class tickets on the Titanic were $4350 (or £870) in 1912 money. That's over $100,000 today.

39. The longest-serving socialist in the US government was David Hoan, Mayor of Milwaukee (24 years, 1916-1940). He started the first public housing project in the country.

40. Unlike chimpanzees, bonobo societies are relatively peaceful, with squabbles rarely escalating to serious violence. Female bonobos spend their time together in the center of the group, grooming, eating, and socializing. Often, two females will embrace and rub their genitals together.