Random Fact Sheet #40 – 35 Facts to Make Your Brain Hurt (in a good way)

Of the 3400 years of recorded history, only 268 are considered peaceful.

27. Two researchers, funded by the British government, developed a mathematical formula for the "perfect human voice." The male voices that matched most closely were Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons; the closest matching female voices were Judi Dench, Mariella Frostrup, and Honor Blackman.

28. On April 12, 1955, Edward R. Murrow asked Jonas Salk who owned the patent to the polio vaccine. His response was “Well, the people, I would say... There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

29. A lawyer named James Thronton only works for one client- the Earth- and even managed to successfully sue the UK government to admit that it was breaching legal limits for air pollution.

30. An Oregon woman named Sadee Renee Johnson started a 50,000-acre wildfire and later told authorities that her "firefighter friends were bored and needed work."

The Emperor of Japan was historically very young. The duties of the emperor were considered incredibly tedious, and after a decade most emperors abdicated the throne to their younger brother.

32. There is a cryptic organization called Cicada 3301 that posts challenging puzzles and games online, possibly to recruit codebreakers and linguists.

33. About 10% of antidepressants like Prozac and Zoloft is excreted unchanged by urine in humans. These antidepressants have been detected in aquatic animals. This has caused concern, as the drugs are linked to memory issues and more passive behavior in fish, and more aggression in crustaceans.

34. There is still a subway station named Cortlandt Street that hasn't reopened since 9/11.

35. Vatican City is the only place in the world where cash machines offer instructions in Latin.