Random Fact Sheet #59 – A Collection of 40 Odd, Interesting, and Amusing Trivia

A Japanese professor named Dr. Kenji Sugimoto went on search to find out what happened to Einstein's brain. He discovered that it was being kept in a mason jar by a retiree named Dr. Thomas Harvey in Kansas, who would occasionally shave off slices with a kitchen knife and mail it to people if they asked for some of it.

2. The Chinese use drones equipped with flame-throwers to fight trash stuck in power lines.

3. The famous American jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton, at the age of 14 tricked his great-grandmother into believing that he was a night watchman at a barrelhouse when in fact he was working as a piano player in a brothel. In that atmosphere, he often sang smutty lyrics. He took the nickname "Jelly Roll", which was slang for vagina.

4. The Chernobyl power plant continued operating and producing electricity until 2000, 14 years after the Chernobyl disaster.

5. 14% of the US adult population could not read in 2013.

The first emperor of China (Qin Shi Huang) died from drinking a mixture of mercury and powdered jade intended to give him eternal life.

7. The "Pompeii Masturbator" is a man who appears to have been forever immortalized in the midst of some personal time.

8. The British supermarket chain Iceland has an EU-wide trademark on their name, and takes legal action against Icelandic companies that use it. The Icelandic government has applied to have their trademark invalidated, so far without success.

9. Tryptophan in turkey isn’t what makes us tired after Thanksgiving dinner, it’s the overeating of carbohydrates. Turkey contains no more tryptophan than chicken or beef, and nuts and cheeses actually contain more.

10. Despite its useful properties, the dandelion has grown to be regarded as a weed, as a result of the rise of lawn culture and marketing by pesticide companies.

Almost all cattle are descended from only 80 aurochs tamed in Northern Mesopotamia about 10,000 years ago.

12. A Chinese philanthropist named Run Run Shaw (1907-2014) gave $1 billion to fund education, aiding over 6000 construction projects. Because so many buildings (5000+) bear his name, Yifu, it is often confused with a generic name.

13. 92 Russians died for every 1 American in World War 2.

14. If you threw a stone overboard above the Mariana Trench (6.8 miles deep) it would take an hour for it to hit the ocean floor.

15. Hangovers cost an estimated $220 billion loss in productivity per year.

In 1921, "Black Wall Street" was the wealthiest Black community in America before being attacked by an angry mob which killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed 35 city blocks.

17. A town in West Virginia named Mole Hill changed its name to Mountain, so they could literally make a mountain out of a mole hill.

18. Just as % stands for per cent, ‰ stands for per mille.

19. A Fitbit played a role in solving a murder. Using the Wife's Fitbit and analyzing her movements, analysts were able to create a timeline that proved the husband had created a false story.

20. In 2017, 4 inmates snuck out of prison (Holmes-Humphreys County), robbed several stores, and then snuck back into prison.

During the closing credits of the South Park episode 'Trapped in the Closet', all names were replaced with either "John Smith" or "Jane Smith". This was done to shield any of the production staff from potential lawsuits.

22. Researchers suggest that the discovery of fire influenced human evolution. Fire allowed humans to cook their food, which made food easier to chew and digest—which, in turn, contributed to the reduction of human tooth and gut size.

23. The Japanese sportswear company ASICS is an acronym of the latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano", which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body".

24. The dish "Spaghetti and Meatballs" is not at all Italian. It's 100% American.

25. The last new enclosed mall in America was built in 2006, and 2007 marked the first time since the 1950s that a new indoor mall was not built in the USA.