Random Fact Sheet #62 – 45 Shocking and Surprising Facts

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1Adriana Caselotti

Adriana Caselotti

The voice actress that played Snow White, Adriana Caselotti, was forbidden by her Disney contract from appearing in films or on radio or television because it would "spoil the illusion of Snow White."


2. The FBI kept files on Elvis Presley because they believed he raised the sexual passions of teenagers posing a "definite danger to the security of the United States".


3. Thomas Edison would give potential employees a bowl of soup during the interview. If they salted or peppered the soup before tasting it they wouldn't get the job. This was to test whether the employees had analytical minds and didn't make assumptions.


4. Japan has a 'national fungus' named Aspergillus oryzae, or koji which is essential for brewing sake, and making miso, soy sauce, and other traditional Japanese foods.


5. Hot dogs are not sandwiches according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.


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6Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was inspired to write "The Wind Cries Mary" as an apology after having a heated argument with his girlfriend, Kathy Mary Etchingham, over her lumpy mashed potatoes.


7. Jellyfish, despite having no brain, still needs to sleep.


8. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto as a hobby guesses the measurements of an object and sees if he is right with a tape measure he always carries with him.


9. Queen Elizabeth uses signals with her handbag to send secret messages to her staff.


10. Pillbugs, also known as rolly pollies, aren't insects, but are actually crustaceans and have gills.


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11Mossad

Mossad

In order to rescue Ethiopian Jews, the Mossad bought and ran a profitable scuba diving resort in Sudan between 1982 and 1984. 8,000 people were safely smuggled to Israel.


12. Pennsylvania is misspelled as Pensylvania on the Liberty Bell.


13. The creator of Bitcoin is still unknown. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the computer programmer who invented the digital currency is a pseudonym and could represent a man, a woman, or even a group of people.


14. Russia trained dolphins how to kill people with harpoons and to undertake kamikaze strikes against enemies. They then sold them to Iran after running out of dolphin food.


15. In 2007, a man named John Brandrick in London sued his doctor after being misdiagnosed with cancer. He was told he only had months to live. As a result, he spent his entire life savings only to find out his doctors misdiagnosed him.


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16Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough

The actor Richard Attenborough, the old guy naturalist from Jurassic Park, is the real-life brother of David Attenborough, old guy naturalist from the BBC.


17. Steve Wozniak was interrogated by the Secret Service for using $2 bills in Vegas.


18. During the early 1800's, the Mississippi and Ohio rivers were inhabited by sizeable populations of pirates.


19. The word with the most meanings in English is the verb 'set', with 430 senses listed in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989. The word commands the longest entry in the dictionary at 60,000 words or 326,000 characters.


20. Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) received death threats after narrating a Wal-Mart commercial about investing in American manufacturing.


21French flag

French flag

From 1814-1830, the French flag was just plain white.


22. The world has a net worth of over $280 Trillion. The US is the wealthiest country ($93.5 Trillion) followed by China ($29 Trillion).


23. India requires internet café owners to take pictures of all their customers, keep browsing history for one year, and forward all this data to the government.


24. Uranus and Neptune are not "Gas Giants" as is commonly believed, but belong to a separate category of giant planets called "Ice Giants." This is because less than 20% of their mass is made up of hydrogen and helium. True gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn are over 90% hydrogen and helium.


25. The guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery actually yell at you when you are disrespectful.

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