Random Fact Sheet #69 – 36 Facts to Expand Your Horizons

Saddam Hussein purchased 4,000 PlayStation 2s in attempt to create a military supercomputer.

27. When somebody rings the doorbell on Fuller House, whoever is in the living room says "It's always open!", a reference to the Olsen twins, who have repeatedly rejected requests to appear on the show.

28. When parents view failure as debilitating and focus on their children’s performance rather on learning, their children tend to believe that intelligence is a fixed characteristic, rather than something malleable that they can improve.

29. In 1978, 17-year-old Santae Tribble was wrongfully incarcerated after FBI analysts failed to distinguish between human and dog hair. He served a total of 32 years.

30. The U.S. Capitol building has its own subway system, with three lines moving Congressmen, Senators, and staffers between the various office complexes.

Dr. Seuss wrote a book about political tension, the arms race, the threat of nuclear weapons, and the Cold War in 1984.

32. Montana is the last state in the country without at-will employment. An employee there can't be fired without cause (following a probationary period).

33. Lady Gaga's stage name came from Queen's song "Radio Ga Ga". "One day when Fusari addressed a cell phone text to Germanotta under the moniker 'Radio Gaga' [and] his cell phone's spell check converted 'Radio' to 'Lady.' Germanotta loved it, and 'Lady Gaga' was born."

34. The Allies detained Germany's nuclear scientists in an English farm estate after the war. Their conversations were secretly recorded, giving us clues about their opinions on the war and on nuclear weapons.

35. The hat shop (James Lock & Co.) that created the Bowler Hat in 1849 is still around today and was founded all the way back in 1676, making it the World's Oldest hat shop.

Karen Wetterhahn, a researcher at Dartmouth College, died within a year of exposure to merely 2 drops of dimethylmercury on her gloved hand.