Random Fact Sheet #72 – 35 Quirky, Fascinating, and Absurd Facts

Squids have a brain shaped like a donut and their esophagus runs through it. If the squid eats something too big, it can result in severe brain damage.

2. A Louisianan man named Timmy LaBranche won a gallon of Old Granddad bourbon whiskey in a barroom bet during the New Orleans Saints’ first football game in 1967. His family honored his wish after he passed off only opening it once the Saints' made it to the Super Bowl, 43 years later.

3. The Post-It note was created by employees at 3M (Manufacturing company) during their own "permitted bootlegging" time, a company-sanctioned time in which employees could work on their own side projects.

4. In Eastern Orthodox legend, a dog-headed mythical figure (Cynocephaly) was claimed to have been captured in battle. He eventually converted to Christianity and was dubbed Saint Christopher. The dog-headed saint is depicted in religious art.

5. A US dog grooming service suffered cancellations and received threats after a Facebook review claiming a groomer injured a dog. Video later proved the dog had been hit by a car as the owner's relative walked it unleashed hours after the grooming.

Niwot's Curse is the idea that when people see a beautiful area they'll want to stay, which contributes to the undoing of the area's beauty.

7. Major League Baseball (MLB) grants a lifetime pass for free admission to MLB games for life to any player, manager, coach or umpire with at least eight years of MLB experience. MLB is the only major pro-sports league that has such a program.

8. A 20-year-old woman named Maggie Archer on Tinder successfully scammed many men with her profile that said: “Send me $5, see what happens.”

9. Arnold Reuben, the man who invented the Reuben sandwich, is also the inventor of the New York style cheesecake.

10. The first widely available antibiotic was not penicillin, but a drug called Prontosil. Prontosil and drugs derived from it saved millions of lives up till the 1960's. Its creator, a German named Gerhard Domagk, was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts.

Plastic fibers have been found in tap water around the world, with the US at the worst rate (94%), and both the exact sources and the health consequences are yet unknown.

12. Marvel comics was printing comics with Captain America fighting Nazis before America had entered World War 2 thus getting them accused as war provokers.

13. Medieval moats served not only the purpose of being a physical barrier but when water-filled were also able to prevent enemies from tunneling and undermining a wall, by saturating the ground, making tunneling very difficult.

14. Ronnie Barrett, the designer of the .50 cal M82 sniper rifle, was a photographer with no background in manufacturing or engineering.

15. Irish people call black people "daoine gorm" (blue people) rather than "daoine dubh" (literally black people) because "fear dubh" (black man) means "the devil".

In 2004, a Magnetar (a type of a Neutron Star with a powerful magnetic field) had a large gamma ray burst which briefly expanded the ionosphere of Earth. It is thought to be the largest explosion observed in the galaxy by humans since the supernova observed by Johannes Kepler in 1604.

17. The European Union established regulations that forced all cell phone companies to adopt the MicroUSB as a standard charger port. One phone charger works for all models under this scheme. Apple got around the rule by simply including an adaptor for all of their new phones.

18. According to "Hollywood accounting", the Lord of the Rings trilogy" made horrendous losses and no profit at all", inspite of earning $3 billion on a budget of $100 million.

19. In United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. the United States Supreme Court ruled Hollywood's Big Five could no longer own movie theaters, thus breaking up their oligopoly. Before its ruling, Hollywood studios controlled the filming, producing, printing and distribution of their movies.

20. Kangatarianism is a form of vegetarianism that includes the consumption of kangaroo meat for environmental and ethical reasons. Kangaroos live in the wild, requiring no extra land or water for farming, produce very little methane, and have a minimal impact on the local landscape.

A man from Pittsburgh started a petition to rename their airport after Mr. Rogers. The petition got over 4000 signatures.

22. Pizzly bears, grizzly/polar bear hybrids (Nanulak), are found in the wild as well as captivity.

23. Marlboro cigarettes were initially marketed to women and included a red strip around their filters to hide lipstick marks.

24. The "Necco" of Necco Wafers stands for "New England Confectionery Company."

25. Dead Birds were a common theme on Victorian Christmas cards.