Random Fact Sheet #79 – 35 Facts to Fuel Your Conversation

The song American Woman was made by accident. While playing at a show in Ontario, Randy Bachman broke a guitar string. While tuning his guitar he came up with a great riff and he implored Burton Cummings to sing something. The first words out of his mouth were, "American woman, stay away from me."

27. The FBI and J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time, refused to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. It was only when a local state trooper watched the home of mobster Joe Barbara on a hunch, that he stumbled onto a meeting of around 100 members, confirming their existence.

28. The land in Finland is rising faster in the coastline than further East, causing rivers to tilt and flood towns, since the rivers flow from the east to the coast.

29. Laika is not the first animal to travel into space. The title actually goes to a bunch of fruit flies aboard a V2 rocket launched in 1947. They were later recovered alive.

30. Goldilocks was originally an old woman and the three bears were originally all bachelors living together instead of a family.

Zombie worms are deep sea worms that eat the bones of a whale fall, and the microscopic males live inside the females to save themselves the trouble of searching for a mate. One female zombie worm was found with 111 males living inside her.

32. A single serving of cooking spray is considered to be so small that it can be called “fat-free”. That implies that an entire can filled with nothing but oil has no calories.

33. An early purchaser of the Zamboni was worried about profits because people were watching the machine resurface the ice instead of going to the concession stand.

34. An obscure Chinese company has become the top smartphone seller in Africa, largely because they adjusted their phones to work with darker skin tones.

35. All Quiet on the Western Front movie was banned in Poland for being pro-German and in Germany for being anti-German.