Random Fact Sheet #91 – 35 Amazing Facts to Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat

The cast and crew of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia had no idea that they had been nominated for a People's Choice Award until after they had won it in 2016.

27. Pistachios used to almost always be sold coated with a deep red dye, to hide harmlessly but unattractively splotchy hulls. Discolored hulls is no longer an issue with better harvesting technology, allowing today's pistachios to be sold without dye.

28. There are three main fart smells. Hydrogen sulfide produces the signature "rotten eggs" note, methanethiol produces hints of "decomposing vegetables," and dimethyl sulfide adds a hint of "sweetness."

29. Indigenous Native Americans were not granted US citizenship until 1924.

30. The first Olympic fatality occurred when Francisco Lázaro tried to run a marathon covered in animal fat (it was to prevent sunburn). He collapsed at the 30 km mark (19 miles) of the marathon because the animal fat prevented him from sweating leading to fatal body fluid electrolytic imbalance. Before the race, he had supposedly said: "Either I win or I die."

The reason most long-term depressed people "feel less", remember less and experience "blurred memory" is due shrinkage of the hippocampus.

32. In 1908, a New England mill became the first American factory to institute the 5 day week. It did so to accommodate Jewish workers whose observance of Saturday sabbath forced them to work on Sundays, which offended some in the Christian majority. Other factories followed suit soon after.

33. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a robotic hand that has a 100% winning rate playing rock-paper-scissors. It does so by "cheating", using a high-speed camera to recognize the shape within 1 millisecond.

34. The first known instance of a railway was not in modern history - written references place it as early as 600 B.C. The Diolkos was a grooved road paved with hard limestone. It was used to roll ships across the land, saving long transport times on goods and assisting in naval campaigns.

35. It is not hard alcohol itself that burns the throat when consumed. Instead, the ethanol in the liquid makes the throat's VR1 heat receptors more sensitive, prompting them to perceive the body temperature as being hot.