50 Random Facts That Will Surprise You – Part 2
26 Michael McKean Crushed Celebrity Jeopardy
American actor Michael McKean, who played Chuck McGill in “Better Call Saul” and David St. Hubbins in “This Is Spinal Tap,” also became one of the highest-earning game show contestants of all time. In 2010, he appeared on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” and accumulated $1,115,400 across his appearances. That total gave him a surprising second claim to fame far outside his acting career.
27. Before British broadcaster David Attenborough became a natural history legend, he ran BBC Two in the 1960s as a senior BBC executive. During that period, he helped shape the channel’s identity and commissioned programs, including “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” His success at the BBC even led others to suggest him for the top job of BBC Director-General.
28. In 1888 the German inventor Karl Benz sought written permission from the Grand Duchy of Baden to drive his “Motorwagen” on public roads. Local residents had complained about the vehicle’s smell and noise, forcing Benz to seek official approval. The Grand Ducal authorities agreed and issued him what became the world’s first driver’s license.
29. In 1985, four cans each of Coke and Pepsi launched into space aboard the shuttle Challenger as the soda rivals tested drinks for microgravity. Both companies designed special 12-ounce cans that astronauts could use in orbit. Coke’s space-can technology cost about $250,000, while Pepsi’s version also used a 12-ounce can but reportedly cost $14 million.
30. Some types of fungus can grow in kerosene and become a serious problem inside airplane fuel tanks if the fuel is not carefully treated. The fungus feeds at the boundary where water meets fuel, then forms sludge that can block fuel channels. It can also corrode the aluminum housing.
31 Jennie Wade Died Baking Bread
In 1863, a woman named Jennie Wade became the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. She was baking bread when a stray bullet passed through a door and struck her. In 1882, the U.S. Senate granted her mother a pension, citing that Wade had died serving the Union cause by baking bread for soldiers.
32. In 1917, more than 10,000 African Americans marched in silence down New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest lynching and anti-Black violence. The NAACP organized the Silent Parade after deadly racial violence, including the East St. Louis riots. The march became one of the first major mass civil rights protests in U.S. history, though not usually receiving the same level of attention as the later Civil Rights protests.
33. In 1866, California miners planted a skull to prank American geologist Josiah Whitney, whom they disliked. Whitney announced the Calaveras Skull as proof that humans had lived in North America two million years earlier. He refused to accept it as a hoax, even after the first fluorine analysis ever performed on human bone showed the skull came from a recent person.
34. New Zealand’s Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter uses about 13 percent of the country’s electricity supply. The smelter needs enormous amounts of power to turn alumina into aluminum at an industrial scale.
35. In 1577, Chinese Buddhist monk Hanshan Deqing decided to copy the entire Avatamsaka Sutra, one of the longest Buddhist sutras, using his own blood. When the Empress heard about the project, she gave him golden pages to write on. Hanshan spent two years completing the massive devotional work.
36 Greg Oden Draft Class Outlasted Him
Greg Oden was tabbed by the Portland Trail Blazers with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft but injuries derailed his NBA career to just three seasons. The four players drafted directly after him were Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley, and Jeff Green. Nineteen years later, those four players were still active, turning Oden’s draft-night promise into one of the NBA’s strangest what-ifs.
37. Trade data shows that fake hair is North Korea’s biggest export, worth around $188 million and making up 46.5% of the country’s official exports. The category includes products such as wigs, false beards, eyebrows, eyelashes, and other artificial hair goods.
38. In 2014, American battle rapper Daylyt was removed from the stage during a rap battle after the crowd started booing him. He warned the audience, “If I hear two more boos, I’ll boo boo right on this stage,” and two people booed. Daylyt then tried to defecate on the stage, forcing officials to remove him before the battle could continue.
39. In 2005, a film crew in downtown Toronto shot a movie scene about 9/11 and blew what they thought was scrap paper into the air to mimic debris falling from the towers. After the papers scattered through the area, the crew realized they had accidentally used real medical records. They then had to try to retrieve the documents to avoid a privacy breach.
40. Mewing is the practice of pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth in the hope of improving facial and jaw structure. The idea spread widely online, especially among people looking for a sharper jawline without surgery. However, there is no solid scientific evidence that mewing can reshape an adult face or produce the dramatic results its supporters claim.
41 Bothie Conquered Both Poles
Bothie, the dog owned by British explorers Ranulph and Ginnie Fiennes, became the only dog known to visit both the North Pole and the South Pole. He made the journeys during the Transglobe Expedition, which ran from 1979 to 1982. Since dogs are now banned from Antarctica, Bothie’s polar double will likely never be repeated.
42. During the recording of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 album “Siamese Dream,” American drummer Jimmy Chamberlin struggled with heroin use and sometimes disappeared for days. After Chamberlin vanished for three days, frontman Billy Corgan “put the hammer down” and made him perform “Cherub Rock” repeatedly. Chamberlin kept playing until his hands bled.
43. In 1982, the pilots of Air Florida Flight 90 faced snowy weather before takeoff from Washington National Airport but did not return for more deicing because they did not want to lose their takeoff spot. Instead, they moved behind a DC-9 in the queue, believing its engine exhaust would help melt ice from their wings. The plan backfired, added to the aircraft’s icing problems, and contributed to a crash into the Potomac River that killed 74 people on board.
44. In 2006, a teenager named Matt Suter survived the farthest known distance carried by a tornado, traveling 1,307 feet in Fordland, Missouri. He had been standing on a couch trying to close a window against winds of about 150 mph when a lamp hit him and knocked him unconscious. An F2 tornado then sucked him out of the house and threw him nearly a quarter mile. His only injury came from the lamp that hit him before the tornado carried him away.
45. In 1892, German inventor Rudolf Diesel developed his compression-ignition engine, which later gave diesel fuel its name. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, he demonstrated the engine running on peanut oil instead of modern petroleum diesel.
46 Kermit Washington Punch Nearly Killed
During a 1977 NBA game, American basketball player Kermit Washington punched Houston Rockets forward Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight. The blow fractured Tomjanovich’s skull and caused injuries so severe that Tomjanovich later said he could taste spinal fluid leaking into his mouth. Tomjanovich survived, but the punch became one of the most infamous acts of violence in NBA history.
47. In 1986, a sick patient needed a heart transplant, but no road or regular air route could move the organ within the four-hour window before it risked damage. The heart was loaded onto an F-111 Aardvark bomber for a 1,400-mile emergency flight.
48. In the 18th century, a French glutton named Tarrare was hired as a spy because he could swallow unusual objects, including a wooden box carrying military intelligence. French officers sent him across enemy lines with the box hidden inside his body, hoping he could smuggle the message past the Prussians. The Prussians captured him, forced him to pass the box, and opened it expecting secret information. Instead, they found only a useless test message inside.
49. In 1989, American artist Joe Coleman staged the performance at the Boston Film/Video Foundation as his Professor Mombooze-o character. He burst through a screen with fireworks strapped to his chest, then bit the heads off two live white mice during the act. Police and firefighters arrived afterward, and Coleman was charged with “possession of an infernal machine. ” The court fined him and ordered him not to eat any mice for one year.
50. During the Cold War, East Germany tightly controlled travel to West Germany because officials feared citizens would defect. When some East Germans received permission to cross the border, authorities often required them to leave behind a close relative as “collateral.” That relative effectively served as a hostage, giving the traveler a personal reason to return instead of escaping permanently.