25 Kickass Random Facts List #179

Here is 25 Kickass Random Facts List #179.

1-5 Kickass Random Facts

1. “Spirit Halloween” shops that pop up around Halloween are owned by Spencer Gifts and make up nearly half of the company’s revenue in the two months they’re open each year. – Source

2. Bob Ross never received any money from his show, The Joy of Painting. His company, Bob Ross Inc., sold art supplies, how-to videos, and he gave art lessons. – Source

3. In 1976, the mummified body of Elmer McCurdy was found in a funhouse in California. McCurdy had died in a shootout in 1911 and his body had been used ever since as a sideshow attraction. His discoverers only realized it was a human body when his arm broke off, revealing bone and muscle. – Source

4. ETS, a “non-profit” organization, has a monopoly over graduate testing, pays its CEO more than a million dollars a year, has 36 Senior VPs or VPs earning $400,000+ a year, made $7,000,000 in profits in 2009, and maintains a 360 acre campus with swimming pools, heliports and hotels. – Source

5. Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers. – Source

6-10 Kickass Random Facts

6. When Mister Rogers passed away in 2003, his death was so impactful in the world of children that PBS felt compelled to make a guide for parents called “If your child asks about Fred Rogers’ death.” – Source

7. Because of cold war regulations, every street in China is slightly in the wrong place on Google Maps. – Source

8. With 25 billion hours (2.85 million years) of total game playtime, people have played call of duty for longer than the course of human existence. – Source

9. The U-bend (S-trap without a 90 degree bend) used in toilets and sinks to prevent sewage gasses from entering the house was invented by a man named Thomas Crapper. – Source

10. In 2014, a mysterious lake, over 10m deep, appeared overnight in the Tunisian desert. – Source

11-15 Kickass Random Facts

11. The common garden snail can pass over the edge of razor blade without harm. – Source

12. Areas where it is common for people to live over 100 years are known as “Blue Zones.” There are 5 on Earth: Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Loma Linda, California; and Icaria, Greece. – Source

13. It is not uncommon for successful people to underestimate and devalue their own achievements, and even believe that their own success/competence/intelligence is fraudulent. This mindset is known as Impostor Syndrome. – Source

14. Ching Ling Foo and Chung Ling Soo were two magicians from the early 20th century who were bitter rivals. While Ching Ling Foo was genuinely Chinese, Chung Ling Soo was actually a New Yorker named William Robinson. – Source

15. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first WWF persona was Rocky Maivia, a face (good guy). The audience rejected him due to his cheesy character, with chants of “Die, Rocky, die!” After this, he became a heel (villain), referring to himself in the third person as “The Rock” and insulting the audience. – Source

16-20 Kickass Random Facts

16. Old grazing animals die of starvation because their teeth wear down and they cannot eat – Source

17. At 78, Sam Whittemore was the oldest colonial soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He ambushed a British unit killing 1 by musket and 2 by pistol. He was shot in the face, bayoneted and left for dead in a pool of blood. Colonials found him alive, trying to reload. Despite a grim diagnosis, he lived to 96. – Source

18. Karl Patterson Schmidt, a herpetologist (amphibian expert) who was fatally bitten by a boomslang snake and, knowing he would die, created a scientific account of his own dying process by keeping track of his symptoms right until the very end of his life. – Source

19. In 2010 Mazda recalled 52000 cars due to spider infestation in the fuel system. – Source

20. Before 1934, film in Hollywood used to be extraordinarily liberal during a period called “Pre-Code.” Before laws about decency were passed, films in that era would give today’s rated-R movies a run for their money, featuring nudity, homosexuality, drug use, intense violence and more. – Source

21-25 Kickass Random Facts

21. An American tourist believed that he was taking part in a completely legal goat-burning tradition when he burned down a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw. He spent 18 days in jail and was fined 100,000 SEK ($11,785). – Source

22. Survivors of Australia’s infamous “Ash Wednesday” bushfires reported houses exploding before the fire could touch them due to the air pressure change, steaks found cooked well-done in deep freezers, a car moved 90 m from the cyclonic fire storm and sand turned to glass. – Source

23. Canada has the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world. Higher than the United States and China. – Source

24. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was made before the first color image of earth existed. – Source

25. A prestigious high school in California had to be told, in 2014, that serving fried chicken, corn bread, and watermelon in recognition of Black History Month might not be a good idea. – Source