Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 320, click here.
1-5 Kickass Random Facts
1. Philip Boit is the first Kenyan to participate in the Winter Olympics. Competing in the 10 KM classic cross-country race he came in last. The winner, Bjørn Dæhlie, waited for Boit to reach the finish line in order to hug him. The moment affected him so much Boit named his son after Dæhlie. – Source
2. Dozens of North Korean “ghost ships”, many containing corpses, have washed up on the Japanese coast in recent years. – Source
3. Meth is so common in North Korea that suited elites in Pyongyang restaurants offer each other a “nose” after dinner, the middle classes take it as a cold cure or remedy for back pain, and the poor take it to ease the emptiness in their stomach. – Source
4. Soda is so corrosive, that without BPA or equivalent liner, an aluminum can break after three days. – Source
5. The near-extinction bison hunting in the 1800s was not to gain food, but to restrict the American Indians’ dominant food supply; herds were shot from trains and left to rot where they died. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. Antarctic explorer George Murray Levick in 1911-12 observed penguins’ sexual habits, which included sexual coercion, sex among males and sex with dead females; as these notes were deemed indecent for publication, he wrote them in Greek so that only an educated gentleman could read them. – Source
7. In Marvel’s main universe Sir Isaac Newton was once Sorcerer Supreme, the same title later held by Doctor Strange. – Source
8. “Sutton’s Law”, which states “that when diagnosing, one should consider the obvious”. Named after the famous American bank robber, Willie Sutton, when asked ‘Why do you rob banks?’ To which replied, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’ – Source
9. Big Bertha, a gun used during WW1, was so powerful that troops had to move 300 yards away and put cotton wads in their ears, eyes, and nose, as well as open their mouths so that their eardrums weren’t burst by the blast pressure. – Source
10. A guy amended a credit card contract to include 0% interest and an unlimited credit line and large fees to be paid to him if the bank didn’t uphold it. The bank agreed to the terms, then later tried to cancel his account. A judge upheld the amended contract. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. A Colombian program called kangaroo care, where prematurely born babies are kept in constant skin-to-skin contact with parents has shown success over hospital incubators in reducing infant mortality. – Source
12. “Muntzing” is a method for improving the design of electronic products: Remove components until it stops working, then put the last removed part back in. It is named after Earl “Madman” Muntz, who used the method to cut manufacturing costs of his popular televisions in the 1940s and 50s. – Source
13. The rotary phone was invented by an undertaker. The operator in his hometown was married to his competition, so the rotary dial was a way to bypass the human operator. – Source
14. The Sandbox Tree, also known as the Dynamite Tree, is covered in spikes, full of poison, and grows exploding fruits. – Source
15. Demetri Martin wrote a 224-word palindrome poem about alcoholism. – Source
Typo #25 “Lather” not “Later”