Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 423, click here.
1-5 Kickass Random Facts
1. Pink Floyd’s The Wall is implied to be an endless loop. The final song, Outside the Wall, ends with the words “Isn’t this where…”, and the album begins with the words “… we came in?” with a continuation of the melody of the last song, hinting at the cyclical nature of Water’s theme. – Source
2. Billy West, who does the voice of Philip J. Fry’s on Futurama among other characters, intentionally made Fry’s voice close to his natural voice as a job security measure because it would be more difficult to replace him. – Source
3. Schwarzenegger faked interest in the movie “Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot” to trick Stallone into starring in it. Stallone later called the movie “maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen.” – Source
4. The star wars theme was written purposely on the same key as the 20th Century Fox fanfare (that used to appear before the movie started) so that there will be a continuous feeling and a smooth entry to the film for the viewers. – Source
5. When his eight years as President of the United States ended on January 20, 1953, private citizen Harry Truman took the train home to Independence, Missouri, mingling with other passengers along the way. He had no secret service protection. His only income was an Army pension. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. Alec Guinness agreed to be in Star Wars (Obi-Wan Kenobi) only after his initial salary was doubled, and that he would receive 2.25% of all gross royalties paid to George Lucas, and never have to make a public appearance. – Source
7. The term scapegoat comes from an old Jewish ritual where they would put all the sins of the townspeople onto a goat and then banish that goat from town sending the burden of their sins with it. – Source
8. In 2015, a scientist dropped a microphone 6 miles down into the Mariana Trench, the results were a surprise, instead of quiet, they heard sounds of earthquakes, ships, the distinct moans of baleen whales and the overwhelming clamor of a category 4 typhoon that just happened to pass overhead. – Source
9. George Washington moved his slaves in and out of Pennsylvania every 6 months to avoid them taking advantage of a law that meant slaves residing in the state longer than half a year could claim freedom. – Source
10. Fernald State school exposed mentally ill children to radioactive isotopes to document the effects. They had no permission from the kids or their parents & told the kids they were part of a “science club.” The experiments were conducted by Harvard University & sponsored by Quaker Oats. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. In the 1980s Janet Jackson was criticized for not writing her own music and being dependent on producers. In response, she wrote and co-produced every song on her following album, which ended up being her best-selling album ever. – Source
12. A golden retriever, Figo, sacrificed his safety to protect his owner. He leaped in front of a school bus in an effort to protect a blind woman. The chief of police said he’d seen dogs protect their owners from intruders, but never automobiles. Figo only sustained a leg injury. – Source
13. Jackie Coogan, the silent film child actor who was famously exploited by his parents for his earnings, found renewed screen success later in life playing Uncle Fester on the Addams Family. – Source
14. A Florida man faked his murder by shooting himself with a gun tied to a weather balloon. The gun and balloon were never found. – Source
15. When a persistent Washington DC bookstore clerk exposed Stephen King as the true author of books written under the name Richard Bachman, King’s publishers sent out a press release announcing Bachman’s death from “cancer of the pseudonym.” – Source
