Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 450, click here.
1-5 Kickass Random Facts
1. Qian Xuesen was a Chinese rocket scientist and mathematician, who worked on the Manhattan Project during WWII to help America build the world’s first atomic bomb. During the Cold War, he was accused of being a communist and fled America to China, where he helped China build its first atomic bomb. – Source
2. Billy Ray Harris is a beggar who was accidentally given a $4,000 engagement ring by a passing woman when she dropped it into his cup. He never sold it. Two days later the woman came back for her ring and he gave it to her. In thanks, she set up a fund that raised over $185,000 for him. – Source
3. In 2013, Australian blogger Belle Gibson claimed to have beaten brain cancer using “natural remedies” selling a cookbook to cancer patients with all her “secrets”. It was later revealed she never even had cancer and was fined $410,000 by the Australian government for her deceptive practices. – Source
4. The iconic Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 was created by only 9 people and 8 of them had never once worked on a video game before! – Source
5. A neuroscientist determined the most “feel-good” songs of all time and #1 was “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. Spiders don’t have muscles in their legs. They extend them using a system of hydraulics powered by their blood pressure. When they die, spiders’ legs curl up because the blood pressure is gone. – Source
7. There’s a “dead spot” in the Black Sea where scientists have found ships as old as 1200 years preserved well enough to see chisel marks from the original builder. – Source
8. After an internet vote for a new middle name, Macaulay Culkin legally changed his name to Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin. – Source
9. In 1941, when a General asked Winston Churchill for more men to man Antiaircraft guns, Churchill replied: “No, I can’t spare any men, you’ll have to use women.” Mary Churchill (18), Winston Churchill’s youngest daughter was among the first to join and rose to the rank of Junior Commander in 1944. – Source
10. Between 1970 and 1973, four Israeli fighter pilots translated The Hobbit from English to Hebrew to pass the time in an Egyptian prison, where they were held as POWs. The pilots’ translation was published commercially in 1977, and up until 2012 was considered the best Hebrew version of the book. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. On his second day in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned all of the Vietnam War draft evaders. – Source
12. The average human body has enough iron in it to forge a metal nail that is 3-inches long, enough sulfur to kill all fleas on a dog, enough carbon to make 900 pencils, enough potassium to fire a toy cannon, enough fat to make 7 bars of soap, and enough phosphorous to make 2,200 match heads. – Source
13. Kid Rock didn’t grow up in a trailer park, but on a six-acre estate with a 5,628-square-foot house and its own apple orchard. – Source
14. In 2015, three inmates from a maximum-security prison beat Harvard’s debate team in a competitive debate. – Source
15. Ravens and wolves have formed a mutually beneficial relationship out in the wild. Ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals so that the wolves will then open up the carcass and leave the scraps for the ravens once they’re finished. – Source
