16-20 Kickass Random Facts
16. In September 1978, a paint scraper worth 15 cents was dropped into the torpedo launcher of the US nuclear submarine USS Swordfish, jamming the loading piston in its cylinder. When divers failed to free the piston, the sub had to be drydocked and repaired at a staggering cost of 171,000$. – Source
17. In 1913, the inventor of the Diesel engine (Rudolf Diesel) mysteriously died while traveling from Belgium to the UK to meet with the British navy about installing his engines on their submarines. His body was found 11 days later floating in the sea. It’s still unknown if he was murdered. – Source
18. Some leafcutter ants grow antibiotics on their backs so that when their nests get infected with microbes they roll on it to kill bacteria. This new discovery is helping doctors and researchers stop the current antibiotic crisis. – Source
19. The death of British author C.S. Lewis went largely unreported by news media because U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated less than an hour later. – Source
20. In 1911, a 35-year-old French miner began hearing voices in the dark that convinced him to become a painter. With no prior training, he became very successful and claimed the “spirit voices” guided every one of his 800 paintings. – Source
21-25 Kickass Random Facts
21. One of the largest and oldest trees in the world was burned down in 2012 by a meth head that was smoking while inside of it. – Source
22. In the early 1990s, NASA sent jellyfish to space to test how spaceflight would affect their development. The jellies did not develop the proper gravity-sensing capabilities and had trouble figuring how to swim around in normal gravity, with abnormal pulsing and movement when returned to Earth. – Source
23. Rod Serling got the idea for the Twilight Zone episode “I Shot an Arrow into the Air” from a conversation with a friend, to whom he paid $500 for the rights. More people would pitch episode ideas to Serling in person over the years, but none were ever produced. – Source
24. An outbreak of the common cold occurred at an Antarctic base after seventeen weeks of complete isolation. – Source
25. Necropants are a pair of pants (trousers) made from the skin of a dead person. They were believed in Icelandic witchcraft to grant unlimited wealth. The only known pair of necropants is a recreation in the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík, Iceland – Source
