Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 573, click here
1-5 Kickass Random Facts
1. In 1982, Zimbabwe passed a law banning citizens from making jokes about the surname of the President, Canaan Banana. – Source
2. Rome has major struggles with expanding the subway system in the city because diggers keep running into major archaeological finds. The Metro C expansion has been in the works for the past 40 years and has unearthed Hadrian’s Athenaeum, a military complex, and an amphitheater. – Source
3. In 2009, John Kane found a vulnerability in video poker machines that would allow him to cash out winning hands at a much higher bet amount than he actually wagered. Since it was determined that he was simply pressing buttons that he was allowed to press, he was able to keep the money. – Source
4. For a while in the 2010s, you could rent the country of Liechtenstein on Airbnb for $70,000 a night. This included hanging out with the monarch, temporary currency, the ability to rename streets, and a key to the country. – Source
5. The Japanese, other than nobles or samurai class families, did not have surnames until 1868 when the government required commoners to adopt surnames. Names were chosen based on locations, occupations, or simply were made up, explaining the diversity in Japanese surnames (100,000+ present). – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. Eccentric 18th-century American businessman Timothy Dexter authored a book complaining about politicians, the clergy, and his wife. The book contained no punctuation, so in the second edition, he added a page with 11 lines of punctuation marks, for the readers to distribute them as they pleased. – Source
7. Psychologist George Stratton wore glasses that turned the world upside down for 8 days. By the third day, his brain had adjusted the image to feel right side up and normal. Once he took the glasses off his normal vision looked inverted for hours. – Source
8. Scrooge’s famous cry for the poor to die and thereby ‘decrease the surplus population’ was most likely a reference to Thomas Malthus who had written a generation before about the economic dangers of a lack of war, plague, and famine. – Source
9. Zach Galifianakis had a two-week trial run as a writer on “SNL” before being let go. He wrote a sketch with Will Ferrell being the bodyguard of Britney Spears’s belly button that bombed so bad in the writer’s room that Tina Fey put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. – Source
10. There’s a natural phenomenon known as “thundersnow”, which happens when thunderstorms form in wintry conditions, giving rise to heavy downpours of snow, thunder, and lightning. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. Austria does not usually allow dual citizenship but they made a special exception for Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1983 when he became a U.S. citizen. – Source
12. In January 1960, white jazz pianist Dave Brubeck canceled a twenty-five-date tour of colleges and universities across the American South after twenty-two schools had refused to allow his black bassist, Eugene Wright, to perform. He also canceled a tv show where they didn’t want to show him. – Source
13. There are otter gangs in Singapore who fight for territories. It is well followed by the locals and the press. Each gang has names and reputations. – Source
14. In 1749, a stage show was advertised where a man would squeeze his body into a wine bottle. It was a bet between the Duke of Portland and the Earl of Chesterfield that they could advertise something impossible and get fools to pay for it. The sold-out theatre rioted when no performer showed up. – Source
15. In 2017, a Toronto man pledged to eat a photo of Jason Segel every day until Jason Segel ate a picture of him. During one attempt, he choked on the photo and almost died. – Source
