Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 588, click here
1-5 Kickass Random Facts
1. There is widespread fraud in mislabeling seafood. A study by Oceana found 1/3 of all seafood samples in the US were mislabeled. This can cause health risks as fish high in mercury are sold as different species. – Source
2. Eddie Murphy recorded “Party All The Time” following a $1 million bet with Richard Pryor that he couldn’t sing. The album it appears on is dedicated to Pryor, with the liner notes reading “To Richard Pryor, my idol with whom I have a $1,000,000 bet. No Mother Fucker, I didn’t forget.” – Source
3. The great smog of London in 1952 was so bad that pedestrians couldn’t even see their feet. Some of the 4,000 who died in the 5 days it lasted didn’t suffer lung problems – they fell into the Thames and drowned because they could not see the river. – Source
4. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 and further investigated it across his lifetime. He died in 1997 aged 90, less than a decade before the New Horizons’ launch to Pluto. To honor his wishes his ashes were launched inside the spacecraft, making it the longest post mortem fight ever recorded. – Source
5. MF DOOM’s tour doubled as a food drive where he encouraged audience members to bring cans of food, leading to over 1000 pounds of food donated to various shelters. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. The famous photo of the Soviet flag being raised during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 was actually doctored. Photographer Yevgeny Khaldei added smoke to make it seem more dramatic, and also removed one of two watches from a Senior Sergeant’s wrist, as it would have implied looting. – Source
7. Bruce McAllister, a 16-year-old student, in 1963 wrote to 150 authors to settle a dispute with his English teacher about textual symbolism. More than 75 replied, including Ray Bradbury, John Updike, and Saul Bellow. McAllister later became an acclaimed author and literature professor. – Source
8. The Inca did not have a written language but they did store and transfer information via a system of knots in rope that is still being decoded. – Source
9. There is still someone in the US living in an iron lung. – Source
10. Patricia Demauro walked to a craps table at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with $100. Four hours and 18 minutes later, Demauro had rolled the World Record for Craps Rolls. She rolled 154 times, the odds of accomplishing this is 1 in 1.56 trillion. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. Cher was the first woman to regularly display her belly button on television, becoming the first woman to do so in front of a live studio audience in 1971. – Source
12. Ore-Ida invented tater tots to make use of the leftover potato shavings from their French fries production. – Source
13. African surgeons are often advised to treat hippo bites as a crushing injury rather than a penetration wound, due to the severity of damage to bones and internal organs. A majority of hippo attack survivors are left with a disability. Amputations are very common. – Source
14. St. Marina the Monk was a crossdressing Catholic saint who joined her widowed father in the monastery. “Brother Marinos” was accused of impregnating a girl, and rather than reveal her sex to save face, humbly let herself be cast out and supported the child like a father. – Source
15. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed 200.000 people, UN peacekeepers from Nepal were sent to the country. Sadly, the peacekeepers brought cholera with them leading to a massive outbreak that infected 800,000 people, and killing at least 9000. – Source
