16-20 Kickass Random Facts
16. The Code of Hammurabi banned selling beer for money, allowing it only to be bartered for barley. The punishment for selling beer for money was death by drowning. – Source
17. The ‘Landlady’ from Kung Fu Hustle, played by actress Yuen Qiu, studied under the same master as Jackie Chan at the Peking Opera School. – Source
18. Antigonus Monophthalmus, one of Phillip II’s and Alexander the great’s generals, continued to fight in battles for decades after losing an eye. Described as a man of powering physique, he died on the battlefield at the age of 81. This was the only battle he ever lost in his life. – Source
19. In order to keep the secret of “Who shot J.R.?”, every actor in Dallas was filmed shooting J.R., including J.R. himself. – Source
20. Thomas Edison turned the word ‘hello’ into a greeting. He felt it was the best way to answer the phone whereas his rival Alexander Graham Bell felt ‘Ahoy’ was the best way to answer the phone. Before this ‘hello’ was used to convey surprise. – Source
21-25 Kickass Random Facts
21. Victoria Gillick ran a campaign in the UK to ban contraceptives to under 16s. Her loss in court created the Gillick competence named after her, which gave under 16s more medical rights to consent to medical treatment if they understood the doctor’s recommendations. – Source
22. In 1995, after the U.S. Congress attempted to deny foreign aid to Turkey, the mayor of Izmir, Turkey banned the sale of Dole bananas, mistakenly believing that then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole owned the fruit company. – Source
23. Canadian police gave 40,000 “positive tickets” a year to youths. The initiative ended up reducing complaints about youth by 50% and transformed the relationship between cops/kids. “If you reward good behavior, your return on investment will be more good behavior.” – Source
24. September 4th, 1909, saw the first Boys Scout rally in Crystal Palace, South London. The gathering was organized by Baden-Powell & saw 11,000 boys in attendance. Amongst the thousands in attendance, a handful of girls crashed the event. Dressed in uniform, they called themselves Girl Scouts. – Source
25. New York’s Five Mafia Families received millions of dollars for contracts for the Ground Zero debris clean-up and engaged in a variety of schemes from no-show jobs for high-level bosses to illegally dumping debris. – Source
