Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 765, click here
1-5 Kickass Random Fact
1. The Parthenon in Athens was largely intact for over 2000 years. The heavily damaged ruins we see today are not due to natural forces or the passage of time but rather a massive explosion in 1687. – Source
2. Janet Stephens is a hair stylist who turned hairstyle archeologist. She visited a museum in 2001 and realized historians were wrong about hairstyles on Greek and Roman statues being wigs. She recreated the styles and published her findings in The Journal of Roman Archaeology. – Source
3. Salivating before vomiting is a way for your body to protect your teeth from the incoming stomach acid. – Source
4. In 2009, an American tourist was almost left behind by his transcontinental Australian train. He clung to the outside for two hours and 124 miles in only a t-shirt and jeans while the temperature dropped below freezing. – Source
5. According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of former NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Facts
6. Onions have sucrose, a natural sugar, trapped in their cells. The longer you cook an onion the more sucrose is released and the heat converts the sucrose into glucose and fructose which are sweeter sugars. This process is called caramelization and it creates very sweet-tasting onions. – Source
7. Fabio Lanzoni (romance novel covers) sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber as he believes it “reverses the aging process”. – Source
8. The average Mexican is genetically 50% indigenous with evidence of native ancestry being significantly higher on the X chromosome. – Source
9. In 2018, Pope Francis married two flight attendants in an impromptu mid-air wedding on a plane during a trip to Chile. The couple had gotten married in a civil ceremony in 2010 but weren’t able to follow it up with a church service because of the earthquake in Chile that year. – Source
10. The reason why Wine Coolers dropped in popularity in the USA after the 80s was because, in 1991, the US excise tax on wine was raised from $0.17 per gallon to $1.07, making it uneconomical for Wine Cooler makers to produce at a palatable price for buyers. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Facts
11. The movie Sahara (2005) was plagued with production problems which doubled its budget from $80M to $160M, lawsuits among the crew, and being accused of violations of international law. It made $119M but failed to recoup its costs and is listed among the biggest box office failures of all time. – Source
12. In 1516, Germany passed the Reinheitsgebot law stating only water, barley, and hops be used to make beer. This was due to sanitation reasons and because unscrupulous brewers sometimes added hallucinogenic plants to their brew. – Source
13. “The Razor and Blades Business Model” is the specific term used to describe a product sold at a low price (or given away) in order to increase sales of a complementary good. For example, low-cost printers that only accept expensive refill cartridges. – Source
14. Leonardo Davinci was famed for buying caged birds at markets and setting them free. – Source
15. In the 1970s and 1980s more than 4,600 hemophiliacs contracted HIV or hepatitis C after being infected by contaminated blood-clotting products. – Source
