Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 807, click here
1-5 Kickass Random Fact
1. “Earthquake diplomacy” between Turkey and Greece was initiated after successive earthquakes hit both countries in the summer of 1999. Since then both countries help each other in case of an earthquake no matter how their relations are. – Source
2. Procrastination is not a result of laziness or poor time management. Scientific studies suggest procrastination is due to poor mood management. – Source
3. A female reporter attempted to recreate the famous novel “Around The World In 80 Days”. Not only did she complete it with eight days to spare, but she also made a detour to interview Jules Verne, the original author. – Source
4. Mount Everest is named after Sir George Everest despite him having zero connection to the mountain (he never even saw it) and against his own wishes. He objected to the naming on the grounds that “Everest” could not be easily written in Hindi nor pronounced by the local people. – Source
5. When Californians wanted to name a new city after San Francisco businessman William Ralston, he declined and said he was not worthy of the honor. So instead they named the city in honor of his modesty: Modesto, California. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Fact
6. In the 1970s, East Germany had a coffee shortage so they made Vietnam into a supplier. East Germany invested the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars into Vietnam in exchange for half of Vietnam’s coffee harvests for 20 years. By the first harvest in 1990, East Germany was already dissolved. – Source
7. John Candy was paid $414 for his cameo in Home Alone. This was a lower fee than was paid to the pizza delivery guy. He did it as a favor to the director and improvised all of his dialogue. – Source
8. Drinking a four-ounce shot of vanilla extract is equivalent to doing four shots of vodka. – Source
9. The Pulitzer Prize winning book of poetry in 2014 sold less than 400 copies. – Source
10. TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras, Kailia Posey who went on to inadvertently become known as the ‘Grinning Girl’ meme died by suicide aged 16 in May 2022. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Fact
11. There are only two remaining Northern white rhinoceros alive today, both are female and in captivity, causing this subspecies to be functionally extinct. – Source
12. Following the Black Death in England, peasants were able to negotiate better wages due to labor shortages. In response, Parliament passed the Statute of Labourers 1351 which prohibited the soliciting of wages above pre-plague levels. This contributed to the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381. – Source
13. In 2013, the LAPD got called to the infinity ward offices and got in a stand-off with a life-size statue of a ghost from modern warfare 2. – Source
14. Ronald Reagan would eat jelly beans to help him quit smoking. He had over 300 thousand jelly beans shipped to the White House each month, he would give them away to visitors and staff regularly. His favorite flavor was black licorice and there are special “Jelly Belly Ronald Reagan” packs. – Source
15. The top (summit) of Mt. Everest is grey limestone, complete with embedded marine invertebrate fossils (e.g. trilobites). This means that the rock that makes up the top of Mt. Everest was once underwater. – Source
