Here are 25 kickass random facts. For part 808, click here
1-5 Kickass Random Fact
1. In 1915, a farmer saw his sister make her own mascara with coal and petroleum jelly and thought he could make a better product. His invention was easier to apply and won’t burn a woman’s eye. He named his new company Maybelline after his sister Maybel and the base material Vaseline. – Source
2. Environmental activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill lived in a 1500-year-old California redwood tree (known as Luna) 180 feet (55 mm) off the ground for 738 days in order to prevent it from being chopped down by Pacific Lumber Company. She successfully saved the tree. – Source
3. The average annual household income of a Broadway theater attendee is $261,000. – Source
4. In the State of Georgia there is a 150-foot-deep canyon that formed due to poor farming practices in the 19th century. – Source
5. Scientists don’t know what makes the stones curl across the ice in Olympic curling and despite a number of studies, it remains an unsolved mystery for physicists. – Source
6-10 Kickass Random Fact
6. Japan has a ‘wind phone’. An unconnected phone booth where grieving relatives go to ‘talk’ to their lost loved ones. Opened after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake/tsunami, it has seen over 30,000 visitors. – Source
7. In 1575, Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo were captured and enslaved by Barbary Pirates. After two years his family could only afford one ransom, so Rodrigo was freed. Cervantes was freed three years later after a religious charity paid his ransom. – Source
8. Queen Elizabeth I required 600 horse carts to carry everything she needed for her summer excursions to the countryside. She’d stay with the local Nobles, but if their castle was too small, the nobility would get kicked out to make room. Of course, you wouldn’t turn her down or expect payment. – Source
9. There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the observable universe.
10. There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the observable universe. – Source
11-15 Kickass Random Fact
11. In 2010, following slumped sales after the Financial Crisis of 2008, Gap decided to redesign its 20-year longstanding logo, costing an estimated $100M. The amount of public backlash was so great, that Gap took the decision to revert back to their old 1990 logo after less than one week. – Source
12. One of the most quoted lines from Star Trek: The Original Series is “Beam me up, Scotty.” It’s been used in merchandise, commercials, and other media influenced by the show. Ironically, this exact quote has never actually been said in any Star Trek episode or movie. – Source
13. Inventor Elisha Gray, who lost the patent for the telephone to Alexander Graham Bell, also invented the first fax machine, using telegraph lines to transmit handwriting and documents in 1887. – Source
14. New Mexico is older than regular Mexico by over 250 years. It was not named after the country, but in fact both take their name from the ancient Valley of Mexico which was the heart of the Aztec civilization. – Source
15. The surfing events of the Paris 2024 Olympics will be hosted in Tahiti (French Polynesia), which is 15,716 km from Paris. – Source
