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41 Random Bits of Trivia You Can Chuck Into Boston Harbor If You Run Out of Tea

Honestly, once we dump these into your brain you can do whatever you want with them

41 Random Bits of Trivia You Can Chuck Into Boston Harbor If You Run Out of Tea

April 30, 2025

Facts like these usually have our brains playing a never-ending game of hot potato. Once we chuck them out of our brain and into yours, you’re going to want to chuck them into the brain beside you.

Hopefully your brain (and theirs) can handle a whole crateful at once, because here they come!

41

Laughing Gas

Created with good intentions LAUGHING GAS Back in the 1700s, Humphry Davy used to throw parties where he'd give his guests a hit of laughing gas from a green silk bag. Weird as it sounds, this ended up being a major breakthrough in medicine, as it led to the invention of anesthesia. CRACKED — Verushka/Shutterstock
ABC News

40

Fossilized Lightning

Fossilized lightning happens when lightning discharges into the ground and creates glass. CRACKED.COM Glass tubes called ful- gurites form in sedi- ment, such as sand, af- ter the intense heat from a lightning strike fuses the grains to- gether. — Museum of Natural History

39

The Super Soaker

A former NASA scientist who helped develop stealth bombers invented the Super Soaker. NERF Super Soaker TMP CRACKED.COM Lonnie G.Johnson eventu- ally licensed his design to Larami Corporation, later acquired by Hasbro. Не made so much money that he was able to fund his own research and develop- ment company. — Biography

38

Astronauts

Very, very few astronauts actually died in space the total - number is 3. About 550 people went into space, and about 30 died on a space mission or training for one, but only 3 died beyond the Karman line (where space starts). CRACKED.COM — Source: Astronomy.com

37

Cheers

COACH CHEERS CRAGKEDCOM After being cast as Coach, Nicholas Colasanto developed heart disease and an inability to remember lines. That forced producer — Yahoo

36

Tron

41 Random Bits of Trivia You Can Chuck Into Boston Harbor If You Run Out of Tea — Source: 7 Amazing Movie Special Effects You Won't Believe Aren't CGI

35

The Lord of the Rings

In order to keep the scripts for Amazon's Lord Of The Rings show safe, tHE writers work in a safe room with taped windows and security guards. Only th

34

Tennis

The longest point in tennis history took 29 minutes. GRACKED.COM There is no time limit in tennis. In a match between Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner in 1984, the ball was hit back and forth 643 times before a single point was awarded.

33

ABBA

Abba's studio sessions were so long, their sound engineer says he'd almost pass out from hunger. They never left a song unfinished, and worked on every one as if it were a potential hit single. Two members, Björn and Benny, even took vacations just to write songs. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

The Maui of Maori

The Maui of Maori mythology was crushed inside a vagina with obsidian teeth. Maui was attempting to win immorality for mankind by turning into a worm and en- tering the sleeping Great Goddess of the Underworld, Hine-nui-te-po, but the birds he brought with him started to laugh and woke her up. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

31

NASA

A corned beef sandwich was smuggled into space. Astronaut John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich into space aboard the Gemini 3 mission. Не hid the sandwich in his spacesuit pocket and shared it with the other crew members. NASA banned smuggled sandwiches from future missions. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Vietnam

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. decided to relocate South Vietnamese villagers. It was called the Strategic Hamlet Program, and the idea was to move the villagers away from the soldiers, so they wouldn't get hurt. They'd be grateful, and support our side. But we grossly underestimated the number of villagers. It turned out there were 8 million of them, and the government had no way of providing for them. The resulting discontent made them easy recruits for the communists. CRACKED.COM http://www.britannica com/event/Vietnam-War#ref809122 — Source

29

True Blood

Benedict Cumberbatch almost played vampire Bill in True Blood. Yep, Cumberbatch auditioned for one of television's hottest vampires. No word on why he didn't land the part. Maybe an accent thing. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Vince Vaughn

At 16 Vince Vaughn was certified and worked as a life guard. Fortunately it didn't result in a tragedy, but he lied about having taken a CPR course and despite his claims he made to the woman in charge, he was also a terrible swimmer. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Zildjian

The first Zildjian cymbals were created in 1618. Avedis Zildjian CRACKED.COM Avedis Zildjian was an alche- mist who was looking for a way to turn base metal into gold. Не made an alloy of tin, copper, and silver into a sheet of metal, which could make musical sounds with- out shattering. — Source

26

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan really did wear UNC practice shorts under his jersey during games. It's not just a random bit from Space Jam - apparently, concealing those shorts was why he started wearing baggy shorts in the Chicago Bulls. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Norwegian Air

Public votes that backfired big time ENR norwegian.com NORWEGIAN AIR'S DANCE WITH THE DEVIL A poll to name their new mascot was meant to honor a Norwegian hero, but metalheads rocked the vote, and black metal guitarist Euronymous won. Не was a Satan worshiper known for church burnings in the '90s. CRACKED — Source

24

Hashtag Fails

GRACKED #McDStories To improve their image, McDonald's asked people to share McDonald's related stories. Pouncing on the opportunity, the Twittersphere shared thousands of stories involving slaughterhouses, food poisoning, and diabetes. Co. M The Saweetie Meal NGY M BBQ Sweetie CREW — Source

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23

Aliens

CRACKED.COM Amazing effects made without CGI Aliens The dropship crashing down and rolling towards the characters was achieved by the old technique of projecting the footage on the background. The scene looks smooth, dangerous, and insanely dynamic. — Source

22

Born Brave-ish

CRACKED HUMANS ARE BORN WITH TWO FEARS. The fear of loud noises and falling - the rest are learned or developed. — CNN / Lumiere Child

21

Jaws

MOVIES SAVED BY RESHOOTS JAWS FROM LAUGHS TO SCREAMS. After audiences laughed at the cheap-looking shark, Steven Spielberg took a less is more approach to build suspense, and added character beats that spoke about how scary the shark is. You know what they say: Tell, don't show. CRACKED — Universal Pictures
TheRichest

20

9/11

Ben Sliney's first day as one of the FAA's National Operations Managers was on September 11, 2001. CRACKED.COM It was Sliney's decision, and only Sliney's deci- sion, to ground all 4,200 planes in the US after the terrorist attacks, the first of which occurred at just 8:45 am. — USA Today / Wikipedia

19

Space Travel

BONES AND MUSCLES ATROPHY IN SPACE. РОСКОС RETURNING TO EARTH IS A HUGE ADJUSTMENT. You might be missing 8 percent of the bone across your hips, and that's even with all the exercise. You also have to readjust mentally. You'll try to float a pen or a water bottle over to someone and watch it clunk to the ground, because you've forgotten about gravity. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Horrifying Sides Of Space Travel No One Talks About

18

Guinness

The bubbles in Guinness Stout sink, rather than rise. ESTP 1759 GUINNESS BREWED IN DUBLIN Researchers in Ireland speculate that it has to do with the shape of the pint glass it's usually served in. CRACKED.COM

17

Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire St. Louis Cardinals MCGURE 25 CRACKED.COM Just before his big 1998 home run competition with Sammy Sosa, Big Mac put a stipulation in his contract that he'd get $1 per fan that came out to Busch Stadium (after 2.8 million). They wound up getting 3.2 million fans to the stadium that season --up from 2.4 milion in '97. — Source: 15 Suspiciously Specific Clauses In Pro Athletes' Contracts

16

The Conjuring

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The real doll that inspired The Conjuring was a normal Raggedy Ann. WARNING POSITIVEL CRACKED.COM DO NOT In The Conjuring, and the Annabelle spin-off, the evil-possessed doll is a creepy, ventriloquist-dummy-looking toy with wooden skin and large, unblinking eyes. In reality, the toy that inspired the series is a regular Raggedy Ann, which is locked up in Warrens' Occult Museum in Monroe, ст. — Source: 14 Behind The Scenes Facts About Our Favorite Horror Movies

15

Horse Racing

Hands down refers to a horse jockey being so ahead, he could loosen the reins. CRACKED.COM The phrase comes from horse racing, referring to a jockey who's so far ahead that he can afford to drop his hands and loosen the reins, which he usually kept tight to encourage a horse to run, and still easily win. — EtymOnline

14

Barack Obama

10th Cousins GRACKED.COM Barack Obama and George W. Bush are 10th cousins. In total, Obama is distantly related to 6 U.S. presidents. — The Guardian

13

The Greater Bilby

CRACKED.COM The GREATER BILBY is an Australian rabbit-kangaroo. There are efforts to replace the Easter Bunny with an Easter Bilby, to raise awareness about this fluffy marsupial's endangered status. — Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Queensland Department of Environment and Science

12

Ed Gein

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Three separate horror movies are inspired by real-world serial killer Ed Gein. CRACKED In the late 50's, Ed Gein confessed to two murders and was found with a house full of human remains. The horrific actions of Gein were used as inspiration in film over four decades in Psycho (1960), The Silence of the Lambs (1974), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1991).

11

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly asked his wife out the first time he saw her (and soon proposed). She was a temp receptionist at a music publishing company, and Holly walked in and asked her out. She agreed, and on the date, he proposed (she agreed, again). CRACKED.COM — Source: Texas Monthly

10

Top Gun

TOM CRUISE IN TOP GUN 7 MAVERICK Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said it wasn't easy convincing Cruise to take the role of fighter-p Pete Maverick Mitchell in the 1986 movie, so they arranged a flight with him and actual Navy pilots to give him a taste of the movie and also scare him a little. It didn't, he loved it, and the rest is history. CRACKED.COM — Variety

9

Green Day

Sweet Children CRACKED.COM The boys in Green Day decided to change their name before dropping their debut album, SO as not to draw attention to just how young they were. Also, there was another band in their scene called Sweet Baby. Also, that name is objectively dumb. — Source: Green Day: the secret history

8

The Modern Plague Doctor

WEIRD WORLD A guy is walking around an English village dressed up as a plague doctor. 000000000. He hasn't committed any crimes, but the police are conducting patrols in Flackwell Heath anyway to put the residents at ease. CRACKED.COM — Source: Bucks Free Press

7

Batman & Robin

Batman & Robin CRACKED.COM They were So confident it'd be a hit, they hired Joel Schumacher to direct a 5th installment while the 4th was still in pro

6

Bad Predictions

15 Really Inaccurate Predictions About The Future - If current trends continue, Americans in the 21st century will live “as the low-caste Chinaman doe — Source: NY Times

5

The Mandalorian

THE MANDALORIAN HAS INCLUDED A FEW SHOUT-OUTS TO IT.
The rifle the Mandalorian uses never appears in the movies, and it wasn’t created for the show -- — Sources: The Bonkers Easter Egg Hiding in the New 'Star Wars' TV Show, Inverse

4

Quentin Tarantino (Again)

Quentin Tarantino owns the copyright on his films. According to his contract, the studios gradually cede ownership to Tarantino over time, which, amon

3

Pregnancy Tests

Pregnancy Tests In 1350 B.C.E, a woman would urinate on wheat and barley seeds. If the seeds grew, she might be pregnant, otherwise, she probably wasn

2

Washington Crossing the Delaware

The Washington Crossing the Delaware painting on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is actually a coPY. The original was destroyed in WII duri

1

The Clash

Terry Chimes is a chiropractor. After punishing the drums for The Clash and Black Sabbath, Chimes decided to start punishing human bodies instead. The

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