16 Random Facts For Hungry Brains
![16 Random Facts For Hungry Brains](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/1/9/766619_320x180.jpg)
Cracked exists for two purposes: teaching you stuff and making all the writers and artists rich, famous, and sexually irresistible. As the second part of this mission statement has long been declared an utter failure (just ask any of us), we're doubling down on the pedagogical angle. Now, these facts might not help you land a job (except, maybe, writing for some website), but they will definitely give you something to make small talk about, which might be just as challenging (again, just ask any of us).
If you're anything like me, then you love learning random facts. They're just so darn fascinating! And while there's nothing wrong with reading off of a listicle in your spare time, sometimes it's fun to go deep into a topic. That's why today I'm bringing you some of the coolest and quirkiest random facts about food.
(And as usual, you can follow the links to learn even more.)
![YOUR CLUNKY HEATING RADIATOR IS THE RESULT OF A PANDEMIC. During the 1918 flu pandemic, cities ordered people to keep their windows open, even on frigid days. That meant that big radiators were needed to keep the cold at bay. And now you know why your old, ugly radiator overheats](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/1/766631.jpg)
![EVERYONE ON THE GAME OF THRONES SET HATED THE CAT. Ser Pounce, King Tommen's cat, was popular with fans even though he only appeared once - but he only appeared once because he was hell to work with. Natalie Dormer called it a bit of a diva -and according to](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/8/766638.jpg)
More: The Most Hated Star On 'Game Of Thrones' Set? The Cat.
![KILLER PLAYLISTS HELP SAVE CORAL REEFS. One of many solutions tried to revive dying reefs is to bring fish back by playing sounds of a healthy reef through underwater speakers. Scientists from the UK and Australia have tried this acoustic enrichment approach, which does bring the fish to the reef](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/7/766637.jpg)
![DOGE HAS A TRAGIC BACKSTORY. Kabosu, the Shiba Inu gone memetic as Doge, was abandoned when the puppy mill where she was born closed down. Luckily, she was adopted by a kindergarten teacher before she was put down in a shelter. Very story, such sad.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/0/766630.jpg)
![IF YOU'RE POOR, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE AUDITED BY THE IRS. The IRS'S job is to make sure everyone complies with the convoluted American tax code-which is easier if you're broke. Yes, auditing the Jeff Bezoses of the world makes more sense- but it's also a lot more complicated,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/2/766632.jpg)
![THANOS' CREATOR GOT DIDDLY-SQUAT FROM THE AVENGERS MOVIES. Jim Starlin wasn't even invited to any showing- he had to pay for his ticket to see his own creation on a movie screen. All in all, he got more money from DC for an obscure character in Batman V Superman](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/4/766634.jpg)
More: 3 Big Reasons Comics Creators Don't Make Much From Superhero Movies
![MARK HAMILL DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY JOKER. Hamill did want to be a part of Batman: The Animated Series - just not in a high-profile role. He agreed to audition for Joker only because he thought the producers would back down, fearing backlash. Luke Skywalker playing an iconic villain? Fans would](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/9/766629.jpg)
More: No One Was Ready For Mark Hamill's Joker ... Least Of All Mark Hamill
![ARCHIE WAS RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA AT ONE POINT. Back in the '70s and '80s, long before Riverdale made Archie and Jughead cool again, Archie Comics licensed their characters to a Christian publisher. That's how we got plots](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/5/766635.jpg)
More: 5 Famous Characters The World Saw Differently 20 Years Ago
![SLAPPING CHOKING PEOPLE IN THE BACK MIGHT KILL THEM. By all means, slap that choking person in the back, like you see in movies - if you really hate them. The slapping can dislodge the object and send it further down, making the person choke harder. You're supposed to lean](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/6/766636.jpg)
![SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER WAS BASED ON A BIG LIE. The New York Magazine article Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night made disco mainstream overnight, and the movie was based on it-too bad that it was all lies. Reporter Nik Cohn made up Tony Manero (and everything else) after](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/8/766628.jpg)
More: The Article That Mainstreamed (And Whitened) Disco Was Made Up
![COINS WERE FIRST RIDGED TO STOP CRIME. Back when coins were made of precious metals, enterprising felons would file a bit of gold or silver off each coin- practice known as clipping. It was the Romans who first carved ridges into coins, to know if someone had clipped them.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/7/766627.jpg)
![THE NEW DOOM WAS ALMOST A CALL OF DUTY CLONE. Before the DOOM reboot brought new life to the FPS genre in 2016, the developers spent years working on DOOM 4, which was essentially Call of Duty with demons. Luckily, the company saw the light on time and pulled](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/4/766624.jpg)
![JAMES BOND MAY BE NAMED AFTER A CHURCH IN CANADA. Officially, lan Fleming named his spy after the author of a book on birds. But maybe it isn'ta a coincidence that Fleming spent a couple weeks in Toronto in 1942, just down the street from St. James Bond United Church](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/5/766625.jpg)
![THE V2 BOMB WAS A HORNY THING. Wernher von Braun was known as a ladies' man - and that carried over to the flying death contraptions he designed. The V2 bomb wasn't just inspired by the rocket in the film Woman on the Moon, but it had naked women painted on](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/6/766626.jpg)
More: 4 Famous Historical Figures (Who Were Doin' It Nonstop)
![THE BIBLICAL PLAGUE OF FROGS MIGHT HAVE BEEN JUST ONE HUGE FROG. We imagine the plague as a whole lot of frogs getting everywhere- but according to some medieval rabbis, it was just one big-ass frog that covered the entire land of Egypt with its gigantic body (and spawned](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/3/766633.jpg)
More: Bible's 'Plague of Frogs' May Have Been Just One Giant Frog
![BABIES USED TO HAVE SURGERY DONE WITHOUT ANESTHESIA. Well into the 1980s, doctors believed babies' nervous systems weren't developed enough to feel pain- SO the poor little things woULD have procedures done (even major surgery) without any kind of pain relief.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/3/766623.jpg)
More: 5 Medical Procedures From 30 Years Ago (That Now Seem Barbaric)