13 Trivia Nuggets To Impress And Delight Your Friends

The Canary Islands is an island country of Africa's northern shore, derived from the Latin term for the dog, "canis." When early sailors arrived on the island, they discovered it swamped with wild dogs and gave the identity. The islands gave their name to the bird species canary, not the other way around.

Do you want to win your weekly factoids contest? Ok that’s not a real thing, but do you want to broaden your understanding with a wide range of interesting tidbits? We've got your back! You'll gain knowledge of what camels genuinely purchase in their undulations, why exactly sunsets on Mars seem to be blue, how much crazy utilization ancient Romans had for semen and urine, as well as by perusing these facts. Yes, you can be an Olympic-level athlete with ONE WEIRD TRICK: exploit loosely covered loopholes in a country where you have no real-world experience and simply don't get disqualified for failing any fancy "tricks" and "things normal athletes do." The entire story, plus more, can be found below.

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Jurassic Park is wrong, you could outrun a Tyrannosaurus. OURASS CRACKED.COM Using multibody dynamic analysis and skeletal stress analysis, scientists determined that stress from high speed running under all their weight could break a T-rex's legs. The true speed that the giant dino would probably run is closer to 5-15 mph. — Source: The Blaze

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The internet is ruining our long-term memory. CRACKEDO Researchers found that subjects remembered less information if they knew they could look it up easily online. Taking information from working memory and moving it into long-term memory requires an attentiveness that people just don't have anymore. — Source: Scientific American

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A SNES game was SO uninteresting that a random, banjo-playing old man was placed on the box art. THE HYPER-SPEED SHOOT-OUT IN SPACE DhaLamx KEMCO CRACKED.COM 1991's Phalanx for the SNES was a shooter with the player piloting a laser-blasting space fighter, but the most prominent thing on the box art was an elderly banjo player in overalls. Keith Campbell, who worked on Phalanx's cover, said he didn't find anything in the game that stood out, so he went with eye-catching packaging that would cause a consumer to wonder what just happened. — Source: Destructoid

11

Watering fresh produce in grocery stores makes them spoil faster. GRACKED.COM The timed sprays that supermarkets use to moisten up their veggies aren't there to keep them fresh, the act is intended to subconsciously trick you into thinking the produce is fresh and newly picked. In fact, watering like this just makes the food spoil faster than it would otherwise. — Source: New York Times

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In response to the moral panic over violent video games in the 90's, Penn & Teller created a real-time, truck driving simulator. YOUR DRIVER 15 JOCKO CO 1993 CRACKED.com A minigame titled Desert Bus, in the unreleased Sega CD game Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors, takes place completely in the cab of a truck making an 8-hour trip from Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas. Nothing noteworthy happens during the long drive, and upon reaching your destination you receive ONE (1) point, and the option to drive back to Tucson. — Source: Polygon

9

An American woman went to the Winter Olympics for Hungary by doing the bare minimum. GRAGKED.COM American born-and-raised Elizabeth Swaney represented Hungary in the 2018 women's halfpipe skiing event using her Hungary heritage and a very gameable qualifying procedure. Swaney realized she could make the necessary top-30 placement if she participated in events with fewer than 30 people. In her Olympic performance, she didn't perform a single trick, and placed dead last. — Source: CBS Sports

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In 2004, Scotland released a game where you reinact the JFK assassination... as the gunman. CRACKEDG COM In 2004, Traffic Games released JFK Reloaded, with the player acting as Lee Harvey oswald in the Dallas book depository. The developers insisted their intentions were to help prove the Warren Commission's (established by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination) findings, and bring history to life. — Source: The Guardian

7

The mystery contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction were detailed in the script. CRACKED.CO According to Roger Avary, who has a writing credit on Pulp Fiction, Marcellus Wallace's briefcase contained diamonds in the original script. That just seemed too boring and predictable, said Avary, So it was decided that the contents of the briefcase were never to be seen. This way each audience member would fill in the blank with their own ultimate contents. — Source: Time

6

Jellyfish have shut down nuclear power plants on several occasions. CRACKED.COM Nuclear power plants use large bodies of water to keep their fuel rods from overheating, and sometimes these bodies include swarms of jellyfish. Plants in the US, Sweden, Israel, Japan and Scotland have all been taken down due to jellyfish clogging their system. — Source: Washington Post

5

The longest end credits sequence for a video game is just under 4 hours. Michtyde CRACKED.co Mighty No. 9 was released in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising 400% of it's goal. The lowest tier of the Kickstarter, at $5, promised the contributor a place in the credits when the game was complete. Nearly all of the 67,000 backers were added to the end sequence, which ran for 3 hours and 48 minutes. — Source: Gamespot

4

The brain of president James Garfield's assassin is in a Philadelphia museum. CRACKED.COM Charles Guiteau was executed in 1882 for shooting President James Garfield. At his trial, Guinteau's defense lawyer argued for temporary insanity and had an expert witness testify that Guinteau had a congenital malformation of the brain. His autopsy revealed his brain showed signs of advanced syphilis. The remains of Guiteau's brain are on display in the cellar of Philly's Mutter Museum. — Source: The Atlantic

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Source: New York Times

2

John Stamos tried to get the young Olsen twins fired from Full House. GRACKED.COM The Olsen twins were at times difficult to work with, crying and throwing tantrums (since, you know, they were toddlers), and this irritated the crew. Stamos urged the production to get rid of them after being fed up with the twins ruining takes. — Source: Looper

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MEMORY TEST Hey, remember how the internet is decimating your memory? Feel free to prove us wrong by answering this question about the first entry in this article, without scrolling up: According to scientists, what is the max speed a Tyrannosaurus Rex would be able to run without injuring itself? A.) 5 MPH B.) 15 MPH C.) 18 MPH D.) 25 MPH CRACKED.COM

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