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12 Cool Facts To File Away For The Future

Convince your nieces and nephews that you're very smart, but only about these 12 things.

12 Cool Facts To File Away For The Future

October 08, 2021

Convince your nieces and nephews that you're very smart, but only about these 12 things.

12

The first oil paintings ever made are attributed to Masolino da Panicale, created in the 1420s. 00000000 Up until recently, this honor belonged to the painter Jan van Eyck, but earlier oil works by Masolino were found. CRACKED.COM — Source: SPIE Digital Library

11

You may know lettuce as short bundles of salad-to-be, but it can actually grow to over 3 feet tall. Called bolting, lettuce can sprout tall stalks with yellow flowers. However, this makes the leaves inedible. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Spruce

10

In the Great Depression, newspapers used by the homeless for warmth were called Hoover Blankets. It wasn't the only jab at the President, including calling empty, turned-out pockets Hoover flags. CRACKED.COM — Source: History

9

If you were a drummer in the 1920s who needed a job, you might end up at the movie theater. Drummers were hired to provide sound effects for silent movies... at least until their jazz quartet made it. CRACKED.COM — Source: Vic Firth

8

The bottom of the Mariana Trench is the deepest location on earth, at 36,201 feet underwater. You could stack 24 empire state buildings on top of each other, and the uppermost spire still wouldn't reach air. CRACKED.COM — Source: National Geographic

7

Between 20 and 40 men are believed to have died during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Many died from what we now know as the bends after leaving pressurized areas allowing underwater work. CRACKED.COM — Source: History

6

When you're as large and as tasty to predators as wildebeest are, you better be born ready to haul ass. Which is why it's good that they're one of the few animals able to walk immediately after being born. CRACKED.COM — Source: National Geographic

5

Smallpox is considered the only human disease to have ever been entirely eradicated. This was thanks to the invention of the smallpox vaccine, the first ever vaccine. Pretty good for a first try. CRACKED.COM — Source: Our World In Data

4

The late singer Selena was a huge fan of famously fancy jeweled eggs known as Faberge Eggs. She collected over 500 of the stunning spheroid shapes, which are on display at the Selena museum. CRACKED.COM — Source: Musicoholics

3

Rabies is easily prevented with a vaccine that can be administered before or shortly after exposure. However, once symptoms appear, it's basically a death sentence. Less than 20 people have survived rabies. Ever. CRACKED.COM — Source: World Health Organization

2

Stool pigeon comes from a method of hunting passenger pigeons where a decoy pigeon was tied to a stool. Want to know if it was effective? You can ask a passenger pigeon yourself. Or you could, if they weren't extinct. CRACKED.COM — Source: ThoughtCo

1

The okapi is an animal that likes its privacy, preferring to live a solitary life within a large secluded area. They mark their territory with a sticky tar-like substance coming from their hooves. And urine, of course. CRACKED.COM — Source: Maryland Zoo

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