13 Boredom Blasting Trivia Tidbits
![13 Boredom Blasting Trivia Tidbits](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/2/798472_320x180.jpg)
Keeping a healthy sense of wonder about the universe around you could help you strengthen your intellect, be healthier, enhance your connections, and sometimes even increase your productivity. Albert Einstein, for example, once said, "I don't have any particular abilities. I'm only intrigued because I'm passionate about it." Dear reader, that could be you!
If you would like to follow in Einstein's footsteps and get those positive benefits, read the sweet intel we've assembled here. These facts? They’re entertaining, intriguing, and certain to capture your attention. It's time to arm yourselves with all kinds of amazing knowledge whose possession will instantly boost your confidence.
For example we bet you didn’t know that Sonic 3's music had a distinct Michael Jackson flavor to it when fans first heard it. We now have confirmation of Jackson's involvement, as well as an exceedingly embarrassing photo, after all these years. Here are 12 fun facts about animals, including one about echidnas that you will not like (sorry!).
![SOVIETS ACCIDENTALLY BRICKED A SPACE PROBE BY NOT PROOF-READING THEIR CODE. CRACKED.co The space probe Phobos 1 was launched by the Soviets in 1988, destined for Mars and its moons. Two months after launch, a technician sent a key-command without waiting for the computer to finish proofreading, which was later discovered to BE missing a single hyphen. This command deactivated the probe's thrusters, it lost its orientation in relation to the sun, and it drained its batteries.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/4/798504.jpg)
Source: AP News
![A WOMAN DIED FROM DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER TRYING TO WIN A NINTENDO WII. GRACKED.COM The Hold Your Wee for a Wii contest was hosted by a California radio station and asked participants to continuously drink small amounts of water with no pee breaks, to see who could last the longest and walk away with a Nintendo Wii. Halfway through, Jennifer Strange, mother of three, left the competition complaining of headaches. She died in her apartment shortly after from water intoxication, which caused the fluid in her brain to swell.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/5/798505.jpg)
Source: NBC News
![MCDONALD'S HAS THEIR OWN UNIVERSITY WHERE MANAGERS GET DEGREES IN HAMBURGEROLOGY. McDonald's OVER 99 BILLION SERVED McDonalds CRACKED.co Every year, 5,000 students, including managers and owner-operators, attend McDonald's Hamburger University in Chicago. Since its hallowed halls have been erected, 275,000 graduates have earned their Hamburgerology degrees. Still more legit than DeVry.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/3/798503.jpg)
Source: Business Insider
![SPIDER-MANDEVELOPERS ADDED SPECIAL STICKERS TO MOCK RIDICULOUS GAMER COMPLAINTS. CRACKED When Marvel's Spider-Man was shown off at E3, it looked great and got players excited for the release. Upon release, there was one glaring issue that proved too much for gamers to ignore: slightly less puddles of water in one area than from the trailer. The developer, Insomniac, added the puddles back - as stickers in the photo mode, just as a middle finger.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/0/798500.jpg)
Source: Eurogamer
![A JOKE FROM A FAR SIDE CARTOON WAS ADOPTED BY ACTUAL SCIENTISTS. called thogomizer. CRACKED.COM Now this and the after the late Than Simmons The comic from 1982 depicts a caveman teaching others about the spike-covered end of the stegosaurus' tail, which he calls the Thagomizer. named for deceased caveman Thag Simmons. Scientists at the time realized there was no distinct name for this kind of spike arrangement, so they gradually adopted the name across scientific, research, and education circles.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/1/798501.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![MICHAEL JACKSON WORKED ON A SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SOUNDTRACK. CRACKED Although Sega denies the claim, the executive coordinator for Sonic 3, Roger Hector, confirmed that Michael Jackson contributed music for the game. After reaching out to Sega to express his love of the Sonic franchise, Jackson was invited to compose music for the next installment. Jackson remains uncredited, either from him not approving the final product or certain allegations he was hit with in the mid 90s.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/9/798499.jpg)
Source: Billboard
![BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGNED IN 18 GAMES FOR HIS FIRST PRESIDENTIAL RUN. EARLY VOTE 888-95-OBAMA CACEMBER CRACKED.COM If you played games like Burnout Paradise, Skate, or Madden in 2008, you probably saw a certain political billboard strewn across levels: Barack Obama's Vote For Change campaign. This was a strategic move to target the coveted 18 to 34 demographic that is overrepresented in video games](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/3/798493.jpg)
Source: NPR
![FERAL PIGS IN THE U.S. CAUSE UP TO $2.5 BILLION IN DAMAGE A YEAR. CRACKED.CO Get your legally acquired rifle, because the 30-50 feral hogs are coming. These wild piggies are one of the most destructive invasive species in Northern America, 2 to 6 million of them wreak havoc in 40 states in the U.S. Half of these hogs, which tear up farm and recreational land causing $400 million in damage annually, are found in Texas alone.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/7/798497.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF ITS LIFE, A BLUE WHALE CALF GAINS 200 POUNDS A DAY. CRACKED.COM The three ton baby whale guzzles 50 gallons of fatty milk a day, putting on 200 to 250 lbs of bulk every 24 hours for an entire year. The little calf has a long way to go if it wants to reach the status of largest animal in Earth's history at 200 tons.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/2/798502.jpg)
Source: National Geographic
![THE ECHIDNA HAS A SPIKED PENIS WITH FOUR HEADS. .CRACKEDG We regret to inform you that the male reproductive organ of the echidna is a truly terrifying nightmare. The four pronged penis works at 50% each time copulation occurs, with two of the heads working with the branched female reproductive organ while the other two wait for next time. And yes, the spiny animal does have an equally spikey ding-dong.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/4/798494.jpg)
Source: Live Science
![THE FOUNDER OF CHUCK E. CHEESE ALSO STARTED ONE OF THE FIRST GAME COMPANIES, ATARI. PONG CRACKED.COM With just $500, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney started Atari in 1972, making it a multi-billion dollar company by 1982. Bushnell went on to expand video arcades to family friendly locations, founding Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in 1977. This man did more for children than the polio vaccine.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/5/798495.jpg)
Source: The Atlantic
![THE CHARACTERS IN THE SUPER SMASH BROS. FRANCHISE ARE TOYS ON IMAGINARY ADVENTURES. CRACKED.COM The opening sequences of the first two Super Smash Bros. titles start with toy figures being turned into the characters you'll ultimately use to battle with in the game. More recent entries into the franchise left out this aspect, but the intention was always that the characters are actually toys and the fantastical sequences are imaginary.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/8/798498.jpg)
Source: Time
![SEXAGESIMAL, OR BASE 60, WAS INVENTED DURING THE BRONZE AGE 5,000 YEARS AGO. CRACKEDO The ancient Sumerians created sexagesimal and would use it for everything, not just calculating time or angles like we do now. By counting every finger segment separated by a knuckle on one hand, and using fingers on the other hand to mark when they start over, they would be able to count to 60 with two hands. Some cultures still use this method of counting by hand.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/9/6/798496.jpg)
Source: NY Times