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29 Peculiar Facts to Fill Your Awkward Silences

By:: Cracked Writers; Brian C. Miller

August 24, 2023

29 Peculiar Facts to Fill Your Awkward Silences

There’s nothing we dread more than the inevitable awkward silence in the midst of a conversation. Contemplative silence? See, that’s just peaceful. Poignant silence? Mmmm, we sure do love the thrill of expectation. Grim silence? Even that we can take, the world is too unserious most of the time anyway. Awkward silence though, that one is a doozy that we just can’t handle.

Fortunately, we have the perfect factoids, trivia and bits of wisdom to fill even the most oddly shaped awkward silences. On a date that isn't going well? At a disastrous family dinner? You never know when it’ll be advantageous to have a weird, random fact like the ones below in your back pocket.

29

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was a trap Arnold Schwarzenegger baited for Sylvester Stallone. Schwarzenegger knew right away that the movie he was being offered was crap - but knowing how hyper-competitive Stallone was, he pretended to be interested in taking the role, so his rival would try and take it away from him. And Sly just went and swallowed the bait. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

28

Richard Donner tricked Gene Hackman into shaving his mustache for Superman. Hackman refused to wear a skull cap to play Lex Luthor - and to shave his '70s 'stache. Donner said, you take yours off, I'll take mine off, and Hackman grudgingly accepted. Only after the deed was done did Donner reveal his own facial hair was fake. Hackman wasn't pleased. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

27

Source: 15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness

26

Marvel cancelled The Fantastic Four comics out of spite. With Fox famously owning the film rights to the characters, in 2015 Marvel tried to change the terms with the studio and regain some control. When that failed, Marvel's CEO at the time, Ike Perlmutter, threw a tantrum and had the comic cancelled. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

25

Two-thirds of the disinformation about COVID vaccines comes from 12 people. In March 2021, the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that 65% of COVID vaccine- related bullcrap originates from just 12 anti- vaxxers, with a collective reach of about 60 million followers. This Disinformation Dozen includes heavy hitters like Joseph Mercola and freaking Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

24

The Western idea of chakras doesn't look a lot like their Hindu origins. The body's energetic centers your yoga teacher will tell you about bear only a passing resemblance to any ancient Indian tradition. The chakras' association with colors, gemstones, emotional states, and so on are all Western spiritual fanfiction of the early 20th century. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

23

Benjamin Franklin tried to do away with the letter С. No, he didn't have a grudge against that particular letter - he wanted to introduce a more phonetic alphabet, dropping unnecessary letters like С, which could be replaced with К or S, depending on the sirkumstanses. No one was interested. CRACKED COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

22

DAVID BRODERICK IS THE ONLY SITTING SENATOR TO DIE IN A DUEL. In-party fighting led Broderick being challenged on his antislavery values. Не fired prematurely, and his opponent shot him the chest. Не died three days later. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

21

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, HAD A MAYOR NAMED HARRY BAALS. The man with snicker-worthy name was a four-term mayor. (Yes, it was pronounced like that.) City leaders unfortunately turned down the popular idea to name a government center after him. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

20

ULYSSES S. GRANT WAS A NEVER NUDE. When he was in his 60s, the former President of the United States bragged that no one had seen him naked since he was a child. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

19

AMY KLOBUCHAR RAISED $17,000 FROM EX-BOYFRIENDS. During a 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, the Minnesota Senator claimed to have raised significant money from exes during her first Senate run. I'd like to point out it is not an expanding base, she joked. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

18

MORE BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN THAN ANY OTHER PERSON, BESIDES JESUS CHRIST. Some 15,000 books have been written about the sixteenth President of the United States. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

17

THE BEST MAN AT RAND PAUL'S WEDDING WAS HIS DAD. The Republican Senator from Kentucky chose his father, three-time Presidential candidate Ron Paul, as his best man. That had to have been a strange bachelor party. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

16

Making Gizmo work was a nightmare. Gizmo was supposed to be in just about 25 minutes of Gremlins, but then Steven Spielberg decided at the last minute that the fuzzball had to have a bigger part. So the puppeteers were left to improvise with a severely limited puppet that wasn't really made for basic stuff, like making it walk. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

15

It was believed that murdered corpses bled in the presence of their killers. This belief that victims oozed cries of revenge didn't fully die out until the early 1800s. Cruentation, as the phenomenon was called, was even weighted more heavily than actual evidence of murder. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

14

A video game lets you steal art for real (or at least NFTs). The Crypto Doctrine is as close as a game can get to art theft, in that you can steal actual NFTs, for real. It's only fitting that the NFTs were made without the consent of the original artists. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

13

A molasses flood killed 21 people. The Great Molasses Flood wasn't some medieval, pseudo-mythical event - it happened in Boston in 1919. 2.3 million gallons of molasses burst from a tank, and the almost- biblical flood swallowed everything in its path. 21 people died and 150 were injured. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

12

No, Jules Verne did not predict nuclear subs. Verne's electric underwater boat from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was quite prescient, but it wasn't nuclear. You're thinking of Disney's 1954 movie, made when nuclear submarines already existed. The original Nautilus worked with regular batteries fueled by sodium, which was extracted from seawater. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

11

CRACKED.COM Platform shoes were created to stay away from crap. Long before they were a fashion statement, platform shoes were a statement that you didn't want your feet (or the hem of your clothes) covered with literal shit. Back when many streets weren't paved, the lil' stilts helped you stay away from the dust, mud, and animal feces. — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

10

Sugar can keep wounds from festering. Sugar is a common treatment for wounds in some parts of the world, as it's pretty much the cheapest, most attainable remedy. It turns out the sweet stuff is great, as it removes moisture from the wound, killing the bacteria. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

9

SUSANNA M. SALTER WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE A U.S. MAYOR ...BECAUSE OF A SEXIST PRANK. A group of men tried to embarrass politically active women by putting a woman on the ticket in Argonia, Kansas. She received 2/3 of the votes and agreed to serve. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

8

CLAY HENRY IV IS THE MAYOR OF LAJITAS, TEXAS. HE'S KNOWN FOR DRINKING BEER...AND BEING A GOAT. In the 1980s, a goat named Clay Henry won the mayoral race in the almost ghost town. Now, his descendants continue the family legacy. Talk about nepotism. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

7

PAUL RYAN WAS HIS HIGH SCHOOL'S PROM KING. The former speaker of the United States House of Representatives was also voted the biggest brown-noser in his class. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

6

ROBERT SMALLS ESCAPED SLAVERY BY STEALING A CONFEDERATE SHIP AND BECAME A CONGRESSMAN Не was paid money for his heist, which he used to buy his former enslaver's house. Не served in the House of Representatives for South Carolina. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

5

SONNY BONO IS THE ONLY CONGRESSMAN TO HAVE A NO. 1 SINGLE. The Republican Congressman is better known for his part in Sonny & Cher's Billboard-charting I Got You Babe. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

4

JOE BIDEN IS UNCLE TO A REAL HOUSEWIFE OF ORANGE COUNTY. The current U.S. President's nephew married Meghan King, a former Real Housewives reality star. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

3

PETE BUTTIGIEG PLAYS THE DIDGERIDOO. OF TRAN The South Bend mayor turned United States Secretary of Transportation plays piano, guitar, and the instrument that was originated by Australian Aboriginal people but made mainstream by the white stoner in your dorm with dreads. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

2

A fake diplomat saved thousands of Jews during World War II. Italian Giorgio Perlasca was very much for fascism until it turned, you know, fascistic. So after seeking refuge in neutral Spain, he pretended to be a diplomat and started working to give Hungarian Jews certificates of protection. Over 5,000 people were saved this way. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **15 Random Facts to Quench Your Fabled Inquisitiveness**

1

SHOWMAN P. т. BARNUM WAS MAYOR OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT. Best known for founding Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum served the one-year term. Не strove modernize the city's utilities, end brothels, and give prisoners work. CRACKED.COM — **Source:** **14 Weird Facts About U.S. Politicians (So We Can Pretend We Know About Politics)**

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