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Chris Evans was so buff he caused issues for the VFX team

30 Cool Trivia Tidbits About the World

September 14, 2023

The globe is full of fascinating, amusing and exciting information. Did you know, for example, that the biggest concentration of pet parents in the world can be found in New Zealand? And that one of the only two purple flags can be found in Nicaragua? More on that and 28 other fascinating facts about pop culture, wildlife, science and more below…

30

Cicadas pee heavily, and pee from a cicada swarm feels like a rain shower. Cicadas are active on hot days because that's when they can extract a lot of fluid from trees, but that means they also have a lot of their own fluid to release. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Washington Post

29

Scientists think Bitcoin alone could push global temperatures above 2°C. That could happen by 2033, according to a study that looked at the power efficiency of BTC mining machines, their locations, and the CO2 emissions of those locations. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — University of Hawaii

28

Astronomer Tycho Brahe had a pet moose who loved beer. It met its death when Brahe brought it to a party, and it drunkenly fell down the stairs. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — 5 Insanely Weird Pets Of Historical Figures

27

Water

Water isn't colorless. Pure water has a slight blue tint, not just because the reflection of the sky. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — USGS

26

Mummy Brown was created using the ground-up remains of ancient Egyptian mummies The color was extremely popular among Pre-Raphaelites. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Smithsonian

25

John Krasinski asked to wear a wig for part of Season 3 of The Office. At the meeting where he pitched the idea, execs told him no, because it would be too obvious - - so Krasinski took off the wig he was wearing and put it on the table. They changed their minds. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Mashable

24

Watchmen

We almost got a Watchmen movie in the '90s. Terry Gilliam was supposed to direct, and they wanted Schwarzenegger for Doctor Manhattan, while David Bowie wanted to play Rorschach. But it turned out to be too expensive, and anyway, Gilliam later decided Watchmen was too big for one movie. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — CBR

23

Leonardo Da Vinci was a wedding planner for four years The seating for The Last Supper mirrors his layout for the wedding of the Duke of Milan Leonardo. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Atlas Obscura

22

Chris Evans' arms are so big, they led to problems with the VFX in Captain America. They needed to make his arms slim for the pre-serum scenes where Steve is scrawny, but they were so big that they'd block a lot of his body and the background. Replacing the stuff they were blocking was by far the hardest part of the VFX team's job. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Variety

21

A WWI steam sub had so many holes, it would sink if they weren't closed right away when it dived. The K-Class submarine had vents and two funnels (they were crucial for the steam engine), which let in seawater that would sink the sub unless they were firmly closed just as it dived. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

20

Fuel tanks from U.S. Air Force jets are being used as rice canoes in Vietnam today. The locals just take a fuel tank and cut out a section of the top, which leaves them with an aluminum canoe. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Flying

19

30 Cool Trivia Tidbits About the World — Catster

18

When Winston Churchill sold the family estate to the National Trust, he had a specific requirement. A marmalade cat named Jock must always be in comfortable residence. Meet Jock VII. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — UK National Trust

17

Georgia

A person can be banished from every county in the state of Georgia except one. 1776 ECHOLS COUNTY This County, created by Act of the Legislature Dec. 13, 1858, is named for Col. Robert M. Echols, for 24 years a member of the General Assembly Не was a President of the Georgia Senate and a Bridadier General in the Mexican WAF And that is Echols County, which is a mostly unpopulated, uninhabitable swamp. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Los Angeles Times

16

To combat a rise in the number of accidents by elderly drivers, the Japanese government offered discounts on ramen for those who surrender their licenses. One 97 year-old Buddhist monk publicly handed his in, saying to fellow older drivers, I hope you will surrender your driver's licence and live to the end of your natural lives. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

15

The vast majority of avocado oil sold in the U.S. is of very poor quality. 82 percent is either rancid or mixed with other oils. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Three words are used around every 12 seconds in The Big Lebowski. They are: 'Dude,' 'Man,' or 'F*ck.' NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Market Watch

13

A Camden, NJ school forced students to eat off the floor after a child spilled water, in 2008. Seven students sued, and they won a $500,000 settlement. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Know More

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12

Catholics

For five centures, the Catholic Church refused to even acknowledge witches existed. That was from 900 to 1400 - and, not long after that, they got pretty enthusiastic about putting witches on trial. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

11

In a way, the Egyptian pyramids were built by something very ordinary: beer. Laborers who built them got one and one-third gallon of beer a day, and apparently beer was considered essential for laborers. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

10

In the Middle Ages, you could truly fart for a living if that's what you wanted. There were farters at royal courts, and it was basically a recognized, uh, entertainment specialty that could potentially pay pretty well. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

9

There's a theory that pirates wore eyepatches so they could see in the dark. There's no historical source for it, but some think pirates kept an eyepatch over a good eye to instantly see well when they went below decks. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Dinosaurs lived on Earth at the same time as the duck-billed platypus. The (truly amazing) platypus lived in the Jurassic era - so, if Jurassic Park was truly period-accurate, they had some platypuses swimming around. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Reindeer meat, despite the ick factor, is actually very nutritious and healthy. At least part of the reason is the fact that reindeer eat lichen, which is very nutrient-dense. And in Norway, reindeer meat is super-popular. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — MEL Magazine

6

The Statue of Liberty was originally going to go to Egypt, not the US. The design was for a statue that would mark the inauguration of the Suez Canal, but Egypt couldn't afford that - so the design just got repurposed. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Smithsonian Magazine

5

McDonald's is only in four African countries ماكدونالدر McDonald's M بالدوبالت McDonald's If you find yourself in Africa craving a Big Mac, you'll have to go to Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, or Tunisia. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — McDonald's

4

In the 1960s, General Motors had a special Chevy program for astronauts. HT-66439 It let astronauts pay $1 to lease a Chevy for a year (they could get two Chevys at most), and six out of seven eligible astronauts took part. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — hagerty.com

3

SimCity couldn't be modeled on real cities because there's too many parking lots The designer said We quickly realized there were way too many parking lots in the real world and that our game was going to be really boring if it was proportional in terms of parking lots. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — The Atlantic

2

In 1943, Joseph Duckworth was the first to safely fly a plane into the eye of a hurricane. Не did it on a bet. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Popular Mechanics

1

The inventor of the TV was unimpressed by his invention until he watched the moon landing. His wife said, We were watching it, and, when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, Phil turned to me and said, 'Pem, this has made it all worthwhile.' Before then, he wasn't too sure. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Archive of American Television

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