14 Random Facts to Delve Into the Secrets of the World
![14 Random Facts to Delve Into the Secrets of the World](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/2/822072_320x180.jpg)
In cracked opinion, people who can't have enough knowledge are the best kind of people. They're always thirsty for more information, and they're always looking to learn new things. This makes them more open-minded and understanding of different points of view. And also that it makes them a more interesting and engaging company. So if you're someone who loves learning new things, then we encourage you to keep reading this.
We all know that person who just can't stop talking about random facts they learn. They love to share anything and everything they know, regardless of whether or not anyone actually cares. If you're one of those people who love knowledge for the sake of knowledge, or if you're just looking for a few new facts to spruce up your conversation at parties, this article is for you. Cracked has collected a handful of interesting, cool, and quirky random facts that will keep you entertained and informed. So pull up a chair, get comfortable, and enjoy learning something new!
Office Romance
![Jim almost cheated on Pam. During Season 8 of The Office, the writers planned to escalate the tension between Jim Halpert and Cathy Simms into a full-blown makeout sesh. The plotline was stopped by John Krasinski's refusal - the only time he remembers putting his foot down while on the show.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/4/822074.jpg)
More: 'The Office': 5 Wild Revelations From The Sitcom's New Oral History Book
Halley's Hollow Planet
![The discoverer of Halley's comet originated the Hollow Earth theory. Trying to explain shifts in the Earth's magnetic field, Edmund Halley speculated in 1692 that the planet contained three nested, smaller spheres, rotating in different directions. And for some reason he added that whole civilizations lived there, like in so many floors of a tenement building.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/0/822070.jpg)
Medicila Ketchup
![Ketchup was a medicine. In 1834, Ohio physician John С. Bennet began selling tomato ketchup as a medicine for all kinds of ailments. The condiment was a medical fad until around 1850, when studies showed that its miraculous healing properties were (amazingly) not real.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/5/9/822059.jpg)
Psychiatry vs Psychology
![Psychologists and psychiatrists are not the same thing. A psychologist will give you your weekly therapy, while a psychiatrist will prescribe you any medication you need. Despite what you see on TV, these are not the same person, and haven't been in decades. (It can happen, but it's very rare.)](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/8/822068.jpg)
Wrong Twitter Stock
![overeager investors bought shares for the wrong Twitter. Some time before Twitter went public in 2013, investors spotted some very cheap shares with the code TWTRQ, and snapped them up thinking they were out early. As it turned out, those were for a company called Tweeter Audio and Video - and were dirt cheap because the outfit had just gone bankrupt.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/5/822065.jpg)
More: When Twitter Went Public, Confused Investors Bought The Wrong Stock
Radioactive Cereal
![MIT intentionally irradiated children (with Quaker's help). In the 1940s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology decided to study how the body absorbs nutrients by feeding disabled and abandoned children radioactive oatmeal. The experiment was government-sanctioned and sponsored by Quaker Oats, who even supplied the tainted cereal.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/1/822061.jpg)
More: 5 Of The Least Ethical Medical Experiments In Modern History
Volcanic Glass Brains
![A volcano can turn your brain into glass. When the super-hot murdercloud gets into you, it can vaporize your organs and blow them out - or as it happened to this one guy at the Vesuvius site, it can vitrify your brain (and blow it out). Researchers were probably freaked out when they learned what those glass shards they found lying around actually were.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/3/822063.jpg)
Invisible Shrimp
![Deep-sea shrimp use nanotechnology to become invisible. Hyperiid amphipods are covered in microscopic spheres that dampen the light from bioluminescent predators, allowing these shrimp- like crustaceans to remain unseen (and uneaten). These nanospheres might or might not be bacteria - we don't actually know a lot about these critters' invisibility cloak.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/5/8/822058.jpg)
Bad Death
![Dying is becoming worse and worse. When you're kept for a long time hooked to machines just to delay death until the last possible second, you start to wonder whether living is actually your best option. Dying is becoming more painful and depressing (and expensive) every decade, and most doctors have a standing do not resuscitate order.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/1/822071.jpg)
Extra-Difficult Puzzle
![Cain's Jawbone is a puzzle that only four people have been able to solve. In 1934, puzzle writer Edward Mathers (a.k.a. Torquemada) published Cain's Jawbone, a novella of 100 cryptic, out-of- order pages. The challenge was to rearrange the pages in the correct sequence and solve the murders. The task proved so hard that only four people have ever completed it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/6/822066.jpg)
White Slaves
![White slaves helped end slavery. The American North wasn't much less racist than the South, and many weren't sold on the whole emancipation thing. To win them over, abolitionists started highlighting white slaves on popular magazines (who were enslaved because they had some black ancestor). Suddenly, owning people seemed inhumane.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/2/822062.jpg)
More: 5 Of The Most 'Wuh?' Facts History Class Never Covered
Steven Wright's Oscar
![Steven Wright won an Oscar. The Appointment of Dennis Jennings is a al 30-minute-long, dark comedy written by Jennings, and starring Jennings himself along with Rowan Atkinson. You never heard of it? That's weird, considering it R T took home the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1989.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/7/822067.jpg)
More: Mr. Bean And Steven Wright Won An Academy Award In The 80s
Washington's Whisky
![George Washington was a huge whisky producer (for a short time). After retiring from politics in 1797, Washington set up a whisky distillery in his land. During its first year, the distillery sold nearly 11,000 gallons of booze, and was one of the biggest in the U.S. But Washington soon died, and his nephew couldn't successfully continue the operation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/0/822060.jpg)
More: George Washington Was One Of America's Top Whiskey Producers