15 Facts About The Middle Ages, Propaganda, And The Simpsons

Ok, fact warriors, come out and play! We've assembled another killer selection of interesting and intriguing facts to entertain and enlighten. Hopefully they come in handy, like if you need to trot out some arcane CIA knowledge - like about how they slipped Animal Farm over the Iron Curtain. You just never know when a nugget like that’ll come in handy.

Also, The Simpsons have been credited for predicting the future to an absurd degree (they've also been credited as being a danger to America), but most of that can be explained away by the fact that a series as long running as theirs, with a focus on skewering working class America, will eventually write a joke that becomes reality in the future. Things get a little more freaky when they predict the winning team of the Super Bowl multiple times, by dubbing over the same scene year after year. Read about this and more below:

15 The clips of McBain from The Simpsons can be put together to tell a full story.

The McBain clips from The Simpsons come together to tell a full narrative. If we lay the clips from the various McBain movies end-to-end, which had appeared in Simpsons episodes over the course of a couple seasons, they made one coherent story. Someone did just that in 2011, and the video went viral. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Simpsons McBain Saga Shows Audiences Used To Be Blind

14 Cavities were once blamed on tooth worms.

Many people around the world blamed cavities on some unseen tooth worm. Dentists would squeeze onion juice into a patient's ears, to repel the worms and make them slip out through the teeth, which was slathered in honey to entice the worm. CRACKED.COM — Source: People Used To Blame Cavities On Evil Tooth Worms

13 Explicit pamphlets were dropped on the enemy during WWII.

Sexually explicit postcards were dropped on enemy combatants during WWII. The cards, meant to demoralize the opposition, showed scenes of sexual confrontations bewteen the women left home during the war and the male soldiers of their allies. CRACKED.COM — Source: Pornaganda: A Tool Used By Every Army

12 Kim Jong-il never claimed to be the best golfer in the world.

North Koreans never actually heard that Kim Jong-il was a master golfer. The line was made up on the spot by a North Korean guide, who said Kim Jong-il was an amazing golfer after a reporter asked if the leader had played the game. CRACKED.COM — Source: North Koreans Never Actually Heard Kim Jong-il Was A Master Golfer

11 The Homer Simpson gene is responsible for making you dumb.

The Homer Simpson gene is making your brain not think good. The RGS14 gene serves some social functions but mostly shuts off the CA2 region of the brain, but full function can return to the brain when it's deleted. Scientists informally dubbed it the Homer Simpson gene, because not only does Homer have a limited intellect, but also because it's caused by an errant crayon stuck in his brain. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Homer Simpson Gene Shuts Down Part Of The Brain

10 The AMA shut down national health insurance 100 years ago.

Doctors shut down an American national insurance plan a century ago. TM A plan for a single national health insurance program, put forward in 1935, failed due to opposition from the American Medical Association, who didn't want any powerful body with an interest in keeping prices down. CRACKED.COM — Source: Doctors Shut Down An American National Insurance Plan A Century Ago

9 Fox couldn't stop Germany from selling their own "Duff" beer.

Source: Germany Got Away With Making Duff Beer From The Simpsons, Unauthorized

8 Cotton was so foreign to people in the 1300s, they thought it was part of an animal that grew like a plant.

People in the 1300s confused cotton with some sort of vegetable lamb. Sir John Mandeville told tales of his travels, such as the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, which was said to have been a lamb that sprouts from the ground. The evidence of the animal was wool, seemingly bound to plants, which we now know had been cotton. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Fabulous Legend Of The Vegetable Lamb

7 A dog managed to get its owner's killer to confess, in trial by combat.

A man had trial by combat with his murdered friend's dog. In 14th century France, Chevalier Maquer stood accused of murdering his friend Aubry Mondidier, based on Mondidier's dog's aggression towards Maquer. The King ordered trial by combat, where Maquer confessed to the crime after the dog got his throat between his jaws. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Trial By Combat, Between A Man And His Victim's Dog

6 Lisa Simpson's Malibu Stacy doll saying "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl!" is based on a real thing.

Lisa Simpson's crusade against the talking Malibu Stacy doll was based on a true story. In 1993, Mattel released a doll called Teen Talk Barbie, which could say four phrases out of a possible 270, one of which being Math class is tough! Mattel, facing backlash from women's groups and educators, responded to pressure and removed the phrase from rotation. CRACKED.COM — Source: Lisa's Talking Doll Crusade Was Based On A True Story

5 The Nazis wrote a rebuttal to a Superman comic.

The Nazis published an offical response to a Superman proaganda comic. The official SS magazine poked holes in the Superman comic, which showed the Kryptonian single-handedly winning the war for the allies, by criticizing the lack of all strategic sense and tactical ability, as well as ignoring the dress code of the League of Nations. CRACKED.COM — Source: Superman Beat Joseph Goebbels When It Came To Propaganda

4 Diluting spices was punishable by death, once upon a time.

Merchants in the Middle Ages were put to death for diluting spices. Authorities threw 14th century merchants, suspected of bulking up their saffron with fillers, in a special hole beneath the jail called the Loch. If they did not confess soon, torture or death awaited them. CRACKED.COM — Source: Diluting Spices Was Once A Crime Punishable By Death

3 The Simpsons kept predicting the winners of the Super Bowl.

The Simpsons predicted the Super Bowl winners over and over again, in the same episode. In the 1993 episode Lisa the Greek, Lisa predicts the Redskins will win the Super Bowl, which they did three days after the episode aired. The next year, the cast got in the studio to re-dub new lines, now calling the Cowboys to win-which they did. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Simpsons, Which Predicted Everything, Had One Episode About Actually Predicting

2 Blood-letting was the cure for being lovesick in the Middle Ages.

Being lovesick was thought to be an actual, serious disease. Doctors in the Middle Ages attributed lovesickness to an excess of black bile, one cure being to bleed the patient of all their bad humors by opening up their veins and letting the infected fluid just drip on out. CRACKED.COM — Source: Lovesick in the Middle Ages? A Doctor Might Slice You Open

1 "Animal Farm" was airlifted into communist countries by the CIA.

The CIA slipped 'Animal Farm' over the Iron Curtain via balloon. The CIA had such a program for banned books (like Doctor Zhivago), codenamed Operation Aedinosaur. From 1952 to 1957, West German sites tied millions of copies of Animal Farm to 10-foot balloons and released them into nearby communist countries. CRACKED.COM — Source: The CIA Slipped 'Animal Farm' Over The Iron Curtain Via Balloon

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15 Facts About The Middle Ages, Propaganda, And The Simpsons

15 The clips of McBain from The Simpsons can be put together to tell a full story.

14 Cavities were once blamed on tooth worms.

13 Explicit pamphlets were dropped on the enemy during WWII.

12 Kim Jong-il never claimed to be the best golfer in the world.

11 The Homer Simpson gene is responsible for making you dumb.

10 The AMA shut down national health insurance 100 years ago.

9 Fox couldn't stop Germany from selling their own "Duff" beer.

8 Cotton was so foreign to people in the 1300s, they thought it was part of an animal that grew like a plant.

7 A dog managed to get its owner's killer to confess, in trial by combat.

6 Lisa Simpson's Malibu Stacy doll saying "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl!" is based on a real thing.

5 The Nazis wrote a rebuttal to a Superman comic.

4 Diluting spices was punishable by death, once upon a time.

3 The Simpsons kept predicting the winners of the Super Bowl.

2 Blood-letting was the cure for being lovesick in the Middle Ages.

1 "Animal Farm" was airlifted into communist countries by the CIA.

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