15 Facts We Never Knew We Didn’t Know
![15 Facts We Never Knew We Didn’t Know](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/6/834636_320x180.jpg)
There’s a lot of interesting things we humans have made using the most disgusting, vile, and rank substances found in animal byproducts. Whale vomit is made into perfume, bacteria colonies make kombucha, and sea snail goo is turned into a brilliant purple dye fit for royalty.
What’s weirder than the positive properties of the viscous fluid of a certain gastropod, is the fact that at some point an ancient person took the slimy son-of-a-gun, squeezed the mucous glands, and then kept the slug-syrup in the off chance it would prove useful (probably to be sold as a homeopathic remedy to cure haunted bones). Luckily, such early-civilization psychopaths existed so we don’t have to run a bunch of meaningless mollusc research, and reap the benefits in our purple clothes drinking kombucha and smelling great.
We promise if you continue reading, you’ll learn about more than just Gak wrung from bottom-feeders - but be warned, it’s there.
Michael Bay’s highest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes sits at 68%.
![Michael Bay only has one fresh movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The 1996 action movie 'The Rock, starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery, is the only fresh film by Bay, with a 68% critic rating. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/5/1/834651.jpg)
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
The CIA ordered a lot of Domino’s before a big invasion.
![Pizza orders made by the CIA soared the night before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Domino's Pizza Domino's THE YAO The owner of 43 Domino's in the Washington area said, The news media doesn't always know when something big is going to happen because they're in bed, but our deliverers are out there at 2 in the morning. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/9/834649.jpg)
Source: LA TImes
MLK urged ‘Uhura’ actress to stay on Star Trek.
!['Uhura' from Star Trek was thinking of quitting, until she ran into Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a huge fan of Star Trek and how it showed a future with people of all colors working together in harmony. Не urged Nichelle Nichols to keep playing Uhura after she said she was quitting. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/7/834647.jpg)
Source: NPR
There are a lot of disfigurements happening in meatpacking plants.
![An average of 2 amputations happen weekly at meatpacking plants in the US. US meat workers are 3 times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker, and pork and beef workers nearly 7 times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/5/834645.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
The mob ran a price-fixing cartel in NYC.
![The mob controlled NYC's trash until the '90s. 20 After an undercover operation convicted the leaders, trash collection costs dropped by $600 million. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/5/0/834650.jpg)
Source: This American Life
People actually like you more than you think.
![Psychologists say people you meet like you more than you think. The liking gap happens when people systematically underestimate how much their conversation partners liked them and enjoyed their company. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/8/834648.jpg)
Source: "The Liking Gap in Conversations: Do People Like Us More Than We Think?"
There are more Spanish speakers in the US than in Spain.
![Spain has fewer Spanish speakers than the United States. There are 41 million native Spanish speakers, plus 11 that are bilingual, in the US. Spain has a total population of 47 million. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/6/834646.jpg)
Source: The Guardian
Gretzky wasn’t just good, he was the goodest.
![Wayne Gretzky would still be one of the top 20 players of all time if you cut his career in half. rarino He'd still have 447 goals, 982 assists and 1,429 points. If he never scored a goal, he'd still have the most 100-point seasons of all-time, and he'd be tied for the fifth-most scoring titles. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/4/834644.jpg)
Source: The Hockey News
Selling children was legal until a little under a decade ago.
![It wasn't expressly illegal to sell a child in Mississippi until 2009. After a woman tried to sell her granddaughter for $2,000 and a car, it was discovered that there was no law to punish her under. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/1/834641.jpg)
Source: Jackson Free Press
Spies tried to “feminize” Hitler.
![British spies tried to spike Hitler's food with estrogen during WWII. The Brits figured that if they could lace Hitler's food with estrogen, over time he would become feminized, less cruel and aggressive. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/0/834640.jpg)
Source: The Week
Zombie fungus traps ants in their own bodies.
![The zombie ant fungus takes over motor control, leaving brain function alone. The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis controls ants by destroying motor neurons, connecting directly to the muscles. In this way, the brain is a prisoner in the body. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/2/834642.jpg)
Source: The Atlantic
Ethiopia uses a different calendar.
![It is 2014 in Ethiopia. Kassata AK ordar Massery Sanaa Asmara YEMEN SUDAN Teseney ERITREA Al Hudaydah Al Al Wad Aksum Adigrat Qadarif Himora Madani Bayqu Tokado World Da'lzz Mek de Mocha Alberta Assab Al Maych'ew Aden Jabalayn Gulf Gonder Bab el Pana of Hayk Ad DJIBOUTI Mandeb Debre Damagin Tabon Aden Weldiya Djibouti Bahir Dae Asayita Desé Debre Erigavq Berbera Mark* to Kurmuk USA Asosa NO Débre Dirl Autori Girhan Dawa Hargeysa Burad SOMALIA Addis Harer Ababa Jriga Nasir Dece Wome Name Laascaanood Metow Degeh Bur Gambéla Jma Pibor Shasherpene K'ebri Werder Pibor Goba Амаза Post Om adidas Dehar Galcao](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/3/834643.jpg)
Source: BBC
A swarm of locusts thousands of miles long blocked out the sun for days.
![Locusts blocked the sun for 5 days in 1895. The swarm of Rocky Mountain locust measured 1,800 miles long and 110 miles wide. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/9/834639.jpg)
Source: High Country News
Smelly snail slime made some good dye.
![Purple fabric used to stink. Purple fabrics used to be made using the mucous glands of Murex snails, which smelled terrible. The pigment was treasured for its ability to deepen, not fade, as time went by. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/7/834637.jpg)
Source: BBC
You could trade in 10 friends for a free burger.
![Burger King ran a Whopper Sacrifice campaign in 2009. RING BURGER BURGER FRESHLY KING PREPARED FOOTON KING CRISPY Staumton Street - The O and SUPER I ft 60 (13 3% - FLAME GRILLING SINCE 1954 Hamp the WHOPP.R Anyone who deleted 10 friends from their Facebook profile would get a free Whopper. Burger King would alert the person whose friend chose a sandwich over them. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/3/8/834638.jpg)
Source: CNET