15 Facts About The Internet, Scrabble, And The Gay Army Of Thebes

By:
15 Facts About The Internet, Scrabble, And The Gay Army Of Thebes

A young lady had been married for about ten years, when one day she heard an awful cry. It came from her husband's study, where he was working hard at a great piece of work that he was doing with a penknife, which she thought made the loudest screeching noise that anyone ever heard before. She rushed into the room and found him sitting on his table, quite white, with the knife in his hand; while behind the desk, on the floor, lay the family parrot, who had died in consequence of the noise. She was terribly distressed to see her husband in such a condition — and, at the same time, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor parrot.

She inched closer to see what her husband had carved with such force that the sound produced was so hellish. She couldn't make it out at first, but then she saw it was a list, then noticed each item was numbered, and started reading the list, which went:

Jefferson served mac ‘n cheese in the White House.

Thomas Jefferson helped to popularize Mac'n Cheese by serving it to guests during his presidency. CRACKED.COM Не first learned of the dish while he served as the U.S. minister to France from 1784 to 1789. At the time, macaroni was a general term for pasta, which Jefferson served as a pie mixed with a particularly strong liquor.

Monticello 

You’ve been Ree-ing for a lie.

McDonalds' Szechuan dipping sauce wasn't Szechuan at all. McDonald's Restaurant McDonald's McDonald's UPER INTIREERS THRUS 279 F CRACKED COM At the time of the Szechuan sauce promotion, a tie-in with the release of Disney's Mulan, the Szechuan peppercorn was banned in the US. This might explain the unique taste that has sent Rick & Morty fans screaming to McDonalds to order chicken tendies.

NY Times

President Garfield’s great-great-grandson created Magic The Gathering.

The creator of Magic The Gathering has an impressively prolific family. GRAND NATIONAL REPUBLICAN BANNER 1880. FOR VICE-PRESIDENT 10% PRESIDENT CRACKED.COM URIBUS Richard Garfield, the creator of the first modern collectible card game, Magic the Gathering, is the great-great-grandson of U.S. President James А. Garfield, and his great-uncle invented the paperclip.

Fool 

A unit of 50 gay couples were a fierce battalion in Ancient Thebes.

An elite unit of warriors from 378 ВСЕ was comprised entirely of gay couples. GRACKED COM In Ancient Thebes, there was a fairly successful band of warriors (Sacred Band of Thebes) consisting entirely of 150 gay couples. They were chosen based on the idea that you fight better when trying to impress your lover.

World History 

Jimmy Carter’s campaign was saved by The Allman Brothers.

The Allman Brothers saved Jimmy Carter's presidential campaígn. CRACKED.COM The Allman Brothers held benefits for Carter's campaign, which was nearly broke at the time, raising more than $800,000 (worth $4.6 million today). Without the donations, Carter probably wouldn't have weathered the costly primary season.

Rolling Stone 

Tennis balls were originally black and white.

Tennis balls were made yellow to appear better on TV. CRACKED.COM Tennis balls were traditionally black or white. They were changed to yellow in 1972 after research showed they were more visible on television.

CNN 

“Iron Man”s director gives credit to D&D.

Jon Favreau credits Dungeons & & Dragons with giving him a background in storytelling. CRACKED.COM Favreau, who gave us 2008s Iron Man and The Mandalorian, credits Dungeons & Dragons with giving him a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.

TV Over Mind

A company formed ,400 years ago finally went under in 2006.

The oldest company in the world operated for 1,428 years. GRAGKED.COM The oldest company (Kongō-Gumi) in the world was a Buddhist Temple builder that had been in business continually for 1,428 years before succumbing to financial difficulties in 2006.

Works That Work

Sound enhancing disks were used between world wars to listen for planes.

England built giant, concrete bowls to hear invading planes after WWI. CRACKED.COM Massive concrete acoustic mirrors, or listening ears, were built in England between the world wars to monitor the skies for the telltale sounds of airborne invasion.

Slate

You can apparently use your own ransom on your taxes.

The Aldi co-founder was held hostage for 17 days. ALDI Local OTO LO CRACKED.COM Theo Albrecht, co-founder of the discount store Aldi, negotiated his own ransom when he was kidnapped and held for 17 days. Не later won tax relief on the ransom payment claiming it was a business expense.

Independent

Ray Bradbury had to pay by the minute to write "Fahrenheit 45."

It cost Ray Bradbury $9.80 to type the first draft of Fahrenheit 451. CRACKED.COM Ray Bradbury wrote the first draft on a coin-operated typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library. It charged 10¢ for 30 minutes, and he spent $9.80 in total at the machine.

E-reading

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.

A rare genetic condition rendered one woman completely fearless. CRACKED.COM The rare genetic condition known as Urbach-Wiethe disease hardens the amygdala, which has rendered her literally fearless. Scientists have exposed her to potentially terrifying experiences and none of them scared her.

Healthland

Butts studied the Times to create Scrabble.

The creator of Scrabble studied the front page of The New York Times to make his calculations. U 2 Q10 10 R1 M U, 1 3 1 T CRACKED.COM This skilled, cryptographic analysis of our language by Alfred Butts (yes, that's his name) formed the basis of the original tile distribution, which has remained constant through almost three generations and billions of games.

Scrabble 

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

MUST READ

Forgot Password?