15 Now-You-Know Facts To Inspire Greatness
![15 Now-You-Know Facts To Inspire Greatness](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/3/843793_320x180.jpg)
The man's name was Frank, but he didn't want to tell you that. He didn't like the way it sounded or how his mother said it, with a long "a". She used to make fun of him about it and call him Fonky Frank, which made his father furious. It had been years since Frank heard his parents talk to each other; he wasn't sure when they stopped talking. They were both gone now, one dead and one in a coma, but Frank still remembered how much he'd hated hearing their arguments and his father's threats to leave.
He didn't know if the man in the picture he was holding was his father or not. Frank had found it on the ground near the apartment complex where he used to live.
One thing was for sure, though. At some point, somebody had scrawled a long list of fifteen items on the back of the photo.
Frank squinted and started reading the list -- it went ...
The TLC network was created by NASA.
![The TLC network was originally created by NASA and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. T L C CRACKED.COM The intent was to provide real education through the medium of television. Airing RIGHT NOW on TLC is a three episode block ofDr. Pimple Popper.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/9/843809.jpg)
Juries can just say “we know they did it, but the law is dumb, so not guilty.”
!['Jury nullification' is when a jury legally returns a not guilty verdict when they believe the law is unjust. CRACKED.COM Juries can do this regardless of whether or not the defendant actually committed the crime.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/7/843807.jpg)
Wine starter kits were sold during prohibition to get around alcohol bans.
![During prohibition, grape farmers would make semi-solid grape concentrates called wine bricks. CRACKED.COM DOMENIILE BL They were then sold with the warning: After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for 20 days because then it would turn into wine.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/8/843808.jpg)
Bayer released heroin as a cough suppressant over a hundred years ago.
![Heroin is a brand name and was originally marketed by Bayer as a non-addictive cough medicine. fl - - - - - AG 325 I II AND I STORE - أ Lane 5 : 1 SAN BAYER - NOT SAFER un 100 ENTERIO COATED CAPLETE - BAYER S BATER AIX ASPIRIN REGIMEN 121 I BAYER SAFETY COATED The German chemical company launched BAT heroin in 1898 as a chemical modification to CRACKED.COM morphine that made it more palatable as a cough suppressant.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/5/843805.jpg)
Video games are bringing teens into libraries.
![Many American public libraries carry video games as an attempt to entice teenagers into a library. CRACKED.COM The result is more teenagers coming to the library and books are being checked out at a rate that exceeds what it was before the gamers arrived.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/6/843806.jpg)
Spider-Man was written into the MCU before Sony gave the OK.
![Captain America: Civil War director Anthony Russo never had a Plan B if Sony didn't let them use Spider-Man. CRACKED.COM Due to the production schedule, Spider-Man had to be written into the film many months before he was available for Marvel Studios to legally use.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/4/843804.jpg)
China had a smallpox vaccine in the 4th century.
![A vaccine against smallpox during the Ming Dynasty involved blowing powdered scabs up people's noses. GRAGKED.COM The patients would then develop a mild case of the disease, and from then on were immune to it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/2/843802.jpg)
GM would rather save a few bucks than save a few lives.
![General Motors purposely kept the 1979 Chevy Malibu gas tank dangerously close to the rear of the vehicle. CRACKED.COM Instead of paying an extra $8.59 per vehicle to move the gas tank, GM estimated that they would only have to pay $2.40 per vehicle to pay off personal-injury lawsuits.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/3/843803.jpg)
Voices in a woman’s head accurately located a brain tumor.
![In 1984, a woman started hearing a voice in her head that told her she had a brain tumor, where the tumor was, and how to treat it. CRACKED.COM Despite no other symptoms, doctors eventually ordered tests and found a tumor where the voice said it would be.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/1/843801.jpg)
Two brothers were killed by the same taxi one year apart.
![In July 1975, a 17 year old boy was killed while riding his moped by the same taxi that killed his brother. DE N ur WB-04F-4121 NOREFUSAL CRACKED.COM TAXI Не was killed exactly a year after his 17 year old brother was killed while riding the same moped, in the same intersection, by the same taxi driver carrying the same passenger.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/0/0/843800.jpg)
A highly intelligent orangutan named Fu-Manchu is a master escape artist.
![There is an orangutan that primatologists believe has successfully demonstrated human-level deception. CRACKED.COM Fu-Manchu has successfully escaped from his cage using home made keys so many times that he is an honorary member of the lock picking union.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/9/843799.jpg)
“Earthbound” anti-piracy measures did not mess around.
![The video game Earthbound has several, intense anti-piracy measures in place. Nintend EARTH INSIDE BOUND CRACKED.COM ONUS Including crashing and deleting your entire save data during the final boss fight if you're using a pirated copy of the game.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/8/843798.jpg)
Kamikaze pilots could return to base if they didn’t find a good enough target.
![Japanese Kamikaze pilots during World War 2 were allowed to return if they didn't find a suitable target. GRAGKED.COM The manual these pilots received stated that a pilot should not waste life lightly. After returning for a 9th time without finding a target, one pilot was shot.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/7/843797.jpg)
The search for the “Jelly” tree is on.
![The peanut butter tree is a tropical tree that smells and produces a fruit that tastes like peanut butter. CRACKED.COM The finely-haired fruits are red-orange and the trees can easily be grown indoors, reaching about three feet in height.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/6/843796.jpg)
A man dated a bird to save the species.
![A man named George Archibald spent several years acting as the mate of a female whooping crane. CRACKED COM As part of an effort to save the species from extinction, Archibald slept near, danced, and built nests with her-and it worked.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/9/5/843795.jpg)