20 Trivia Tidbits That Struck A Chord

By:
20 Trivia Tidbits That Struck A Chord

The first man was an elderly gentleman who had once been a great hero of the people. His name was Mr. Tumble, and he had fought bravely and valiantly for many years, protecting his country from all sorts of evil creatures. But then one day he met his nemesis: a creature so vile, so horrible that it made even the most powerful heroes cower in fear and run for their lives. It had only one goal; to destroy Mr. Tumble, and anyone who dared oppose it. And it was this very nemesis who now faced him on the battlefield…

Mr. Tumble's army of loyal warriors surrounded him on every side. There were many different kinds of monsters there, some big and fearsome-looking, others quite small and weak.

Suddenly, Mr. Tumble's second-in-command cleared his throat and began to speak. It was a rousing speech meant to stir the troops, Mr. Tumble was sure; and yet, somehow, instead of a speech like that, the man just recited a long list of facts. It went …

Many people in Canada were victims of the Fruit Machine.

Canada used a device to find gay and lesbian men and women. GRACKED.COM Called the Fruit Machine, the device was supposedly able to identify members of the LGBT+ by monitoring subjects as they were shown pornographic images with homosexual content.

CBC

Beethoven bit onto a pole as he played piano, for a good reason.

Beethoven had a technique to hear his piano after he went deaf. CRACKED.COM Beethoven discovered that if he bit onto a metal pole that connected to the pia- no he was playing, he could hear almost perfect- ly well. This process is called bone conduction.

Time

There may be 2,000 serial killers on the loose.

The number of active serial killers in the U.S. could be around 2,000. CRACKED.COM Using an algorithm that finds patterns in recent un- solved murders linked to at least one other murder through DNA, we can esti- mate the number of un- solved cases in the U.S. at any given time.

New Yorker

Dogs win in a competition for human love.

54% of people would choose their dog over their partner. CRACKED.COM More than half people sur- veyed would end a rela- tionship with someone if their dog didn't like them. The study also found that 94 percent of dog owners consider their dogs to be a part of their family.

Rover

Jay-Z collaborated with a baby on “Glory.”

The youngest person to appear on the Billboard chart was two-days-old. MPORTED ON TION CRACKED.COM Jay-Z included a clip of his daughter Blue Ivy Carter crying at the end of Glory, adding an official credit for the hours-old infant.

People

Cheetahs lack a bone that makes roaring possible.

Cheetahs can make a lot of noises, but they can't roar. CRACKED.COM From the Indianapolis Zoo: Cheetahs purr, bleat, bark, growl, hiss, and chirp but they don't roar. Roaring is made possible by a special two-piece hyoid bone in the throat, of which cheetahs have only one.

Independent

Toads in Germany are stopped from crossing the road.

Toad buckets line the sides of roads in Germany. GRAGKED.COM Conservation organiza- tions installed more than 800 fences along popular roadways to catch toads in buckets before they end up in the street, to be re- leased into nearby forests at the end of the day.

The Local

Reruns of ‘Friends’ earn the stars $20 million a year, each.

Each cast member of f'Friends' still earns $20 million a year from residuals. CRACKED.COM Part of the $1 bil- lion-a-year earnings makes its way to the six actors since the cast ne- gotiated syndication rights before the show went off the air.

USA Today

The color of flowers are changing.

Climate change is causing flowers to change color. CRACKED.COM Scientists determined that the UV pigmentation in flowers has increased over time which has led to the degradation of their pol- len. The change isn't much for our eyes, but a big problem for pollinators.

Cell

A storm in 1996 produced the fastest winds recorded on Earth.

The fastest wind gust on Earth was recorded in Australia in 1996. GRACKED.COM A tropical cyclone named Olivia hit off the coast of Barrow Island, an it's eye- wall (the area immediately outside the eye of a storm) produced a gust of wind going 253 miles per hour.

Weather

The iron in our blood makes up three grams.

We have enough iron in our blood to form a three-inch nail. CRACKED.COM Iron helps our red blood cells carry oxygen, which is necessary for producing energy throughout the body. The three grams of iron within us, if it were ex- tracted and melted down, could produce one nail.

Healthline

One police officer in California prevented over 200 suicides.

One man saved over 200 people from taking their lives on the Golden Gate Bridge. CRACKED.COM Officer Kevin Briggs, who battles depression himself, retired in 2013 after saving hundreds of lives. Не wrote a book and now goes on speaking tours to encourage public discussion of suicide and mental illness.

NPR

Morphine was given to teething children in the 1800s.

There was a baby-teething medicine in the 1800s that contained morphine. CRACKED.COM Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup promised to soothe your child, soften their gums and diminish their teething pain - which it probably did really well with all the morphine in it.

The Quack Doctor

A small knee bone is making a comeback.

Having an extra bone in your knee is becoming more common. CRACKED.COM Some people have a bone in their knee called a fabella, which has an unknown pur- pose and was fading away. In 1918, 11% of the popula- tion had the bone, which has jumped to 39% by 2018.

IFLS

CCR is the most number two-iest band ever.

Creedence Clearwater Revival has the most #2 hits without ever making #1. CRACKED.COM Between 1969 and 1970, the band scored five #2 singles on the Billboard Top 100 -Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Travelin' Band, and Lookin' Out My Back Door - but never #1.

Slate

Pear cider doesn’t actually exist.

There is no such thing as pear cider. CRACKED.COM Perry is the alcoholic drink made from pears, which was popular in England un- til the 20th century and then revived as pear ci- der. Cider, however, is ex- clusively made from fer- mented apples.

NPR

Sign up for the Cracked Newsletter

Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox!

Recommended For Your Pleasure

Forgot Password?