20 Trivia Tidbits Dropped On The Road Of Knowledge
![20 Trivia Tidbits Dropped On The Road Of Knowledge](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/4/851214_320x180.jpg)
There are three things you need to know about me. One, I enjoy this list of odd facts more than any other I've ever created. Two, I'm not sure if it's good that I'm enjoying it as much as I am, because it seems like I've been in a weird mood for the last few months. And three, it's difficult to choose what order to present these facts in. The truth is that I have always been an odd person. As a child I was strange and often seemed to be on the verge of being arrested.
When I was a teenager I got kicked out of my high school, but this wasn't for being a bad student, or getting expelled, but rather, for having an alternate identity which I used to make prank calls to my teachers, which in turn made me a school celebrity. This also earned me the nickname “Ricky Gervais” at the time.
A mentally ill man in an asylum was the largest contributor to the Oxford dictionary.
![The largest contributor to the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was in an asylum. SAIUTO TheOxford English The English onary Dictionary English Dictionary E Dictionary Dictionary Did SECOND SECOND SECOND EDITION SECOND SECOND EDITION SECOND EDITION EDITION EDITION EDITION VII VIII VI IV V III Lo Interval-Looir Hat-Iatervacuan Follow-Haswed Dvandva-Follis Creel-Duzepere Cham-Creeky CRACKED.COM William Chester Minor devoted most of the remainder of his life to combing through his personal library to provide the dictionary with quotes that il- lustrated the way particular words were used. Не later cut his penis off.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/5/851235.jpg)
Police need to be held accountable.
![Complaints dropped by 88% after Rialto, California police were required to wear body cameras. POLICE SPATROLMAN CRACKED.COM Use of force also dropped by 60%. The chief of police said, When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better...](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/4/851234.jpg)
A train runs right through an airport landing strip in NZ.
![An active train track runs through a runway at Gisborne Airport in New Zealand. - .... Welcome to Gisborne - De - - CRACKED.COM According to the Gis- borne City Vintage Railway's website, it operates the only train in the Southern Hemisphere which crosses a runway.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/6/851236.jpg)
Steve Carell owns a store in MA.
![Steve Carell owns the 158 year old Marshfield Hills General Store in Marshfield Massachusetts. O M CRACKED.COM Carell and his wife, actress Nancy, grew up in Massa- chusetts. Nancy's sister mentioned that the histor- ic general store was up for sale, and Carell cinched a deal to purchase the busi- ness in 2008.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/3/851233.jpg)
One-eyed Jan wanted to live on as a drum.
![A Bohemian general requested his skin be made into drums after his death. GRACKED.COM General Jan Zizka, or One-Eyed Zizka, was con- sidered one of the greatest military leaders of all time and never lost a battle. Не re- quested that war drums be made from his skin to lead his men even after his death.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/2/851232.jpg)
The 1988 Olympics started with doves being burned alive.
![Some doves caught on fire during the 1988 Olympic flame lighting. GRACKED.COM Many of the doves released at the opening ceremony landed in the cauldron where the flame is lit, and did not fly away when the torch bearer approached. This was the last ceremony in which doves were released.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/1/851231.jpg)
One man will produce enough sperm in his life to repopulate the Earth.
![The average male will produce enough sperm in his life to repopulate the Earth, 405 times. CRACKED.COM With 1,500 sperm cells pro- duced every second, if each one led to a viable birth, one man could reproduce the 7 billion Earth inhabitants hun- dreds of times over. A wom- an will only create 450 total eggs in her lifetime, however.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/9/851229.jpg)
Edgar Allan Poe married his 13 year old cousin.
![Edgar Allan Poe married his first cousin. CRACKED.COM Poe married Virgina Clemm when he was 26 and she was 13. She died 11 years later, and Poe was often found in the winter sitting at her tomb almost frozen.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/3/0/851230.jpg)
Before the 19th century, all yeast leavened bread was sourdough.
![All yeast leavened bread was once a type of sourdough. CRACKED.COM Before the 19th century, they didn't understand that it wasn't the yeast itself giving the bread the sour taste. With advancements in micro- scopes, they were able to produce strains of yeast without lactobacillus.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/7/851227.jpg)
Barack was called “O’bomber” in school.
![Barack Obama earned the nickname O'bomber in high school. CRACKED.COM Obama played on his high school basketball team with a group of friends who gave him the nickname Barry O'bomber because of the long-range jump shots he loved taking.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/5/851225.jpg)
It would take over three months to actually read every website’s fine print.
![It's not possible to actually read all the privacy policies we agree to. any ne fine print uv - print Read the fine print Read 1 I an an t...fine print...fine print...fi the fine print Read the fin and table below - the fine print Read the fine p the follow would Jan 1 fine print Read the s Mails of the - ad the fine prin HE will the GRAGKED.COM It would take 76 workdays to read every online priva- су policy we agree to in an average year. While not physically impossible, we don't think HR is going](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/8/851228.jpg)
A man had to change his name after a drunken bet.
![A New Zealand man had to change his name to one with 99 characters after losing a bet. CRACKED.COM It took 5 years, but the NZ government finally ар- proved the change to Full Metal Havok More Sexy N Intelligent Than Spock And All The Superheroes Com- bined With Frostnova.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/6/851226.jpg)
The US might have been renamed “The United States of Earth.”
![A U.S. constitutional amendment was proposed to rename the country The United States of Earth. CRACKED.COM House Representative Lu- cas Miller from Wisconsin proposed the alteration in 1893, reasoning it's possi- ble for the Republic to grow to the point where every country on the plan- et was part of it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/4/851224.jpg)
There is a town in the US with only one resident.
![Monowi, Nebraska is the only town in the US with an official population of one person. MONOWI 2 CRACKED.COM Rudy and Elsie Eiler were the only two residents of the town until 2004, when Rudy passed away. Now Elsie is the sole citizen of Monowi, acting as the mayor, even giving herself a liquor license to work as a bartender.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/3/851223.jpg)
A town elected a toddler mayor.
![A U.S. town had a 3-year-old mayor. CRACKED COM In the small town of Dorset, Minnesota, where a new mayor is picked every two years by drawing names out of a hat, a 3 year old named Robert Tufts was elected mayor in 2015.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/2/851222.jpg)
James Franco sold “non-visible” art.
![James Franco sold an invisible sculpture for $10,000. A1 USTIN FI LM FES TIVAL GRACKED.COM The non-visible artwork, which was purchased by an art collector, was billed as an endless tank of оху- gen. To be fair, nothing ranks high on the list of things we would want Franco to give us.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/1/851221.jpg)
Harvard is easier to get into than Walmart.
![Walmart has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard. Walmart CRACKED.COM The Washington, D.C. store received more than 23,000 applications in 2013, but hired just 600 associates. That's a 2.6% acceptance rate - almost twice as se- lective as Harvard.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/9/851219.jpg)
A rabbi created speed dating.
![Speed dating was invented by a rabbi. SPEED DATING GRACKED.COM Rabbi Yaacov Deyo brought together a handful of single men and women in 1998 for some matchmaking at a Peet's Coffee Bever- ly Hills, California.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/8/851218.jpg)
The bowler hat was made to protect horse riders.
![The bowler hat was created as a safety helmet. GRAGKED.COM Designed by London hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler, it was a riding helmet meant to protect rid- ers from branches and other obstacles.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/2/0/851220.jpg)
Shel Silverstein wrote ‘A Boy Named Sue.’
![Shel Silverstein wrote a song for Johnny Cash. CRACKED.COM The author of 'The Giv- ing Tree' penned many songs performed by acts like Waylon Jen- nings and Loretta Lynn, including 'A Boy Named Sue' for Cash.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/7/851217.jpg)