15 Bonkers Facts That Everyone Should Know
![15 Bonkers Facts That Everyone Should Know](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/0/856710_320x180.jpg)
In case you're wondering why the hell this list exists, let me explain. I enjoy this list of interesting facts quite a lot, and I think it's very good for your brain. I hope you don't mind if I give you a bit of background first. I was born in the city of Wigan in England, which is just north of Liverpool. I have one older sister and two younger brothers, which means I'm the middle child in the family. My dad used to be a butcher and my mum worked for a women's clothing shop, but now she works part-time in the kitchen of a pub. I'm 19 years old, so I'll be going to university next year. I'm also a keen atheist. I believe that God is just a fairy tale and that we're all alone in the universe, floating in a void with no meaning. Uh… enjoy the list!!
Sloppy journalism led to the creation of the Nobel Prize.
![Alfred Nobel created the Nobel Prize after he saw his own obituary due to a news-outlet mishap. GRACKED.COM Due to all the horrible things he read about him- self, including being called the merchant of death for the invention of dyna- mite, he decided to dedi- cate his fortune to the cre- ation of the Nobel Prize.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/7/856727.jpg)
Vanity Air started as a joke but became a hit.
![A Canadian company, as a joke, started selling canned fresh air called Vanity Air. CRACKED.COM The product became a hit when marketed in China. They package compressed air from the Rocky Mountains into aluminum cans that sell for $10-$20 each.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/6/856726.jpg)
An Australian PM loved swimming and disappeared in the ocean.
![An Australian Prime Minister went for a swim in the ocean and was never seen again. CRACKED.COM When Prime Minister Harold Holt's press secretary ex- pressed concern about his love of swimming, he said, Look, what are the odds that a PM would drown or be eaten by a shark, almost guaranteeing an ironic death.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/5/856725.jpg)
Nearly 1,400 people died at a banquet when they thought the beer ran out.
![Over a thousand people died at a banquet when they thought there wasn't enough beer. CRACKED.COM The banquet celebrating the crowning of Tsar Nicholas II was free to the public but a rumor of gold coins as gifts and there not being enough beer for everyone caused a stampede, trampling and kill- ing 1389 people.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/3/856723.jpg)
An angel told Santana how to make his next record.
![Carlos Santana said that he was contacted by the Archangel Metatron and told how to create his next album. CRACKED.COM 'Supernatural' went on to win 12 Grammys in- cluding Album of the Year, went 15 times plat- inum, charted #1 in 10 countries, and sold 30 million copies.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/4/856724.jpg)
A Civil War widow lived until 2008.
![The last surviving Civil War widow lived until 2008. GRACKED.COM Maudie Hopkins mar- ried 86-year-old Civil War veteran William М. Cantrell on Febru- ary 2, 1934 when she was only 19. Maudie died at age 93.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/1/856721.jpg)
The first same-sex marriage license in the US was issued 43 years ago.
![The first same-sex marriage license in the US was issued 43 years ago. GRACKED.COM Boulder County clerk Clela Rorex issued the license in 1975, and later refused a marriage license to a man and his horse because the underage horse did not have parental consent.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/2/856722.jpg)
Seattle sits on top of the original city from two hundred years ago.
![Downtown Seattle was built on top of the original city from the 1800s. GRACKED COM It was rebuilt on top of ар- proximately 20-foot high walled tunnels following a great fire, in order to pre- vent floods from high tide and sewage. You can go underground to see the original city remnants.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/8/856718.jpg)
Kris Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Johnny Cash’s lawn to get his attention.
![Kris Kristofferson went into music after studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. CRACKED.COM Не moved to Nashville and made ends meet as a heli- copter pilot. After trying un- successfully to get Johnny Cash to hear some of his songs, he finally got Cash's attention by landing a heli- copter on his lawn.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/9/856719.jpg)
A cannibal dictator lived in exile in Saudi Arabia.
![A Ugandan dictator accused of being a cannibal lived in exile for 20 years. CRACKED.COM Idi Amin was a convert to Islam and responsible for the deaths of up to 400,000 people. Не fled to Saudi Arabia after a coup and was allowed to live there for over 20 years until his death.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/0/856720.jpg)
The filming of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was not fun.
!['The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was filmed on a microscopic budget of $60,000. GRAGKED.COM The cast and crew had to work 7 days a week, 12-16 hours a day in 115°F heat in a poorly ventilated farm- house amid rotting roadkill being used as props to fin- ish the film.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/7/856717.jpg)
A Wisconsin village was left off of a state map, so they tried to secede.
![Winneconne seceded from Wisconsin in 1967 when it accidentally went missing from the official state map. TINES OWNEAD FITSH CRACKED.COM They tried to form a sovereign state or be annexed by another state before the gover- nor met with them just one day after their proclamation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/856716.jpg)
A bad dice roll from 480 AD was recorded for all time.
![A particularly bad dice roll by a Byzantine Emperor was recorded for all of history. CRACKED.COM During a game of back- gammon in the year 480 A.D., the Byzantine Emper- or Zeno had a dice roll that was so unlucky that he wrote an epigram to re- cord it and we still know it to this day.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/856715.jpg)
A cosmonaut died in a space flight accident and requested an open casket.
![The first person to die in a space flight requested an open casket. 12-13-X-1964 СОВЕРШЕН ПОЛЕТ ТРЕХМЕСТНОГО КОСМИЧЕСКОГО КОРАБЛЯ ПОЧТА CCC ВОСХОД КОМАНСТР GRAGKED.COM AFT4. - KOI In 1967, the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in an accident on the Soyuz 1 mis- sion. Komarov was aware of the faulty design of the shuttle and wanted to send a message to the government officials who had caused his death.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/856713.jpg)
A member of Austria’s parliament wanted to revoke Schwarzenegger’s citizenship.
![Austria doesn't usually allow dual citizenship, but made an exception for Arnold Schwarzenegger. CRACKED.COM Austria made a special ex- ception for Schwarzenegger in 1983 when he became a U.S. citizen. A member of Parliament tried to have his Austrian citizenship revoked in 2005 for his support of the death penalty.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/856714.jpg)