20 Now-You-Know Facts That Might Be Helpful One Day

Disney left out the peculiar death of Maui from real Maori myth.
20 Now-You-Know Facts That Might Be Helpful One Day

As a species, we can enjoy this list of interesting facts. It is not something we do because we want to know more about the world around us. It is a distraction from reality. It is an escape from our daily worries. We don't enjoy this list of fascinating facts for any logical reason. But it does help. There is no denying that this list of fascinating facts will make you smarter, and by extension make you feel more confident and sure of yourself. This list of interesting facts will also serve to make you feel good about yourself if you are a decent and upstanding member of society. In fact, if you are a decent and upstanding member of society, then this list of interesting facts may even make you feel so good about yourself that you start behaving in a more upstanding way. You may even start behaving in a more upstanding manner towards those people who you usually think are beneath you.

A secret restaurant and bar operated in the Paris Catacombs.

A secret, functional restaurant was uncovered in the Paris Catacombs. The restaurant had tables and chairs, a fully-stocked bar, with electricity and three phone lines. When police ar- rived three days later to trace the power lines, they saw they had been cut, and a note was left saying, Do not try and find us. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Atlas Obscura

The word "dashboard" originated as a barrier at the front of a horse-drawn carriage.

A dashboard originated from horse-drawn carriages. A dashboard was a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to pro- tect the driver from mud or other debris dashed up by the horses' hooves. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Merriam-Webster

Hippos were almost brought over from Africa to the US in 1910.

A Louisiana senator wanted to bring hippos to the US as meat and deal with invasive water plants. Robert F. Broussard pro- posed the American Hip- po Bill in 1910, which would have brought the animals from Africa to solve a meat shortage in the United States. The bill nearly passed. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NOLA

“The Simpsons” might end in a closed loop.

A writer and producer for The Simpsons wants the show to end the same as it began. Al Jean said he would like the final episode to end with the arrival of the Christmas pag- eant from the first scene of the pilot episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, making the whole series a continuous loop. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

AV Club

The real John Ratcliffe was flayed and burned alive.

The villain in Disney's 'Pocahontas' was inspired by a real person that met a gruesome end. Governor John Rat- cliffe was flayed and burned alive by Native Americans after they lured him to their vil- lage by promising to trade with him. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Public People

It only takes 15 digits of pi for NASA to calculate interplanetary travel.

NASA only uses 15 digits of pi for calculating interplanetary travel. At 40 digits, you could calculate the circumfer- ence of a circle the size of the visible universe to an accuracy equal to the di- ameter of a hydrogen atom. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NASA

Hollywood accounting would have us believe the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies didn’t make a profit.

According to Hollywood accounting, the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy was a financial loss. Despite earning $3 billion on a budget of $100 mil- lion, the Peter Jackson movies made horren- dous losses and no prof- it at all, according to New Line Cinema. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NZ Herald

Compersion is the secondhand rush of happiness you feel when seeing somebody else do well.

People in polyamorous relationships made their own word for what they feel when their partner is with someone else. The word 'compersion' was popularized by people in on- line communities devoted to polyamory and open rela- tionships, in order to de- scribe the opposite of feel- ing jealous when your part- ner dates somebody else. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Gizmodo

Joseph Smith thought Quakers lived on the moon.

Mormon prophet Joseph Smith thought six foot Quakers lived one the moon. Around the mid 19th cen- tury, Smith said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth that live to 1,000 years old and averaging near six feet in height. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Mormon Think

Mao Zedong had very poor dental habits.

Mao Zedong never brushed his teeth. Once, when his pri- vate physician sug- gested to him that he should use a tooth- brush, he replied, A tiger never brushes his teeth. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NY Times

Orangutans can be attracted to human red heads.

Male orangutans can be attracted to women with red hair. One male, Hsing-Hs- ing, has even ripped pictures of Nicole Kid- man out of magazines and placed them in his enclosure at the Perth Zoo. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Herald Sun

Home Depot used to stock shelves with empty merchandise boxes.

In the early days of Home Depot, they would stock shelves with empty boxes. JamesHarde 20 Doors & Lumber Windows Dougles Fin Studs 2xd's 19 He 2xB's Plain Plumbing - Anderson finished moulding ONA KU Home Depot persuaded the vendors to give them empty boxes after the vendors were afraid that Home Depot could not pay them for all the merchandise. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

CNBC

A quarter of the Netherlands would flood in weeks without their water boards.

Much of the land in the Netherlands lies below sea level, and is very susceptible to flooding. Authorities, farmers, and citi- zens decided to join forces and team up in organizations called district water boards. Nearly a thousand years lat- er, about 26% of the Nether- lands would be flooded with- in weeks if water boards would stop working. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Kinderdijk

Roosters crow in order from the highest-ranking bird to the lowest.

Only the highest-ranking rooster gets to crow first at dawn. Lower-ranking birds must wait their turn to crow, and to eat. They also sound off in order of their rank, from high to low. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Science News

Disney left out the peculiar death of Maui from real Maori myth.

The Maui of Maori mythology was crushed inside a vagina with obsidian teeth. Maui was attempting to win immorality for mankind by turning into a worm and en- tering the sleeping Great Goddess of the Underworld, Hine-nui-te-po, but the birds he brought with him started to laugh and woke her up. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Teara

There were only a thousand humans left 70,000 years ago.

Humans were an endangered species twice in our history. About 1.2 million years ago, there were probably only around 18,500 individuals ca- pable of breeding. Human- kind was reduced to 1,000 in- dividuals after a supervolca- no explosion triggered a nu- clear winter 70,000 years ago. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Phys.org

The appendix must be doing something important.

The appendix keeps coming back after humans evolve without it. Caral branchre Need brunchen The human appendix has evolved at least 29 times and been lost a maximum of 12 times, but evolution keeps bringing it back in mammals, possibly due to it having an important role in immune function. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Science Alert

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