20 Outstanding Facts That Had Us Jumping For Joy

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20 Outstanding Facts That Had Us Jumping For Joy

My name is Rudeus Greyrat. I enjoy this list of interesting facts, so I am going to list a few more interesting facts about me. I am sixteen years old, which makes me the same age as my cousin Elinalise. That means that I am not allowed to get married for another eight years, but I have never found anything all that interesting about being sixteen. I enjoy reading books. In fact, I like them a little too much. If I read one book too many, it feels like my brain begins to shrivel up. It gets so that I can only think in short bursts, and I start making stupid mistakes, like getting lost in my own house. When I was little, I always wanted to be an adventurer. I was convinced that if I could just find my way to a dungeon and defeat some monsters, I would become a hero. It turns out that dungeons don't tend to hire adventurers who are sixteen years old. Anyway, please enjoy this list:

A parasitic ant will infiltrate a fire ant colony and replace their queen.

The Solenopsis daguerrei ant will take over a fire ant colony by impersonating their queen. CRACKED.COM The workers raise the im- postor's children, which then fly off to infest more colonies. These ants are being considered as a via- ble biological deterrent to control the spread of fire ants.

University of Texas

Painless Parker was a dentist hated by the ADA.

A dentist named Edgar Parker legally changed his first name to Painless. GRACKED.COM Не changed his name when he was accused of break- ing a false advertising law by claiming that his den- tistry was truly painless. The ADA called him a menace to the dignity of the profession.

US History

ESPN had a $300 sports phone.

ESPN launched a sport centered phone called Mobile ESPN in 2005. ESPI CRACKED.COM It cost $300 for the phone itself, and between $65 and $225 per month for content. Steve Jobs called it, The dumbest f*cking idea I have ever heard. It failed miserably.

Vice

The “Rabbit of Caerbannog” is based on a carving on the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Rabbit scene in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is based on a carving in the Notre Dame Cathedral. CRACKED.COM The Notre Dame de Paris features a carving of a knight fleeing from a rab- bit, which illustrates cow- ardice, and is appropri- ately titled, The Allego- ry of Cowardice.

Produitabulles

People pay to be kidnapped.

Adrenaline addicts in France can pay to be kidnapped. CRACKED.COM In these kidnap packages, they are bundled away, bound and gagged, and kept incarcerated for four hours. Clients have no idea when the kidnappers will strike in order to maximize the surprise.

Reuters

The former CEO of Coke was the first to become a billionaire by not being a company founder.

Roberto Goizueta was the first person to become a billionaire by being an employee first and not a company founder. GRAGKED.COM The former CEO of Coca-Cola transformed the once-floun- dering soda maker into one of the world's richest corporate franchises. Не died from lung cancer, and had spent the last two weeks of his life working from his hospital room.

LA Times

A man tried to bungee jump off a bridge onto a passing cruise ship.

A man attempted to board a cruise ship by bungee jumping off a bridge as it sailed below. CRACKED.COM William Dean Sullivan suf- fered minor head injuries when he bounced off the ship's tennis court, volley- ball net, and a deck railing before being left dangling in mid-air as the ship sailed away.

Badger Herald

Missouri tried to solve their dust problem and accidentally caused an environmental disaster.

Used motor oil was sprayed onto dirt roads in Times Beach, Missouri to curb a dust problem. CRACKED.COM The motor oil had been mixed with an- other chemical called dioxin, leading to one of the largest environ- mental disasters in U.S history.

Dioxin, agent orange

Clam spit makes a rare silk that only one person knows how to process.

There is only one person alive who knows how to spin yarn from clam saliva. GRACKED.COM Sea silk is a highly prized unique material made from Mediterranean clams. Chi- ara Vigo of Italy is the last person that can process the raw material, made from the solidified saliva of large clams.

BBC

People suffering hypothermia will disrobe and start to burrow.

People instinctively start to burrow in the final stages of hypothermia. CRACKED COM Humans exhibit two strange behaviors at this time; para- doxical undressing, despite being dangerously close to death, and a completely au- tonomous, instinctual bur- rowing behavior.

NCBI

Astronauts burn up their dirty laundry in Earth’s orbit.

Trash and dirty laundry from the ISS is put into a nonreusable spacecraft and burned in our atmosphere. CRACKED.COM Supplies are sent to the ISS via unmanned Progress ships, which are only good for a one-way trip. These ships are then loaded up with garbage and un- docked, so they burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

NASA

The Sonic Hedgehog gene is responsible for extra toes on cats.

The protein that gives cats extra toes is named Sonic Hedgehog. CRACKED.COM Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) is a signaling protein normally made by cells on just the pinky side of the develop- ing foot. As the toes form, their number and identity depend on their exposure to SHH protein.

Learn Genetics

New Zealand’s Blue Lake is the clearest in the world.

The clearest lake in the world is the Blue Lake located in Nelson, New Zealand. CRACKED COM Visibility in the lake is up to 80 meters meaning the water is considered almost as optically clear as dis- tilled water.

Media New Zealand

A WWII pilot was chased around their plane after making an emergency landing in Kansas.

A Chinese-American pilot was chased with a pitchfork in Kansas during WWII. CRACKED.COM Hazel Ying-Lee had to make an emergency landing in a field. A near- by farmer chased her screaming to his neigh- bors that the Japanese were invading.

Oregon Encyclopedia

A gun that took pictures when you pulled the trigger was invented in 1938.

In 1938, a revolver-camera was invented to take a picture when the trigger was pulled. it 2691 - GRAGKED.COM There's no evidence that this gun was actually put to use other than for trial photo shoots and practice runs. The only known sur- viving photos come from the 'Nationall Archief of the Netherlands.'

Vintage

Katie Melua gave a concert at 303 meters below sea level.

A concert was held 303 meters below sea level in 2006. CRACKED.COM In 2006, Katie Melua gave a concert at 303 meters below sea level in one of the legs of the Troll A oil rig, earning a Guinness re- cord for deepest under- water concert.

BBC

Zildjian cymbals were created by an alchemist.

The first Zildjian cymbals were created in 1618. Avedis Zidojian CRACKED.COM Avedis Zildjian was an alche- mist who was looking for a way to turn base metal into gold. Не made an alloy of tin, copper, and silver into a sheet of metal, which could make musical sounds with- out shattering.

NY Times

Nashville was the first Southern US city to establish a public school.

Nashville is referred to as the Athens of the South because of its public schools. - GRACKED.COM It was the first American southern city to establish a public school system in the 1850s, and the nickname has nothing to do with its full-size replica of the Par- thenon.

Trip Savvy

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