20 Wondrous Facts That Ignited Our Pilot Lights

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20 Wondrous Facts That Ignited Our Pilot Lights

Did you know that British chancellors are allowed to drink alcohol while giving the annual budget statement? It's true! Alcohol is prohibited in Parliament, with one exception - the so-called “Budget Tipple.” Past chancellors have sipped on whisky, gin and tonic, and brandy while delivering their speeches. You might be familiar with VeggieTales, a wholesome show featuring vegetables retelling Bible stories. What you may not know is that the creator chose vegetables in the first place because they were easier to animate than humans or animals with limbs and hair. Also interesting fact - VeggieTales was only going to feature Old Testament stories because the creator's mom didn't want Jesus shown as a vegetable! Have you ever wanted to send a letter underwater? In Japan, there's an actual functioning mailbox located 10 meters below sea level. Postmaster Toshihiko Matsumoto put it there in hopes of attracting people to Kii Peninsula - and it works! The mailbox receives hundreds of letters every day. 

An extinct species was cloned and brought back to life, for seven minutes.

The Pyrenean ibex is the only species ever to become 'un-extinct' after being cloned in 2009. The last ibex was captured and skin biopsies were tak- en and cryopreserved in ni- trogen. Unfortunately, the clone lived only for seven minutes and was extinct once again. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NatGeo

The best Ethiopian coffee gets sold out of the country.

Ethiopians do not get the highest quality coffee produced in their own country. The government only al- lows lower-quality beans to be sold on the domestic market, in or- der to promote exports and obtain a harder for- eign currency. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

CNN

Not all Jenga blocks are created equal.

Jenga blocks aren't all the same size. Some are almost im- perceptibly smaller than others, and if you've ever played you know that some blocks slide out of the stack easier than others. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

MentalFloss

James Franco taught a college course about himself.

James Franco launched a college course called Master Class: Editing James Franco...with James Franco. In it, student editors com- piled a 30 minute docu- mentary on Franco, using behind the scenes footage of Franco supplied by Franco, to create a cine- matic image of James Franco. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

AV Club

“Jaywalking” was invented by car companies in the early 1900s to shift blame for accidents to pedestrians.

Jaywalking was invented by car companies in the early 1900s to shift blame for accidents to pedestrians. The auto industry scram- bled to blame casualties on pedestrians after a failed petition in 1923, signed by 42,000 people, tried to limit the mechani- cal speed of cars to 25 mph. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

BBC

Charlie Chaplin’s corpse was stolen in 1978.

In 1978, Charlie Chaplin's body was stolen and held for ransom. His widow refused to pay ransom demands of £400,000 ($2 million USD with inflation) because Charlie would have thought it ridiculous. His body was found 11 weeks later. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

BBC

A sneeze was the first film to be copyrighted in the late 1800s.

A 5 second film of Edison's assistant sneezing was the first to be copyrighted in the US. Fred Ott's Sneeze was released in 1894, distrib- uted by Edison Manufac- turing Company. It was displayed, at the time, through the means of a Kinetoscope. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Library of Congress

A German sailor went back to Somalia to steal back his boat from pirates.

A German sailor stole back his boat from Somalian pirates in 2008. After 52 days of captivity by militant group Al Shabab, Jürgen Kantner and his wife were freed after a large ransom was paid, and Kantner later returned for his boat. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

The Local

Nacho was a man that gave the world a great gift.

Nachos are named after their inventor, Ignacio Nacho Anaya. The dish was originally called Nacho's espe- ciales, and eventually the apostrophe disap- peared and it was shortened to just na- chos. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Sun Sentinel

Eleanor Roosevelt had weekly press conferences for just women.

Eleanor Roosevelt held weekly press conferences that allowed only female journalists to attend. This forced many news organizations to hire their first female report- ers, and saved the jobs that women already held, ensuring their ac- cess to news. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Women's History

Humans hunted the giant, venomous monitor lizard to extinction.

There was a giant, venomous, 23-foot-long monitor lizard living alongside humans in Australia. The Megalania was hunt- ed to extinction by early human inhabitants of Ice Age Australia, proving there is nothing we as a people cannot and will not kill. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NCBI

The people who give out Michelin Stars make sure to be anonymous.

Michelin goes to huge lengths to keep the restaurant Inspectors anonymous. MICHELIN Many of the top people have never met an inspec- tor; inspectors themselves are advised not to tell what they do. They have even refused to allow its inspectors to speak to journalists. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

New Yorker

The Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union wore swimmies in Mao’s pool.

Chairman Mao held meetings in his swimming pool to embarrass Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev, the First Sec- retary of the Communist Party, had to wear a floaty as he couldn't swim. Не felt insulted and relations between the Soviet Union and China deteriorated fur- ther. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Smithsonian

A million died from the flu in 1968.

The 1968 Hong Kong Flu left more than one million dead worldwide. Doctors recommend- ed those ill to stay at home and take aspi- rin, tea, lemon drinks, whiskey or brandy ас- cording to taste. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

SCMP

A Scottish piper played his bagpipes during the Normandy invasion.

During the Normandy Allied Invasion, Bill Millin played his bagpipes as he walked the beach. Не later asked cap- tured German prison- ers why they hadn't shot at him. They said they thought he was on a suicide mission and was clearly mad. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Washington Post

VeggieTales will not feature a veggie Jesus.

VeggieTales tells Old Testament Bible stories because the creator's mom didn't want to see Jesus as a vegetable. Vegetables were cho- sen in the first place because they were easier to animate than humans or animals with limbs and hair. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Lifeway

Chancellors within the British Parliament can drink alcohol while delivering the annual budget statement.

Alcohol is prohibited in the British Parliament with one exception. ESCLLENCE - - - - Pugel use HIBIKI 12 1 - I The chancellor can drink while delivering the an- nual budget statement, called the Budget Tip- ple. Past chancellors have drunk whisky, gin and tonic, and brandy. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

National World

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