20 Sterling Facts That Really Shined Our Candlesticks.
![20 Sterling Facts That Really Shined Our Candlesticks.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/4/872544_320x180.jpg)
Welcome to today's list of facts! Some may be surprising, while others are down-right wacky. But all matter nonetheless. Did you know that Lego used to bury its used molds in the concrete foundations of buildings? This was to prevent them from being reused because the accuracy of the product weight was so important. Talk about dedication! Or how about this one: Mormons will allow medical marijuana use with a doctor’s note - even though they forbid hot coffee. The rule set called “Word of Wisdom” prohibits alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and coffee and tea, based on what church members believe was a revelation from God to Joseph Smith in 1833. So if you ever find yourself needing some weed under strict Mormon law, now you know there's a way around it. And finally, meerkats kill more of their own kind than any other animal with an astonishing 20% average “team kill” rate among all mammals. Impressive, yet chilling.
Doctors used moss to wrap wounds during WWI.
![Sphagnum moss was used in bandages during WWI. Since cotton was in such high demand for the manu- facture of uniforms and ex- plosives, doctors turned to moss. The moss is twice as absorbent as cotton and also antiseptic. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/8/872568.jpg)
A band was told that Woodstock was just some pig farm in upstate NY.
![Tommy James and the Shondells didn't play Woodstock because it was referred to as just a pig farm. James' secretary put it to him as Yeah, listen, there's this pig farmer in upstate New York that wants you to play in his field. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/7/872567.jpg)
Curved roofs in Chinese architecture are to ward off spirits.
![Traditional Chinese roofs. are curved to ward off èvil spirits. Buddhists believed that curves could ward off evil spirits, which only move in straight lines. The curved roof corners ensured that when an evil spirit fell from the sky, it would shoot back up into the air. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/6/872566.jpg)
North Korea cheated twice at the Math Olympiad.
![North Korea was caught cheating at the International Mathematical Olympiad. North Korea was disquali- fied for cheating at the 32nd IMO in 1991 and again at the 51st IMO in 2010. It is the only coun- try to have been accused of cheating. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/5/872565.jpg)
A 456 pound man ate only multivitamins for a year to lose 276 pounds.
![A morbidly obese man ate only yeast and multivitamins for a year to lose weight. (Vegatal OTHER Vegetable INGREDIENT DI Powd The 456 pound man survived off his body fat, yeast, multivita- mins and potassium supplements. After this ordeal, he weighed just 180 pounds. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/2/872562.jpg)
An orchestra conductor has a 30 second memory thanks to contracting herpes.
![Acclaimed musician Clive Wearing developed serious amnesia after contracting herpes. Не can't form memories longer than 30 seconds and always thinks he's just awoken from a coma. De- spite this, he can recognize his wife and can still con- duct an orchestra. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/4/872564.jpg)
Michelangelo was not keen to share his sketchbook.
![Michelangelo used to burn his drawings so that people wouldn't know he had to work to achieve perfection. Michelangelo was con- stantly producing draw- ings throughout his 77-year career as an art- ist, but only about 600 of them have survived since the 16th century. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/3/872563.jpg)
There were no industry equipment standards for firefighters by the time of the 1904 Baltimore fire.
![The 1904 Baltimore fire was made worse because the fire hoses didn't fight the fire hydrants. At the time, there was no industry standard for fire fighting equipment, so the hoses that the firefighters were trying to use were not compatible with the closest hydrants. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/1/872561.jpg)
A Pakistani game show offered orphans as prizes.
![A game show in Pakistan gave away newborn babies as prizes. Amaan Ramazan, dubbed Pakistan's answer to The Price is Right, had to do something dramatic to win the rating war, so one two occasions they offered or- phaned infants as top priz- es. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/8/872558.jpg)
Big Ben is about to be the Leaning Clock of London.
![Big Ben in London is leaning enough to see with the naked eye. It is believed the tilt is caused by the structure slow- ly sinking into the land on which it was built. In a mere 4,000 years it will be leaning as much as the Tower of Pisa, if humanity hasn't annihilat- ed itself by then. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/7/872557.jpg)
Robert Downey Jr. buried his “Less Than Zero” role, literally.
![Robert Downey Jr. buried the clothes that he wore in 1987's Less Than Zero in the backyard of his house. This was a symbolic attempt to bury his decadent 1980s Brat Pack image and begin a new phase of his life and career after film- ing 'Chaplin.' CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/9/872559.jpg)
A silent film called “Unknown” was lost among other film cans marked “unknown.”
![A silent horror film from 1927 went missing because it was titled Unknown. In the archives of Cine- matheque Francaise, there were hundreds of film cans marked un- known, so for years no one knew that one of them contained the actu- al movie. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/6/872556.jpg)
There was a female Paul Revere that rode 40 miles in 1777.
![A 16-year-old girl rode twice the distance of Paul Revere to warn about the British. Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles in 1777, starting at 9 pm and ending at dawn the next day, to warn American forces that the British were ар- proaching. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/4/872554.jpg)
A would-be victim of a serial killer survived and saw him in a bar months later.
![A potential victim of a serial killer survived a gunshot to the head. Serial killer Thor Chris- tiansen was only caught because his fifth would-be victim survived and recognized him months later in a bar and reported him to police. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/2/872552.jpg)
An astronaut brought the ‘Firefly’ series to the ISS.
!['Firefly' has been permanently added to the International Space Station. Astronaut Steven Ray Swanson was a big fan of the show, and the 2005 movie 'Serenity,' so he brought both DVDs with him aboard the ISS in 2007. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/3/872553.jpg)
The blind in the US get a free device to read paper money.
![The US Treasury Department provides blind US citizens a free machine to read currency. The iBill is compact enough to slip into a side pocket. It can identify all US currency. They have also developed free apps to read currency with a smartphone. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/5/872555.jpg)
Saint Arnold of Soissons is the Saint of Beer.
![There is a Catholic Saint of Beer. Saint Arnold of Soissons saved the lives of many by urging them to drink beer rather than water that was spreading the plague. Boil- ing during the brewing process killed the patho- gens. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/7/872547.jpg)
Meerkats are cute and murderous.
![Meerkats kill more of their own kind than any other animal. The team kill average among all mammals is just 0.3%, but meerkats blow that out of the wa- ter with a staggering 20%. We wonder if this includes humans. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/8/872548.jpg)
Mormons can’t drink coffee or tea.
![Although they forbid hot coffee, Mormons will allow medical marijuana use with a doctor's note. The rule set called Word of Wisdom prohibits alco- hol, tobacco, illegal drugs and coffee and tea, based on what church members believe was a revelation from God to Joseph Smith in 1833. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/9/872549.jpg)
Lego poured concrete over the old molds when new factories were built.
![Lego used to bury its used molds in the concrete foundations of buildings to prevent them from being reused. LEGO Because the accuracy of the product weight was so important, when new factories were built, the old molds were thrown on the floor and concrete was poured on top. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/0/872550.jpg)