20 Preposterous Facts That Really Flushed Our Fuel Lines

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20 Preposterous Facts That Really Flushed Our Fuel Lines

We all know that the British have some quirks, but did you know just how many? For starters, did you know that their queen enjoyed a tipple or four daily? Elizabeth II was said to enjoy gin before lunch, wine during lunch, a dry martini with dinner, and champagne after dinner. And if you think that’s surprising, wait until you hear about the Statue of Liberty. See, what most people don’t realize is that the star-shaped base it stands on was actually originally built as a fort to defend against…the British! That’s right – Fort Wood was constructed in 1806 in anticipation of an attack from across the pond. But perhaps strangest of all is the fact that bakers’ dozens are 13 rather than 12 because medieval English law dictated that the price of bread was related to the cost of wheat. This meant that bakers were constantly in fear of being accused of cheating customers by shorting them, leading to the tradition we now know as “throwing in an extra just in case.” 

Goats make more milk with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” playing.

A goat farmer discovered his goats made more milk when All I Want For Christmas Is You was played on a loop. CRACKED.COM Apparently, The Chip- munk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) by Al- vin and the Chipmunks had the inverse reac- tion, and production came to a halt.

NY Post

A Colombian frog was named “no f*cking idea.”

There is a Colombian species of frog whose name in English translates to Allobates Not a F*cking Clue. CRACKED COM When Allobates Ni- putidea was discovered, the team had no idea how to classify it, be- cause the small, brown frog didn't exactly stand out on its own.

NaturalistaCO

A care facility in the Netherlands lets college kids stay in exchange for volunteer hours.

College students can stay for free in a long-term care facility if they volunteer 30 hours a month. CRACKED.COM When students come home from a class, concert, or party, they share those experienc- es with their elderly neighbors, some of whom are over 90.

Citylab

Antabuse is a pill that makes you sick if you drink alcohol.

There is a drug that makes people sick if they have even a small amount of alcohol. CRACKED.COM Antabuse works by block- ing an enzyme involved in processing alcohol. This medicine can help keep someone from drinking be- cause of the unpleasant side effects that will occur.

Drugs.com

Pat Robertson keeps predicting the world will end.

Televangelist Pat Robertson has predicted the world was going to end for decades. CRACKED.COM Не predicted in 1976 that the world would end in 1982. After that didn't hap- pen he tried again a de- cade later. In his book 'The New Millennium,' he said the world would be de- stroyed on April 29, 2007.

US News

The T-1000 swam for three hours to rescue people after a boating accident.

Robert Patrick swam for three hours to save people after a boating accident. CRACKED.COM Before he was an actor, Pat- rick worked as a house painter until a boating acci- dent in 1984 in Lake Erie. Не nearly drowned swimming to save others still stranded on the accident site.

TV Guide

The Church of Scientology says their founder left his physical body to study on other planets.

The Church of Scientology officially claimed that L. Ron Hubbard is doing research on another planet. CRACKED.COM After his death in 1986, the Church claimed that he voluntarily abandoned his physical body after it be- came an impediment to his work and that he learned how to do it without a body.

Tony Ortega

The creator of the first liquid-fueled rocket was mocked for thinking man could reach the moon.

Robert Goddard was mocked after he created the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1919. CRACKED.COM Не was ridiculed for his be- lief that man could reach the moon, and The New York Times even mocked his un- derstanding of basic phys- ics. They later published a correction the day after the launch of Apollo 11.

Vice

A drug company let thousands of people die instead of taking their product off the market.

An arthritis drug produced by Merck & Co. resulted in the death of approximately 60,000 people. SL NO. sd Magnes GRAGKED.COM The company allegedly was aware of the side ef- fects and did not with- draw the drug from the market until FDA caught on. The company still ex- ists to this day.

New Scientist

A New Zealand beverage company was exposed thanks to high school students.

Two New Zealand high school students exposed a juice maker of false advertising. Black Ribena Volvic Ribena Ribena Raspberr Apple Strawberry 12 x 500ml bottles 888 Strawber pen curr Apple Orange Really при Seja Real ibena D'I Ribena Ribena na. of Realimme CRACKED COM The drink Ribena claimed to have four times the vita- min с of oranges, but the drink contained almost no trace of vitamin C. The company was taken to court and fined NZ$217,500.

NZ Herald

A choice of font exposed the Pakistani Prime Minister of document forging.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was caught forging documents by his choice of font. CRACKED.COM A document purporting to have been written and signed in 2006 used Micro- soft's Calibri font, which didn't actually ship in a stable version of Windows or Office until 2007.

Ars Technica

The first artificial insemination was in 1884, and performed without consent.

The first successful artificial insemination was performed in 1884 on a Philly woman without her knowledge. CRACKED.COM The doctor anesthetized the woman and took sperm from his best-looking student and impregnated her. The doctor and the woman's husband never re- vealed the truth to her.

The Atlantic

Hippies were not allowed in Disneyland.

Until the late 1960s, men with long hair were prohibited from entering Disneyland. CRACKED.COM Employees were also prohibited from having any facial hair because visitors would associ- ate it with un-American activities.

Snopes

Europeans considered the “front crawl” swimming technique barbaric.

English newspapers blasted the un-European swimming technique Native Americans used to win a competition in 1844. CRACKED COM Europeans traditionally swam the breaststroke, while Native Americans swam the front crawl. Eu- ropeans refused to use the faster front crawl for decades.

Halton Swimming Club

Nefertiti the Walking Spider was an astronaut.

A jumping spider learned to adapt to conditions in space. CRACKED.COM Nefertiti, the spider, was launched to the ISS to ob- serve if it could catch prey in microgravity. It succeed- ed in catching prey by learning to walk slowly, rather than jumping.

The Guardian

A baker’s dozen being 13 goes all the way back to medieval times.

A baker's dozen is 13 because of a law in medieval England. CRACKED.COM There were laws that relat- ed the price of bread to the price of the wheat used to make it, so bakers would toss in extra in fear of com- ing up short and being ac- cused of cheating custom- ers.

MentalFloss

The base of the Statue of Liberty was originally a fort.

The star-shaped base of the Statue of Liberty was originally a fort built to defend against the British. CRACKED.COM Construction of Fort Wood on the island in the shape of an 11-point star began in 1806 and was completed in 1811, protecting New York from British invasion in the upcoming conflict.

NPS

Queen Elizabeth liked her drinks.

Queen Elizabeth II had 4 drinks a day. CRACKED.COM She had a gin before lunch, a wine during lunch, a dry martini with dinner, and a glass of champagne following dinner.

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