Translate

Sunday, September 25, 2016

30 Amazing facts that will blow your mind


OK, "blow your mind" is a bit dramatic. But 65 Amazing Facts You'll Probably Enjoy and Likely Consider Mentioning to Your Friends didn't fit.

1. Google's founders were willing to sell to Excite for under $1 million in 1999—but Excite turned them down.

*

2. There was a third Apple founder. Ronald Wayne (pictured at home in 2010) sold his 10% stake for $800 in 1976.

*

3. The famous Aaron Burr “Got Milk?” ad from 1993 was directed by Michael Bay.

*

4. According to Amazon, the most highlighted Kindle books are the Bible, the Steve Jobs biography, and The Hunger Games.

*

5. A California woman once tried to sue the makers of Cap'n Crunch because Crunch Berries contained "no berries of any kind."

*

6. Wilford Brimley was Howard Hughes's bodyguard.

*

7. During WWI, German measles were called "liberty measles" and dachshunds became "liberty hounds."

*

8. In a 2008 survey, 58% of British teens thought Sherlock Holmes was a real guy, while 20% thought Winston Churchill was not.

*

9. At one point in the 1990s, 50% of all CDs produced worldwide were for AOL.

*

10. Toy companies failed to duplicate the success of Theodore Roosevelt's teddy bear with William Taft's "Billy Possum."

*

11. Nutella was invented during WWII, when an Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his chocolate ration.

*

12. In response to The Lorax, the forest products industry published Truax to teach kids the importance of logging.

*

13. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima for work when the first A-bomb hit, made it home to Nagasaki for the second, and lived to be 93.

*

14. A British man changed his name to Tim Pppppppppprice to make it harder for telemarketers to pronounce.

*

15. J.P. Morgan once offered $100,000 to anyone who could figure out why his face was so red. No one solved the mystery.

*

16. Prairie dogs say hello with kisses.

*

17. In the mid-1960s, Slumber Party Barbie came with a book called "How to Lose Weight." One of the tips was "Don’t eat."

*

18. A 2009 search for the Loch Ness Monster came up empty. Scientists did find over 100,000 golf balls.

*

19. After OutKast sang “Shake it like a Polaroid picture,” Polaroid released a statement that said, “Shaking or waving can actually damage the image.”

*

20. New Mexico State's first graduating class in 1893 had only one student—and he was shot and killed before graduation.

*

21. In the mid-1980s, Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas was the voice of Charlie Brown's sister Sally.

*

22. Jonas Salk declined to patent his polio vaccine. "There is no patent," he said. "Could you patent the sun?"

*

23. Only one McDonald’s in the world has turquoise arches. Sedona, AZ thought yellow clashed with the natural red rock.

*

24. The 50-star American flag was designed by an Ohio high school student for a class project. His teacher originally gave him a B–.

*

25. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the most commonly stolen vehicle in 2012 was the 1994 Honda Accord.

*

26. After leaving office, Lyndon Johnson let his hair grow out.

*

27. Crabs have their own version of the fist pump. Male crabs wave their claws in the air to attract females.

*

28. Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men is used by researchers to attract animals to cameras in the wilderness.

*

29. Sean Connery turned down the Gandalf role in Lord of the Rings. "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it."

*

30. E.B. White of Charlotte's Web fame is the "White" of Strunk and White, who wrote The Elements of Style.

No comments: