30 Fascinating Facts to Cram Into Your Cranium

1. some triathletes pee while riding their bike to minimize wasted time.

2. that mushrooms are more closely related to humans than to plants.

3. that the first recorded labour strike took place in Ancient Egypt, in 1170 BCE, by tomb workers. After the grain supply was repeatedly late, workers stopped working and demanded prompt pay. Because it was the first of its kind, management did not know how to react, and largely caved to demands.

4. Steve Jobs responded to an autograph request with a signed letter stating he doesn't write autographs.

5. that in 1518, in the small French town of Strasbourg, a young woman named Frau Troffea started dancing uncontrollably in the street. Her dancing continued for days & on the 3rd day, her shoes were soaked with blood. She attracted 30+ people to join her, which catalyzed the Dancing Plague of 1518.

6. cats were a common wedding gift among Vikings due to their association with the goddess of luck, Freyja. Men favored women who loved cats, believing that it increased the likelihood of a happy marriage.

7. that potato plants are poisonous. The part that we eat is the only edible part of the whole plant. It's also a member of the nightshade family.

8. About 7000 years ago, bananas were not the seedless, fleshy fruits we know today. The flesh was pitted with black seeds and nearly inedible.

9. 27% of Americans 18 and older have cut off contact with a family member.

10. we've had electric cars since the late 1800s. Some early electric cars could go as fast as 25mph and lasted 50 miles without needing a recharge.

11. British Airways Flight 9 flew through a cloud of volcanic ash causing all four engines to stop. Captain Eric Moody told the passengers that, “We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are all doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

12. Ancient Greece wasn't full of pure white marble everything. The statues and ruins we see today were actually painted in all kinds of vivid colors that were just stripped bare back to their original white marble by time.

13. that 81% of people say that email is still their primary form of communication at work.

14. that Alan Turing, the mathematician renowned for his contributions to computer science and codebreaking, converted his savings into silver during WW2 and buried it, fearing German invasion. However, he was unable to break his own code describing where it was hidden, and never recovered it.

15. that when a massive star goes supernova, it produces a flash of light so bright that can equal the combined light of every other star in the galaxy. One such event happened in 1054, it was so bright the light was visible during the day for a month and was still visible for 2 years afterwards.

16. a Dunkin' Donuts marketing campaign in South Korea released coffee aromas while their commercials played on buses and increased sales by 29%.

17. newborn babies shouldn’t drink plain water because it can lead to brain swelling and even death.

18. during his bachelor's degree, Robert Andrews Millikan was asked to teach elementary physics course although he was studying classics. He accepts the offer, studies a physics book during a summer vacation and after 34 years he wins the Nobel Prize for Physics.

19. since 1850, more than 5,000 people have gone over Niagara Falls, either intentionally (as stunts or suicide attempts) or accidentally but only 17 are known to have survived.

20. Brad Pitt, while starring as Achilles in the movie Troy, ruptured his Achilles tendon on set.

21. about William Sitgreaves Cox a junior officer aboard the USS Chesapeake who was court martialed for leaving his command when he assisted his wounded captain below decks. Since all other senior officers were wounded, he had become the commanding officer by default, unbeknownst to him.

22. Eric Clapton grew up thinking his mother was his sister, his grandmother was his mother, and his step-grandfather was his father.

23. That the most famous pirate in history: Blackbeard, was only active for 2 years. 1716-1718.

24. China has just one timezone (Beijing time) that covers the whole country. In the westernmost provinces, the sun may not rise until 10am or set until midnight. The border with Afghanistan is the greatest border time change in the world.

25. no child has been harmed or ki***d by poisoned or dangerous Halloween candy.

26. that the popular belief in the United States that Daylight Savings Time was enacted FOR the benefit of farmers is wrong; farmers were actually some of the strongest opponents of its implementation.

27. about millionaire Wellington Burt, who died in 1919 and deliberately held back his enormous fortune. His will denied any inheritance until 21 years after the death of his last surviving grandchild. The money sat in a trust for 92 years, until 12 descendants finally shared $110 million in 2011.

28. when Stalin mispronounced a word while giving a speech, all subsequent speakers felt obliged to repeat the mistaken pronunciation in order to avoid the perception that they were correcting him.

29. even traveling at the speed of light, it would take us 25,000 years to reach the center of our galaxy.

30. A Lot of the movie "Elf" Was Actually Shot in Closed Down Mental Institution.