15 Trivia Tidbits for Saturday, February 22, 2025

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13 Cool Conversation-Starting Facts We Never Knew

Poor John.

13 Cool Conversation-Starting Facts We Never Knew

October 18, 2021

John Leguizamo turned down an awesome role for a movie that was supposed to be even awesomer … but that movie was Super Mario Bros. Here’s the full story, plus 12 others:

13

Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin once hurt his hand by practicing a scene for The Newsroom. He got up in the middle of the night to practice an idea he had, and that involved lunging at his bathroom mirror - he broke it, and went to the ER. CRACKED.COM — Source: NPR

12

A classic Simpsons Olympics episode is based on something that really happened. MAZKS In Lisa's First Word, Krusty Burger offers free burgers if the US team wins, and that comes back to bite him. This really happened to McD's in 1984. CRACKED.COM — Source: LAist

11

Jerry Seinfeld never unironically said What's the deal with ... ? on Seinfeld. No, not even in the pre-intro stand-up sets. It's apparently associated with him just because he said it in a 1992 SNL skit where he played a game show host. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss

10

John Leguizamo sadly sacrificed a lot to play Luigi in Super Mario Bros. He had gotten the chance to play Tom Hanks' character's love interest in Philadelphia, but he refused the offer and decided to play Luigi instead. CRACKED.COM — Source: Yahoo

9

Mick Jagger

In 1968, the Beatles signed a petition to get Mick Jagger in A Clockwork Orange. They sent it to Terry Southern, who was writing the movie adaptation's script, demanding to have Jagger in the lead role. Alas, it was clearly unsuccessful. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Guardian

8

Isaac Newton was a member of Parliament, but he was very ineffective. During his 21-year stint there, he apparently only spoke once, and it was to the usher - he asked him to close the window one time when it was chilly. CRACKED.COM — Source: History.com

7

Scallions and green onions are the same vegetable, with different names. But spring onions are different their bulbs are much bigger than those of green onions, and those bulbs in fact kind of look like small onions. CRACKED.COM — Source: Bon Appetit

6

Rick James once got a custom drawing by Salvador Dali, but he ruined it. Dali sketched him at a party on a napkin, and gave it to James. James left it in his shorts, forgot about it, and went swimming in them the next day. CRACKED.COM — Source: Rolling Stone

5

Being a Michelin Guide Inspector means eating 275 inspection meals a year. And that's just the minimum. Luckily, to compensate for the effects of that, Michelin has a plan -- they reimburse fitness membership fees. CRACKED.COM — Source: Michelin.com

4

Cranes

One crane at the Smithsonian National Zoo has a human mate (kind of). They mate for life, and the crane Walnut has chosen zookeeper Chris Crowe - in 2004. She hasn't changed her mind since, apparently. CRACKED.COM — Source: People.com

3

There was a futuristic floating McDonald's on a barge in Canada way back in 1986. It was set up for the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver, and orders were brought out on a conveyor belt. But after the Expo, it was left to rot for years. CRACKED.COM — Source: Lethbridge News Now

2

A British aircraft carrier produces 540 tons of fresh water per day at sea. The HMS Queen Elizabeth uses a reverse osmosis system that filters salt molecules, creating enough fresh water each day to fill 12,000 bathtubs. CRACKED.COM — Source: UK Defence Journal

1

In 1957, a nuclear bomb in the desert exploded directly over six guys' heads. They were five Air Force officers and a cameraman, and apparently they all reached old age. One of them might even still be alive. CRACKED.COM — Source: NPR

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