16 Interesting Facts That Make Us Go, “Neat!”

We're never eating whole, intact squid again. At least not the males.
16 Interesting Facts That Make Us Go, “Neat!”

Everyone loves a good fact, especially when it's something that they can share with their friends to make them sound smart. But did you know that some of the most popular facts out there are actually false? For example, the idea that we use only 10% of our brainpower is a myth that has been debunked by science. The notion that we have five senses is also wrong - humans actually have upwards of 20 different types of sensors, including those for pain, temperature, and balance. So the next time you're regaling your friends with some fascinating trivia, make sure you double-check your sources! Who knows, you might just be the one spreading false information.

If you see a woman dancing frantically in the streets, don't join in, or you might start a boogie-pandemic that decimates the countryside. A 16th-century town in France found this out the hard way. This and many more stories are below:

The Dancing Plague

The Dancing Plague of 1518 affected 400 people in a month long groove-fest. In the summer of 1518, in what is now modern-day France, a woman began to dance in the street. Other women joined in, and eventually between 50 and 400 people were mysteriously affected with a mania that caused them to dance to exhaustion until that September. CRACKED.COM

Source: History 

Women marched in revealing clothing to test a claim that their immodesty caused earthquakes. Inspired by blogger Jey McCreight, the aptly named Boobquake rally took place on April 26, 2010 in protest of an Iranian cleric's controversial beliefs blaming women who dress immodestly for causing earthquakes. McCreight wrote, I encourage other female skeptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts. With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. CRACKED.COM

Source: ABC 

A fever dream of James Cameron's lead to iconic Terminator imagery. The image of the chrome skeleton of a Terminator rising from a fiery Hellscape came to Cameron in a dream when sick with a fever. When he woke up, he sketched a metal skeleton, torn in half, crawling towards a terrified woman, which would become the finale of The Terminator. CRACKED.COM

Source: BFI 

One man successfully traded a paperclip for progressively larger items, until he had a house. Kuta-Not CIN Ricky Over the course of 14 up-trades, which included a fish pen, a snowmobile, and a recording contract, Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald was able to trade one paid, credited, speaking role in a film by Public Media Works for a house. The Town of Kipling, Saskatchewan offered the final trade, and welcomed him by making him Honorary Mayor of Kipling for One Day. CRACKED.COM

Source: BBC 

A mass extinction 252 million years ago killed most of life on Earth, and we have no idea why. Over the course of a few million years (basically nothing in geological time), 96% of marine life and 70% of land-based species vanished in The Great Permian Extinction, otherwise known as The Great Dying. This is the only mass-extinction event to have affected insects, possibly caused by an asteroid, volcanoes, or a stagnant ocean spurred on by the supercontinent Pangea. CRACKED.COM

Source: CBS 

Tom Hanks almost starred in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie. The live action Super Mario movie was an unmitigated disaster, but it could have been way different. Tom Hanks was cast in the lead role, but coming off of a string of box office bombs, the role of Mario went instead to Bob Hoskins. Arnold Schwarzenegger was looked at for the corporate lizard-person Bowser, but he turned it down. CRACKED.COM

Source: IGN 

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