15 Larger Than Life Facts That Made Our Brains Shiver

Lincoln’s bodyguard left to get a drink at the worst time.
15 Larger Than Life Facts That Made Our Brains Shiver

The apocalypse had been predicted by a cult of nutcases who thought that a comet was going to hit the planet Earth. When the world didn't end on the day predicted, some of the cultists were left disappointed—but their disappointment quickly changed to joy. They'd been wrong! They could be wrong about anything and everything. The cultists started to believe that there was no such thing as science or logic or reason. They began to believe that there was something greater than them, something so powerful that it was capable of making sure they would be spared from the impending doom.
They believed in a deity, an invisible, undetectable being that had taken notice of them and would protect them from the destruction to come. And this greater deity, it turned out, told them the secret of existence during one of the rituals they performed to gain its favor. The secret was hidden in a list of fifteen facts, which went …


 


 

Typhoid Mary infected over 50 people despite showing no symptoms of typhoid.

Typhoid Mary was a real historical person who became notorious in the early 1900s. Irish immigrant Mary Mallon had no symptoms of typhoid fever, but she carried the bac- teria in her blood and insisted on working as a cook. She in- fected at least 51 people, be- fore she was isolated in en- forced quarantine for the last decades of her life. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NCBI

Accordion is extremely popular in North Korea.

Playing the accordion was once required for teachers in North Korea. HOHN Because the accordion is portable in a way that, say, a grand piano isn't, it was thought of as the people's instrument that could be taken out- side and played for labor- ers in the fields. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Telegraph

Humans aren’t the only animals that like spicy food.

Tree shrews have a mutation that allows them to eat spicy food. A study by Chinese re- searchers found that tree shrews have a mutation in their ion channel receptor, TRPV1, which makes it less sensitive to the hot chemical in chili peppers. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

PLOS

Libya had the hottest recorded temperature on Earth.

The hottest spot ever recorded on Earth reached 136 degrees Fahrenheit. 30 40 20 30 10 20 The temperature was ob- served in El Azizia, in Lib- ya, on September 13, 1922. This is the most scorching temperature ever formally recorded by a weather station. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Live Science

Some frogs hold their pee for 8 months while they hibernate.

Wood frogs in Alaska have been known to hold their urine for up to eight months. The urine actually helps keep the animal alive while it hibernates, with special microbes in their gut that recycle the urea (urine's main waste) into nitrogen. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Phys.org

A sea slug will grow a new body if its head is severed.

The severed head of a sea slug can grow a whole new body. Ecologists at Nara Wom- en's University in Japan found that, a few hours af- ter having their heads sev- ered from their bodies, the slugs' heads were already eating algae. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Current Biology

The first speeding ticket was for going 8 mph.

The first person convicted of speeding was going 8 mph. On 28 January 1896, Wal- ter Arnold drove his horse-less carriage through the village of Pad- dock Wood, Kent, at more than four times the speed limit of 3.22 kph (2 mph). CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Historic UK

JFK’s sister was lobotomised against her will.

JFK's sister was forced to get a lobotomy when she was 23. Rosemary Kennedy had an IQ of 60 and her rebellious nature threatened the fam- ily's name, so Joseph Ken- nedy Sr. had her loboto- mized, which left her with the mental capacity of a 1 year old. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

NPS

Astronauts couldn’t get insurance, so they signed memorabilia in case they died.

Apollo astronauts autographed postcards instead of getting insurance. NAS It was difficult for the astro- nauts to get insurance, so to ensure their families would be taken care of in the event of their death they signed postal covers which would be valuable in the event of their death. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Business Insider

Ferris Bueller’s parents got married in real life.

The actors that played Ferris Bueller's parents actually got married. Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett met on the set of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and married in 1986. They even had two children, and just like in the movie, they were a boy and a girl. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Cheatsheet

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