20 Immutable Facts That Really Traversed Our Roundabouts

Robin Williams sent someone to the hospital from laughing so hard.
20 Immutable Facts That Really Traversed Our Roundabouts

When I was in the third grade, my teacher Mrs. Hendrix (who also taught us at the church-run daycare, where our parents worked) told us that if we behaved ourselves and did what she said, one day we could enjoy this list of interesting facts. The list contained something called a “Wonder Wheel”, which we were told was a thing that was popular in New York City. I still don't know if it's true or not, but if so, it must have been really neat because Mrs. Hendrix was the kind of person who would tell us the truth. When I asked my parents about the Wonder Wheel, they both just gave me the same response: “I'm sure you've heard this a hundred times, but no.” It wasn't until I was in middle school that I first saw a Wonder Wheel. My friend Gino, who was older and cooler than me, took me there and let me enjoy this list of interesting facts. It was an incredible moment for me.

The condor louse went extinct when the California condor was rehabilitated.

Conservation efforts to save the California condor resulted in the extinction of the condor louse. CRACKED.COM The California condor louse exclusively parasitiz- es the California condor. During efforts to save the condor from extinction, it became extinct itself due to all condors being de- loused.

San Diego Tribune

Robin Williams sent someone to the hospital from laughing so hard.

Robin Williams made an audience member laugh so hard that they were taken away in an ambulance. CRACKED.COM When Robin Williams ар- peared on 'Inside the Actors Studio' in 2001, one mem- ber of the audience devel- oped a hernia from laughing so hard and was taken to a hospital after the show.

People

Ice Giants are real, and they live in Uranus.

Uranus and Neptune belong to a separate category of giant planets called Ice Giants. CRACKED.COM This is because less than 20% of their mass is made up of hydrogen and helium. True gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn are over 90% hydrogen and helium.

Planetary

Monroe didn’t get to finish the movie that showed her topless.

Marilyn Monroe would have been the first mainstream star to go topless in a Hollywood picture if her last movie was finished. GRAGKED.COM Something's Got to Give was shot in 1962. It was Monroe's last work, but from the beginning its production was disrupted by her personal troubles, and after her death the film was abandoned.

Life Magazine

President John Tyler was not officially mourned because he was a Confederate supporter.

John Tyler is the only US President to not be officially mourned in Washington DC. CRACKED.COM During the Civil War, for- mer President John Tyler became a Confederate and was elected to serve in the Confederate congress. Не was not mourned officially due to his being a Confed- erate supporter.

CBS News

Moonshine with a triple X means it is 100% pure alcohol.

The 'XXX' on alcohol bottles in cartoons denotes how many times it was distilled. CRACKED.COM Moonshine alcohol jugs are typically marked with 'XXX' in cartoons because it needs to be distilled 3 times to reach nearly 100% pure alcohol. Each 'X' sig- nifies a distillation.

Uncommon Goods

Helena Bonham Carter got a little too into her role as Bellatrix Lestrange.

Helena Bonham Carter accidentally ruptured Neville Longbottom's eardrum. CRACKED.COM While filming Harry Pot- ter and the Order of the Phoenix, she accidental- ly perforated Matthew Lewis' eardrum when she stuck her wand into his ear canal.

Entertainment Weekly

A girl was abducted and got the reward money for rescuing herself.

A kidnapped girl received the reward money for rescuing herself. CRACKED.COM 13-year-old Jayme Lynn Closs was abducted and held captive for 88 days un- til she escaped in 2019. Hor- mel, the parent company of the store where her parents worked, issued Hayme the $25,000 reward money.

USA Today

HIV was cured via a bone marrow transplant.

A German man was cured of HIV after a bone marrow transplant. GRACKED.COM Timothy Ray Brown received the transplant from a donor whose gene mutation made him immune to HIV, which is speculated to be the result of natural selection during diseases similar to smallpox or Black Death.

NCBI

A rich Canadian man left hundreds of thousands of dollars in his will as a joke.

Charles Vance Millar, a rich Canadian financier, made his will one giant practical joke. CRACKED.COM In it, he left three men who hated one another a joint lifetime tenancy in a villa, some protestant ministers $700,000 in Catholic beer stock, and anti-horse rac- ing advocates $25,000 in a Jockey club.

Time

Ethiopia’s “superfood” can’t be exported anymore.

Ethiopia banned the export of teff in 2006, fearing food shortages. CRACKED.COM The staple crop of Ethiopia is a superfood, like quinoa. The export was banned when quinoa prices skyrock- eted in Bolivia, thanks to trends in western countries that increased demand.

CNN

A giant tower in Sweden is made up of lights that anyone can operate.

Anyone with a smartphone can change the colors on a 20 story light spire in Stockholm. CRACKED.COM Installed in 2006, the cre- ators of the rainbow-col- ored installation hope that the work can stand as a statement on the power of democracy and the power of the public.

Atlas Obscura

There is a society for the illegitimate offspring of monarchs.

There is a society in the UK called the Royal Bastards, and Queen Elízabeth II has been invited to join. CRACKED.COM Membership is open to in- dividuals who prove de- scent from an illegitimate child or grandchild of a king of England, Scotland, Wales, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom.

Royal Bastards

Nic Cage has his tomb already built in New Orleans.

Nicolas Cage has already bought his grave-a 9-foot pyramid in New Orleans. CRACKED.COM There is no name on the pyramid yet, but it is em- blazoned with the Latin maxim, Omnia Ab Uno, which translates to Every- thing From One, and it's covered in lipstick prints from fans.

Atlas Obscura

A South American woodpecker looks like Pikachu.

There is a bird that looks like Pikachu. CRACKED.COM The male Cream Colored Woodpecker has the same coloration as the cartoon character Pikachu, from the Pokémon series, including the red cheeks. These birds are found in South America.

Ebird

Credit card companies denied unwed women until the ‘70s.

Unwed women couldn't get a credit card up until 1974. po BNL CLASSIC GRUPPO BNP PARIBAS E ost 5000 1399 9922 60 VALID THRU MasterCard 03/1 REZA VISA CRACKED.COM Banks could refuse to issue a credit card to a woman unless her husband co-signed for the card. A di- vorced woman was consid- ered too much of a risk be- cause she couldn't keep a marriage under control.

NPR

Maria Sharapova's on-court grunt is as loud as a lion.

A female tennis player has been recorded grunting about as loud as a lion's roar. CRACKED.COM Maria Sharapova's on-court grunt has been recorded at a volume of 101 decibels. That's louder than a motorcy- cle, a lawnmower, and a small aircraft.

CNN

The “1984” torture chamber was based on a BBC conference room.

A torture chamber in 1984 was based on a BBC conference room. GRACKED.COM George Orwell named Room 101 in his novel after a conference room at the BBC head- quarters where he had to sit through numer- ous tedious meetings.

Express

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