20 Facts That Really Cored Our Apples

Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein is a descendent of Muhammad, the king of Jordan, and was an extra on Star Trek.
20 Facts That Really Cored Our Apples

 

Who doesn't love a good list of random yet interesting facts? You're in for a treat, because that's exactly what we've got. Matt Damon wrote the first act of “Good Will Hunting” for a playwriting class, and after being assigned to create the first act of a play, he turned in the 40 page script and said, “Look, I might have failed your class, but it is the first act of something longer.” And, over a century before that, Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker started the world's first terraforming project (in 1850) which has turned Ascension Island - an arid volcanic wasteland - into a self-sustaining ecosystem made completely foreign plants from all over the world. Lastly (and maybe most interestingly), The Powerball drawing on March 30th 2005 produced 110 2nd-prize winners who had all played numbers found inside fortune cookies. Talk about lucky… or maybe not so much considering their winning numbers were obviously meant to be shared! 

2 large, underground tunnels supply NYC with all of its water.

All of New York City's water comes in through 2 large tunnels underground. GRACKED.COM A 3rd tunnel is being built under NYC. Construction on the 3rd tunnel began in 1970 and is one of the most complex and intri- cate engineering projects in the world.

Water Technology

Manute Bol was 7’7” and benched 45 lbs when he was drafted.

Manute Bol could only bench 45 pounds when he was first drafted into the NBA. 10 GRACKED.COM Bol's ethnic group, the Din- ka, and the Nilotic people of which they are a part, are among the tallest pop- ulations in the world. His great-grandfather was even taller than him, at 7'10.

Ohlone 

Only 1 space satellite has been obliterated by a meteorite.

Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been destroyed by a meteorite. CRACKED.COM Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so they don't get destroyed. The European Space Agency's communications satellite, Olympus, is the only one to have been hit, in 1993.

Neatorama

Dunking an octopus in ethanol is a humane way to sedate them.

The most humane way to anesthetize octopuses is by dunking them in ethanol. CRACKED.COM Because of their complex brains, cephalopods became the first invertebrates to be protected by laboratory ani- mal laws. Researchers have to get ethical approval for their studies, and must use anesthesia for procedures.

Science 

Saab made a prototype car with no steering wheel.

Saab in 1992 made a prototype vehicle dubbed Prométheus that had no steering wheel. Microsoft CRACKED.COM Instead, to steer it, the driver had a joystick like an aircraft. It greatly in- creased safety, space, and aesthetics. The production model would have had two Joysticks, one for each arm/hand.

Saab Planet

The religious Shaker community can only get new members by convincing outsiders.

The religious group known as the Shakers are completely celibate and cannot have children. CRACKED.COM They can only gain new members by converting outsiders. As a result, there were only two people in the last existing Shaker com- munity as of 2020, al- though they gained a single new member in 2021.

Boston

The most dangerous road on Earth is the Road of Death that connects the Amazon Rainforest to La Paz, Bolivia.

The most dangerous road on Earth is the Road of Death that connects the Amazon Rainforest to La Paz, Bolivia. CRACKED.COM There is not a single guardrail, and in many places the road isn't any wider than 10 feet. Be- tween 200 and 300 people fall to their deaths every year.

La Paz Life

The brain sends the signal to cause the body to vomit.

The final decision to vomit comes from the brain, not the stomach. CRACKED.COM The bilateral vomitation center is not a specific place in the brain, but rather an area consisting of many nu- clei, axons, and receptors that together cause the physical changes necessary to induce vomiting.

AAPM

Jesus doesn’t want anyone with Celiac disease.

The Vatican forbids gluten-free wafers from use in communion. CRACKED.COM Bread and wafers used in the sacrament must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.

Time

King Abdullah II of Jordan

King Abdullah II of Jordan appeared in Star Trek. CRACKED.COM King Abdullah is a fan of Star Trek and had a small non-speaking role on Investiga- tions, a 1995 episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager.

Who2

Sinéad O'Connor was banned from a NJ concert hall.

Sinéad O'Connor refused to give a concert because organizers insisted on playing the American National Anthem. CRACKED.COM Frank Sinatra threat- ened to kick her in the ass and New Jer- sey prohibited the Irish singer from ever singing in that concert hall again.

LA Times

The inspiration for “Rain Man” used both his eyes independently to speed read.

Speed reader and megasavant Kim Peek read books two pages at a time. the GRACKED.COM Не could scan the left page of a book with his left eye, then the right page with his right eye. Не was able to accurately recall the contents of over 12,000 books, and was the inspira- tion for Rain Man.

The Times

110 people won 2nd prize on the Powerball by playing fortune cookie numbers.

The Powerball drawing on March 30, 2005, produced 110 2nd-prize winners. CRACKED.COM All 110 winners had played numbers found inside for- tune cookies. The total pay- out was $19.4 million, 89 of them receiving $100,000 each, while the other 21 re- ceived $500,000 each.

NY Times

Charles Darwin was able to terraform a volcanic wasteland.

Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker started the world's first terraforming project in 1850. CRACKED.COM The project has turned the arid volcanic wasteland of Ascension Island into a self-sustaining and self-re- producing ecosystem made completely of for- eign plants from all over the world.

BBC

“Good Will Hunting” started as a writing assignment.

Matt Damon wrote the first act of Good Will Hunting for a playwriting class. CRACKED.COM After being assigned to create the first act of a play, Matt Damon turned in the 40 page script and said, Look, I might have failed your class, but it is the first act of something longer.

Boston Magazine

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