50 Totally Random Facts – Part 14

A billionaire named Yuri Milner is plotting to propel thousands of miniature satellites at 20% the speed of light by aiming minutes-long 100-gigawatt laser pulses at light sails as early as the 2040s, to arrive at Proxima B (the nearest Earthlike planet in the Goldilocks Zone of Alpha Centauri) by the 2060s. - Source

27. Moriusaq, Greenland had a population of 3 in 2009. A case of self-defense dropped the population to 2. - Source

28. There are now more overweight than underweight people in the world. - Source

29. More money was spent buying Central Park's land than all of Alaska. - Source

30. Phasing out large currencies reduce crime and corruption because smaller currencies increase the amount of space and weight needed to transport, store, and process cash while maintaining the same value. - Source

The Mountains of Kong was a West African mountain range that was charted on maps for nearly a hundred years. It was later discovered that the mountains never existed and were made up by the original cartographer. - Source

32. Sardine isn't actually a species of fish but rather a generic name given to various small, oily fish within the herring family of Clupeidae. - Source

33. October 31, 2017, will be the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting the 95 Theses, sparking the Protestant Reformation. - Source

34. Actress Veronica Lake, famous for her "peek a boo" hairstyle with one eye covered, changed her style during World War 2 in order to encourage women to adopt safer hairstyles when working in factories. - Source

35. The Count of Monte Cristo has never been out of print in most modern languages.

The stereotypical American southern accent is an aristocratic British accent with a southern lilt. - Source

37. The Can-Can dance was originally considered scandalous as it became popular in the mid-19th century because many women of that time wore pantalettes, which had an open crotch, meaning that a high kick could be unintentionally revealing. - Source

38. Warriors on the Pacific Island of Kiribati fought with porcupinefish helmets and wooden swords lined with shark's teeth. - Source

39. During the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were given construction jobs, so they could earn food rather than receive it as a handout. However, to avoid taking jobs from other workers, these people built useless projects, like roads in the middle of nowhere, and piers in the middle of bogs. - Source

40. Bladerunner is so visually stunning partly because of the 1980 Hollywood Actors Strike, which gave the film's Art Department and Designers an extra 3 months to improve and refine significantly their futuristic sets and props.

A mummified dinosaur was found in Alberta in 2011. - Source

42. At one point in the 1970s, 1 out of every 204 working Americans was employed by Sears. - Source

43. The "Tetris" tune is actually a 150-year-old Russian folk song in which a street vendor flirts with a customer while haggling over goods. - Source

44. An American researcher on Chinese history named Jeremy Brown, was able to uncover sensitive information on the Cultural Revolution through "garbology" or by digging through archival materials at flea markets and vendors because access to the official archives is strictly controlled by the Chinese government. - Source

45. Microsoft was making $5-15 on every Android phone sold because of patents, peaking at $2 billion in 2013. - Source

Gargoyles are designed to spout water. Though often called gargoyles, other statues on gothic buildings are properly called chimeras or grotesques. - Source

47. The Bermuda Land Snail was thought to have gone extinct in the 70s. In 2014, many were rediscovered in a Hamilton city alleyway. The snails had colonized the alley early on and the surrounding city shielded them from the threats that wiped out the rest of the species. - Source

48. Designed by Benjamin Franklin, the first official American Cent (Fugio Cent) was inscribed with the words, "Mind Your Business". - Source

49. U.S. landlords cannot legally deny residence or charge additional pet rent and/or pet deposits for tenants with emotional support animals [ESAs]. Your pet can be declared an ESA for a variety of issues, including depression and social anxiety, with as little as a doctor's note. - Source

50. If the antler growth tissue is surgically removed and grafted to another part of the deer’s body, an antler will grow there. - Source