Jack Black is the son of rocket scientists.
He may have enrolled in the School of Rock, but his parents were in a school of a completely different kind. His parents, Thomas William Black and Judith Love Cohen were satellite engineers who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Silent Hill is based on a real place.
If you’re looking for nightmare fuel: The eerie psychological horror game is actually based on a real place. If you’re a brave soul, you might want to visit the abandoned town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. Travelers who have visited confirmed the Silent Hill-esque unsettling feel.
The inventor of Vaseline used to eat it.
Robert Chesebrough invented Vaseline in 1872 as a medicinal product. Chesebrough discovered that oil field workers would use “rod wax” or residue from oil rig pumps on wounds and cuts. He took samples from the field and eventually patented Vaseline in 1872. It is said that Chesebrough ate a spoonful of Vaseline every day until he died at 96.
Fender could not play guitar.
When you hear Fender, you would automatically think of instruments and all things music. However, Fender actually started as a radio repair service. Fender only started manufacturing instruments in the early 1940s, releasing the first mass-produced electric guitar: the 1950 Telecaster. It may seem ironic, but Leo Fender never actually learned to play guitar. Instead, his craft was electronics.
Watching horror movies can help boost weight loss.
If you want to lose weight fast, you might want to consider a marathon of a different kind. Sure, a physical run can get your heart beating fast, but horror movies have a similar effect. Fear and adrenaline increase our heart rate, boosting how much calories we burn. However, lack of sleep can slow down our metabolism and cancel out the effect – this isn’t recommended for people who scare easily.
Throwing spices at a single person is a tradition in Denmark.
If you are still single by your 25th birthday in Denmark, people will strap you to a chair and throw cinnamon at you. Sounds like a torture method of nightmares, but it’s an actual Danish tradition. Once you hit 30 and still haven’t had any luck in the relationship department, their ammo of choice will upgrade to pepper. Are they marinating single people to make them yummier for other people? Who knows.
The man who invented pop-up ads regrets it.
Ethan Zuckerman invented popup ads in the late 90s while working for Tripod.com. He has since apologized for inventing the most annoying internet tool in history.
Aladdin was based on Tom Hanks.
No, Tom Hanks was clearly not a mischievous Middle Eastern boy with big dreams. However, when Disney first animated the Middle Eastern folk tale in 1992, they based Aladdin’s looks on Tom Cruise’s features. Fits right in with the crazy facts that sound made up, but are actually true.
Say what you will about the existence of unicorns, but the Lake Superior State University definitely thinks they’re legit. W.T. “Bill” Rabe established the Unicorn Hunters in 1971 as a PR stunt for the Michigan university. During this time, LSSU offered a unicorn hunting license until Rabe’s retirement in 1987.
