25 Facts of Today – February 21, 2015

1. Facts of the Day – Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, two wealthy extremely entrepreneurs, sent each other gag Christmas gifts. Rockefeller sent Carnegie a cardboard vest to make fun of his poor childhood. In return Carnegie sent a fine whiskey to Rockefeller, a devout Baptist who had given up drinking.

2. Facts of the Day – Bacteria that eats and survives on electricity alone found in the ocean floor, they eat and breathe electrons.

3. Facts of the Day – Steve Wozniak used to submit Tetris high scores to Nintendo Power magazine, and even started sending them under an alias when they refused to publish anymore of his high scores.


4. Facts of the Day – Disney successfully lobbied Congress to extend the length of copyright protection in order to prevent Mickey Mouse from entering the public domain. The law was later referred to as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.

5. Facts of the Day – After watching Star Wars for the first time in 1977, James Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry.


6. Facts of the Day – There is a pub in Ireland that opened in 900 AD, originally known as Luain’s Inn, it’s now named Sean’s Bar.

7. Facts of the Day – In 1987, on the evening of November 22, someone hacked into a primetime episode of Dr Who dressed as Max Headroom. He was never caught. The television signal hijacking is known as the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion.


8. Facts of the Day – The CEO of Spotify was the CEO of uTorrent in 2006.

9. Facts of the Day – LED traffic lights have led to car crashes and deaths in the past, since they don’t emit enough heat to melt snow & ice which block the lights.


10. Facts of the Day – Jimmy Diresta shot and produced an instructional DVD for Nick Offerman in 2008. Offerman paid him with a canoe.

11. Facts of the Day – Saudi Arabia and Bahrain recently made a joint bid to host the Olympics with the men’s events in Saudi Arabia and the women’s events in Bahrain as women are not allowed to play sports in Saudi Arabia. The IOC vetoed the bid.


12. Facts of the Day – Finland has a 20-year plan for its country brand. The 365-page government report includes plans to become a silicon valley of social innovations, a land where the lakes are drinkable, and a country that has managed to export its unbeatable education.

13. Facts of the Day – Malcolm X avoided military service after being declared “mentally disqualified” because he told draft board officials that he wanted to “steal us some guns, and kill us [some] crackers.”

14. Facts of the Day – In 2002, a 15 year old boy inspired by 9/11, stole an airplane and flew it into a skyscraper in Tampa, Florida. It damaged one office room and he was the only person that died.

15. Facts of the Day – Detroit Fire Department is so underfunded they use soda cans filled with loose change as fire alarms.

16. Facts of the Day – A New York ad agency tried marketing laundry detergent to Arab consumers through the use of sequential pictures showing laundry being cleaned. However, the advertisers didn’t realize Arabic was read from right to left and their ad actually depicted the detergent soiling the clothing after washing.

17. Facts of the Day – The “#” of C# was based on a small grid of 4 “+” signs, implying it is an increment of C++

18. Facts of the Day – On Valentine’s day Roman priests use to kill goats and take their skin, soak them in blood and go around streets slapping women and crops with them in order to make them fertile for the year.

19. Facts of the Day – Despite being a Major General, 56, and needing a cane to walk, Theodore Roosevelt Jr was one of the first troops to land at Utah Beach, personally doing a recon mission and directing units onto their objectives under fire. He was both the oldest and highest ranking man to land with first wave.

20. Facts of the Day – Former college basketball coach George Raveling has the original, typewritten “I have a dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. Raveling was a volunteer security guard at the event and King handed it to him after he finished addressing the audience. It is valued at over $3,000,000.

21. Facts of the Day – Filmmaker Wes Anderson is the great-grandson of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.

22. Facts of the Day – Due to a lack of historical evidence, the Mythbusters deemed it plausible that eye patches were for keeping one eye adapted to the dark so that pirates could see easier below deck.

23. Facts of the Day – A male cast member of The Real World: Seattle slapped a fellow cast mate who accused him of being gay. After filming, he was arrested for prostitution, and later came out as gay.

24. Facts of the Day – At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy named William Kamkwamba built a windmill to power his family’s home.