← FACTSlides → Random Facts Page #111

The epitaph on poet Charles Bukowski's tombstone reads "DON'T TRY."

♺ SHARE

Most of the genetic changes and muscle memory spurred by exercise are lost by a month or two of no training, a study found.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Pianos can have upwards of 12,000 individual parts.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Albert Einstein cheated on his wife, belittled her scientific achievements, and refused to help out around the house and made her sign a contract in which she would agree to leave the room or stop talking if he told her to.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Queen Elizabeth taught herself to shoot in the grounds of Buckingham Palace during the WW2, in case a German parachutist attacked.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Many non-Western cultures view female obesity as a sign of health and vitality, and, before the 1800s, so did Americans.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

20% of people in the UK believe they have a food allergy, but only 2% actually do.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Serial art vandal Hans-Joachim Bohlmann has caused over 138 million euro in damages by attempting to destroy famous artworks by such artists as Rubens and Rembrandt.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Inhabitants of the Chinese town of Liqian have blond hair and white skin. Historians have speculated they are the descendants of a lost Roman settlement.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Roman charioteers earned far more than even the best-paid footballers and international sports stars of today, according to academic research.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Some American officials, like FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, thought Albert Einstein was a soviet spy.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

There's a "sea organ" built on the coast of Croatia that plays music like an organ when waves crash in and out of it.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

In 2015, a Chinese billionaire bought a US$170 million painting by with his credit card so he could use the points for free airfare.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

The South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar was, at various times, president of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

In Italy, 13, is not an unlucky number, but 17 is.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

In 2016, North Korea accidentally leaked its DNS data, showing they only have 28 ".kp" domains. In comparison, there are 10 million ".uk" domains.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

At least 13 Americans have died as a result of laxative overdose.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Abraham Lincoln's wife was an opium addict.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

The mother of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was called Marge Wiggum.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

A popular way to cure impotence in the 14th century was to wear your trousers on your head for 24 hours.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

The Atlantic salmon's sense of smell is 1000 times greater than that of a dog.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

The world's first traffic signal was short lived. Installed in London in 1868, it exploded less than a month later, injuring its policeman operator.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

If a tree were planted for each Coca-Cola sold, we could reforest the Earth in three years.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Americans eat 500 million pounds of peanut butter a year, enough to coat the floor, of the Grand Canyon.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

Monaco, at 2 sq km, is the world's most densely populated country. It has been ruled by the same family since 1419.

♦ SOURCE

♺ SHARE

The lottery of the Zimbabwe Banking Corporation was won in 2000 by Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe.