Home » InstaFacts

InstaFacts

Carrie Fisher found acting opposite Peter Cushing difficult in "Star Wars" because he was so kind and polite on set that it was hard to show disdain towards him.
"Grand Theft Hamlet" is a documentary about two unemployed actors who staged and filmed a full production of "Hamlet" entirely within the video game "Grand Theft Auto Online" (2013).
Sumerians and Babylonians used a base-60 mathematical system, making 60 crucial in Mesopotamian math. This system's effectiveness is why we still use it to measure time, angles, and coordinates today.
Gary Dahl invented the pet rock in 1975 after joking with friends at a bar. He sold 10,000 rocks daily within two months, becoming a millionaire in six months, although later products like "Sand Breeding Kits" and "Red China Dirt" failed.
In 2002, German actor Günther Kaufmann confessed to accidentally suffocating his accountant by falling on him. In 2005, it was revealed he was innocent and had confessed to protect his dying wife, the real perpetrator.
In 1997, Mattel released "Share a Smile Becky," a disabled Barbie doll. They discontinued it after realizing Becky's wheelchair couldn't fit through the Barbie Dreamhouse front door.
Since November 2017, Linux-based operating systems have powered all 500 of the world's fastest supercomputers.
Martin Niemöller, author of "First They Came For The...," was an antisemite who supported the Nazis and voted for them in 1924, 1928, and 1933.
Starting in September 2009, a student wore the same jeans 330 times over 15 months without washing them. After washing, he wore them for another 13 days. A textile scientist found little difference in bacteria before and after washing.
During World War II, Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Baker, wounded, asked his squad to leave him with a pistol and eight bullets. American forces later found him dead, holding an empty pistol with eight dead Japanese soldiers around him.
Sources: 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570