Factropolis -- A new fun fact every day!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Salvador Dali broke his jaw while putting his fist in his mouth as a party trick. He was trying to impress the woman who would later become his wife.


See also:
- Salvador Dali Art Gallery

keywords: entertainment, history, famous people, art, artist, courtship, moustache, helena diakonova, film, sculpture, surrealist, persistence of memory, destino, salvador domingo felipe jacinto dalí y domènech, fun fact, fact of the day, trivia


Monday, July 07, 2008

Spanish law forbids persons with narcolepsy from operating motorcycles or mopeds.


See also:
- Ministery of Interior: Spain

keywords: culture and places, government, spain, transportation, disease, motorbike, drive, driver, travel, tour, narcoleptic, dmv, fun fact, fact of the day, trivia


Sunday, July 06, 2008

Reptiles are unable to experience dizziness.


See also:
- Reptiles.com

keywords: nature, lizard, snake, tetrapods, amniotes, cold-blooded, reptilia, iguana, anole, bearded dragon, savannah monitor, trivia, fact of the day, fun fact


Saturday, July 05, 2008

A London orphanage was demolished to clear a plot for the famous Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed.


See also:
- Shakespeare's Globe

keywords: entertainment, history, famous people, culture and places, orphan, stage, theater, 1599, southwark, thames, lord chamberlain's men, burbage, william shakespeare, fact of the day, fun fact, trivia


Friday, July 04, 2008

The original Manhattan cocktail was garnished with a drop of blood.


See also:
- Drinksmixer

keywords: entertainment, food and drink, whisky, sweet vermouth, bitters, jennie jerome, samuel j. tilden, mixology, alcohol, fun fact, fact of the day, trivia


Thursday, July 03, 2008

President Grover Cleveland was rumored to have had a foot fetish.


See also:
- The White House

keywords: history, sexuality, famous people, government, president of the united states, democrat, pullman strike, white house, mayor of buffalo, mugwumps, frances clara folsum, shoes, haymarket riot, dawes act, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Wednesday, July 02, 2008

In a Cold War coincidence, an American spy and a Russian spy were both given the same code name: "Platypus."


See also:
- The Cold War Museum

keywords: history, culture and places, government, kgb, cia, secret service, spying, surveillance, espionage, russia, u.s.s.r., soviet union, kremlin, washington, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who popularized the guillotine in France, lost his left hand in the device.


See also:
- History of the Guillotine

keywords: science and technology, history, famous people, culture and places, government, amputation, death penalty, execution, death, capital punishment, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Monday, June 30, 2008

Narwhals can crawl over dry land for distances of up to 50 yards.


See also:
- Narwhal.org

keywords: nature, whales, mammals, horn, mermaid, sailing, ocean, sea, cetacean, narhval, moon whale, reamfish, tusk, monodon monoceros, arctic, trivia, fact of the day, fun fact


Sunday, June 29, 2008

In the pilot of the classic television sitcom "Mister Ed," the talking horse was played by a mare.


See also:
- IMDB: The Internet Movie Database

keywords: entertainment, animals, TV, nature, nick at nite, mr. ed, bamboo harvester, american saddlebred, allan "rocky" lane, a horse is a horse, of course, of course, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Saturday, June 28, 2008

Louis Armstrong's first trumpet was stolen from his hotel room in New York City in 1926. Thirty years later, he found it in a Detroit pawn shop.


See also:
- Satchmo.net

keywords: entertainment, music, history, famous people, culture and places, hot five and hot seven, satchmo, pops, cornet, american jazz, new orleans, dixieland, singing, scat, fun fact, fact of the day, trivia


Friday, June 27, 2008

The pope's official barber, who cuts only the pope's hair, earns an annual salary equivalent to $250,000 (US).


See also:
- The Papacy: An Encyclopedia

keywords: famous people, religion, hair, grooming, vatican city, rome, scissors, catholicism, pontiff, holy see, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Thursday, June 26, 2008

NASCAR was once courted by Japanese investors in a bid to launch "NASCAR Japan," which would have featured full-sized cars driven by radio control.


See also:
- NASCAR Official Site

keywords: entertainment, auto racing, automotive, culture and places, government, land of the rising sun, trivia, fact of the day, fun fact


Wednesday, June 25, 2008

"Bingo," which is spelled/clapped repeatedly in the traditional children's song, is actually the name of the man - not the dog.


See also:
- Scout Songs Virtual Songbook

keywords: entertainment, history, folk music, B-I-N-G-O, bingo was his name-o, fireside songs, camping, rhythm, clap, clapping, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Henry VIII of England traveled to every country in the known world before his 16th birthday.


See also:
- History of the Monarchy: Kings and Queens of England

keywords: history, famous people, culture and places, government, travel, traveler, henry vii, elizabeth of york, tudor dynasty, house of tudor, anne boleyn, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Monday, June 23, 2008

The Inca devised an effective method for refrigerating foods using nothing more than clay, corn husks, spring water and feces.


See also:
- MNSU Latin American Prehistory

keywords: history, food and drink, incan empire, mesoamerica, culture and places, indian, spoil, preservation, machu picchu, atahualpa, scat, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Sunday, June 22, 2008

The cancellation of the short-lived NBC series "Manimal" (1983) was hastened by rumors of subliminal Satanic messages hidden within the show.


See also:
- IMDB: The Internet Movie Database

keywords: entertainment, television, history, Dr. Jonathan Chase, shape-shifter, shape shifting, animal, religion, sci-fi, crime, tv, drama, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day


Saturday, June 21, 2008

The "M" on M&M's candies were stenciled by hand until WWII labor shortages forced the confectioner to automate the process.


See also:
- The Straight Dope

keywords: entertainment, science and technology, history, food and drink, m&m's, m&ms, mandms, mandm's candy, sugar, treat, mars, cecil adams, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day