The Roman-Persian wars are the longest in history, lasting over 680 years. They began in 54 BC and ended in 628 AD.
100 Mind-Blowing Ended Facts
Disappointment Island is an uninhabited island in New Zealand. Over 65,000 pairs of white-capped albatross live there. In 1868, a steel tanker crashed on the island, killing 68 people, and leaving the 15 survivors waiting 18 months to be rescued. In 1907, another ship ended up crashing there, and 12 men drowned.
The longest Cricket Test match lasted over 12 days between England and South Africa. It only ended because the English team would have missed their boat home.
While filming Rocky IV, Lundgren hit Sylvester Stallone for real, and he ended up in the hospital for nine days.
Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, was designed by female architect Julia Morgan. In 1919, she was hired by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst to design a main building and guest houses for his ranch, but she ended up purchasing everything from Spanish antiquities to Icelandic moss to reindeer for the Castle’s zoo, which was once the world’s largest private zoo.
Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks. When there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer and then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.
Emma Bunton auditioned for the role of Bianca Butcher in Eastenders. Baby Spice already had a small part in the soap back in the 90s but tried out for a full-time role. She was pipped to the post by Patsy Palmer but ended up auditioning for the Spice Girls not long after.
The first novel in the world ended mid-sentence. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is the world’s oldest novel. Towards the end of 54 chapters, the story is stopped abruptly mid-sentence. Some translators believe the work is complete and intended to end that way, but others say a few pages haven’t been recovered yet.
There is an island in the Bahamas with only pigs as residents. Another interesting fun fact: Pig Beach is an otherwise uninhabited island in the Bahamas mainly populated by feral pigs. There’s no confirmed theory of why these pigs ended up there in the first place, but some speculate that they came from a shipwreck, a business tactic, or an abandoned ration of food.
The creators of Stranger Things wanted to direct the It remake. The Duffer Brothers wanted to direct the 2017 remake of It, but the film wasn’t given to them because they weren’t established enough. However, they ended up creating Stranger Things (2016), which co-stars Finn Wolfhard (who plays Richie in It).
Kleenex tissues were supposed to be for gas masks. During a cotton shortage in World War I, Kimberly-Clark devised a thin, flat cotton substitute to use as a filter for army gas masks. However, the war ended before scientists could perfect the material. In turn, the company constructed a thinner and softer material that eventually became Kleenex tissues.
A Polish doctor once faked an outbreak to keep the Nazis away. Eugene Lazowski announced that there was a typhus outbreak that ended up saving over 8,000 people during the Second World War. At the time, this was considered to be a smart move because Lazowski decided to tug on the German’s phobias about hygiene.
A sound engineer once got accidentally high on LSD while cleaning an old radio. When Eliot Curtis tried to restore an old Buchla Model 100 synthesizer, he ended up tripping on 50-year-old LSD. He only noticed a crystalline substance that had gathered on the radio, which he wiped off. Since he found it in a dark closet at a university, the psychedelic components were preserved. The LSD residue dissolved in his hands and got him into a 9-hour trip. How’s that for wild funny facts?
Monica and Joey were supposed to be the main F.R.I.E.N.D.S. romance. The ‘90s hit show had fans swooning over the romance arcs, but the pairings that ended up together weren’t the original plan. Originally, Monica and Joey were supposed to be the endgame. Joey was also supposed to be extra sleazy, even hitting on Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe. However, Matt LeBlanc suggested toning down Joey’s character to only flirting with girls outside the main cast. This made Joey way more likeable and gave way to the romances that ended up developing through the course of the series.
A solar eclipse once ended a six-year war. In 585 BCE, the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. The soldiers saw it as a sign to stop fighting.
The U.S. flag was designed by a 17-year-old for school. In junior high school, Bob Heft designed the U.S. flag. He made a 50-star flag for the class project. However, the U.S. only had 48 states at the time, so Heft got a B minus for his work. However, his prediction that two more states would be added ended up being true. Heft wrote 21 letters and called the White House 18 times. Eventually, President Eisenhower called to tell him his design would be used. The design for the current U.S. flag was made official on July 4, 1960.
Scientists accidentally killed the world’s oldest animal while trying to learn its age. Everybody makes mistakes. When scientists found an ancient ocean quahog, they decided to examine it from the inside to determine its true age. However, in doing so, they accidentally killed the ancient clam. And all for nothing, too – they ended up using the outside of its shell to determine its age. Ming, named after the dynasty it was born, had been 507 years old at the time of its discovery.
There’s a world record for the largest number of people dressed up as penguins. In London, 373 people wearing penguin costumes gathered and ended up creating a world record. WTF facts? More like legacy, y’all.
The first rap song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” It rapidly became one of Eminem’s most successful singles, staying at the top of the charts for 23 weeks running (that in itself won the song a Guinness World Record!). Eminem didn’t attend the Academy Awards as he thought he wouldn’t win, so instead spent the evening at home sleeping and watching cartoons with his daughter. One of his producers ended up accepting the award on Eminem’s behalf.
Shrek originally had a thick Canadian accent. The titular character of the instant classic was voiced by Mike Myers, who spoke in an amped-up version of his Canadian accent. When Myers watched the first rough cut, he loved everything about it, except his voice! He thought that Shrek would be better off with a Scottish accent to counter the English-accented villain, Lord Farquaad – a change that ended up costing about $4 million!
George Clooney had a pet pig called Max. In the late 80s, George Clooney bought a Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig for his then-girlfriend, Kelly Preston, but he ended up keeping the pig after they split up. Max, the pig, ended up living for another eighteen years, only passing away in 2006. Clooney often jokes that his relationship with Max was the longest he ever had.
There’s a soviet version of The Lord of the Rings, and it’s downright woeful. Titled Khraniteli (The Keepers) followed the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first in JRR Tolkien’s legendary trilogy. It was released straight to TV in 1991, and much like the Soviet Union as a whole, it ended up being a complete and utter catastrophe. While the characters and plot may be recognizable to those who dare to watch Khraniteli, the special effects (if you can call them that!) are so lacking that it ruins the point of producing it in the first place.
The inventor of the USB originally designed it to be plugged in either way up. One of the most frustrating things to do with technology has got to be the fact that, try as hard as you will; whenever you go to plug a USB in, it’s the wrong way up. The original design would have been much better but ended up being canned as it would have cost twice the price to make it flippable. The inventor of the USB has since agreed that they made the mistake of not going ahead with the original idea.
Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone let his fans vote on what he should change his middle name to. The famous Home Alone child star has faded away a little into obscurity these days, but he’s still manageing to stay relevant. In November 2018, he asked the world to give him a new middle name, as his name was “something dumb.” Out of a wide range of ridiculous finalists, he ended up changing his middle to his full name and is now officially known as Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin!
“Weird Al” Yankovic wrote “Albuquerque” as a joke specifically to “annoy people for 12 minutes.” It ended up becoming one of his most popular songs.
Shortest war. The shortest war in history is the Anglo-Zanzibar War, on 27 August 1896. It started at 9.02 am and ended at 9.40 am. 1 British soldier was injured. It followed the refusal of the Zanzibari Sultan to step down after the British issued an ultimatum. British warships then fired on his position and the Sultan surrendered.
Daylight saving time ended on a national level after the war, but individual states and municipalities kept it going until World War II. At the end of World War I, the entire nation went on what was effectively a year-round daylight saving time. After World War II, the entire nation was again picking and choosing daylight saving time. It’s been reported that in Iowa, back in 1964, there were 23 different combinations of dates that communities turned on and off daylight saving time. In 1966, the government officially mandated a standardised daylight saving time for the entire United States, though individual states could opt out. Until 2007, daylight saving time ended in October. It’s been reported that the candy industry lobbied to wait until after Halloween to change the clocks back an hour.
In 2020 hackers sold over 500,000 Zoom passwords on the dark web (Forbes): Criminals will often take advantage of events happening in the world, the concerns of their targets, and the vulnerability of society to make money. This was particularly evident in 2020 when countless hackers started sending COVID-themed phishing emails to attempt to hack personal and business accounts. Forbes reported in April 2020 that hackers stole and sold over 500,000 passwords for the popular video-conferencing tool, Zoom, which ended up on the dark web. The information included personal user names too.