Random Useless Facts Thread

The set for Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru’s farm from Star Wars: A New Hope we’re constructed in the deserts of Tunisia. The set is actually still there, although most travel agencies advise against going there.

A bat hitched a right on a space shutter as it was launching off into space.

The first ever online purchase was from Pizza Hut in 1997. Likewise, the first ever Bitcoin transaction was for pizza.

The meme “Keep Calm & Carry On” is from a World War 2 British poster.

When ATMs were first invented, radioactive checks had to be used because plastic cards didn’t exist at the time.

@ILoveMyoozik  
Speaking of ATMs, the original inventor of the Personal Identification Number (PIN) initially planned the standard to be six digits. He reduced the number to the four digits we have today because his wife couldn’t remember that many numbers.

The Transformers’ transformation sound effect is an easter egg in My Little Pony: The Movie.

@SonGokuMonkey  
And the first Equestria Girl’s movie.

@SonGokuMonkey
 
@ILoveMyoozik  
There was originally a scene in the original Transformers movie, where one of the AUtobots would end up in the world of G1 MLP, and then quickly leave, before commenting that he had too much to dirnk

The reason you no longer see red crosses on items that restore health in video games is because the Red Cross Foundation has threatened to sue any game developer that uses their logo without permission, as they don’t want their logo being associated with violence.

Marshal of the Soviet Union, Georgy Zhukov, had special bottles of Coca-Cola made for him, after the Soviet Union declared Coca-Cola to be a symbol of American Imperialism.
 
Georgy commissioned Dwight D. Eisenhower to send him special bottles of Cola, which did not look like Cola. The drink has the brown coloring removed from it, and was packaged in clear white bottles with a red star on the lid. 50 cases were sent to Zhukov, and it is still rumoured that there may be some bottles still unopened.

A bear was once part of the Polish army during WW2.

@ice1517  
I need more explanation. Did it have a gun? Was it trained to maul people?
 
 
During year 8 (1989-1990) of the first generation of My Little Pony larger and more realistic horses were made. The tagline was “They’re all grown up My Little Ponies!”  

@Crystalis  
The bear was raised as a young cub in Iran after it’s mother was killed by hunters. he was raised near a refugee camp that Polish soldiers were stationed at, and it was very popular among both the civilians and military, and was looked after by the 2nd Transport Company, which later became the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.
 
When it was time for the 22nd Artillery to move from Iran to Egypt, they had problems brining the bear with them, due to him being an animal. They got around this, by drafting him into the Polish army, making him a private.
 
When the 22nd Artillery went to the Battle of Monte Cassino, the bear surprised the Polish, as they saw him moving back and forth, delivering heavy artillery shells to the men. Because of this, a bear holding an artillery shell became the official patch of the 22nd Artillery.  

 
After the war was over, he and the rest of the 22nd were stationed to Scotland, and after the the 22nd disbanded, he was donated to Edinburgh Zoo, where he became a sort of celebrity, and was still visted by members of the 22nd. He lived in Edinburgh Zoo for the rest of his life until his death in 1963.

@ice1517  
That’s very interesting. Thanks for sharing this amazing story with us.

@SuperPinkiePie64  
You’re welcome

When piranhas get into conflicts with each other, while they could attempt to rip the other to shreds, they instead take their tiny fins and start slapping each other on the face. Whoever gets tired of it first, loses the conflict.

Mozart had a scat fetish. He wrote a symphony about poop and even wrote letters to his mom about smelling farts.

Stalin liked to watch cowboy movies with his closest advisors.

In 1991, Wilt Chamberlain claimed that he had slept with 20,000 different women over the course of his life.

There was once a Japanese solider stuck on island in the Philippines, that didn’t know that Japan had surrendered and WW2 ended, and so stayed on the Island and thought that the war was still going for 30 years, and only surrendered when he got a visit from his commanding officer who took him back to (then modern day) Japan.

Back in 2004, a fight broke out during an NBA game when a fan threw a cup at a player, causing them to jump into the stands and beat him up. This snowballed into a brawl that spread throughout the entire arena.

In the 2007 Transformers movie (the first Michael Bay one), the Autobots (save for Optimus Prime) were General Motors vehicles. One of the Decepticons was a Ford.

Kurt Angle was addicted to painkillers and, at one point, took upwards of 65 in a day.