Interesting Facts - Page 111

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551

In 2010, someone bought a pizza using 10,000 in Bitcoin which, as of December 2023, has a value of over $400 million.

552

In 1992, Pepsi held a promotion in the Philippines, promising a $40,000 prize to people whose bottle cap had the number 349 printed on it. But Pepsi screwed up. They accidentally printed 800,000 bottle caps with that number. Pepsi was let off the hook due to some legal fine print, but five people died in the ensuing riots.

553

In 1996, Pepsi ran a TV commercial that satirically promised a Harrier jet to people who could collect 7,000,000 Pepsi points. When a business student tried to redeem the requisite number of points, he was denied. In the subsequent lawsuit, the student called for a jury trial, saying that the "Pepsi generation" would decide. Unfortunately for him, the judge didn't agree. Once again, Pepsi escaped without paying.

554

In ancient times, the city of Amman (capital of Jordan) was known as Philadelphia.

555

It has been estimated that 4,000 people died from pollution during the five days of London's "Great Smog" in 1952. The smog was so thick that ambulance service was canceled and even indoor events, such as theater screenings, had to be canceled due to poor visibility.

43 Comments

Level ∞

Dec 16, 2020

Credit to @Jetpunker180 for 552 and @turnbacktwo for 554.

Level 54

Dec 17, 2020

#Secondtocommentbutwhocares

Level 46

Dec 17, 2020

Yes I got a fact on

Level 54

Dec 17, 2020

Yeah, it is now clear that QM choose everyone's facts

Level 51

Dec 17, 2020

Not my quadripoints fact. Too obscure?

Level 58

Dec 17, 2020

Here's mine-

September 25, 2008 was the last time an unranked college football team beat a no. 1 ranked one. Oregon State defeated #1 USC 27-21.

Level 55

Jul 17, 2025

Not anymore. Thanks Vandy

Level 62

Jul 17, 2025

:,(

+29

Level 51

Dec 17, 2020

Pepsi sounds like a real jerk

Level 66

Jun 2, 2021

Yes

Level 68

Aug 20, 2021

Totally.

Level 73

Mar 6, 2023

they are

+13

Level 63

Dec 17, 2020

What??? Pepsi didn’t want to pay 32 trillion dollars even though that’s what they promised?? This is why people only ever drink Pepsi when there is no Coke, smh my head Pepsi.

Level 43

Dec 17, 2020

It's 32 Billion, not Trillion

Level ∞

Dec 18, 2020

Just looked it up. The GDP of Philippines in 1992 was $53 billion.

Level 51

Dec 19, 2020

Good thing too - might've collapsed the economy with all that new money

Level 46

Dec 17, 2020

We can't reproduce bananas

Source https://bestlifeonline.com/blow-your-mind-crazy-facts/#:~:text=20%20Crazy%20Facts%20That%20Will%20Blow%20Your%20Mind,8%20Aldous%20Huxley%20and%20C.S.%20More%20items...%20

+17

Level 14

Jan 10, 2021

Again, the url is making me rethink...

Level 46

Dec 17, 2020

The scientific name for brain freeze is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia

Source https://www.thefactsite.com/1000-interesting-facts/

Level 46

Dec 18, 2020

The biggest pyramid was not in Egypt it was in Mexico

Level 86

Feb 27, 2021

There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt.

Level 70

Mar 5, 2021

Number 555 blew my mind. I had never even heard of the Great Smog.

Absolutely terrible. I'm thankful to have learned about it.

Level 72

Apr 1, 2021

I only know of it from watching "The Crown."

Level 56

Jul 15, 2021

There was a similar smog in Donora, PA in 1948 caused by a temperature inversion. It was greatly aggravated by the fact that the local steel mill kept cranking away as usual. Only when the steel mill shut down did the smog dissipate.

Level 66

Sep 11, 2021

We read a small article about it in 4th grade I think.

Level 86

Mar 16, 2021

I wonder if both Pepsi promos where suggested by the same person...

Maybe after his blunder in the Philippines he was promoted to international MKT... Maybe after the second he was given the keys to the Pepsi Kingdom.

Level 90

Apr 23, 2021

Fact 552: Check spelling of "ensuing".

Level 87

Dec 23, 2021

Still.

Level 23

May 13, 2021

ANOTHER FACT! Heliocentric system was not "invented" by Copernicus, Arystarchus from Samos first thought: "Dude, i think that Earth is round!" and Copernicus said "Bro, you're right! I will make a book from that!

Level 78

Sep 13, 2021

I'm fairly sure it was well known that the Earth orbited the sun in most cultures other than Europe because Christianity. Also, you can't "invent" it, it's only discovered.

Level 70

Feb 24, 2022

In the 5th century BC the Greek philosophers Philolaus and Hicetas speculated separately that the Earth was a sphere revolving daily around some mystical “central fire” ........ I don't think that many before that time had come up with the idea, in any culture.

Level 66

Mar 15, 2022

Bruh, earth doesn’t revolve around anything it’s flat

Level 50

May 5, 2025

It is true that Aristarchus was the first known person to have proposed the heliocentric model, which eventually fell out of favour until Copernicus reformulated it many centuries later. But the fact that the Earth is round is quite different from that, and was widely accepted throughout the Middle Ages, in spite of what many people believe nowadays.

Level 74

Jun 5, 2021

#553 seems like QM has a vendetta against Pepsi if it comes up without the context of #552!

Level 92

Dec 24, 2021

You fail to bring a Harrier to the Cola Wars, you still win the battle but lose the war.

Level 74

Jun 5, 2021

#551 - wasn't that a journalist? Might want to explain the detail to explain why the transaction is so specific. I'm sure many people have bought things with Bitcoin in the past.

Level 92

Dec 24, 2021

The Great Smog was the demise of Charles Lightoller, the highest ranking officer to survive the Titanic. In charge of loading lifeboats on the port side, he refused to allow men in the boats and sent many out far under capacity. He jumped overboard, surviving on an upturned lifeboat with others and was the last survivor to be taken aboard the rescue ship.

Level 79

Nov 10, 2022

It's spelled Smaug

Level 51

Jan 27, 2023

No it's not, unless your talking about that dragon from LOTR

Level 79

Feb 1, 2022

anyone who wants to know more about #552 and #553, and the cognitive biases that allowed these events and others to occur, should listen to the episode of the podcast Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford titled ‘Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop’

Level 60

Mar 8, 2022

I knew 552 and 553 from Qxir.

Level 70

Apr 26, 2022

Pingualuit crater, Canada: The crater is exposed to the surface, rising 160 m (520 ft) above the surrounding tundra, and is 400 m (1,300 ft) deep. The 267 m-deep (876 ft) Pingualuk Lake fills the hollow, and is one of the deepest lakes in North America. The lake also holds some of the purest fresh water in the world, with a salinity level of less than 3 ppm (by comparison, the salinity level of the Great Lakes is 500 ppm).

Level 64

Sep 15, 2024

I'm guessing somebody watched the Pepsi documentary on Netflix this week, then