12 Trivia Tidbits for Thursday, May 2, 2024

12 Trivia Tidbits for Thursday, May 2, 2024

Was This Show the Closest We’ll Ever Get to a Live-Action ‘Simpsons’?

Was This Show the Closest We’ll Ever Get to a Live-Action ‘Simpsons’?

Brian Cox Starred in One of the Most Controversial Video Games Ever

Brian Cox Starred in One of the Most Controversial Video Games Ever

Isaac Hayes’ Son Believes That Chef Didn’t Quit ‘South Park’ — Scientology Forced Him Out

Isaac Hayes’ Son Believes That Chef Didn’t Quit ‘South Park’ — Scientology Forced Him Out

5 Ballsy Ways People Applied for Jobs — And Got Them

5 Ballsy Ways People Applied for Jobs — And Got Them

15 Toys, Tools, and Medical Innovations with Surprising Original Uses

It’s the dream of every former little kid who used to get in trouble for taking apart the toaster to solve one of humanity’s biggest problems in a patentable way. Why do you think the dad on Rugrats was always in a back room tinkering with stuff? We all want to live out our days sipping liquor out of coconuts on a private island somewhere and also feel good about it.

As with all children, however, once you set your little baby invention free in the world, you have no control over what it will become. You might have high-minded ideas about curing cancer or solving the climate crisis only for people to spend five minutes with your product and declare, “Hey, this tastes really good, what if we put it on ice cream instead?” After all, there’s nothing more human than the unquenchable urge to ignore package directions (especially in the service of putting stuff on ice cream).

15

CRACKED COCA-COLA WAS CREATED TO WEAN SOLDIERS OFF MORPHINE. It was believed that cocaine was an effective treatment for morphine addiction, and Coca-Cola is still used this way, if the cans that pile up at NA meetings are any indication. a UNDER 4300 17 834 an D un 000-01154 6 es bottles ORIGINAL TAS Not a CocoCoca ORIGINAL TASTE ORIGINAL TASTE Coca-Coca-Cola NAL TASTE ORIGINAL TASTE ORIGINAL TASTE ORIGINAL TASTE Coca-Cola Coca-Cola pre Coca-Cola ORIGINAL TASTE ml - Womena VILE Coca:

Smithsonian Magazine / News4Jax 

14

CRACKED KLEENEX WAS A WORLD WAR I GAS MASK FILTER. It was then marketed as a menstrual product and then a cold cream remover until the company realized everybody was using it to mop up a different sort of leak.

Kleenex / Grunge 

13

CRACKED BUBBLE WRAP WAS MARKETED AS TEXTURED WALLPAPER. The trend failed to catch on, but manufacturing companies found it useful for padding delicate packages and, let's be honest, stomping on until it sounds like the Fourth of July.

Smithsonian Magazine

12

CRACKED PLAY DOH WAS WALLPAPER CLEANER. A struggling educator read that wallpaper cleaner could be used as clay and found this particular brand to be easier to mold, so give it up once more for desperate teachers. SIXDANION | I I Play-Doh Play-Doh Play-Doh BRAND it

Smithsonian Magazine

11

CRACKED LYSOL WAS USED AS A CONTRACEPTIVE DOUCHE. The disinfectant also advertised itself as an effective feminine hygiene product until everyone realized how insane that was. Lysol® ! - PR. POWER & FREE GEN MULTI PURPOSE XIDE

All That's Interesting / Lysol 

10

CRACKED LISTERINE WAS A SURGICAL ANTISEPTIC. Greedy for more money, the company invented a problem (bad breath, which no one was super concerned about before) and sold a solution for it.

Smithsonian Magazine / 123 Dentist 

9

CRACKED SILLY PUTTY WAS DEVELOPED AS A RUBBER SUBSTITUTE. It was originally thought to be useless until the scientists examining it whipped it out at parties, which were really boring in the 1940s.

Thought Co

8

CRACKED THE SLINKY WAS DEVELOPED FOR THE NAVY. The strong spring was supposed to secure objects on ships, but then its inventor dropped it and realized it was a lot more fun to play with. Slinky PEGUUS WAL - COLLECTOR'S EDITION EDITION COLLECTOR LA EDICIÓN DE COLECCIONISTA MECHO - U.S.A - 5+ Slinky

Smithsonian Magazine / Den of Geek 

7

CRACKED PROPECIA TREATED ENLARGED PROSTATES. It turned out it also treated baldness, so Merck marketed it under two different names to fully corner the midlife crisis demographic. NO TRICK EX PASSAC AR MERCK

Vice / Dallas News 

6

CRACKED ROGAINE WAS DEVELOPED TO TREAT ULCERS. It didn't work, but those stressed-out men suddenly had full heads of hair, which was almost as effective.

NY Times / Healthline 

5

CRACKED CHAINSAWS WERE INVENTED TO CUT THROUGH BONE, NOT WOOD. Specifically, the pelvic bones of birthing women who weren't doing it fast enough. Believe it or not, this was the more humane method.

Scotsman

4

CRACKED AUTOTUNE WAS USED FOR SEISMIC DATA PROCESSING. Energy companies used it to look for oil, but when its inventor applied it to music, he struck a different kind of gold (specifically, Cher).

Thought Co

3

CRACKED FRISBEES USED TO BE PIE TINS. The Frisbie Pie Company unwittingly ushered in a new era of lawn games when, in the grand tradition of broke student upcycling, Yale students figured out they could throw them really far. Fries PIES 46

Atlas Obscura 

2

CRACKED BOTOX WAS USED TO TREAT CROSSED EYES. It was developed in the '70s as a cure for strabismus until doctors noticed their patients were not only no longer cross-eyed but also fabulously wrinkle-free. 0 0 بن 7 0 50 09 A 0 30

Scientific American 

1

CRACKED TREADMILLS WERE MILLING/PUNISHMENT DEVICES. They were invented 200 years ago to be used in prisons as renewable energy sources for powering corn mills and water pumps and punishing their users, which is half how we use them today.

JSTOR 

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