Page 3 - Fun Facts

A torture scene in Game of Thrones portrays an actual method of tortures used in Soviet Russia!

Big Games of Thrones fan? Remember the torture scene with the rat in the heated pot? Well, that was an actual method of torture used during the Red Terror! The Red Terror occurred in Soviet Russian, and back during this era there were several events occurring, such as mass killings, torture, and systematic oppression.

One of the torture methods that were used was one in which rats were placed in iron tubes sealed at one end with wire netting and the other placed against the body of a prisoner, with the tubes being heated until the rats gnawed through the victim’s body in an effort to escape.

This was only one of the torture methods used during the red terror, some people were frozen to death, others skinned people to make gloves, and these are just some of the terrible things that people would use to torture back then.

So don’t forget; you are actually learning some history from watching Games of Thrones! Sadly you’ll have to wait a little bit longer until next season comes up and you can keep up with the great learning process.

(Source)

Team America was supposed to be a shot for shot puppet parody of a James Bond movie!

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are notorious for creating the offensive tongue and cheek cartoon South Park, as well as creating the internationally renowned musical, The Book of Mormon - a play that won 9 Tony's. They are also famous for creating the Puppet film, Team America: World Police. The film pokes fun at many international issues and conflicts, including North Korea.

However, the film almost wasn't made. Originally, Matt Stone and Trey Parker wanted to do a shot for shot movie puppet parody of the film 'The Day After Tomorrow' but their team of lawyers said that if they made that film, there would be legal problems.

Want to learn more interesting facts about the production of Team America: World Police? Click the source!

(Source)

A Greek taxi driver has the world record for longest mileage in a single car: 2.9 million miles!

Greek taxi driver Gregorios Sachinidis from Thessalonica donated his 1976 Mercedes to the Mercedes Benz Museum Collection! It may seem like a classic Mercedes from the outside, but on the inside, more importantly when looking at the mileage, you will see that his car has 4.6 million kilometers on it!

The massive distance covered by this single taxi cab has been a milestone in convincing people that Mercedes-Benz cars can travel an extremely far distance before they need to be turned in! Since Gregorios Sachinidis was donating his car to the Museum, Mercedes-Benz decided to donate a brand new C 200 CDI to be picked up by him, whenever he feels ready after he returns to his home in Thessalonica!

(Source)

The sound of a TIE fighter is a mix between an elephant call and a car driving on wet pavement!

TIE fighters are one of the more iconic creations in the original Star Wars trilogy. They are easily recognized, and identified to be space ships from Star Wars. Not only is the physical design of the TIE fighters recognized, but the unusual sound that the fighters produce is also iconic.

The sound, which can't even be described accurately, was created by sound designer Ben Burtt. Ben Burtt stated that he was able to come up with such an usual sound by combing an elephant call with the sound of a car driving on wet pavement!

TIE fighters are so iconic, that the model used in the actual filming of Star Wars: A New Hope sold at an auction for $350,000! Fans have even collaborated to build a 1,000 pound, 16 by 20 ft TIE fighter for the Star Wars thirtieth anniversary gala in 2007!

(Source)

The nation of Georgia fired its entire police fore. Crime went down!

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had noticed a distinct level of corruption among his countries police officers, and to be honest, he wasn't very pleased with it. In 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili threatened all police officers, whether new recruits, or seasoned veterans, that they would be instantly fired if they were caught taking bribe from citizens, or abusing their power in any way.

The cops assumed the President was bluffing, and the next day, over 15,000 cops were caught taking bribes from citizens. As promised, the President fired all of them. In the following days after that, another 15,000 cops were fired for abusing their power. The country had no police force at this point.

In fact, the country had no police force for the next 3 months! So, was there rioting and unprecedented levels of crime? Nope! As it turns out, the crime rate actually lowered, and the country was better off without cops than it was WITH cops! Apparently the cops were the reason for most of the problems and crime in the first place!

(Source)