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Category: Facts
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KidsGiveMeHope - short stories of kids doing the CUTEST things.
J.K. Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series, doesn't have a middle name.
Joanne Rowling doesn't have a middle name. Her publishers wanted her to use a gender neutral name on the cover of Harry Potter. Instead of Joanne, she went by J.K. The hope was that this would earn the book some male readers that would otherwise avoid a book written by a woman.
The K was chosen by Rowling as a tribute to her grandmother, Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. The "Kathleen" part, however, is, to this day, not part of Rowling's real legal name.
(Sources: 1, 2)
"Fucking" is the name of a town in Austria.
Much to the dismay of the town's 104 residents, this unfortunate name has led to numerous acts of vandalism from tourists. Visitors from the English-speaking world have been stealing road signs.
Though the town has had its name for centuries, it wasn't until British and American troops arrived to the area in WWII that the town began to receive notoriety. Back it the 1940s locals were amused by foreigners taking pictures by signs with the town's name. Now they're getting pretty sick of it.
According to one Austrian tourist: "The Germans all want to see Mozart's house in Salzburg. The Americans want to see where The Sound Of Music was filmed. The Japanese want Hitler's birthplace in Braunau. But for the British, it's all about Fucking."
Among some of the more amusing signs in the town is the one with the message "Please -- not so fast" under the town's name.
(Sources: 1, 2, 3)
They stopped making red M&Ms for TEN YEARS.
In the 1970s, scientists in the Soviet Union claimed that Red Dye No. 2 dye caused cancer. At the time, the dye was so commonplace that it could be found in everything from ice cream to makeup to sausage casings. It was also never officially linked to any deaths or illnesses.
Regardless, the widespread panic over the cancer rumors netted Red Dye No. 2 a ten year ban from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
This led to the Mars candy company removing red M&Ms from their lineup. This was despite the fact that red M&Ms didn't even use Red Dye No. 2!
(source)
The most viewed video on YouTube "Justin Bieber- Baby ft. Ludacris" has more "dislikes" than "likes".
(source)
Despite collaborating on the hit single “Airplanes,” rapper B.o.B. and singer Hayley Williams have never met.
This probably isn’t that unusual in the music industry, at least not when recording featured artists on a track. What makes it a bit stranger is that B.o.B. and the lead singer of Paramore also filmed their portions of the music video separately!
Here's what Williams has to say about this. "We've never met in person. We've talked on Twitter, and he's really cool. We'll never meet. We're going to perform the song live via Skype."
(source)
Driving a route taking only right turns is more fuel efficient than driving while taking left ones.
Thy MythBusters drove a delivery truck around San Francisco. They followed a route that had a couple of left turns. Afterwards, they went through the same route, but replaced each left turn with three right turns.
The result? The route that had only right turns drove a longer distance. Despite this, it turned out to be 3% more fuel efficient than the shorter trip with left turns.
Maybe Zoolander was onto something.
(source)
