Fun Facts That Are

In 1980, Atari released Adventure, created by developer Warren Robinett. It sold more than a million copies at $25 each. Robinett's salary was $22,000 a year with no royalties and no credit. Atari refused to put developers' names on games, fearing competitors would poach them. So Robinett hid a secret room in the game containing the words "Created by Warren Robinett" and left before anyone noticed. A 15-year-old named Adam Clayton from Salt Lake City found it and wrote to Atari. Steve Wright, Atari's Director of Software Development, decided to keep the hidden message. He called it an "Easter egg" — and the term entered the language forever.

Lizzie Magie invented The Landlord's Game to show how monopolies crush ordinary people. Parker Brothers bought it for $500, stripped her name, and renamed it Monopoly. It became the best-selling board game in history, making billions. She died almost forgotten.

In 2009, thieves arrived by helicopter on a cash depot roof in Stockholm. They had placed a fake bomb at the police helicopter hangar. Scattered caltrops on every access road. Stole $5.3 million and escaped clean. Police caught them months later through DNA on a piece of duct tape someone had licked.

Singaporean photographer Chuando Tan just turned 60. He has been modeling since he was 15. He has nearly 2 million Instagram followers. Most of them found him because they refused to believe his birth year. He was born on March 3, 1966. He looks like he is in his 20s.

A man from Dildo, Newfoundland flew his drone and found this iceberg floating into the nearby Conception Bay.

A woman in Tokyo fell into the gap between the platform and a 32-ton train. 40 commuters stepped off, lined up along the carriage, and pushed it sideways. She was pulled free, completely uninjured. Eight minutes later, the train was back on schedule.

Dennis Schroder turned down an $84 million extension from the Lakers in 2021 because he believed he could get $100 million in free agency. After a poor playoff run, his market collapsed. He signed with the Celtics for $5.9 million.

Lorne Michaels wanted Guns N' Roses for the car scene in Wayne's World. Mike Myers refused \u2014 it had to be Bohemian Rhapsody. He fought so hard the production nearly fell apart. The song shot back into the Top 5 after 17 years. One car scene brought Queen back to a new generation.

Rob Lowe was offered the role of Derek Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy. He turned it down for a CBS show called Dr. Vegas. CBS pulled it after five episodes. Patrick Dempsey took McDreamy instead. Grey's Anatomy ran for 21 seasons. Lowe later said the decision probably cost him $70 million.

In 1986, Nadine Vaujour hovered a rented helicopter over La Santé Prison in Paris while her husband Michel climbed a rope to reach her. She'd spent three years learning to fly under a fake name specifically for this moment. Michel had fought his way to the roof using nectarines he'd painted green and passed off as grenades. Not a single shot was fired. They disappeared for four months before being caught.

In 1989, the Soviet Union traded Pepsi 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer in exchange for Pepsi products. For a brief moment, PepsiCo had the 6th largest submarine fleet in the world. Pepsi's CEO told the National Security Advisor: "We're disarming the Soviet Union faster than you are."

A scrap dealer paid $13,302 for a gold egg at a flea market, planning to melt it for profit. Nobody wanted it. It sat in his kitchen for years. Then he Googled the name engraved inside. It was a lost Imperial Faberge egg made for Tsar Alexander III. Estimated value: $33 million.