14 Interesting and Little-Known Facts About Michael Jackson

He Was a Real King The Kingdom of Sanwi in the southeast area of the Ivory Coast in West Africa declared Michael Jackson a king in 1993. It was a region he visited frequently. He Was An Inventor In 1993, Jackson, along with two other inventors, Michael L. Bush and Dennis Tompkins, filed for a patent on the “anti-gravity” shoes they invented. These special shoes had a triangular groove in the heels that caught onto a bolt projecting from the stage floor that allowed Jackson and his dancers to lean forward beyond the center of gravity. The King of Pop used this gravity-defying illusion to wow audiences in live performances of the song Smooth Criminal. His Most Famous Video Was Almost Not Released Jackson's video for Thriller was almost not released after Jehovah’s Witnesses (the denomination he was raised in) discovered his character was a werewolf. Jackson, who was still living with his parents at the time, was threatened with excommunication because the video violated strict rules about occult imagery. Michael ordered the video destroyed, but the editor and director hid the film canisters until the singer changed his mind. He Could Have Been Spider-Man Jackson tried to buy Marvel Comics in the early 1990 so that he could play the role of Spider-Man in his own production of the movie. He Even Has a Species Named After Him A group of international paleontologists discovered a new species of hermit crab on the same day Jackson died. The team were celebrating their find in a restaurant in Alsasua, Spain when they saw news of his death on a nearby television. They named their discovery Mesoparapylocheles michaeljacksoni in his honor. He Set a Record For Giving Away Money A noted philanthropist, Jackson donated more than $500 million to various foundations, and he is noted as the entertainer who supported the most charity organizations by Guinness World Records. He won numerous awards for his humanitarian efforts. He Still Holds The Title For Creating The Most Expensive Video of All Time Scream is still the most expensive video ever made– $7 million ( $10,834,025 when adjusted for inflation). His Image is on Postage Stamps St. Vincent and the Grenadines issued Michael Jackson commemorative stamps in 1985. There have been several other countries, such as Guinea Bissau, that have done so since then. He Must Have REALLY Not Liked Returning Library Books He was once accused by a library of owing $1 million dollars in overdue book fines, according to theguardian.com. He's a Billionaire Even in Death Jackson is the highest-earning deceased celebrity – having earned approximately $1 billion since his death on June 25, 2009. The Biggest Record Deal in History Was Signed For His Music After He Died In March 2010, administrators of the pop icon’s estate signed the largest recording contract in music history, a deal speculated to be worth up to $250 million and includes unreleased recordings, DVDs and video games. His 'Black or White' Video Caused Uproar Jackson’s video for the 1991 song Black or White caused controversy. The general public was not pleased with the uncut version of the video, which portrayed violence and sexually suggestive scenes. The video premiered in 27 countries to an audience of 500 million – which is still the highest number ever. He Brought Gang Members Together Jackson cast 80 members of the notorious street gang rivals, the Crips and the Bloods of Los Angeles, for the Beat It music video in hopes of fostering peace between them. The Internet Broke on The Day He Died As news spread throughout the world, Twitter, Wikipedia and AOL's Instant Messenger all crashed at 3:15 p.m. on the day Jackson died.

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