11 Johnny Depp would close a club he partially owned on Halloween every year because his good friend and fellow actor, River Phoenix, collapsed and died in front of it. He did this for over 10 years until he sold his part of the club.

River Pheonix was born on August 23, 1970. He was the first child of Arlyn Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. He began his career by doing commercials and then subsequently make appearances in TV shows. At the age of 15, he played in the successful movie Stand by Me which paved his way to stardom and made him a teen idol.

He was a friend of Johnny Depp and would often hang out at the Viper Room, a club owned by Johnny Depp. He was playing with the band P on October 30th, 1993 in the Viper Room. After performing on the stage and not feeling well, River Phoenix collapsed and passed away from a drug overdose in front of the club. To commemorate the death of his beloved friend, Johnny Depp closed the club on every Halloween for ten years until he sold it. (source)

12 Hunter S. Thompson, a great friend of Johnny Depp and a Kentucky Colonel (highest honorary title in Kentucky) himself, awarded the title to Johnny Depp.

“Kentucky Colonel” is the highest title given to the people of Kentucky which is given in recognition of their accomplishments. It is given by the governor or the secretary of the state. The title was formed in 1813 and was only awarded to people with honored reputations.

Johnny Depp was a close friend of Hunter S. Thompson and starred in two movies based on books written by him: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Rum Diary. Hunter S. Thompson, a colonel himself, nominated Depp for the title and made him a Kentucky Colonel. (source)

13 Johnny Depp was honored by having a fossil named after him. Kooteninchela deppi, an extinct creature, was discovered by a scientist who couldn’t help but notice that the claws in the fossil were similar to Edward Scissorhands.

Kooteninchela deppi is a 505-year-old Cambrian fossil. It belongs to a group called “great appendage” arthropods and is an ancestor of scorpions, crabs, and lobsters. The creature was four centimeters long with an elongated body and centipede-like small legs.

David Legg, a researcher who was studying fossils as a part of his Ph.D. at the Imperial College of London, honored Johnny Depp by naming an ancient, extinct fossil after him. According to Legg, when he saw a pair of claws in the fossil, he could not help but think of Edward Scissorhands.

The claws of Kooteninchela deppi reminded him of the character’s claws. He decided to honor the actor and immortalize him by naming the fossil “Kooteninchela deppi.” (source)