On the eve of his 53rd birth anniversary, we take a look at some interesting facts about Michael Jackson.
1. Jackson was a vegetarian.
2. His iconic 'moonwalk' was inspired by street dancers. He had reportedly spotted them outside a hotel where he was staying.
3. Jackson's Billy Jean was the first video by a black artist to be aired on MTV.
4. Three of his albums, Dangerous, Thriller and Bad, are counted among the world's best-selling records of all time. Thriller still remains to be the biggest-selling album of all time.
5. He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was first inducted as a member of The Jackson 5 on May 6, 1997 and as a solo artist on March 19, 2001.
6. Jackson's famous pets were a chimp called Bubbles, a ram called Mr. Tibbs, a python called Crusher, a rat called Ben and a llama named Louie. The most famous of them all was Bubbles, who was adopted from a cancer research centre in Texas. Bubbles even sat in during Jackson's recording sessions for the album Bad and also accompanied the singer on his trip to Tokyo.
7. As a child, his favorite comics were 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Old Man and the Sea'. His favorite cartoon character was Pinocchio and his favorite superhero� Morph from the 'X-Men'.
8. Jackson allegedly used to sleep in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in order to enhance his beauty and slow down the aging process.
9. In 1984, during the filming of a Pepsi advertisement, Jackson sustained second-degree burns to his scalp after his hair caught fire due to an explosion.
10. MC Hammer once challenged Jackson to a dance off. Michael retorted back saying, "I've seen your videos and every single dance move you use, you got off me."
11. Jackson's performance during the half-time of the 1993 Super Bowl attracted the largest TV audience in American history.
12. He had several nicknames like 'The Gloved One', 'Wacko Jacko', 'Jacko', 'The King of Pop', and 'MJ' given to him by the media. He was called 'Smelly' by his close friends. The one he detested was 'Wacko Jacko'.
13. Jackson drank Ricola candy dissolved in hot water as a pre-concert ritual. It apparently made his singing voice and throat clear.
14. An obsessed Jackson fan from France committed suicide in 1984 after his mother refused to allow him to undergo surgery in a bid to look like the star himself.
