The Book of Random Facts

1,000 Fun and Interesting Facts to Pass

Time

Tyler Backhause
1. The famous painting Mona Lisa has her own mailbox and received
plenty of love letters and flowers from admirers.
2. Robert G. Heft, a 17-year old high school student from Ohio,
submitted the current version of the American flag which he designed
for a class project which was accepted and remains in use today. His
teacher gave him a grade of B- supposedly stating that it lacked
originality!
3. The earliest paper was made by a court official named Cai Lun who
used bark, hemp, rags, fishnet, wheat stalks, and other materials.
4. The braille version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire consists of
10 volumes while the New American Bible and Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary comprises massive 45 and 72 volumes, respectively.
5. Caterpillars have 12 eyes!
6. George Washington wasn't the only one to be featured on the $1 bill.
His wife Martha graced it in 1886!
7. Papua New Guinea is home to the world’s only poisonous bird, the
Hooded Pitohui (Pitohui dichrous).
8. The origin of the name of the car company "Mazda" comes from
Ahura Mazda, the god of harmony, intelligence, and wisdom from the
earliest civilization in West Asia.
9. In September 1752, 11 consecutive days were missing upon switching
from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. People in England
woke up on the morning of September 3, 1752 (which was September
14), and protested against the changes. A riot ensued and to quell
public uprising the king decreed that all workers should be given a
salary for these 11 days and thus began the concept of "paid leave".
10. According to some historians, Plato was actually his nickname and
his real name was Aristocles. ‘Platon’ actually meant someone who
has a broad and strong physical build as indeed did Plato possess.
11. The flag of Libya adopted on 11 November 1977 consisted of a green
field and was the only national flag in the world with just one color
and no design, insignia, or other details. It was chosen by Libyan
 leader Muammar Gaddafi to symbolize his political philosophy after
his Green Book.
12. The moon holds a singular piece of art: a small statue named “The
Fallen Astronaut” by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck.
13. Yellow activates the memory.
14. Air Force One includes a medical suite that can function as an
operating room when required, and a doctor is present permanently on
board.
15. George Washington was a redhead!
16. It takes 10 weeks to climb Everest.
17. Joan R. Ginther is the luckiest woman in the world winning the Texas
Lottery four times amounting to approximately 20 million dollars in
total!
18. In Alabama, you can receive a traffic ticket for driving with a
blindfold on.
19. Frane Selak, of Croatia, is dubbed as the luckiest man in the world
after cheating death 7 times. He not only survived a train crash, a
plane crash, and a car crash but also went on to win the lottery!
20. During World War II, scientists working for the British Department of
Miscellaneous Weapons Development encountered a rather
obstructive Royal Navy officer named Commander Pouter, after
whom the unit of Obstruction was named, due to his relentless
opposition to any work being carried out in the field for which he was
responsible.
21. The initials "FG", for Frank Gasparro, the engraver who designed the
new backside of Lincoln penny appears on the right of the design,
near the shrubbery.
22. The heart can continue beating even when it's disconnected from the
body.
23. The logo of Toyota includes every alphabet of the company name.
24. An alligator's mother will eat her babies if conditions are severe such
as a drought or no water.
25. Tree marriage was once widespread in India.
26. In Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Misérables, you can find a sentence that
is 823 words long.
27. ‘Amen’ is the last word in the Bible.
28. The Flemish saint Drogo of Sebourg (March 14, 1105– April 16,
1186) was the patron saint of unattractive people.
29. An African message via drum communication can be transmitted at
the speed of 100 miles in an hour.
30. When the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) dies, it sinks to the
ocean floor and begins to decay. Its cells reaggregate into polyps, and
from these polyps emerge new jellyfish.
31. During World War II, the United States Playing Card Company
created a very special deck of cards to aid allied prisoners of war
escape from German POW camps. It became known as the "Map
Deck" and was made by hiding maps of top-secret escape routes
between the two paper layers that make up all modern playing cards.
The decks could be peeled apart to reveal the hidden maps when
soaked in water.
32. A group of bananas is called a hand! A single is called a finger.
33. In the 1600’s thermometer used to be filled with brandy instead of
mercury.
34. Various East African indigenous tribal peoples, such as Maasai
moran, when afflicted with gashes will use Dorylus, the soldier ants,
to stitch the wound by getting the insects to bite on both sides of the
wound and then breaking off the body. This procedure of using ants
as makeshift surgical staples to suture a wound can hold for days.
35. Psycho is the first American film to feature a toilet flushing.
36. The patent for the fire hydrant was destroyed in a fire.
37. Powerful earthquakes can make the Earth spin faster.
38. The Rose of Hildesheim is a thousand-year rose that’s believed to be
the oldest living rose in the world. It is 69 feet tall and 30 feet wide
and it’s believed that the rose was established by King Louis the
Pious in 815 AD.
39. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
40. Sea otters hold each other’s paws while sleeping so they don’t drift
apart.
41. Gentoo penguins propose to their life mates with a pebble.
42. An elderly woman who stepped out of her Strasbourg home one
summer day in 1518 began to dance furiously; nothing and no one
could stop her. Soon, dozens more joined her, and so began another
strange epidemic of the deadly dancing plague.
43. A cat’s nose is ridged with a unique pattern, just like a human
fingerprint.
44. A group of porcupines is called a prickle.
45. 99% of our solar system's mass is the sun.
46. More energy from the sun hits Earth every hour than the planet uses
in a year.
47. If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in outer space, they will
bond together permanently.
48. Just a sugar cube of neutron star matter would weigh about one
hundred million tons on Earth.
49. A soup can full of neutron star material would have more mass than
the Moon.
50. Ancient Chinese warriors would show off to their enemies before a
battle, by juggling.
51. OMG was added to dictionaries in 2011, but its first known use was
in 1917.
52. In the state of Arizona, it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs.
53. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
54. Rats and mice are ticklish, and even laugh when tickled.
55. Norway once knighted a penguin.
56. The King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache.
57. It is illegal to sing off-key in North Carolina.
58. Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order.
59. One is the only number with letters in reverse alphabetical order.
60. Strawberries are grown in every state in the U.S. and every province
in Canada.
61. The phrase, “You’re a real peach” originated from the tradition of
giving peaches to loved ones.
62. At latitude 60° south, it is possible to sail clear around the world
without touching land.
63. Interstate 90 is the longest U.S. Interstate Highway with over 3,000
miles from Seattle, WA to Boston, MA.
64. DFW Airport in Texas is larger than the island of Manhattan.
65. Benjamin Franklin invented flippers.
66. In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital had to suspend workers who were
betting on when patients would die. One nurse was even accused of
murdering a patient so she would win.
67. Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands.
68. Giraffes have the same number of vertebrae as humans: 7
69. Subway is the world's largest fast-food chain.
70. Remove all the space between its atoms and Earth would be the size
of a baseball.
71. China is spending 3 billion dollars to build panda-shaped solar farms
in order to get more young people interested in renewable energy.
72. While hunting, stoats go crazy jumping, spinning, and twisting to get
rabbits' attention. This hypnotizes the rabbit until the stoat gets close
enough to attack.
73. The average American child is given $3.70 per tooth that falls out.
74. To properly write adjectives in order, you would list them by amount,
value, size, temperature, age, shape, color, origin, and material.
75. Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th U.S. President. He is
the only man to have been elected to non-consecutive presidential
terms.
76. The suffix -stan is Persian for “place of” or “country”, which
explains why so many countries end with it.
77. The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar region on Earth. Some
weather stations in the Atacama have never received rain.
78. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that tomatoes are
vegetables.
79. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) had to change their name to
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) because of legal action taken
by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
80. According to John Lennon, the imagery in the song “Lucy in the Sky
with Diamonds” was inspired by the work of Lewis Carroll.
81. There are more than 7,000 different Caribbean islands, but only
about 2% of them are inhabited.
82. It’s been estimated that a new baby can rob parents of anywhere
between 400-750 hours of sleep in the first year.
83. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the only moon known to have a fully
developed atmosphere. In fact, it is about 50% denser than Earth’s.
84. While millions of people use cruise control every day, many wouldn't
know that it was invented by a blind engineer. His name was Ralph
Teetor. When he was five-years-old, he was blinded in an accident
involving a knife.
85. Since 1945, all British tanks have come equipped with tea making
facilities.
86. Reno, Nevada is west of Los Angeles, California.
87. Babe Ruth’s 54 home runs in 1920 were more than the total hit by 14
of 15 other MLB teams.
88. You actually can see Russia from Alaska. Given the correct weather
conditions in the Bering Sea, you can see the island of Big Diomede,
Russia, from the smaller island of Little Diomede, Alaska.
89. Many lipsticks contain fish scales.
90. After three-letter airport codes became standard, airports that had
previously been using only two letters simply added an X.
91. At 3,212 feet high, Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest
uninterrupted waterfall in the world.
92. Prairie dogs say “hello” by kissing.
93. With a fortune of $336 billion when adjusted for inflation, oil tycoon
John D. Rockefeller is the wealthiest person in U.S. history.
94. The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships is
the longest tennis match in history. It was a first-round Men's Singles
match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played French
qualifier Nicolas Mahut. The match began at 6:13 pm on Tuesday, 22
June 2010, and resumed on Wednesday, 23 June, at 2:05 pm. After
the light faded again, the play was suspended at 9:09 pm, with the
final set tied at 59 games all. Play then resumed at 3:40 pm on
Thursday, 24 June, and Isner won at 4:47 pm, the final set having
lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes. In total, the match took 11 hours, 5
minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–
7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games. It is dubbed as the
"longest match in tennis history", measured both by time and number
of games. Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis
records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being
referred to as "the endless match".
95. Bacon was used to make explosives during World War II. One pound
of fat was said to contain enough glycerin to make one pound of
explosives.
96. Flamingos can only eat with their heads upside down.
97. A group of twelve or more cows is called a flink.
98. A group of goats is called a trip.
 99. An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.
100. There are more chickens than people in the world.
101. Penguins can jump 6 feet.
102. At one point, you were the youngest person on Earth.
103. There are approximately 7,000 feathers on an eagle.
104. The only lizard that has a voice is the Gecko.
105. A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.
106. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
107. A duck has three eyelids.
108. There's an equation to tell how far away the horizon is.
109. The hippopotamus has the capability to remain underwater for as long
as five minutes.
110. Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of a blue whale.
111. If a sheep and a goat mate the offspring is called a geep.
112. Pistol shrimp can make a noise loud enough to break glass.
113. The Tanganyika laughter epidemic lasted for around 6 to 18 months.
The laughter started in a village school in Tanzania (then Tanganyika)
with 3 girls. In the end, it affected over a 1000 people. It also made
some people cry, scream and faint before eventually dying out.
114. Koalas only drink water in extreme heat or drought.
115. Bees are born fully grown.
116. Ferret comes from the Latin word for little thief.
117. Cats have 2 sets of vocal cords: one for purring and one for meowing.
118. Some bears build nests in trees to sunbathe and rest.
119. A group of jellyfish is called a smack.
120. More than 50% of people in the world haven't made or received a
phone call.
121. The human jaw can generate a force of up to 200 pounds on the
molars.
122. When 24-year-old Siyuan Chen was learning English, she found the
only way to finish all her homework in time was to literally double
her efforts! She claims her talent is completely natural.
123. The first time a digit repeats six times in succession in pi is at the
762nd position where you can find six nines in a row. This is known
as the Feynman Point.
124. In chess, the longest game theoretically possible has 5,949 moves.
125. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe around 2008 led to bills ranging from 10
billion to 100 trillion dollars in value being printed. Theoretically, one
could become a multi-trillionaire!
126. Brazil is the only country named after a tree
127. In the 1600s, a tulip in Holland cost more than a house!
128. Incitatus, the favorite horse of Roman emperor Caligula, is said to
have been nominated for consul.
129. Fire Hydrant ran for election multiple times 2004–2008 at the
University of British Columbia, including a position on the Board of
Governors, coming within 6% of being elected.
130. In 2007, Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers sued God.
131. Adolf Hitler was one of the world's best-known teetotalers.
132. The human body produces its own supply of alcohol naturally, 24
hours a day, and 7 days a week.
133. Most of the time, wherever a horse's ear is pointing is where the horse
is looking with the eye on the same side. If the ears are pointing in
different directions, the horse is looking at two different things at the
same time.
134. The visors of astronaut helmets contain gold because of the effective
protection against space radiation the precious metal offers.
135. On 12 April 1831, Broughton Suspension Bridge collapsed,
reportedly due to mechanical resonance induced by troops marching
in step. As a result of the incident, the British Army issued an order
that troops should "break step" when crossing a bridge.
136. 'The Pig War' is perhaps one of the most obscure and unusual wars in
history. It started when on June 15th, 1859 a pig belonging to the
British accidentally wandered onto the land of Lyman Cutlar, an
American farmer. When Cutlar noticed the pig eating some of his
potatoes he was incensed, and in a fit of rage shot and killed the pig.
137. You're more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a
poisonous spider.
138. A crocodile can't stick out its tongue.
139. Rubber bands last longer when kept refrigerated.
140. Women blink twice as much as men.
141. Ostriches don't bury their heads in sand.
142. Only female mosquitoes bite.
143. Scotland has the most redheads.
144. Household dust is made of dead skin cells.
145. The past tense for the English word 'dare' is 'durst'.
146. Charles Osborne, an American, had hiccups for 68 years.
147. Wind doesn’t make a sound until it blows against an object.
148. The ancient Egyptians are believed to be the first to invent a four-
legged seat with a back, better known to most as a chair. The earliest
examples have been found in tombs dating as far back as 2680 B.C.
149. India has the most post offices than any other country (over 100,000).
150. India is home to over 200 million cows.
151. The Taj Mahal in India is made entirely out of marble.
152. By the fifth century BC, Greek playwrights were using some basic
symbols to show where actors should pause, and the scholar
Aristophanes of Byzantium (c257– c185 BC) invented a formal
system of punctuation. He also designed accents to aid pronunciation.
153. The Matami Tribe of West Africa has a different version of football.
They play with skulls instead of a ball.
154. Money is the number one thing that couples argue about.
155. Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs.
156. There are 22 stars in the Paramount studios logo.
157. The probability that any glass of water you drink contains molecules
that once passed through a dinosaur is nearly 100%.
158. In a deck of cards, the king of hearts is the only king without a
mustache.
159. Black on yellow are the 2 colors with the strongest impact.
160. The tea bag was invented in 1908.
161. Rain contains vitamin B12.
162. Your liver has over 500 functions.
163. Your brain uses 25% of all the oxygen of your breath.
164. After Hawaii, New York is the state surrounded by the most water.
165. Ice skating rinks always go counterclockwise (for the majority of
people that are right-handed needing to hang onto the rail).
166. A flea can jump 350 times its body length.
167. Cucumbers are 96% water.
168. A full moon is 9 times brighter than a half-moon.
169. A honeybee's top speed is 24 kph or 15mph.
170. A hummingbird flaps its wings up to 90 times a second (5,400 times a
minute).
171. Flies always launch backwards for a quick getaway.
172. An average person will produce enough saliva in your lifetime to fill
two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
173. A cheetah’s top speed is 114kph (70mph).
174. Horses sleep standing up.
175. Beginning in his late teens, Tolstoy would sporadically keep a
"Journal of Daily Occupations," minutely accounting for how he
spent his day and clearly plotting out how he intended to spend the
following day. As if that wasn't enough, he also compiled an ever-
growing list of his moral failures and even found time to create guides
governing everything from listening to music to playing cards while
in Moscow.
176. All swans in England belong to the queen.
177. King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic ax beside him.
178. The first documentation of the invention of a doorknob was in 1878.
The U.S. Patent Office received a submission made for improvements
on a door-closing device by an African American inventor named
Osbourn Dorsey.
179. Italy's Dino Zoff still holds the record for the longest period in
international football without conceding a goal, going 1,142 minutes
before Haiti's Manno Sanon found the back of the net to give his side
a surprise lead in their 1974 World Cup group game.
180. Drachma is the silver coin of ancient Greece, dating from about the
mid-6th century BC, and the former monetary unit of modern Greece.
Its name derives from the Greek verb meaning “to grasp,” and its
original value was equivalent to that of a handful of arrows.
181. The Vatican Bank is the world’s only bank that allows ATM users to
perform transactions in Latin.
182. It is believed that the Aztecs were the first to make crude "animal
balloons." They created inflated animals from the bowels of cats
which were presented to the gods as a sacrifice. After cleaning and
preparing the intestines, they were twisted and the air was blown into
them after each twist.
183. Morris dancing represents fertility through death and rebirth,
184. Nine-banded armadillos almost always give birth to four identical
quadruplets.
185. Researchers study the zebrafish to uncover possible treatments for
heart failure and other cardiac injuries due to its amazing regenerative
properties where it can quickly close injuries and mend itself back to
almost full function.
186. Legend has it the Buddha died of food poisoning after accepting an
offering of food from a blacksmith that had gone bad. The texts do
not agree on the contents of the meal and some say it was spoiled
pork whereas others point to poisonous mushrooms.
187. The late Jim Pike, a darts legend in England before most of you even
threw one, was such a marksman that he could shoot a cigarette from
someone's mouth with a dart
188. Strouthokamelophobia is the fear of ostriches.
189. The lawnmower was patented by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830. He
was working in a textile mill in Stroud, Gloucester, where he designed
a machine originally to trim the knap off the cloth, destined for
Guardsmen's uniforms. His revolutionary idea was to use it to cut
grass! At the time people thought he was a lunatic and a madman to
invent such a contraption, so he had to test the machine at night so no
one could see him.
190. Three U.S. presidents have won the Nobel prize.
191. ArnoldC is an imperative programming language where the basics are
replaced with the most well-known quotes from different
Schwarzenegger movies.
192. Hell on Earth is actually a small town in Michigan where anyone can
be mayor for a day.
193. For the first four decades of competition, the Olympics awarded
official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, and
music, alongside those for the athletic competitions. From 1912 to
1952, juries awarded a total of 151 medals to original works in the
fine arts inspired by athletic endeavors
194. Chinchilla has the thickest fur of all land animals with 50 hairs
growing from a single follicle.
195. A strongman named John Holtum demonstrated his strength by
putting a full cannon on stage and catching the 50-lb cannonballs it
fired directly at his chest.
196. The sport of flying messenger pigeons was well-established as early
as 3000 years ago. They were used to proclaim the winner of the
 Ancient Olympics.
197. Carrots contain 0% fat.
198. 1 billion snails are served in restaurants each year.
199. The longest music performance began on 5th September 2001 in a
church in Germany and will end in 2640.
200. Plastic bottles were first used for soft drinks in 1970.
201. The $ sign was introduced in 1788.
202. The meaning of 'Blue Chip' comes from blue casino chips which have
a high value.
203. DVDs are physically the same size as CDs but can store 13 times
more data.
204. The world's deepest postbox is in Susami Bay, Japan. It is 10 meters
underwater.
205. Sound travels 4.3 times faster through water than in air.
206. The average soccer ball is made up of 32 leather panels and held
together by 642 stitches.
207. Soccer is the most followed sport.
208. Volleyball was invented in 1895.
209. In developed countries, 27% of food is thrown away.
210. The odds of being struck by lightning are 600,000 to 1.
211. The first train reached a top speed of only 8 kmh (5 mph).
212. Niagara Falls could fill 4,000 bathtubs every second.
213. It takes 1 alligator to make a pair of shoes and 3 for a pair of boots.
214. Your most active muscles are in your eye.
215. A banana contains 75% water.
216. 13 people die every year from vending machines.
217. The safest car color is white.
218. In France, there’s a place called Y.
219. The most commonly forgotten item for travelers is their toothbrush
220. Personal odor is either entirely unique to you, or shared with an
identical twin.
221. Apples are more effective at waking you up in the morning than
coffee
222. Room temperature is defined as between 20 to 25C (68 to 77F).
223. An octopus pupil is rectangular.
224. The hyoid bone in your throat is the only bone in your body not
attached to any other.
225. Ants don’t have enough mass to die on impact, no matter the height.
226. The movie Pulp Fiction cost $8 million to make with $5 million going
towards actor's salaries.
227. There are only 4 words in the English language which end in 'dous'
(they are: hazardous, horrendous, stupendous and tremendous).
228. The oldest word in the English language is 'town'.
229. Cats can't move their jaw sideways.
230. Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.
231. It's physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky.
232. Broccoli is the only vegetable that is also a flower.
233. Peaches are members of the almond family.
234. Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work.
235. The San Francisco cable cars are the only mobile national monument.
236. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
237. A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber.
238. On average a human being will spend up to 2 weeks kissing in his/her
lifetime.
239. Fish have eyelids.
240. In Webster's Dictionary, the longest words without repeating letters
are “uncopyrightable” and “dermatoglyphics.”
241. “Unprosperousness” is the longest word in which no letter occurs
only once.
242. “Typewriter” and “perpetuity” are the longest words that can be typed
on a single line of a QWERTY keyboard.
243. There have been three Olympic games held in countries that no longer
exist.
244. Golf is the only sport to be played on the moon.
245. The word "checkmate" comes from the Persian phrase meaning "the
king is dead."
246. The brain is the only organ in the human body without pain receptors.
247. There is a volcano on Mars the size of Arizona.
248. The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188
decibels, the noise can be detected over 800 kilometers away.
249. Dogs’ sense of hearing is more than ten times more acute than a
human’s.
250. A housefly hums in the key of F.
251. Venus is the only planet in the solar system where the sun rises in the
west.
252. The state animal of Tennessee is a raccoon.
253. If you were to stretch out a Slinky until it’s flat, it would measure 87
feet long.
254. It's illegal in many countries to perform surgery on an octopus
without anesthesia because of its intelligence.
255. There are more trees on Earth than stars in the galaxy.
256. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
257. Fires spread faster uphill than downhill.
258. A man once ate an entire airplane and 15 bicycles. Michel Lotito
began eating unusual material as a teenager and had an eating
disorder known as pica. Doctors determined that Lotito also had a
thick lining in his stomach and intestines which allowed his
consumption of sharp metal without suffering injury. Lotito's
performances involved the consumption of metal, glass, rubber and
other materials. He disassembled, cut up, and consumed items such as
bicycles, shopping carts, televisions, and a Cessna 150, among other
items. The Cessna 150 took roughly two years to be "eaten", from
1978 to 1980.
259. On Jupiter and Saturn, it rains diamonds.
260. Newborns can't cry actual tears. This normally occurs between 3
weeks and 3 months of life.
261. If you could drive your car upward, you would be in space in less
than an hour.
262. The sun is actually white, but the Earth’s atmosphere makes it appear
yellow.
263. The Earth rotates at a speed of 1,040 MPH.
264. Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its
eyelids.
265. The word "aegilops" is the longest word in the English language to
have all of its letters in alphabetical order.
266. Gorillas burp when they are happy.
267. Because of metal prices, since 2006 the U.S. Mint has had to spend
more to make a penny than they are worth.
268. "Never odd or even" spelled backward is still "Never odd or even."
269. In Alabama, it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket
at any time.
270. Alaska is the most northern, western, and eastern U.S. state.
271. In France, it's illegal for employers to send emails after work hours.
272. A group of raccoons is called a gaze.
273. Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers.
274. Cherophobia is the fear of happiness.
275. The vertical distance between the Earth's highest and lowest points is
about 12 miles.
276. A flock of crows is known as a murder.
277. Dr. Seuss wrote "Green Eggs and Ham" to win a bet with his
publisher who thought he could not complete a book with only 50
words.
278. Over 80% of the land in Nevada is owned by the U.S. government.
279. There are more people on Facebook today than there were on the
Earth 200 years ago.
280. When you dream, everything you see in that dream, you’ve seen
before in real life.
281. Aladdin is Chinese.
282. Before 1859, baseball umpires sat behind home plate in rocking
chairs.
283. The shortest professional baseball player was 3 feet, 7 inches tall.
284. Alcohol is considered to be a performance-enhancing drug when it
comes to competitive shooting. Consuming a low amount might help
in slowing the shooter’s heart rate and helps in remaining calm, which
is important in the sport.
285. The most valuable baseball card ever is worth about $2.8 million.
286. Around 98 percent of the universe is invisible. The only things we can
see through naked eye or telescopes are the planets and stars, which
comprise very little. Most of the mass of the universe is made of dark
matter and dark energy whose presence is only felt through its
gravitational pulls on planets.
287. In India, mango leaves are used to celebrate the birth of a boy.
288. A flipped coin is more likely to land on the side it started on.
289. When sprinting, professional cyclists produce enough power to power
a home.
290. Mosquitoes prefer to bite people with Type O blood.
291. During a typical MLB season, approximately 160,000 baseballs are
used.
292. The Bible is the world's most shoplifted book.
293. The British pound is the world's oldest currency still in use.
294. The Great Lakes have more than 30,000 islands.
295. Mountain lions can whistle.
296. While rabbits have near-perfect 360-degree panoramic vision, their
most critical blind spot is directly in front of their nose.
297. When a koala is born, it is about the size of a jelly bean.
298. Toe wrestling is a competitive sport.
299. There have been 85 recorded instances of a pitcher striking out four
batters in one inning.
300. 3.7 million bags of ballpark peanuts are eaten every year at ballparks.
301. Shakespeare created the name Jessica for his play "The Merchant of
Venice."
302. Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body.
303. The mummy of Pharaoh Ramesses II has a passport.
304. It is physically impossible for a pig to look at the sky.
305. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on earth.
306. A caterpillar has more muscles than a human.
307. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
308. A human being could swim through the blood vessels of a blue whale.
309. Light could travel around the earth nearly 7.5 times in one second.
310. A single lightning bolt contains enough energy to cook 100,000
pieces of toast.
311. About one in every 2,000 babies is born with teeth.
312. Water can boil and freeze at the same time.
313. Less than 5% of the population needs just 4-5 hours of sleep.
314. Peanut butter can be converted into diamonds.
315. Astronauts can't burp in space.
316. An Immaculate Inning is when a pitcher strikes out three batters with
only nine pitches.
317. Earth is the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman god.
318. Yawns are contagious to dogs as well as humans.
319. In the 1960s, the U.S. government tried to turn a cat into a spy.
320. Movie trailers used to come on at the end of movies, but no one stuck
around to watch them.
321. MLB umpires often wear black underwear, in case they split their
pants.
322. It is possible to record four outs in a one-half inning of baseball.
323. There are nine different ways to reach first base.
324. During World War II, the U.S. military designed a grenade to be the
size and weight of a baseball, since "any young American man should
be able to properly throw it."
325. Philadelphia zookeeper Jim Murray sent baseball scores to telegraph
offices by carrier pigeon every half-inning in 1883.
326. From 1845 through 1867, the home base was circular, made of iron,
painted or enameled white, and 12 inches in diameter.
327. Cows are deadlier than sharks, according to research data. The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics state that on an
average, a cow kills 22 people every year, by stomping or goring.
328. Thunder is actually the sound caused by lightning.
329. Australia is wider than the moon.
330. Some cab drivers in Senegal believe that attaching a goat’s tail to the
back of their cars will bring them good luck.
331. An albatross can sleep while it flies.
332. In a room of 23 people, there is a 50% chance that two people have
the same birthday.
333. Bubble wrap was originally invented as a wallpaper in 1957.
334. There is a species of jellyfish that is immortal.
335. Of the 193 members of the United Nations, Britain has invaded 171
of them.
336. The Apollo 11 guidance computer was no more powerful than today's
pocket calculator.
337. “Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia” is the technical name for brain
freeze.
338. Earth is actually located inside the sun's atmosphere.
339. Istanbul is the largest city in the world that is on two different
continents.
340. If you drilled a hole through the earth, it would take 42 minutes to fall
through it.
341. The planet 55 Cancri e is made of diamonds and would be worth
$26.9 nonillion.
342. France used the guillotine as recently as 1977.
343. Sloths move so slow that algae can grow on them.
344. Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman
numerals.
345. Michelangelo hated painting and wrote a poem about it.
346. The dwarf lantern shark grows to be no bigger than a human hand.
347. When you shuffle a deck of cards, chances are that the new order may
have never existed before. For a deck of 52 cards, there are 8 x 10^67
different ways to re-order by shuffling.
348. At the height of his power, Pablo Escobar’s cartel spent an estimated
$2,500 a month on rubber bands for holding stacks of money together.
349. Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump.
350. Domino's Japan trained reindeer to deliver pizza.
351. Lebanon is the only country in the Middle East that does not have a
desert.
352. Cats can hear ultrasound.
353. Despite its hump, a camel has a straight spine.
354. Mosquitoes have 47 teeth.
355. Oxford University, established in 1096, is older than the Aztec
Empire (1428-1521).
356. About 11% of the people in the world are left-handed.
357. The average smell weighs 760 nanograms.
358. Just like with fingerprints, everyone has a unique tongue print.
359. 1/4 of the bones in your body are in your feet.
360. You blink over 10,000,000 times a year.
361. Martin Van Buren was the first President who was born a citizen of
the United States, and the only President whose first language was not
English (Dutch).
362. Brain waves can be used to power an electric train.
363. The tongue is the fastest healing part of the body.
364. Scrolls from 1000 BC uncovered in China mention white cabbage as
a cure for baldness in men.
365. The lifespan of a taste bud is about ten days.
366. The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.
367. Strawberries contain more vitamin C than oranges.
368. A one-day weather forecast requires about 10 billion math
calculations.
369. Americans, on average, eat 18 acres of pizza a day.
370. There are 18 different animal shapes in the animal cracker zoo.
371. The longest one-syllable word is "screeched."
372. No word in the English language rhymes with month.
373. There is a town called "Big Ugly" in West Virginia.
374. The average person spends 2 weeks over his/her lifetime waiting for a
traffic light to change.
375. You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the
world.
376. No piece of paper can be folded more than seven times.
377. Charlie Chaplin once participated in a Charlie Chaplin lookalike
contest at a San Francisco theater. He didn't win.
378. There are 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter.
379. About 18 percent of animal owners share their bed with their pet.
380. Alaska has more caribou than people.
381. Trout (and all fish for that matter) also put on growth rings each year,
but put on groups of growth rings annually- not a single ring like a
tree. Growth rings occur on each of their scales as well as every bone
in their body. Biologists call these fish growth rings, “annuli”. Groups
of annuli are referred to as “curruli” and when fisheries biologists
want to age a fish, they are not counting each individual growth ring
(as with trees), but instead count the spaces in between the groups of
annual rings.
382. Oysters can change from one gender to another and back again.
383. At Medieval Times dinner attractions, you eat with your hands
because people didn’t use utensils in the middle ages.
384. Until the 19th century, solid blocks of tea were used as money in
Siberia.
385. A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance.
386. A ten gallon hat holds less than one gallon of liquid.
387. People started wearing pajamas, originally spelled “pyjamas,” instead
of nightgowns so they’d be prepared to run outside in public during
World War I air raids in England.
388. Fish can drown.
389. The entire world population could fit inside Texas.
390. Lizards communicate by doing push-ups.
391. Squids can have eyes the size of a volleyball.
392. Sweden has 267,570 islands, the most of any country in the world.
393. Liechtenstein is the world’s largest producer of false teeth.
394. When the moon is directly overhead, you weigh slightly less.
395. You burn about 20 calories per hour chewing gum.
396. A one-minute kiss burns about 26 calories.
397. Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the
Moon (to date), wrote his daughter's initials on the surface of the
moon, where it's likely to last for tens of thousands of years.
398. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.
399. Smelling apples and/or bananas can help you lose weight.
400. Frogs never drink.
401. Only male turkeys gobble.
402. At birth, a Dalmatian is always pure white.
403. The largest fish is the whale shark – it can be over 50 feet long and
weigh two tons.
404. Honeybees are the only insects that create a form of food for humans.
405. The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.
406. A pigeon's feathers are heavier than its bones.
407. A hummingbird's heart beats 1,400 times a minute.
408. A million seconds is about 12 days while a billion seconds is about 32
years.
409. Dragonflies have six legs but cannot walk.
410. Koalas and humans are the only animals with unique fingerprints.
411. Penguins have an organ above their eyes that converts seawater to
fresh water.
412. A crocodile cannot move its tongue.
413. Honeybees navigate by using the sun as a compass.
414. Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.
415. The city of Los Angeles has about 3x more automobiles than people.
416. Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee commercially.
417. Hawaii is the only state with one school district.
418. Language experts have suggested that cows have regional accents just
like humans. This phenomenon was first detected by dairy farmers
who noticed that their cows had different moos, depending on what
herd they came from.
419. The square dance is the official dance of the state of Washington.
420. Hawaii is the only U.S. state never to report a temperature of zero
degrees F or below.
421. "Q" is the only letter in the alphabet not appearing in the name of any
U.S. state.
422. Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast absentee ballots
from space.
423. Lake Superior is the world's largest lake.
424. The smallest county in America is New York County, better known as
Manhattan.
425. Panama is the only place in the world where you can see the sun rise
on the Pacific and set on the Atlantic.
426. The tallest man was 8 ft. 11 in.
427. Theodore Roosevelt was the only president who was blind in one eye.
428. The first sport to be filmed was boxing in 1894.
429. The speed limit in NYC was eight mph in 1895.
430. In 1926, the first outdoor mini-golf courses were built on rooftops in
NYC.
431. Swimming pools in the U.S. contain enough water to cover San
Francisco.
432. The first MTV video was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the
Buggles.
433. The first TV show to ever be put into reruns was "The Lone Ranger."
434. One alternate title that had been considered for NBC's hit "Friends"
was "Insomnia Café."
435. The temperature of the sun can reach up to 15 million degrees
Fahrenheit.
436. The first penny had the motto "Mind your own business."
437. The first vacuum was so large, it was brought to a house by horses.
438. Your eye expands up to 45% when looking at something pleasing.
439. Before mercury, brandy was used to fill thermometers.
440. A couple once tried to name their child
Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, which is
supposedly pronounced "Albin." They had chosen the title to protest
Sweden's strict name-related laws, which is why it may not be
surprising that their selection was rejected.
441. King Henry VIII had a “Groom of the Stool”, whose job was to
monitor and assist in the King’s bowel motions. The role remained in
existence until King Edward VII abolished it in 1901.
442. Judge Judy makes $45 million a year.
443. With an average height of about 13,000 feet and stretching for 4,300
miles, the Andes Mountains are the longest continental mountain
range in the world.
444. High heeled shoes were originally created for men.
445. The word “orange” was first used to describe the fruit, not the color.
446. Up to 12 million Dum Dums are made every single day.
447. Whether measuring by size (0.17 sq mi) or population (1,000),
Vatican City is the smallest country in the world.
448. In 1916, Jeanette Rankin became the first female member of Congress
in America, four years before women were given the right to vote.
449. Mount Rushmore almost featured the heads of famous American West
heroes, like Buffalo Bill Cody, but the lead sculptor argued that the
subjects should be more recognizable.
450. At the 1908 Olympics, the Russians showed up 12 days late because
they were using the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
451. The Amazon Forest is the largest natural rainforest in the world. At
2.7 million square miles, it covers 40% of South America.
452. China owns nearly all of the pandas in the world, even the ones you
see at zoos. They rent them out for about $1 million a year.
453. Beer is one of the oldest recorded recipes in the world, with
documentations of the beverage dating back to around 5,000 BC and
the ancient Egyptians.
454. Lasting only 38 minutes, the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is generally
considered to be the shortest war in history.
455. Bubble Wrap was originally intended to be used as 3D wallpaper.
456. Due to a discrepancy over border recognition between Egypt and
Sudan, there is a region in Africa called Bir Tawil that belongs to no
country.
457. At 3’7″, Eddie Gaedel was the smallest Major League Baseball player
of all time. He walked in his only plate appearance.
458. Valles Marineris, a canyon on Mars, would stretch from Los Angeles
to the Atlantic coast if it were on Earth.
459. Serial killer Ted Bundy once received a commendation from the
Seattle Police Department for chasing down a purse snatcher.
460. Americans consume around 150 million hot dogs on 4th of July each
year.
461. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on
Earth.
462. Lord Byron allegedly kept a pet bear in his dorm room while studying
at Cambridge University.
463. Geologic activity around the Ring of Fire is responsible for roughly
90% of all earthquakes worldwide.
464. During World War II, Queen Elizabeth II, then an 18-year-old
princess, trained in London as a mechanic and military truck driver.
465. The heart of a shrimp is located in its head.
466. Canada has more lakes than anywhere in the world. 9% of the country
is covered in fresh water.
467. President Richard Nixon was at Disney World when he infamously
proclaimed, “I am not a crook.”
468. There is a theme park in Lithuania which recreates life as a USSR
citizen. Visitors have their belongings confiscated, have to wear gas
masks, experience interrogation, and must learn the Soviet anthem. At
the end of the three-hour experience, their reward is a shot of vodka.
469. The medical term for a gurgling stomach is “borborygmus”.
470. Despite their names, Iceland isn’t covered in ice and Greenland isn’t
very green.
471. A single cow can make roughly 200,000 glasses of milk in a lifetime.
472. Roughly 30% of the Earth’s remaining mineral resources can be
found in Africa.
473. When spliced together, there are 26 minutes of quiet staring in the
Twilight film series.
474. There is no spot in Central America more than 125 miles from the
ocean.
475. There’s a village in Norway called Hell, and it freezes over every
winter.
476. Koalas and humans have remarkably similar fingerprints.
477. S.O.S. does not stand for anything. It was created as a universal
distress signal because it is a simple, unmistakable message when sent
via Morse Code.
478. Pluto’s average distance from the Sun is 3,670,050,000 miles.
479. At 4,101 feet, Mt. Thor on Baffin Island, Canada, has Earth’s greatest
sheer vertical drop.
480. With 94% identical DNA, Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives
to humans.
481. Tootsie Rolls were used as part of the rations for World War II
soldiers.
482. The French territory of Louisiana was purchased by the U.S. in 1803
for roughly four cents per acre.
483. A pluot is a hybrid between a plum and an apricot.
484. There are seven different villages in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
with the name Å (it translates to “river” in Scandinavian languages).
485. Aulophobia is an exaggerated or irrational fear of flutes.
486. In the last row of the U.S. Senate Chamber, there is a desk that is
always stocked with candy.
487. In 1986, one year after Steve Jobs resigned as chairman, Apple
launched a clothing line called “The Apple Collection”.
488. An Egyptian Pharaoh named King Pepy II commonly smothered his
servants in honey to keep flies away from him.
489. With a population of 37,308 and an area less than 1 square mile,
Monaco is the most densely populated nation in the world.
490. It takes light from the Sun 8 minutes to reach Earth.
491. During the Boston Tea Party, 342 chests of tea were thrown into the
harbor.
492. Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the sun once.
493. Camels have three eyelids.
494. 454 U.S. dollar bills weigh exactly one pound.
495. Dairy cows drink up to 50 gallons of water per day.
496. A nautical mile is 800 feet longer than a land mile.
497. Antarctica has as much ice as the Atlantic Ocean has water.
498. Candles will burn longer and drip less if they are placed in the freezer
a few hours before using.
499. Over 50 percent of your body heat is lost through your head and neck.
500. Smile more – every two thousand frowns creates one wrinkle.
501. New York taxi drivers collectively speak about 60 languages.
502. New York City is made up of 50 islands.
503. The strike note of The Liberty Bell is E flat.
504. Pigs were banished from Philadelphia's city streets in 1710.
505. IKEA is an acronym which stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd
Agunnaryd, which is the founder’s name, farm where he grew up, and
 hometown.
506. In 2009, Stephen Hawking held a reception for time travelers, but
didn’t publicize it until after. This way, only those who could time
travel would be able to attend. Nobody else attended.
507. Violin bows are commonly made from horse hair.
508. There are less than 30 ships in the Royal Canadian Navy which is less
than most third-world countries.
509. Liver is the symbol of love in Morocco and not heart.
510. The youngest Pope in history was Pope Benedict IX who was 11
years old at the time of election. He is also the only person to have
been the Pope more than once.
511. In Svalbard, a remote Norwegian island, it is illegal to die.This is
because bodies are unable to be buried safely due to the permafrost on
the ground. If you are about to die, they fly you back to mainland
Norway to pass on there.
512. Crocodiles are more closely related to birds than they are to lizards.
513. Costa Coffee employs Gennaro Pelliccia as a coffee taster, who has
had his tongue insured for £10 million since 2009.
514. Johnny Cash took only three voice lessons before his teacher advised
him to stop taking lessons and to never deviate from his natural voice.
515. During the Prohibition era, the U.S. Government allowed Whiskey to
be sold through pharmacies. As a result, Walgreens grew from 20
retail stores to almost 400.
516. People who post their fitness routine to Facebook are more likely to
have psychological problems.
517. Medieval chastity belts are a myth. A great majority of examples now
existing were made in the 18th and 19th centuries as jokes.
518. About 40% of America's population lives within a one day drive to
Philadelphia.
519. It is against the law to put pretzels in bags in Philadelphia.
520. In the game Monopoly, the properties are named after streets in
Atlantic City.
521. The oldest living animal ever found was a 405 year-old clam, named
Ming by researchers.
522. More than 180 countries celebrate Earth Day together every April
22nd.
523. Spider webs were used as bandages in ancient times.
524. A full-grown tree produces enough oxygen to support a family of
four.
525. Unlike your housecat, the Siberian tiger actually loves to swim!
526. A tiger’s night vision is six times better than a human’s.
527. More Siberian tigers live in zoos than in the wild.
528. The jaguar, the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere, once lived all
over the southern U.S.
529. The giant panda can eat up to 83 lbs of bamboo a day.
530. Wildlife Forever has helped plant more than 132,000 trees in America
since its founding in 1987.
531. Manhattan Island was once home to as many different species as
Yellowstone National Park.
532. Dogs can make about 10 sounds, while cats make about 100.
533. A Pelican can hold more food in its beak than its belly.
534. The average cat can jump 5 times as high as its tail is long.
535. Flying fish leap out of the water at 20 mph or more, and can glide for
over 500 feet.
536. The roadrunner chases after its prey at a blurring speed of up to 25
mph.
537. The archer fish can spit water up to 7 feet to shoot down bugs from
overhanging leaves.
538. The spotted skunk does a handstand to warn off its enemies before it
sprays its stench.
539. A male cricket's ear is located on the tibia of its leg.
540. Spiny lobsters migrate in groups of 50 or more, forming a conga line
on the ocean floor.
541. The National Park Service manages over 350 parks on 80 million
acres of public land.
542. Stepping out for a walk every day can actually help you sleep better at
night.
543. Recycled paper is made using 40% less energy than normal paper.
544. Every ton of recycled paper saves about 17 trees.
545. Steel is 100% recyclable.
546. Most rechargeable batteries can be recharged up to 1,000 times.
547. An egg that is fresh will sink in water, but a stale one won't.
548. A camel can drink 25 gallons of water in less than three minutes.
549. In one day, a full-grown oak tree expels 7 tons of water through its
leaves.
550. There is a museum of strawberries in Belgium.
551. Mangoes are the most-consumed fruit in the world.
552. Strawberries have an average of 200 seeds.
553. A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is.
554. Fresh apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air.
555. The peach was the first fruit to be eaten on the moon.
556. A pineapple is neither an apple or a pine. It is, in fact, a large berry.
557. A snail can have 25,000 teeth.
558. A polar bear cannot be seen by an infrared camera, due to its
transparent fur.
559. A spider’s silk is stronger than steel.
560. The planet Saturn's density is lower than water; in fact, it would float
if placed in water.
561. Twins have a very high occurrence of left handedness.
562. The fear of vegetables is called lachanophobia.
563. There are over 2,000 different species of cactuses.
564. The chicken is the closest living relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex.
565. All scorpions glow.
566. The Statue of Unity is the world's tallest statue at 182 metres (597 ft).
It rises 54 metres (177 ft) higher than the previous record holder, the
Spring Temple Buddha in China's Henan province.
567. Potatoes have more chromosomes than humans.
568. A full moon is nine times brighter than a half moon.
569. The human brain takes up 2% of human body weight but uses 20% of
its energy.
570. Poison Ivy is not Ivy and Poison Oak is not an Oak. They are both
part of the Cashew family.
571. Plants, like humans, can run a fever if they are sick.
572. Over half of the world's geysers are found in Yellowstone National
Park.
573. A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air
is a skein.
574. Polar bears can smell a seal from 20 miles away.
575. The term ‘aristotle’ is an Australian rhyming slang for bottle.
576. The only insect that can turn its head is a praying mantis.
577. Alaska was bought from Russia for about 2 cents an acre.
578. A dog's average body temperature is 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
579. Text messages sent by eagles once bankrupted a scientific study.
580. The common garden worm has five pairs of hearts.
581. The human brain is about 80% water.
582. The middle finger has the fastest growing nail.
583. The brain operates on the same amount of power as a 10-watt light
bulb.
584. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
585. Your big toe only has 2 bones and the rest have 3.
586. The average person takes 23,000 breaths a day.
587. Lightning can, in fact, strike twice.
588. Tennessee was previously named Franklin after Benjamin Franklin.
589. Stop signs were yellow because they thought that would grab drivers'
attention. They'd also considered red, but there was no dye available
at the time that wouldn't eventually fade. By 1954, however, sign
makers had access to fade-resistant porcelain enamel, and could
finally start making stop signs the red color we recognize today.
590. It is not possible to tickle yourself.
591. Antarctica is the only continent with no owls.
592. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
593. Shakespeare invented the word assassination and bump.
594. French author Michel Thayer published a 233 page novel which has
no verbs.
595. Australia is the only continent without an active volcano.
596. The dots on a domino are called pips.
597. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
598. Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport in the early 1900's.
599. The name of the city we call Bangkok is 115 letters long in the Thai
language.
600. In Ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a woman was considered a
marriage proposal.
601. Karate originated in India.
602. The infinity sign is called a lemniscate.
603. Children grow faster during springtime.
604. It takes an interaction of 72 muscles to produce human speech.
605. Sailors once thought wearing gold earrings improved eyesight.
606. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears
never stop growing.
607. The basic umbrella was invented more than 4,000 years ago. There is
evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt,
Assyria, Greece, and China. These ancient umbrellas or parasols were
first designed to provide shade from the sun.
608. Every hour more than one billion cells in the body must be replaced.
609. Women's hearts typically beat faster than men's hearts.
610. Adults laugh only about 15 to 100 times a day, while six-year-olds
laugh an average of 300 times a day.
611. Children have more taste buds than adults.
612. Cleveland, OH is home to the first electric traffic lights.
613. South Carolina is home to the first tea farm in the U.S.
614. The term rookies comes from a Civil War term, reckie, which was
short for recruit.
615. Taft was the heaviest U.S. President at 329lbs; Madison was the
smallest at 100lbs.
616. Harry Truman was the last U.S. President to not have a college
degree.
617. Abraham Lincoln was the tallest U.S. President at 6'4", while James
Madison was the shortest at 5'4".
618. Franklin Roosevelt was related to 5 U.S. Presidents by blood and 6 by
marriage.
619. Thomas Jefferson invented the coat hanger.
620. Theodore Roosevelt had a pet bear while in office.
621. President Warren G. Harding once lost white house china in a poker
game.
622. Ulysses Simpson Grant was fined $20.00 for speeding on his horse.
623. President William Taft weighed over 300 lbs and once got stuck in the
white house bathtub.
624. A fortune cookie company once foretold the lottery, resulting in 110
winners.
625. Harry S. Truman's middle name is S.
626. The youngest U.S. president to be in office was Theodore Roosevelt
at age 42.
627. Most Koala bears can sleep up to 22 hours a day.
628. In 1859, 24 rabbits were released in Australia. Within 6 years, the
population grew to 2 million.
629. Butterflies can taste with their hind feet.
630. A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of
the same size.
631. The bumblebee bat is one of the smallest mammals on Earth. It
weighs less than a penny.
632. The Valley of Square Trees in Panama is the only known place in the
world where trees have rectangular trunks.
633. The original Cinderella was Egyptian and wore fur slippers.
634. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
635. Neckties were first worn in Croatia, which is why they were called
cravats.
636. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
637. The first TV toy commercial aired in 1946 for Mr. Potato Head.
638. If done perfectly, any Rubik's Cube combination can be solved in 17
turns.
639. The side of a hammer is called a cheek.
640. In Athens, Greece, a driver's license can be taken away by law if the
driver is deemed either unbathed or poorly dressed.
641. In Texas, it is illegal to graffiti someone's cow.
642. Less than 3% of the water on Earth is fresh.
643. A cubic mile of fog is made up of less than a gallon of water.
644. The Saturn V moon rocket consumed 15 tons of fuel per second.
645. A manned rocket can reach the moon in less time than it took a
stagecoach to travel the length of England.
646. At room temperature, the average air molecule travels at the speed of
a rifle bullet.
647. The lollipop was named after one of the most famous Racehorses in
the early 1900s: Lolly Pop.
648. Buzz Aldrin was one of the first men on the moon. His mother's
maiden name was also Moon.
649. Scotland has more than 400 words for "snow."
650. Maine is the only state with a one-syllable name.
651. The highest denomination issued by the U.S. was the 100,000 dollar
bill.
652. The White House was originally called the President's Palace. It
became The White House in 1901.
653. George Washington was the only unanimously elected President.
654. John Adams was the only President to be defeated by his Vice
President, Thomas Jefferson.
655. New York City has over 800 miles of subway track.
656. Manatees' eyes close in a circular motion, much like the aperture of a
camera.
657. Even though it is nearly twice as far away from the Sun as Mercury,
Venus is by far the hottest planet.
658. The nothingness of a black hole generates a sound in the key of B flat.
659. Horses can't vomit.
660. Babies are born with about 300 separate bones, but adults have 206.
661. Newborn babies cannot cry tears for at least three weeks.
662. A day on Venus lasts longer than a year on Venus.
663. Squirrels lose more than half of the nuts they hide.
664. The penny was the first U.S. coin to feature the likeness of an actual
person.
665. Forty percent of twins invent their own language.
666. In South Korea, it is against the rules for a professional baseball
player to wear cabbage leaves inside of his hat.
667. Curly hair follicles are oval, while straight hair follicles are round.
668. George Washington had false teeth made of gold, ivory, and lead - but
never wood.
669. Napoleon Bonaparte was actually not short. At 5' 7", he was average
height for his time.
670. The Inca built the largest and wealthiest empire in South America, but
had no concept of money.
671. It is against the law to use "The Star Spangled Banner" as dance
music in Massachusetts.
672. Queen Cleopatra of Egypt was not actually Egyptian.
673. Early football fields were painted with both horizontal and vertical
lines, creating a pattern that resembled a gridiron.
674. Two national capitals are named after U.S. presidents: Washington,
D.C., and Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
675. The first spam message was transmitted over telegraph wires in 1864.
676. A pearl can be dissolved by vinegar.
677. Queen Isabella I of Spain, who funded Columbus' voyage across the
ocean, claimed to have only bathed twice in her life.
678. The longest attack of hiccups ever lasted 68 years.
679. A bolt of lightning can reach temperatures hotter than 50,000 degrees
Fahrenheit - five times hotter than the sun.
680. At the deepest point in the ocean, the water pressure is equivalent to
having about 50 jumbo jets piled on top of you.
681. In only 7.6 billion years, the sun will reach its maximum size and will
shine 3,000 times brighter.
682. The state of Alabama once financed the construction of a bridge by
holding a rooster auction.
683. Federal law once allowed the government to quarantine people who
came in contact with aliens.
684. There are 21 "secret" highways that are part of the Interstate Highway
System. They are not identified as such by road signs.
685. The aphid insect is born pregnant.
686. John Wilkes Booth's brother saved the life of Abraham Lincoln's son.
687. It is illegal in the United Kingdom to handle salmon in suspicious
circumstances.
688. It is illegal to play annoying games in the street in the United
Kingdom.
689. Tennis was originally played with bare hands.
690. Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.
691. According to Italian researchers, eating pizza at least once a week can
reduce the risk of mouth cancer, colon cancer, and esophageal cancer.
However, experts criticized the study because there was nothing to
indicate pizza was the only thing responsible for the results.
692. 85% of plant life is found in the ocean.
693. In Melbourne, Australia, city officials set up email addresses for
specific trees so locals could report issues like dangerous branches.
Instead, people sent thousands of love letters to trees, such as one that
said “You must get these messages all the time. You’re such an
attractive tree.”
694. As well as being built for human use, tunnels can also be built for the
safety and convenience of animals. More than 600 tunnels have been
built under roads in the Netherlands to help increase the population
numbers of endangered animals such as the European Badger.
695. The Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters.
696. There are around 3,000 different types of tea.
697. A lobster's blood is colorless but when exposed to oxygen it turns
blue.
698. During the Lantern Festival, there is a custom of lighting many paper
lanterns to mark the last day of the lunar New Year celebration.
During these Chinese festivities there is also not uncommon to see
sky lanterns floating in the sky. It is also known that ancient Chinese
used to catch fireflies, put them in the cages or holed containers and
used them as lanterns.
699. Reindeer like bananas.
700. The longest recorded flight of a chicken was 13 seconds.
701. Birds need gravity to swallow.
702. The most commonly used letter in the alphabet is E.
703. The 3 most common languages in the world are Mandarin Chinese,
Spanish and English.
704. The woolly mammoth was still around when the pyramids were being
built.
705. Queen Elizabeth II is a trained mechanic. She learned the basics of
truck repair, including how to change a tire and repair engines when
she was 16 upon joining the British employment agency the Labour
Exchange.
706. Peru has more pyramids than Egypt.
707. Christmas trees originated from Germany.
708. More people die from falling coconuts than from shark attacks.
709. The original design of Monopoly was circular.
710. The Earth is struck by lightning over 100 times every second.
711. Over 2,500 left-handed people are killed a year from using right-
handed products.
712. Gorillas sleep 14 hours a day.
713. Ladders were invented in the Mesolithic period about 10,000 years
ago. Cave paintings found in Valencia, Spain depict two people
carrying baskets or bags. They're using a long ladder to access a wild
honeybee nest and raid it for its precious content of honey.
714. The stomach acids found in a snake's stomach can digest bones and
teeth but not fur or hair.
715. The word racecar can be spelled the same way backwards.
716. A giraffe can go longer without water than a camel.
717. You burn more calories sleeping than watching television.
718. The word 'underground is the only word that begins and ends with the
letters 'und'.
719. 56% of typing is completed by your left hand.
720. There are more chickens than people.
721. For every human there are 200 million insects.
722. The average bed contains over 6 billion dust mites.
723. An iguana can stay underwater for 28 minutes.
724. Emus can't walk backwards.
725. The Eiffel Tower has 2,500,000 rivets.
726. -40 degrees Fahrenheit is the same temperature as -40 degrees
Celsius.
727. U.S. President John Tyler had 15 children, the last of which was born
when he was 70 years old.
728. Dolphins are unable to smell.
729. Charlie Chaplin failed to make the finals of a Charlie Chaplin look-
alike contest.
730. The name of the city of Portland, Oregon was decided by a coin toss.
The name that lost was Boston.
731. The letter J is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear
anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.
732. 'K' was chosen to stand for a strikeout in baseball because 'S' was
being used to denote a sacrifice.
733. A dimpled golf ball produces less drag and flies farther than a smooth
golf ball.
734. When grazing or resting, cows tend to align their bodies with the
magnetic north and south poles.
735. President Chester A. Arthur owned 80 pairs of pants, which he
changed several times per day.
736. Cows do not have upper front teeth.
737. Between 1979 and 1999, the planet Neptune was farther from the Sun
than Pluto. This won't happen again until 2227.
738. When creating a mummy, Ancient Egyptians removed the brain by
inserting a hook through the nostrils.
739. Cats spend 66% of their life asleep.
740. Switzerland eats the most chocolate equating to 10 kilos per person
per year.
741. Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.
742. The dot on top of the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
743. Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on the moon, doing so into a
special bag in his space suit shortly after stepping onto the lunar
surface.
744. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
745. A jellyfish is 95% water.
746. There are computers for the Amish, which have no internet, videos, or
music.
747. Bats are the only mammals that fly.
748. A cat uses its whiskers to determine if a space is too small to squeeze
through.
749. Every day 7% of the US eats at McDonald's.
750. Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on the moon, doing so into a
special bag in his space suit shortly after stepping onto the lunar
surface.
751. Half of all bank robberies take place on a Friday.
752. India's Sathar Adhoor has a surprisingly huge book collection,
especially considering that it's made up of teeny tiny versions of
literature. Adhoor is the owner of the world's largest collection of
miniature books, which includes 3,137 unique miniature books.
753. Your most sensitive finger is your index finger (closest to your
thumb).
754. 'Bookkeeper' and 'bookkeeping' are the only 2 words in the English
language with three consecutive double letters.
755. Venetian blinds were invented in Japan.
756. When lightning strikes it can reach up to 30,000 degrees Celsius
(54,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
757. After donating thousands of dollars to a local church, Saddam
Hussein was given the key to the city of Detroit shortly after
becoming President of Iraq.
758. Lt. Col. "Mad" Jack Churchill was only British soldier in WWII
known to have killed an enemy soldier with a longbow. "Mad Jack"
insisted on going into battle armed with both a medieval bow and a
claymore sword.
759. Each time you see a full moon you always see the same side.
760. Sigurd the Mighty, a ninth-century Norse earl of Orkney, was killed
by an enemy he had beheaded several hours earlier. He'd tied the
man's head to his horse's saddle, but while riding home one of its
protruding teeth grazed his leg. He died from the infection.
761. Honey is the only natural food that never spoils.
762. M&M's chocolate stands for the initials for its inventors Mars and
Murrie.
763. You burn more calories eating celery than it contains (the more you
eat the thinner you become).
764. The only continent with no active volcanoes is Australia.
765. The longest street in the world is Yonge street in Toronto, Canada
measuring 1,896 km (1,178 miles).
766. If you die in Amsterdam with no next of kin, and no friends or family
to prepare funeral or mourn over the body, a poet will write a poem
for you and recite it at your funeral.
767. The Spanish national anthem has no words.
768. The Internet was originally called ARPANet (Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network) designed by the US department of defense.
769. Iguanas have three eyes. Two normal eyes and a third eye on top of
their head that only perceives brightness.
770. The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco.
771. Koalas sleep around 18 hours a day.
772. In 1999 hackers revealed a security flaw in Hotmail that permitted
anybody to log into any Hotmail account using the password ‘eh’. At
the time it was called “the most widespread security incident in the
history of the web”.
773. All insects have 6 legs.
774. In Washington D.C., the Slovakian and Slovenian embassies meet
once a month to exchange wrongly addressed mail.
775. In eastern Africa you can buy beer brewed from bananas.
776. African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words.
777. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
778. Australia was originally called New Holland.
779. Clothesline signals aided victory in the Revolutionary War.
780. The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses
every letter in the English alphabet.
781. The Grand Canyon can hold around 900 trillion footballs.
782. All the blinking in one day equates to having your eyes closed for 30
minutes.
783. Your foot has 26 bones in it.
784. The average human brain contains around 78% water.
785. The Dutch village of Giethoorn has no roads; its buildings are
connected entirely by canals and footbridges.
786. Canadians say “sorry” so much that a law was passed in 2009
declaring that an apology can’t be used as evidence of admission to
guilt.
787. Back when dinosaurs existed, there used to be volcanoes that were
erupting on the moon.
788. The only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table is J.
789. One habit of intelligent humans is being easily annoyed by people
around them, but saying nothing in order to avoid a meaningless
argument.
790. The more often you see someone, the more pleasing and likable you
think that person is. This is called the “mere-exposure effect.”
791. 11% of people are left-handed.
792. August has the highest percentage of births.
793. In 2006, a Coca-Cola employee offered to sell Coca-Cola secrets to
Pepsi. Pepsi responded by notifying Coca-Cola.
794. There were two AI chatbots created by Facebook to talk to each other,
but they were shut down after they started communicating in a
language they made for themselves.
795. Nintendo trademarked the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong” in 2010.
796. Calling “shotgun” when riding in a car comes from the term “shotgun
messenger”. It is a term which was used to refer to the guard who sat
next to the Stagecoach driver. The guards would use a shotgun to
keep robbers and criminals away. It made its way into society due to
Hollywood’s love of Western flicks.
797. The famous line in Titanic from Leonardo DiCaprio, “I’m king of the
world!” was improvised.
798. A single strand of Spaghetti is called a “Spaghetto”.
799. There is actually a difference between coffins and caskets – coffins
are typically tapered and six-sided, while caskets are rectangular.
800. Sunflowers can help clean radioactive soil. Japan is using this to
rehabilitate Fukushima. Almost 10,000 packets of sunflower seeds
have been sold to the people of the city.
801. To leave a party without telling anyone is called in English, a “French
Exit”. In French, it’s called a “partir à l’anglaise”, to leave like the
English.
802. If you cut down a cactus in Arizona, you are penalized up to 25 years
in jail. It is similar to cutting down a protected tree species.
803. The Buddha commonly depicted in statues and pictures is a different
person entirely. The real Buddha was actually incredibly skinny
because of self-deprivation.
804. In Colorado, USA, there is still an active volcano. It last erupted
about the same time as the pyramids were being built in Egypt.
805. The first movie ever to put out a motion-picture soundtrack was Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves.
806. If you point your car keys to your head, it increases the remote's
signal range. This works by using your brain to act as a radio
transmitter.
807. In order to protect themselves from poachers, African Elephants have
been evolving without tusks, which unfortunately also hurts their
species.
808. The scientific name for Giant Anteater is Myrmecophaga Tridactyla.
This means “ant eating with three fingers”.
809. Originally, cigarette filters were made out of cork, the look of which
was incorporated into today’s pattern.
810. In 1923, a jockey suffered a fatal heart attack but his horse finished
and won the race, making him the first and only jockey to win a race
after death.
811. At birth, a baby panda is smaller than a mouse.
812. Iceland does not have a railway system.
813. The largest known prime number has 17,425,170 digits. The new
prime number is 2 multiplied by itself 57,885,161 times, minus 1.
814. Smoking reduces your night vision.
815. Forrest Fenn, an art dealer and author, hid a treasure chest in the
Rocky Mountains worth over 1 million dollars. It still has not been
found.
816. The lead singer of The Offspring started attending school to achieve a
doctorate in molecular biology while still in the band. He graduated in
May 2017.
817. The world’s largest grand piano was built by a 15-year-old in New
Zealand.
818. The piano is a little over 18 feet long and has 85 keys – 3 short of the
standard 88.
819. In order to keep Nazis away, a Polish doctor faked a typhus outbreak.
This strategy staved 8,000 people.
820. After the release of the 1996 film Scream, which involved an
anonymous killer calling and murdering his victims, Caller ID usage
tripled in the United States.
821. The spiked dog collar was invented by the Ancient Greeks to protect
their dogs from wolf attacks.
822. Jack Daniel (the founder of the whiskey) died from kicking a safe.
When he kicked it, he broke his toe which got infected. He eventually
died from blood poisoning.
823. There is a boss in Metal Gear Solid 3 that can be defeated by not
playing the game for a week; or by changing the date.
824. The Roman – Persian wars are the longest in history, lasting over 680
years. They began in 54 BC and ended in 628 AD.
825. Right-handed people tend to chew food on the right side and lefties
chew on the left.
826. A cucumber consists of 96% water.
827. Vanilla is used to make chocolate.
828. A lemon contains more sugar than a strawberry.
829. Until the nineteenth century, solid blocks of tea were used as money
in Siberia.
830. Wild camels once roamed Arizona's deserts.
831. New York was the first state to require cars to have license plates.
832. Miami installed the first ATM for rollerbladers.
833. Hawaii has its own time zone.
834. Oregon has more ghost towns than any other US state.
835. Elton John tried to commit suicide once by sticking his head in an
oven with the gas on low and windows open. He was found and
stopped by his best friend Bernie Taupin.
836. If you translate "Jesus" from Hebrew to English, the correct
translation is "Joshua". The name "Jesus" comes from translating the
name from Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to English.
837. Ed Sheeran bought a ticket to LA with no contacts. He was spotted by
Jamie Foxx, who offered him the use of his recording studio and a
bed in his Hollywood home for six weeks.
838. The first service animals were established in Germany during World
War I. References to service animals date as far back as the mid-16th
Century.
839. The voice actor of SpongeBob and the voice actor of Karen,
Plankton’s computer wife, have been married since 1995.
840. An Italian banker, Gilberto Baschiera is considered a modern-day
Robin Hood. Over the course of 7 years, he secretly diverted 1 million
euros to poorer clients from the wealthy ones so they could qualify for
loans. He made no profit and avoided jail in 2018 due to a plea
bargain.
841. Octopuses and squids have beaks. The beak is made of keratin – the
same material that a bird's beak and our fingernails are made of.
842. An estimated 50% of all gold ever mined on Earth came from a single
plateau in South Africa: Witwatersrand.
843. All of the major candidates in the 1992, 1996, and 2008 U.S.
presidential elections were left-handed.
844. In Switzerland, it is illegal to own only one guinea pig because they
are prone to loneliness.
845. The first American gold rush happened in North Carolina, not
California.
846. To make one pound of honey, a honeybee must tap about two million
flowers.
847. Chicago is named after smelly garlic that once grew in the area.
848. The Chicago River flows backwards; the flow reversal project was
completed in 1900.
849. The soil on Mars is rust color because it's full of rust.
850. Sound travels up to 15 times faster through steel than air, at speeds up
to 19,000 feet per second.
851. Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas.
852. Maine is the closest U.S. state to Africa.
853. An octopus has three hearts.
854. The scientific term for brain freeze is “sphenopalatine
ganglioneuralgia”.
855. Elvis's middle name was Aron.
856. Goldfish can see both infrared and ultraviolet light.
857. The smallest bones in the human body are found in your ear.
858. 75% of the world's diet is produced from just 12 plants and five
different animal species.
859. Elephants can’t jump.
860. The original Star Wars premiered on just 32 screens across the U.S. in
1977. This was to produce buzz as the release widened to more
theaters.
861. The British government coined the slogan, “Keep Calm and Carry
on” during World War 2 in order to motivate citizens to stay strong.
862. Apple paid a couple $1.7 million dollars for their plot of land, which
was only worth $181,700.
863. While Apple was building a huge data center in the middle of North
Carolina, they wanted to occupy the area of a couple that lived there
for 34 years. When the couple refused to leave, Apple paid them $1.7
million dollars for their land.
864. Tirana, the capital of Albania has a lot of things in common with other
European capitals – except one. It’s one of two capitals without a
McDonalds. The second is Vatican City.
865. Black teeth were a sign of wealth in 18th century England.
866. Joe Arridy had an IQ of 46 and is known as the “happiest prisoner on
death row”. He went into the gas chamber with a smile. It turned out
he was innocent.
867. The largest Japanese population outside of Japan stands at 1.6 million
people who live in Brazil.
868. There's a top-secret Starbucks for CIA agents.
869. Hanna-Barbera pitched The Flintstones to networks for 8 weeks
before it was finally picked up. It became the first-ever animated
show to air during primetime.
870. In 1325, two Italian city-states fought over a bucket which resulted in
2,000 deaths. It started when two soldiers stole a bucket from a well
from the city center.
871. The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days.
872. There’s no period in “Dr. Pepper”. It was removed because the old
logo font made it look like “Di: Pepper”.
873. There is an underwater version of rugby called “underwater rugby”. It
is a contact sport between 2 teams of 6 competing underwater in a
pool to score goals while freediving.
874. Standing around burns calories. On average, a 150-pound person
burns 114 calories per hour while standing and doing nothing.
875. Although GPS is free for the world to use, it costs $2 million per day
to operate. The money comes from American tax revenue.
876. In World War II, Germany tried to collapse the British economy by
dropping millions of counterfeit bills over London.
877. Playboy has been publishing braille versions of their magazines since
1970, however, no pictorial representations are included.
878. When Space Invaders was created, Tomohiro Nishikado left in the lag
caused by more invaders on the screen in order to create greater
difficulty in the games.
879. The color red doesn’t really make bulls angry; they are color-blind.
880. 65% of autistic kids are left-handed, and only 10% of people, in
general, are left-handed.
881. Herring fish communicate by using flatulence.
882. Until 2016, the “Happy Birthday” song was not for public use.
Meaning, prior to 2016, the song was copyrighted and you had to pay
a license to use it.
883. There is a punctuation mark used to signify irony or sarcasm that
looks like a backwards question mark ⸮
884. During the cremation process of a 500-pound body, the corpse was so
obese that it set the crematorium on fire.
885. Researchers have found that flossing your teeth can help your
memory. Flossing prevents gum disease, which prevents stiff blood
vessels, which cause memory issues.
886. When George Washington died, Napoleon Bonaparte of France gave a
personal eulogy and ordered a ten-day mourning period for France.
887. The Hobbit has been published in two editions. In the first edition,
Gollum willingly bet on his ring in the riddle game.
888. For nearly 60 years, Texas didn’t have an official state flag between
1879 & 1933. During that time, the Lone Star flag was the active, but
unofficial flag.
889. A wildlife technician, Richard Thomas, took the famous tongue
twister, “how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck
could chuck wood” and calculated a rough estimate of what the
answer would actually be. It came out to be around 700 pounds.
890. Red Solo cups are a common souvenir to bring back from the United
States. The novelty comes from the cups being used in many party
scenes in movies.
891. Swedish meatballs originated from a recipe King Charles XII brought
back from Turkey in the early 1800s.
892. Saint Lucia is the only country in the world named after a woman.
893. The country was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French.
894. Ben & Jerry’s has an online flavor graveyard for their 10 discontinued
ice cream flavors. Each one has a photo, life span, and epitaph.
895. Scientists discovered sharks that are living in an active underwater
volcano. Divers cannot investigate because they would get burns from
the acidity and heat.
896. There are times when Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune – one of
these timelines was from 1979 to 1999.
897. There is a town in Nebraska called Monowi with a population of one.
The only resident is a woman who is the Mayor, Bartender and
Librarian.
898. The Ethiopian calendar is 7.5 years behind the Gregorian calendar
due to the fact that it has 13 months.
899. In 1994, the company that had a patent on GIFs tried to charge a fee
for using GIFS. The PNG was invented as an alternative, and the
company backed down.
900. Legend has it that the pretzel was invented by an Italian monk in the
year 610 A.D. To reward young children for learning their prayers, he
supposedly folded strips of bread dough to resemble the crossed arms
of praying children. He called his creation pretiola, which meant
“little rewards”.
901. Philippine eagle is the world's longest flying bird — about three feet
from beak to tail. It's so huge that it eats monkeys.
902. Sepia, a popular ink color, is derived from cuttlefish.
903. Arrichion of Phigalia, a Greek pankratiast, caused his own death
during the Olympic finals. Held by his unidentified opponent in a
stranglehold and unable to free himself, Arrichion kicked his
 opponent, causing him so much pain that the opponent made the sign
of defeat to the umpires, but at the same time broke Arrichion's neck.
Since the opponent had conceded defeat, Arrichion was proclaimed
the victor posthumously.
904. The only continent without reptiles or snakes is Antarctica.
905. Scaphism, a torture method also known as “the boats” that originated
in the Persian Empire, around the 5th century B.C. The method
consisted of trapping the victim in the space between two small boats
or two hollowed-out tree trunks and force-feeding them milk and
honey over the course of a few days until the person died.
906. 'Bliss' by Charles O'Rear, which is the default computer wallpaper of
Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, is one of the most viewed
photographs in the world.
907. John Glenn was the first American to eat in space during the
Friendship 7 flight in 1962. He ate applesauce!
908. While a fingerprint has 40 unique characteristics, an iris has 256. This
is why retina scans are increasingly being used for security purposes.
909. Tupac was once a ballet dancer. Tupac studied acting, poetry, jazz,
and ballet at Baltimore School of the Arts. He attended the theatre and
the school play of The Nutcracker, where he played the role of Mouse
King.
910. The Chinese are known for making skilled replicas of anything in the
world — including whole towns. To have a chance to travel without
leaving the country, they decided to rebuild the Austrian village of
Hallstatt.
911. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a collection of lace jabots from around the
world.
912. The section of the belt strap that hangs loose, or is tucked into a belt
loop is said to be called the lattiilus.
913. Peacocks can fly, despite their massive trains.
914. Bottlenose dolphins can remember whistles of other dolphins they'd
lived with after 20 years of separation.
915. There is a penis museum in Reykjavik. It contains a collection of
penises from over 200 different mammals, including one from a man.
916. America’s first steam locomotive lost a race to a horse.
917. There is an island called “Just Enough Room”, where there’s just
enough room for a tree and a house.
918. The collective name for a group of unicorns is called a blessing.
919. Mob boss, Vincent Gigante, used to wander around New York in his
bathrobe to convince the police he was insane and avoid capture.
920. There is a town in India called Santa Claus.
921. You’re not allowed to swear if you play in Wimbledon. Because of
this, line judges have to learn curse words in every language.
922. Originating in Berlin in 2008, aggressive sitting became a sport. You
can purchase a special stool for this sport for around 70 dollars.
923. Cucumber can actually cure bad breath.
924. Neptune was the first planet to be found through mathematical
predictions rather than telescopic location.
925. Crows can remember the faces of individual humans. They can also
hold a grudge.
926. “She sells seashells by the seashore” was written about a female
paleontologist from the 1800s. She actually sold dinosaur bones and
fossilized shells.
927. Jousting is the official sport in the state of Maryland.
928. Eye of newt, toe of frog, and wool of bat are just archaic terms for
mustard seed, buttercup, and holly leaves.
929. People in North Korea are legally only allowed to have one of 28
haircuts. Men and women can choose from 14 different styles.
930. Even though smoking has been banned on airplanes, ashtrays are
mandatory on every plane. This is for safe disposal in case someone
breaks the law.
931. Selfies now cause more deaths than shark attacks.
932. Pope Francis used to be a nightclub bouncer.
933. Allodoxaphobia is the fear of opinions.
934. The U.S. government gave Indiana University $1 million to study
memes.
935. Someone who has ‘geomelophagia’ also has the urge to eat raw
potatoes.
936. The most leaves ever found on a clover is 56.
937. All porcupines float in water.
938. Pigeons have been trained by the U.S. Coast Guard to spot people lost
at sea.
939. In 1878, the first telephone book ever issued contained only 50
names.
940. You don’t have to be a lawyer to be a Supreme Court Justice.
941. The first person crossed Niagara Falls by tightrope in 1859.
942. Before 1687, clocks were made with only an hour hand.
943. Cows give more milk when they listen to music.
944. There are more French restaurants in New York City than in Paris.
945. After a meteor hit Earth’s atmosphere on Dec. 18, 2018, and exploded
with a force that was 10 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic
bomb, it wasn't discovered by NASA scientists until after the fact.
946. Dim lights reduce your appetite.
947. China only has one time zone.
948. In ancient Rome, lemons were used as an antidote to all poisons.
949. No only child has been a U.S. President.
950. Ketchup was once sold as a medicine.
951. The last letter to be added to our alphabet was J.
952. Egyptian pharaohs would eat large quantities of cabbage before a
night of drinking as they believed that cabbage consumption would
allow them to drink more alcoholic beverages and not feel the effects.
This is perhaps why many still consider cabbage with vinegar as a
good hangover remedy.
953. The T-rex’s closest living relative is the chicken.
954. Skulls believed to belong to Neanderthals show signs of having their
teeth picked clean by some sort of tool. Agathocles, a tyrant of
Syracuse, died in 289 B.C. when using his toothpick - an enemy is
said to have soaked it in poison without him knowing.
955. The smallest insects in the world - fairyflies- belong to Chalcid
wasps, and their size is typically between 0.5 to 1.0 millimeters.
956. On October 23, 1947, A.D. Bajkov, a biologist with the Louisiana
Department of Wildlife, was eating breakfast at a restaurant in
Marksville, Louisiana when the waitress told him and his wife that
fish were falling from the sky.
957. While the numeral 4 is commonly written IV in the Roman numeric
system, most watches rely on the typography IIII.
958. Abraham Lincoln was a near-undefeated wrestler.
959. The history of the firefighter began in ancient Rome while under the
rule of Augustus in the 3rd Century. Prior to that, there is evidence of
fire-fighting in use in Ancient Egypt
960. The probability of hand going through a wall is technically non-zero
but it is far too small to mean anything significant.
961. Titus Andronicus has the highest body count of all Shakespeare’s
plays.
962. The biggest number we can form in Roman numerals is
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
963. Smell is the strongest memory retainer.
964. In 1930, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) was struggling to
come up with a name for a newly-discovered planet. They considered
Minerva, Zeus, Atlas, and Persephone—but it was 11-year-old
Venetia Burney Phair who suggested Pluto, inspired by the god of the
underworld.
965. President Theodor Roosevelt had a pet hyena. Teddy Roosevelt was
known for his love of animals and had many pets over his life,
ranging from normal to bizarre. His hyena was named Bill and was a
gift from Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia
966. A day is longer than a year on Venus.
967. The largest sandcastle in the world was built in Germany and was
over 54 feet high. It took 168 trucks over a week to deliver enough
sand.
968. Earth is not a perfect sphere. Our planet is squashed at its poles and
swollen at the equator.
969. The U.S. Supreme Court has its own private basketball court. It’s
been nicknamed, “The Highest Court in the Land”.
970. A snail can sleep for three years.
971. Earth’s highest point on land (Mt. Everest), and lowest (Dead Sea),
are both found in Asia.
972. Rhode Island might be the smallest state in terms of land area, but
Wyoming is the least populated.
973. Barry Manilow’s hit, “I Write the Songs”, wasn’t written by him.
974. After he retired, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s secret service code name
became “Scorecard” because of his affinity for golf.
975. Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands.
976. Stretching over 1,600 miles, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s
biggest single structure made by living organisms.
977. In 2009, Scottish scientists searching for the Loch Ness Monster
found 100,000 golf balls instead.
978. Saint Patrick never banished snakes from Ireland. Scientist believes
the island has been snake-free since the Ice Age.
979. The word “ketchup” comes from the Chinese word “ke-chiap”, which
is a spiced, pickled fish sauce.
980. The Eiffel Tower is shorter in winter than in summer.
981. Cats have over 100 vocal cords.
982. Born along with a perfectly normal twin brother in 1911, Johnny
Eck's torso ended where his hips should have been! Although doctors
doubted he would survive past infancy, half-sized Johnny lived a full
life, becoming an honor student, musician, composer, bandleader,
movie actor, painter, race car driver, and performer, before passing
away at the age of 79.
983. On Mars, sunsets are blue.
984. Termites eat through wood two times faster when listening to rock
music!
985. A snail breathes through its foot.
986. Fish cough.
987. An ant's sense of smell is stronger than a dog's.
988. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not down.
989. Frogs cannot swallow with their eyes open.
990. A cat's lower jaw cannot move sideways.
991. The bullfrog is the only animal that never sleeps.
992. The ancient Chinese carried Pekingese puppies in the sleeves of their
robes.
993. A tarantula can survive for more than two years without food.
994. Ethiopia follows a calendar that is seven years behind the rest of the
world.
995. In Denmark, citizens have to select baby names from a list of 7,000
government-approved names.
996. Every tweet Americans send is archived by the Library of Congress.
997. Drinking too much water can be deadly leading to water intoxication
or hyponatremia. There have been many notable cases, such as the
2002 Boston Marathon competitor Cynthia Lucero, who died from
overhydration.
998. An earthquake in 1812 caused the Mississippi River to flow
backward.
999. Blind people can see their dreams as long as they weren’t born blind.
1000. Australia has road signs with trivia questions to keep drivers alert on
some of the country’s longest and most boring roads. Australia has
one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world, where there
are no turns for 90 miles.