Did you know the stripes on the tiger are unique just like fingerprints? Or the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn? If you enjoy knowing facts like these, you are in for a treat. Here we have 100 real, yet hard-to-believe, facts! Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
100. Kryptos, a sculpture outside CIA headquarters in Virginia is an encrypted monument. It contains a secret message. The sculpture features four inscriptions, three of which have been cracked, but the forth is still a mystery.
99. You can’t hum while holding your nose. Didn’t you just try doing that?
98. According to The National Association of City Transportation Officials, the average time spent waiting at a red light is 75 seconds, accounting for approximately 20 percent of all driving time. This means you spend six months of your life waiting for red lights to turn green.
97. Some people suffer from cherophobia, the fear of being happy. It comes from the Greek word “chero,” which means “to rejoice.” People who suffer from cherophobia are often afraid of doing anything that might lead to happiness.
96. It is possible to hear a blue whale‘s heartbeat from two miles away. You just might miss it, though, as its heart only beats eight to 10 times per minute.
95. Marie Curie‘s, notebooks are still radioactive. They are stored in a lead box and will be for another 1,500 years. Her body was also radioactive and therefore was placed in a coffin lined with nearly an inch of lead.
94. Victorians said “prunes” instead of saying “cheese” before taking a picture to retain a more serious look in their photos. Smiling in photos was considered undignified and reserved for the poor and the drunk.
93. A rooster‘s call can reach 140 decibels or louder. It might leave you wondering how the rooster itself doesn’t go deaf. It turns out, the roosters have built-in earplugs. Researchers found that when a rooster opens its beak to crow, its external auditory canals close off. This prevents the sound from coming in.
92. Global warming ‘solved’ a land dispute between India and Bangladesh: the island in dispute disappeared. Who knew global warming could be a peacemaker.
91. The Netherlands is so safe, it imports prisoners from other countries to fill jails. 23 prisons in the Netherlands shut their doors since 2014. Wow, I wish every country was safe like that.
90. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, is the largest pyramid in the world. It has a base four times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is also the largest monument ever constructed. The locals call it the man-made mountain.
89. London’s black cab drivers are required to take a series of tests known as The Knowledge. To pass this, they have to memorize 320 routes and 25,000 streets, and 20,000 landmarks and places of public interest.
88. Dolphins can create a unique vocal whistle that allows it to be identified by other dolphins in its pod. A team of researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland found that the animals responded when their specific call was played back to them. This is just like us responding to our names.
87. The apex predator with the highest kill rate is not the lion, the tiger, or the wolf, it’s the African wild dog. According to researchers, these lean, big-eared canines have a kill rate of 85 percent while lions get just 17 to 19 percent of their targets.
86. The British Empire was huge. 62 countries eventually declared their independence from the empire, and 48 of which celebrate an Independence Day from the United Kingdom.
85. Water never expires. The expiration dates seen on water bottles are not for the water but for the bottle. After a while, the plastic starts leaching into the liquid.
84. A wallet belonging to one of the survivors of a plane crash was returned by a hiker named Ricardo Pena when he found it on a glacier in the Andes. It belonged to an Uruguayan rugby player. Peña tracked him down and returned the wallet, more than three decades after its loss. Acts like these restores faith in humanity.
83. The world’s most successful pirate was not a man but a woman named Ching Shih. She was the widow of fearsome pirate Cheng I. She commanded more than 1,800 pirate ships and 80,000 men.
82. Polar bear fur isn’t actually white! It’s hollow and made of transparent keratin.
81. A sea lion came to the rescue of a man named Kevin Hines after he jumped off San Francisco‘s Golden Gate Bridge. The sea lion swam beneath him and kept him afloat until the coast guard arrived.
80. The painting of lines down the center of roads was devised by Edward Hines in 1911. He got the idea after seeing the dotted drippings from a leaking milk wagon.
79. A Chinese panda named Ai Hin faked her pregnancy to get better treatment and treats. Never knew animals could be this smart.
78. Roald Dahl may be best known as the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but he was a spy for the British Security Coordination gathering intelligence during World War II. The man is certainly brilliant.
77. Just after birth, a baby sees only in black and white, with shades of gray. As the months go by, he/she will slowly start to develop color vision at around 4 months.
76. According to a 2017 study, the average Indian spends 10 hours and 42 minutes per week reading. This is more than any other country in the world. No wonder Indians are so smart.
75. The Aurora Borealis has a sister phenomenon in the southern hemisphere called the Aurora Australis. Aurora Australis, like Aurora Borealis, occurs when solar particles collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
74. The Apple Collection’s branded clothing and lifestyle line in 1986 was a commercial flop. Sunglasses, lapel pins, and the original $35 Apple Watch are just a few of the goods they couldn’t sell.
73. The IKEA catalog is the most widely printed book in history. With more than 200 million copies in circulation every year, the IKEA catalog surpasses the Bible, the Quran, and the Harry Potter series to earn the title of the world’s most printed book.
72. Crocodiles are one of the oldest living species. They survived for more than 200 million years. In fact, crocodiles have always been so well-designed for survival, that modern crocodiles are hardly different than those found in fossils.
71. What is it that makes joint cracking so loud? When joints are stretched, the pockets of gas that get trapped between them are released. When these bubbles of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide escape, they might make a popping or cracking noise.
70. The largest snowflake seen was 15 inches wide, the size of a frisbee. Today, it remains the titleholder for the Guinness World Record‘s largest snowflake ever.
69. Due to its height, The Burj Khalifa lets you see the sunset twice. Once, when you’re on the first floor and then again if you take the elevator to the last floor. Wow, 2 sunsets in a day.
68. The Oregon city of Boring, named after founder William H. Boring, has claimed the village of Dull, in Perthshire, Scotland, as its sister city. Now, that’s a match made in heaven.
67. McDonald’s once tried to sell engineered broccoli that tasted like bubblegum to encourage kids to eat healthier. It failed, obviously.
66. Most chips serve as good fire-starters because they’re made of flammable hydrocarbons soaked in oil but Doritos are the best to be used as kindling. They burn for a long time.
65. Guinea pigs are herd animals and can get severely depressed when all alone. In an effort to enhance social rights for animals, Switzerland officially considers owning a single guinea pig an act of animal cruelty and punishable.
64. The leaves, unripe fruits, and stems of avocado are poisonous. They are more dangerous for animals, especially birds. The avocado is absolutely safe for humans, and it’s very beneficial for our health.
63. The aspen grove in Utah called Pando is the largest living organism. The Pando aspen grove is made up of 47,000 identical aspen trees that cover 106 acres of Fishlake National Forest in Utah. The aspen grove is connected by a single shared root system and has been around for thousands of years.
62. Shark’s Achilles heel is turning it upside down. This renders it immobile for up to 15 minutes. About 15 minutes later, they’ll become responsive again and return to normal.
61. Grapes can light on fire in the microwave. The fruity fireball occurs as a result of the loose electrons and ions that cluster to form plasma when grapes get hot.
60. The 1939 novel Gadsby is the longest book ever published that doesn’t contain the letter ‘e.’ It is a 50,000-word novel.
59. Lobster shells can change color when exposed to heat. Their blood is initially clear and turns blue when it hits oxygen.
58. Bubble wrap was originally invented as textured wallpaper by sealing two shower curtains together to trap air bubbles. It maybe didn’t do well as wallpaper but it sure did extremely well as a packaging material.
57. No two tigers have the same stripes. Like human fingerprints, their stripe patterns are unique to each individual.
56. Cornell University researchers made a “nano guitar” the size of a human blood cell out of crystalline silicon. It is claimed to be the world’s smallest “nano guitar” at 10 micrometers long.
55. Antarctica is covered in a sheet of ice that’s 7,000 feet thick, that’s about 19 football fields. The U.S. Antarctic Program says that if the ice sheet ever suddenly melted, it would raise the sea level worldwide an estimated 200 feet. This would submerge much of the Gulf and Atlantic coastal areas of the U.S.
54. Almost half the world’s population watched both the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup games. Were you one among them?
53. Not every celestial object has a shape that’s as perfectly majestic as planet Earth. Haumea, a dwarf planet, about the same size as Pluto, is potato-shaped.
52. It only takes six minutes for alcohol to affect your brain. So even if you don’t feel tipsy right away, you’re definitely not totally sober either.
51. The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland. Scotland is famous for its love for myths and legends.
50. The barreleye is a large fish with a completely transparent head. It is also known as spook fish.
49. If you listen very closely, hot water and cold water sound slightly different when being poured. The heat changes the viscosity of the water. This changes the pitch of the sound it makes when it’s poured. Coldwater is thicker and therefore makes a slightly higher-pitched sound.
48. Dogs actually understand some English. They can learn to recognize a vocabulary of about 165 words.
47. The companies Puma and Adidas were set up by Dassler brothers. Puma was originally named Ruda after Rudolf Dassler, and Adidas was named Addas after Adolf Dassler.
46. Supposedly, explorer James Cook discovered it in 1774. It wasn’t until 2012, when a team of Australian scientists set out to survey the island, that they discovered there was no island there at all.
45. Sea lions can’t sing along to music, but they might just dance to the beat. The only two mammals on Earth with the proven ability to dance to a beat are humans and sea lions.
44. Pieces of diamonds may be floating in hydrogen and helium fluid deep in the atmospheres of Saturn and Jupiter. At even lower depths, the extreme pressure and temperature can melt the precious gem, literally making it rain liquid diamond.
43. Supercomputers, originally built at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering, in 1946, weighed 60,000 pounds and took up a room larger than most studio apartments (1,500 square feet). Today, most of us have a supercomputer right inside our pockets.
42. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated 5 times for the Nobel Peace Prize. But he never won.
41. Cheetahs can’t roar. They meow and purr like regular house cats.
40. According to some former astronauts, space does have a distinct odor. Astronauts returning from space claim that their suits smell, burnt. The smell reminds the astronauts of charred meat or welding fumes.
39. Bees sometimes sting other bees, to protect their hives from outsiders. Some “guard bees” will stay by the entrance and sniff the bees that come in. If there’s a rogue bee from another hive trying to steal some nectar, the guard bee will bite and even sting the intruder.
38. Children ask their mothers an average of nearly 300 questions per day. The moms reported that the hardest questions they were asked included “Why are water wet?” and “What are shadows made of?” Do you think you can answer their questions?
37. “E” is the most common letter and appears in 11 percent of all English words. The next most popular letter was “a,” which appears in around 8.5 percent of all words. The least common letter is “q,” which appears in just 0.2 percent of words.
36. The healthiest place in the world is in Panama, according to a 2018 report by International Living. It is called the Shangri-La Valley. The area is home to beautiful scenery, a low cost of living, and a significantly longer life expectancy than the surrounding areas.
35. Pigs are constitutionally protected in Florida. The Constitution of the state of Florida guarantees the right to privacy, freedom of speech, and the right of pregnant pigs to be free from cages.
34. Dolphins were trained and used by the U.S. and Soviet Union during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Both countries studied the creatures for their sonar capabilities but also trained them to detect mines, bring equipment to divers, find lost equipment, and guard submarines amongst other smart tricks.
33. Most of our laughter isn’t necessarily a response to humor. Less than 20 percent of laughter comes after jokes, the rest is a reaction to regular statements and questions like, “How have you been?” Laughter help forms social bonds.
32. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Her parents’ names are given as George and Margaret Roberts. They are from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.
31. In 16th and 17th century Europe, cannibalism was practiced for medical purposes. The practice started because it was thought that Egyptian mummies have magical curative properties. So they were ground up and put in many remedies.
30. The color orange was named after the fruit. Earlier the color was called red.
29. Koalas have human-like fingerprints. Luckily, no koalas have framed humans for their crimes yet.
28. Dinosaurs lived on every continent, including Antarctica. We only find their bones in certain places, as weather and soil conditions in those places were just right for the bones to be fossilized.
27. Bee Hummingbirds are the tiniest versions of hummingbirds. They are so small that they are sometimes mistaken for insects.
26. The world’s biggest family lives together in Mizoram, India: a man with 39 wives and 94 children.
25. A little dash of nutmeg may improve flavor but two to three teaspoons of raw nutmeg can induce hallucinations, convulsions, pain, nausea, and paranoia that can last for several days. Fatalities are however rare.
24. Bees can be trained as bomb sniffers. When they detect the presence of explosives, they stick their proboscis out.
23. The World’s oldest known creature, Ming the mollusk, was 507 years old until scientists killed it by mistake. That’s a tragic end.
22. What do Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler have in common? They all suffered from ailurophobia – the fear of cats.
21. The first iPhone wasn’t made by Apple but by Cisco. Apple announced its own product just 22 days later. Have you ever heard of Cisco’s iPhone?
20. Benin, a country in central Africa, is famous for having the highest birth rate of twins in the world. While the world average is just 13 twins per 1,000 births, Benin more than doubles that rate, at nearly 30 twins per 1,000 births.
19. Cockroaches appeared 120 million years before dinosaurs. No matter what happens, they never cease to exist.
18. Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939. It was a joke, obviously.
17. In Halden, a high-security prison in Norway, every cell has a flatscreen TV, an en-suite shower, and fluffy, white towels. It doesn’t feel like a prison anymore.
16. Termites are the longest living insects. They can live up to 100 years.
15. Sweat doesn’t actually stink. It’s the bacteria on your skin that breaks the sweat down that causes the odor.
14. Greenland Sharks are known to be some of the oldest living animals in our world. They can live for 5 centuries.
13. There’s an entire town under a rock. This small whitewashed Spanish town is home to 3000 people.
12. Toilet seats are cleaner than your cell phone. Your phone could be 7 times dirtier.
11. The Moon continues to spin away from the Earth, at a rate of 3.78cm per year. Without the Moon, the Earth could slow down enough to become unstable, but this would take billions of years and it may never happen at all.
10. Giraffes and kangaroo rats can live longer than camels without water. In fact, kangaroo rats can go their whole lives (3-5 years) without drinking any!
9. In 1811 and 1812, a series of earthquakes caused the soil beneath the Mississippi River to rise. This caused the river to flow backward.
8. Jessica Cox became the world’s first licensed armless pilot in 2008. This is truly inspiring.
7. Former American President Theodore Roosevelt delivered an 84-minute speech after being shot in the chest during a campaign stop. Unfortunately, he still failed the 1912 election.
6. The sunsets on Mars are blue. It is due to the fine dust scattering the red light from the Sun.
5. Dogs can smell cancer. Researchers have found that dogs are able to pick up on a specific scent that cancer produces in a person.
4. Elephants grieve like us. They bury their dead and travel for ‘funerals’.
3. People don’t sneeze in their sleep. The brain shuts down the reflex during sleep.
2. Green iguanas have a third eye. This eye is not quite like a normal eye, but it can help iguanas detect the movement of a predator sneaking upon them from above.
1. One day on Venus is longer than one year. This is because its rotation on its axis is slower than its revolution around the sun.
Now, these were 100 unbelievable random facts.
