These interesting facts will entertain, enlighten and totally blow your mind
125 Interesting Facts About Practically Everything
Updated on Apr. 20, 2025
Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years
Talk about one old tourist attraction! This wheel was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.
Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust
Here’s an interesting (and gross) science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15%—so it’s not all bad.
Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world
What is … a totally strange Jeopardy! question about geography? Not only have archaeologists found more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While somewhere around 100 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt (some sources put the number at 118), the number of those found in Sudan is around 255—more than double.
Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest flying mammal
Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitti’s hog-nosed bat—is the smallest flying mammal (aka the smallest bat, since those are the only mammals that truly fly) in the world, according to Guinness World Records. Many consider the bumblebee bat to be the smallest mammal overall, but its weight overlaps a bit with another of Earth’s tiniest creatures, the Etruscan shrew.
To see this tiny bat for yourself, you’d have to visit one of a select few limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River in the Kanchanaburi Province of southwest Thailand.
Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long
If your entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles. That’s long enough to go around the Earth almost two and a half times! This is one of those mind-blowing facts that sounds made up (but isn’t).
Fact: There are parts of Africa in all four hemispheres
For people whose education was largely focused on the Western world, it may be surprising to find out exactly how huge the continent of Africa is. For instance, it spans all four hemispheres and covers nearly 12 million square miles.
Fact: Your eye can see a million different colors
Our bodies are made up of some bizarre features! According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, humans can distinguish approximately 10 million colors. That’s thanks to the cone cells in your retina, the back part of your eye that senses light and sends signals to your brain. These alerts allow you to perceive different colors. Some people who have a rare condition called tetrachromacy have an extra eye cone that enables them to see hundreds of millions of colors.
Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina
If you know a lot of Disney trivia, you probably think the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a 70-minute political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings, according to Guinness World Records.
Fact: German chocolate cake was invented in Texas
The “German” part of German chocolate cake comes from a person’s name—and that person wasn’t even from Germany. Specifically, it’s named after Samuel German, who, in 1852, created the formula for a sweet baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company in Massachusetts, which subsequently (and confusingly!) named the product Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. Fast-forward to June 13, 1957. The Dallas Morning Star published a recipe for a cake, invented and submitted by a reader identified as Mrs. George Clay, which used the chocolate. Over the years as the recipe made its way around the country, people lost the original reference for the name and thought German chocolate cake came from the country of Germany.
Fact: Marla Gibbs continued working for an airline for two years after being cast on a hit TV show
Prior to taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played housekeeper Florence on the 1970s and 1980s sitcom The Jeffersons (a spinoff of All in the Family). In a 2022 interview, the 90-year-old Gibbs told the Hollywood Reporter that despite appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job in reservations for United Airlines until the third season of the show—just to be safe.
Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands
The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.
Fact: A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing eight time zones
Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but at 5,771 miles long, it’s also the longest single-rail system in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones.
Fact: The Golden Girls dug into more than 100 cheesecakes
Over the course of The Golden Girls’s seven-year run, Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche and Rose ate around 100 cheesecakes, according to the baker who made them, George Geary. “For the run of the show, I would create seven cheesecakes for the Friday-night taping. … I would box up seven cheesecakes by 4 p.m., all identical,” he said. That was just in case they had to do multiple scene takes. “Every season, the cakes changed: Season 1, plain. Season 2, whipped cream trim. Season 3, berry topping. And so on.”
In one episode, Dorothy asks rhetorically, “Do you know how many problems we’ve solved over a cheesecake at this kitchen table?” In true Rose fashion, she asks,” No, Dorothy, exactly how many?” “147, Rose,” Dorothy snaps. Turns out, she was close!
Fact: There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet
Earth really has a heart of gold: 99% of the precious metal can be found in the Earth’s core, Discover Magazine reports. How much is there? Enough to coat the entire surface of the Earth in 1.5 feet of gold.
Fact: Cleveland once had the country’s fifth-largest population of any city
Cleveland, Ohio, used to be one of the most populated cities in the country. Data from the 1920 U.S. census indicates that Cleveland had one of the largest urban populations in the United States, behind only Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City.
Fact: People can use only a small fraction of Earth’s water
In school, we were taught that most (about 71%) of the planet’s surface is covered in water. While that’s true, just 0.007% of that water is usable for people, according to National Geographic. That’s because only about 2.5% of Earth’s water is fresh water, and only a little more than 1% of that is accessible—most of the rest is made up of glaciers, polar ice caps and snowfields.
Fact: Wally Amos is responsible for making more than just cookies famous
You may be familiar with Wally “Famous” Amos, thanks to his packaged chocolate chip cookies. But before he worked his magic on the sweet treats, he was the first African American talent agent for William Morris, in the business of making people famous, Biography reports. He discovered and signed folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and was a talent rep for acts like Diana Ross, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye.
Fact: The brand name Spam came from a contest winner
This is one of those interesting facts you probably thought you knew but actually didn’t. Contrary to American mythology, Spam is not an acronym for “Scientifically Processed Animal Matter” or “Shoulder of Pork and Ham.” In 1937, Hormel, the company that makes Spam, sponsored a naming contest for the new product. Kenneth Daigneau, a New York actor, who was also the brother of a Hormel VP, won $100 for coming up with “Spam.” Stories vary on whether Daigneau created the name as a blending of “spiced ham” or if he conceived the name before the product was even created. Nonetheless, Hormel executives loved it, and the rest is history.
Fact: It takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the entire Mississippi River
Flowing approximately 2,340 miles, the Mississippi River is the fourth largest in the world, behind the Yangtze, Amazon and Nile rivers (when combined with its tributary, the Missouri River). That’s one long stretch of water. With speeds varying from 1.2 mph to 3 mph, one drop of water takes approximately 90 days to travel its entire length, as estimated by the National Park Service.
Fact: People once ate arsenic to improve their skin
You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favorite cosmetics were riddled with arsenic, but it gets worse. There were also products on the market in the late 19th century, like Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers, that were meant to be eaten. They claimed to get rid of freckles, blackheads and other “facial disfigurements.” That’s one of the most interesting facts—not to mention strangest—we’ve learned in a while.
Fact: The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland
On Jan. 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first passenger to pass through Ellis Island immigration on its opening day. She had traveled to the United States with her two younger brothers aboard the S.S. Nevada after departing from Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh). And here’s another amazing fact about Ellis Island for you: It’s busiest day ever, when it welcomed the most immigrants, was April 17, 1907.
Fact: Japan has one vending machine for every 23 people
Japan is thought to have one of the highest densities of vending machines in the world, with an estimated one for every 23 people in the country. While most sell various types of beverages, others feature ice cream, noodles and disposable cameras.
Fact: Lemons float, but limes sink
Try this easy science experiment, and you’ll find that lime slices drop to the bottom of a glass, while lemon slices float at the top. But why? This is one of those things to wonder about that you need the answer for, so here it is: Limes are denser than lemons.
Fact: Professional athletes used to perform in vaudeville during the off-season
Before today’s big-league salaries, professional baseball players often had to take on jobs during the off-season. Some of them took advantage of their name recognition and hit the vaudeville circuits, doing everything from comedy to song-and-dance routines to reciting poems. Babe Ruth even sang—if you could call it that. Frankly, many of the athletes had no business being on stage, but it’s not like it was against the rules.
Fact: The first time the word period was used on TV in reference to menstruation was in 1985
It came via a line in a Tampax commercial: “Feeling cleaner is more comfortable. It can actually change the way you feel about your period.” And the actor who made pop culture history was Courteney Cox of Friends fame.
Fact: McDonald’s once made bubblegum-flavored broccoli
This crazy McDonald’s fact will have your taste buds crawling. Unsurprisingly, the attempt to get kids to eat healthier didn’t go over well with the child testers, who were “confused by the taste.”
Fact: A fungus turns ants into “zombies,” controlling their minds and bodies
The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. Once it has been in the insect’s body for three to nine days, it has complete control over the host’s movements. According to National Geographic, it forces the ant to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the ant is forced to bite a leaf and waits for death, when the fungus emerges from the ant’s head onto the leaf. OK, then!
Fact: The first oranges weren’t orange
Oranges have a pretty interesting origin story. The first oranges from Southeast Asia were actually green. In fact, oranges in tropical regions, such as Vietnam and Thailand, still stay green through maturity.
Fact: There’s only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name
Can you guess the answer to this random fun fact? You’ll find a Z (Arizona), a J (New Jersey) and even two X’s (New Mexico and Texas)—but not a single Q.
Fact: A cow-bison hybrid is called a beefalo
Beefalo, which has been around since the early 1970s, is produced in more than 35 states. It was developed by D.C. “Bud” Basolo, a California rancher who successfully crossbred American bison and domesticated cattle, says the American Beefalo Association (yes, there is such a thing!). And it’s actually good for you: It contains fewer calories, less cholesterol, less fat and more protein than conventional beef.
Fact: Johnny Appleseed’s fruits weren’t for eating
Yes, there was a real John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees on U.S. soil. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter than the ones you’d find in the supermarket today. “Johnny Appleseed” didn’t expect his fruits to be eaten whole, but rather made into hard apple cider.
Fact: The Scottish have 421 words for snow
Yes, 421! Some examples of words used for snow in Scotland include: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl); and flindrikin (a slight snow shower). Weather is very important to the Scots.
Fact: Samsung tested phone durability with a butt-shaped robot
People stash their phones in their back pockets all the time, which is why Samsung created a robot shaped like a butt to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure. Believe it or not, the robot even wore jeans.
Fact: The Windy City nickname has nothing to do with Chicago’s weather
If you live in Chicago, you might already know this random fact, but we’re betting most other people don’t. Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists, referring to the city’s politicians being long-winded or boastful “windbags.” However, according to the Chicago Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Chicago, the nickname may have come from jealous urban rivals, who felt Chicago’s residents’ boosterism, or self-promotion, represented their “windiness” and being “full of hot air.”
Fact: Peanuts aren’t technically nuts
They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” Other nuts that are really legumes are soy nuts (soybeans) and carob nuts. On the other hand, walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans fit the true definition of a nut, according to the USDA.
Fact: Armadillo shells are bulletproof
Talk about a hard shell to crack! In fact, one Texas man was hospitalized when a bullet he shot at an armadillo ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the jaw. That has to be one of the wackiest animal facts we’ve ever heard.
Fact: Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter
The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it is easier to spread and better soaks into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.” Who knew?
Fact: The longest English word is 189,819 letters long
We won’t spell it out here, but the full name for the protein nicknamed titin would take three and a half hours to say out loud. While this is, by far, the longest word in English, the longest word in most standard English dictionaries has 45 letters: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a type of lung disease. You’ve probably heard of the longest made-up word, which has 34: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Just a few more interesting facts for your next cocktail party!
Fact: “Running amok” is a medically recognized mental condition
First described in Malaysia and not used often today, a person “running amok” starts with a period of brooding followed by a homicidal frenzy, and ending in somnolence (excessive drowsiness or sleepiness) and amnesia.
Fact: Some octopus species lay 56,000 eggs at a time
On average, a giant Pacific octopus will lay 56,000 eggs at the end of a pregnancy, over the course of about a month. At first, these new babies float through the surrounding water unattached to one another or their mother. But then the mother gathers each egg—which is about the size of a grain of rice—and weaves them into braids, allowing her to keep an eye on everyone at the same time.
Fact: Cats have fewer toes on their back paws
Here’s a purr-fectly fascinating cat fact: Like most four-legged mammals, cats have five toes on the front, but their back paws have only four toes. Scientists think the four-toed back paws might help them run faster.
Fact: Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks
This is one of the cool everyday things actually designed for World War I. Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat crepe paper to be used as a filter in gas masks during the war. Afterward, in 1924, the company redeveloped the material to be smoother and softer, and rebranded it as Kleenex, a facial tissue to help remove cold cream. People found another use for them—to blow into when sneezing—and in the 1930s, the brand positioned the product as the handkerchief you can throw away!
Fact: Blue whales can eat close to half a million calories in one mouthful
Just try to wrap your brain around this interesting animal fact: Blue whales can eat up to 457,000 calories in one bite, the amount an average human would need for the span of about 228 days, reports Discover magazine. These whales can consume as much as 10 to 20 tons of krill, or tiny crustaceans, per day, which can amount to around 12% of their body weight.
Fact: That tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches
The original jeans had only four pockets: that tiny pocket for a pocket watch, plus two more on the front and just one in the back.
Fact: Turkeys can blush
When turkeys are scared, agitated or excited—like when a male see a female he’s interested in—the pale skin on their head and neck can change colors, turning bright red, blue or white. The flap of skin over their beaks, called a snood, also reddens.
Fact: Many Disney characters wear gloves to keep animation simple
Walt Disney might have been the first to put gloves on his characters, as seen in 1929’s The Opry House, starring Mickey Mouse. The gloves distinguished Mickey’s hands from his body and became part of his official stage costume. But in addition to being easier to animate, there’s another reason for the gloves: In the Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters, Walt Disney is quoted as saying, “We didn’t want him to have mouse hands, because he was supposed to be more human. So we gave him gloves.”
Fact: The man with the world’s deepest voice can make sounds humans can’t hear
The man, Tim Storms, can sing a note that’s nearly impossible for humans to hear—but elephants can. It’s eight octaves below the lowest G on a piano. Storms holds the Guinness World record for having the widest vocal range: 10 octaves.
Fact: The current American flag was designed by a high school student
The current American flag started as a school project for Bob Heft’s junior-year history class in 1958, and it earned only a B-. Even though Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states yet, his design had 50 stars—Heft figured the two would earn statehood soon, which they did. He showed the government his design, and after President Dwight D. Eisenhower called to say the design was approved, Heft’s teacher changed his grade to an A.
Fact: Cows don’t have upper front teeth
They do have molars on top, in the back of their mouths. But where you’d expect top front teeth, cows, sheep and goats have a thick layer of tissue called a dental pad. They use that with their bottom teeth to pull out grass.
Fact: Thanks to 3D printing, NASA can basically email tools to astronauts
Getting new equipment to the Space Station used to take months or years, but the new technology means the tools are ready within hours.
Fact: Only a quarter of the Sahara Desert is sandy
Most of it is covered in gravel, though it also contains mountains and oases. And here’s another geography fact about the Sahara that everyone gets wrong: It isn’t the world’s largest desert—Antarctica is.
Fact: Bananas grow upside down
Or technically, we peel and eat them upside down. Naturally, they grow outward from their stems, but that means their bottoms actually face the sky. As they get bigger, the fruits turn toward the sun, forming that distinctive curve.
Fact: There were active volcanoes on the moon when dinosaurs were alive
This is one of the strangest moon facts ever: There used to be volcanoes on the moon! The dark spots on the moon, which looked like seas to ancient astronomers, are actually craters that were filled in with lava. Most of the moon volcanoes were thought to have stopped erupting about a billion years ago, but recent findings suggest they might still have been active 120 million years ago, when dinosaurs were still roaming the Earth in the Cretaceous period.
Fact: Dogs sniff good smells with their left nostril
This is a fascinating dog fact: Dogs normally start sniffing with their right nostril, then keep it there if the smell could signal danger, but they’ll shift to the left side for something pleasant, like food or a mating partner. Why? It has to do with which side of their brain is processing the info from the scent.
Fact: Avocados were named after reproductive organs
You’ll never look at avocados the same way again. Indigenous people of Mexico and Central America used the Nahuatl word āhuacatl to mean both “testicles” and “avocado.” The fruits were originally marketed as “alligator pears” in the United States until the current name stuck.
Fact: T.S. Eliot wore green makeup
Even his fellow writers commented on the poet’s strange appearance. No one is sure why Eliot dusted his face with green powder, though some guess he was just trying to look more interesting.
Fact: The word fizzle started as a type of fart
It’s amazing what interesting dictionary facts you can find in these big books. In the 1400s, fizzle meant to “break wind quietly,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Fact: Human noses and ears lengthen as we age
It’s pretty common to see the claim that our nose and ears are the only parts of our body that keep growing as we age, but that’s not exactly true. Our nose and ears stop growing along with the rest of our body, but thanks to the weight of gravity, both parts continue to lengthen over time, according to the Discovery Channel. That’s why you might notice older people with oversized earlobes!
Fact: No spelled-out number before “one thousand” contains the letter A
It’s true: You can spell out all numbers without using the letter A up until one thousand. But there are plenty of E’s, I’s, O’s, U’s and Y’s.
Fact: The # symbol isn’t officially called hashtag or pound
Its technical name is octothorpe. The octo means “eight” and refers to its points, though reports disagree on where thorpe came from. Some claim it was named after Olympian Jim Thorpe, while others argue it was just a nonsense suffix.
Fact: The French have their own name for a French kiss
Something extra interesting about this kissing fact? The word hasn’t been around for long—well, not officially, anyway. In 2014, galocher (meaning to kiss with tongues) was added to the Le Petit Robert French dictionary.
Fact: You can thank the Greeks for calling Christmas “Xmas”
In Greek, the word for “Christ” starts with the letter Chi, which looks like an X in the Roman alphabet. So it’s become a Christmas tradition to shorten it with the letter X.
Fact: Movie trailers originally played after the movie
They “trailed,” or appeared at the end of, the feature film—hence, the name. The first trailer appeared in 1913 and was for a Broadway show, not a movie.
Fact: Mercedes invented a car controlled by a joystick
The joystick in the 1996 Mercedes F200 showcase car controlled speed and direction, replacing both the steering wheel and pedals. The car could also sense which side the driver was sitting in, so someone could control it from the passenger seat.
Fact: H&M actually stands for something
This is one of those interesting facts you’ve probably never even wondered about before. The clothing retail shop was originally called Hennes—Swedish for “hers”—before acquiring the hunting and fishing apparel brand Mauritz Widforss. Eventually, Hennes & Mauritz was shortened to H&M.
Fact: The U.S. government saved every public tweet from 2006 through 2017
Starting in 2018, the Library of Congress decided to keep tweets only on “a very selective basis,” including those dealing with elections and topics of national interest, like public policy.
Fact: Theodore Roosevelt had a pet hyena
Its name was Bill, and it was a present from the Ethiopian emperor. Roosevelt was famous for his many pets, including a one-legged rooster, a badger, a pony and a small bear.
Fact: The CIA’s headquarters has its own Starbucks, but baristas don’t write names on the cups
Its receipts say “Store Number 1” instead of “Starbucks,” and its workers have to undergo extensive background checks and need an escort to leave their work posts.
Fact: Giraffe tongues can be 20 inches long
Their dark, bluish-black color is probably to prevent sunburn.
Fact: There’s only one U.S. state capital without a McDonald’s
Montpelier, Vermont, doesn’t have any of those golden arches. It also happens to have the smallest population of any state capital, with just over 8,000 residents.
Fact: Europeans were scared of eating tomatoes when they were introduced
Scholars think Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés brought the seeds from Mesoamerica to Europe in 1519 with the intent of the fruits being used ornamentally in gardens. By the 1700s, aristocrats started eating tomatoes, but they were convinced the fruits were poisonous because people would die after eating them. In reality, the acidity from the tomatoes brought out the lead in pewter plates, and they actually died of lead poisoning.
Fact: Humans aren’t the only animals that dream
Studies have indicated rats dream about getting to food or running through mazes. Most mammals go through REM sleep, the cycle in which dreams occur, so scientists think there’s a good chance they all dream.
Fact: The inventor of the microwave appliance received only $2 for his discovery
Percy Spencer was working as a researcher for the Raytheon Manufacturing Company when he noticed that radar sets emitting electromagnetic waves melted the candy bar in his pocket. He had the idea to make a metal box using microwaves to heat food, but the company was the one to file the patent for the invention in 1945. The patent was granted in 1950, and Spencer received a $2 bonus but never any royalties.
Fact: The Eiffel Tower can grow taller during the summer
The high temperatures make the iron expand, adding a few millimeters to the famous structure’s height. On the flip side, in the winter, the structure can contract and lose a few millimeters.
Fact: Glitter was discovered by accident
A man by the name of Henry Ruschmann from Bernardsville, New Jersey, invented glitter by accident in 1934. Ruschmann, a machinist, invented a machine designed to cut plastic film at high speeds. The machine sometimes malfunctioned, producing tiny pieces of shiny material that sparkled when they reflected light. Ruschmann called these glittery bits “schnibbles.” He then went on to start a company called Meadowbrook Glitter, which is still in the business of making glitter today.
Fact: Frankenstein’s monster is a vegetarian
In Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s monster says, “My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.” This is one of the interesting facts you should definitely share with your vegetarian friends!
Fact: There are more than 1,000 poisonous marine animals
When we think of poisonous animals, we usually think of snakes or spiders. But although all spiders are venomous, fewer than 30 are actually dangerous to humans, and although there are about 600 venomous snakes, the biggest group of poisonous animals is found in … the ocean. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you find out there are 1,200 poisonous marine creatures. Some of the most dangerous are puffer fish, lionfish, stonefish and the Australian box jellyfish.
Fact: Some sloths have more neck bones than giraffes
We know you love to look at adorable sloth pictures—but the next time you see one, consider this interesting fact: Despite the difference in neck length, there are more bones in the neck of a three-fingered sloth than a giraffe. There are seven vertebrae in the neck of a giraffe, as in most mammals, but a three-fingered sloth can have eight or nine.
Fact: Bees can fly higher than Mount Everest
Bees can fly high as high as 30,000 feet above sea level, according to Discover magazine. That’s higher than Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, which is 29,029 feet above sea level.
Fact: Ancient Egyptians used dead mice to ease toothaches
In ancient Egypt, people put a dead mouse in their mouth if they had a toothache, according to David Haviland’s 2010 book Why You Should Store Your Farts in a Jar. Mice were also used as a warts remedy in Elizabethan England—after being cut in half, they’d be applied to the spot.
Fact: Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch
According to PepsiCo, which owns Quaker Oats Company, the maker of Cap’n Crunch cereal, the beloved cap’n has a full name! Also, after being called out for having only the three bars of a Navy commander on his sleeves, Horatio held his ground on X (then Twitter, and yes, he has an official account), arguing that captaining the S.S. Guppy with his crew “makes an official Cap’n in any book!” In May 2024, his uniform was finally corrected, and he now appears on cereal boxes with the proper four bars of a Navy captain.
Fact: Paint used to be stored in pig bladders
The bladder would be sealed with a string and then pricked to get the paint out. This option wasn’t the best because it would often break open. American painter John G. Rand was the innovator who, in the 19th century, made paint tubes from tin and screw caps.
Fact: Humans have jumped farther than horses
The Guinness World Record for the longest human long jump is greater than the world record for longest horse long jump. Mike Powell set the record in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo by jumping 8.95 meters, and the horse Something set the record in 1975 by jumping 8.40 meters.
Fact: The Terminator script was sold for $1
This flick isn’t just known for its famous movie quotes. James Cameron, now the award-winning director of blockbusters like Titanic and Avatar, always went to extremes for his movies. In order to get his big break with The Terminator, he sold the script for $1 and the promise that he’d direct it.
Fact: Pigeon poop was once the property of the British Crown
Bet you didn’t know this strange fact about the British royal family: In the 18th century, pigeon poop was used to make gunpowder, so King George I declared the droppings to be the property of the Crown.
Fact: Onions were found in the eyes of an Egyptian mummy
Pharaoh Ramses IV of ancient Egypt had his eyes replaced with small onions when he was mummified. The rings and layers of onions were worshipped because people thought they represented eternal life. This aligns with the reason for mummification: to allow the pharaoh to live forever.
Fact: Abraham Lincoln was a bartender
You know the facts about U.S. presidents you learned in school, such as that Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, fought for the freedom of enslaved people and the Union. But what you didn’t know about him is that he was a licensed bartender. Lincoln and his friend, William F. Berry, received their 1833 liquor license to run a tavern in New Salem, Illinois. There was a penalty of $300 if Lincoln and Berry didn’t uphold the liquor laws of the state, one of which included not selling whiskey to children—something we trust Honest Abe didn’t do!
Fact: Beethoven was the first composer to use the trombone in popular music
Although the trombone had been used in sacred music, no composer had used it in a nonreligious piece of music until Beethoven. He included the instrument in his famous Fifth Symphony, which premiered in Vienna in 1808.
Fact: Japan released sushi-inspired KitKats
For a limited time in 2017, Tokyo’s KitKat Chocolatory shop sold three types of the chocolate bar that were inspired by sushi but didn’t actually taste like raw fish. The tuna sushi was raspberry, the seaweed-wrapped one tasted like pumpkin pudding, and the sea urchin sushi was the flavor of Hokkaido melon with mascarpone cheese. All were made with puffed rice, white chocolate and a bit of wasabi.
Fact: An espresso maker was sent into space in 2015
Coffee lovers will appreciate this interesting space fact: Italian Samantha Cristoforetti was the first astronaut to have this warm and cozy piece of home while in orbit. The European Space Agency worked with Italian engineering firm Argotec and coffee manufacturer Lavazza to get the ISSpresso coffee maker and pod capsules into space.
Fact: The word aquarium once referred to a watering place for cattle
Of course, today’s aquariums aren’t for cows. The first public aquarium, called the Fish House, opened in 1853 at the London Zoo, which led to a Victorian craze to have one at home. According to Guinness World Records, the term aquarium was coined in 1854 by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse with the publication of his book The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea. But some didn’t initially like the term, as it had been used to mean “a watering place for cattle.”
Fact: An employee at Pixar accidentally deleted almost all of Toy Story 2 during production
Ed Catmull, the co-founder of Pixar, wrote in his book Creativity Inc. that the year before the movie came out, someone entered the command ‘/bin/rm -r -f *’ on the drive where the files were saved, which immediately removes everything from the file system. Scenes started deleting, and 90% of the film was erased. Still, they panic—until they realized their backup system wasn’t working correctly. It would have taken a year to recreate what was deleted, but luckily another employee had a second backup of the entire film on her laptop at home.
Fact: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started Apple on April Fools’ Day
The three technology innovators founded Apple Computer Co. on April 1, 1976—but only one of them turned out to be something of a business “fool.” The little-known third Apple founder, Ronald Wayne, was a mature 40 years old while the others were in their early 20s, and he feared the investment would go south and he’d lose his assets. So just 12 days after the founding, Wayne sold his 10% share back to them—for just $800. If he had kept it, he would be a billionaire today—so the sale is considered one of the most “fool”ish (get it?) mistakes in business history. In 2018, Apple became the country’s first trillion-dollar publicly traded company.
Fact: The inventor of the tricycle personally delivered two to Queen Victoria
In 1881, Queen Victoria was on a tour on the Isle of Wight when she saw a woman riding a tricycle. Intrigued by the bike, the queen proceeded to order two. She also asked that the inventor, James Starley, arrive with the delivery. Though you might associate tricycles with toddlers, Queen Victoria made them cool among the elite at the time.
Fact: Your brain synapses shrink while you sleep
This is not a brain myth! Researchers at the Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied mice to observe what happens to their brains while they sleep. Dr. Chiara Cirelli and Dr. Giulio Tononi found an 18% decrease in the size of synapses after a few hours of sleep. Don’t worry, though—this nighttime brain shrinkage actually helps your cognitive abilities.
Fact: A waffle iron inspired one of the first pairs of Nikes
Before he co-founded Nike, Bill Bowerman was a track and field coach in the 1950s who didn’t like how running shoes were made. He first created the cushioned Cortez shoe, but wanted a sneaker that was even lighter and could be worn on a variety of surfaces. During a waffle breakfast with his wife in 1970, he came up with the idea of using the waffle texture on the soles of running shoes. Waffle-soled shoes made their big debut in the 1972 U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Fact: Boars wash their food
If you thought boars weren’t one of the smartest animals, think again. At the Basel Zoo in Switzerland, zookeepers watched wild boars pick up sandy fruit, carry them to water in their enclosure and wash them before eating. The zookeepers aren’t quite sure why wild boars clean their food, but they think chewing on sand or gravel isn’t comfortable, especially when it comes to their teeth. Experiments also showed that the boars could distinguish between clean and sandy apples—they only washed the sandy ones. According to the Basel Zoo’s website, “washing dirty food is behavior which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective.”
Fact: Baseball umpires used to sit in rocking chairs
People have been playing baseball since the mid-19th century. In the early days, umpires would officiate the games while reclining in a rocking chair located 20 feet behind home plate. And here’s another fun fact: In 1878, the National League declared that home teams must pay umpires $5 per game.
Fact: The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutes
Bet you didn’t know this piece of airplane trivia: In 1914, Abram Pheil paid $400 (which would be $12,624.20 today) for a 23-minute plane ride. The Florida flight flew between St. Petersburg and Tampa, where just 21 miles of water separate the cities. Pheil, a former mayor of St. Petersburg, and the pilot, Tony Jannus, were the only passengers. This momentous flight paved the way for air travel as we know it.
Fact: The world’s first novel may be missing its ending
The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is considered the world’s first novel. After 54 intricately crafted chapters, the story stops abruptly, almost as if it wasn’t finished. One translator believes the work is complete as is, but another says we’re missing a few more pages of the story.
Fact: A French-language Scrabble World Champion doesn’t speak French
In 2015, New Zealand native Nigel Richards memorized the entire French Scrabble dictionary, which had 386,000 words, in nine weeks to earn his title, because he didn’t actually speak French. He won the French Scrabble World Championship again in 2018 and has also won five English-language world titles, including both U.S. and U.K. championships. And that’s not all: In 2024, Richards won the 2024 Spanish World Scrabble championship, despite the fact that he doesn’t speak a word of Spanish. This comes almost 30 years after Richards first played Scrabble at the age of ripe old age of 28.
Fact: A woman called the police when her ice cream didn’t have enough sprinkles
In 2014, the West Midlands police in England released a recording of a woman who called 999 (the U.K. version of 911) because the ice cream man put “bits on one side and none on the other,” as she says in the recorded call. She was even more upset when the ice cream truck man did not want to give her money back.
Fact: Uncle Ben’s rice was sent to World War II troops
German chemist Erich Huzenlaub invented a process of parboiling rice to keep more nutrients in the rice and lessen the cooking time. The “Huzenlaub process” had another unexpected benefit: It stopped bug infestations. The quick-cook, bug-free rice was a big advantage during World War II, and converted rice (as it was then known) was sent to American troops. At the time, the product name was Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice, and by 1952, the brand became the No. 1 packaged long-grain rice in the United States.
In 2020, the company changed the name to Ben’s Original. The goal was to address the inequities associated with the brand’s racially stereotyped name and image on the box.
Fact: The British Empire was the largest empire in world history
The British Empire may be no more, but can you answer this history question of when it was biggest? That was in the 1920s, when it controlled 23% of the world’s population and approximately 13.7 million square miles of territory—or nearly a quarter of the Earth’s land area.
Fact: South American river turtles talk through their eggs
Research has found South American river turtles can produce sounds and communicate with one another before they hatch. Brazilian biologist Camila Ferrara set up microphones close to the eggs and heard the baby turtles’ quick, barely audible popping sounds up to three days before they hatched. One hypothesis is that this helps all the turtle siblings coordinate hatching at once, providing safety in numbers from predators.
Fact: Penicillin was first called “mold juice”
Did you know penicillin was an accidental discovery? In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming left a petri dish in his lab while he was on vacation—only to return and find that mold had grown in the dish, and the liquid it produced had killed the bacteria around it. This became the world’s first antibiotic, but before naming it penicillin, he called it “mold juice.”
Fact: The first stroller was supposed to be pulled by a goat
William Kent, an English architect, invented the first stroller for the Duke of Devonshire in 1733. But upper-class parents were hardly expected to put effort into transporting their children around, so Kent designed his model to be pulled by a small animal, like a goat, pony or dog.
Fact: May 20, 1873, is the “birthday” of blue jeans
According to Levi Strauss & Co., this was the day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, the innovators behind the sturdy blue jeans we all love, got a patent on the process of adding metal rivets to men’s denim work pants. The pants were called “waist overalls” or just “overalls” until 1960, when baby boomers began calling them jeans. Now to figure out why denim is blue …
Fact: 170-year-old bottles of champagne were found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
Although we don’t know for sure, the bottles of bubbly may have been traveling from Germany to Russia during the 1800s when they sank to the bottom of the sea. It turns out that most of the bottles were preserved in ideal conditions, with minimal light and temperatures ranging between 35 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers analyzed the champagne and described it as “sometimes cheesy,” with “animal notes” and elements of “wet hair.” Mmmm.
Fact: The MGM lion roar is trademarked
The sound of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s iconic lion roaring at the audience was trademarked as the “sound mark” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the 1980s. MGM had several iterations of lion mascots, but the second MGM lion, Jackie, provided the first audible roar in 1928 for MGM’s first talkie, White Shadows in the South Seas.
Fact: Neil Armstrong’s hair was sold in 2004 for $3,000
The lucky buyer, John Reznikoff, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of hair from historical celebrities, reports NBC. But Armstrong’s lawyer threatened to sue Marx Sizemore, the not-so-lucky barber who cut the former astronaut’s hair; they said he violated an Ohio law that protects the rights of famous people. Sizemore said he wouldn’t pay, and Reznikoff said he wouldn’t give back the hair but that he’d donate $3,000 to charity.
Fact: Irish bars used to be closed on Saint Patrick’s Day
You might associate Saint Patrick’s Day traditions with wearing green and drinking so much you think you actually see leprechauns. But until 1961, a law in Ireland banned bars from being open on March 17. Since the holiday falls during the period of Lent in the heavily Catholic country, the idea of binge-drinking seemed a bit immoral.
Fact: Nikola Tesla hated pearls
The electrical engineer paved the way for current system generators and motors; the way electricity gets transmitted and converted to mechanical power is thanks to his inventions. But despite his patience with scientific experimentation, he apparently had no tolerance for pearls and refused to talk to women who were wearing them. When his secretary wore pearl jewelry one day, he made her go home. Why? No one knows for sure.
Fact: Thomas Edison is the reason you love cat videos
After inventing the kinetograph with his assistant in 1891, Edison was able to record and watch moving images for the first time. He filmed short clips in his studio, some of which feature famous people like Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill. But the real stars of these early videos are the Boxing Cats—adorable cats that he recorded in a boxing ring circa 1894. Consider it the first of many cat memes!
Fact: Brad Pitt injured his Achilles tendon—while playing Achilles
In Troy, based on Homer’s Iliad, Pitt plays the brave (and buff) Greek hero Achilles. Legend has it that Achilles could not be defeated unless he was hit in his heel. (It’s where we get the term Achilles’ heel, meaning a vulnerable point.) While filming a fight scene, Pitt ironically hurt his Achilles tendon—an injury that set back the film’s production by two months.
Fact: Pregnancy tests date back to 1350 B.C.E.
According to a document written on ancient papyrus, Egyptian women urinated on wheat and barley seeds to determine if they were pregnant or not, reports the Office of NIH (National Institutes of Health) History & Stetten Museum. If wheat grew, it predicted a female baby. If barley grew, it predicted a male baby. The woman was not pregnant if nothing grew. Experimenting with this seed theory in 1963 proved it was accurate 70% of the time.
Fact: Martin Luther King Jr. got a C in public speaking
The world remembers Dr. King as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, and people often quote his “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered in 1963. Yet in one of the most ironic “failures” of wildly successful people, he earned a C in a public speaking class while attending Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania more than a decade before that legendary speech.
Fact: Bees can make colored honey
In France, there’s a bio-gas plant that processes waste from a Mars chocolate factory, where M&Ms are made. Beekeepers nearby noticed that their bees were making “unnatural shades of green and blue” honey. A spokesperson from the British Beekeepers’ Association theorized that the bees eating the sugary M&M waste caused the colored honey.
Fact: Bananas glow blue under black lights
This interesting fact might make you want to eat a banana every day. To the naked eye under normal conditions, ripe bananas appear yellow due to organic pigments called carotenoids. When bananas ripen, chlorophyll begins to break down. This pigment is the element that makes bananas glow, or fluoresce, under UV lights and appear blue.
Fact: The color of tennis balls was changed to look better on TV
Neon yellow wasn’t always the hue of a tennis ball. Instead, they were either black or white, depending on the background of the tennis court. However, in 1972, the International Tennis Foundation introduced yellow tennis balls because research showed the color was more visible to TV viewers. Wimbledon continued to use white balls until 1986, when they adopted the yellow ball.
Fact: Adult cats can be lactose intolerant
Like humans, some adult cats can’t digest lactose, the sugar found in milk, causing them to vomit, have diarrhea or experience abdominal pain or discomfort. Cats have only enough of the enzyme lactase to properly digest lactose when they’re born and during the first 12 weeks of their lives, says veterinarian Gary Richter, DVM, founder of Ultimate Pet Nutrition and author of The Ultimate Pet Health Guide.
Fact: Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are in New York City
They were given to Henry Abrams, Einstein’s eye doctor, and reportedly preserved in a safety deposit box in New York. He received the eyeballs from Dr. Thomas Harvey, the man who illegally performed the autopsy on Einstein and took the scientist’s brain for himself.
Fact: The pope can’t be an organ donor
Pope Benedict XVI was issued an organ donor card in 1970, but once he ascended to the papacy in 2005, the card became invalid, said the Vatican in 2011. Why? Although the Catholic Church supports organ donation, the pope’s entire body must be buried intact because his body belongs to the universal Catholic Church, and if he ever became a saint, his organs would be considered relics. Pope Benedict XVI died in 2022.
Fact: A one-armed player scored the winning goal in the first World Cup
Héctor Castro, who accidentally cut off his right forearm while using an electric saw as a teenager, played on the Uruguay soccer team during the first-ever World Cup in 1930. In the last game between Uruguay and Argentina, Castro scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. The final score was 4–2, making Uruguay the first country to win the World Cup title.
Fact: One of the world’s oldest toys is a stick
Think of how versatile a stick is: You can use it to play fetch with your dog, swing it as a bat or use your imagination to turn it into a lightsaber. That’s why, in 2008, the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted the stick into its collection of amazing toys as, very possibly, the oldest toy ever.
Additional reporting by Marissa Laliberte and Jayna Taylor-Smith.
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