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These will blow your mind!
By Tomás Diniz Santos — Written on May 08, 2021
Knowing the most random facts is a great way to start a conversation, to blow someone’s mind — or to simply entertain yourself.
Many say it’s a cool way to show off when you know a little about a lot, rather than a lot about a little.
And if nothing else, this list of interesting facts is sure to keep you amused (and hopefully help make you the recurring champ at your local pub's trivia night).
The random facts below are sure to blow minds and make you question just how much you really know about the world around you, so prepare yourself now to be amazed...
125 Random Fun And Interesting Facts That Will Make You Say 'Whoa!'
1. Guinea pigs were once sacrificed while wearing earrings and necklaces and wrapped like sushi.
Photo: Dev_Maryna / Shutterstock
Archaeologist Lidio Valdez from the Institute of Andean Studies found this out when he found 100 dead guinea pigs all wearing earrings and necklaces that were all sacrificed by the Incan people during the 16th century.
2. The world's smallest reptile was first reported in 2021.
A chameleon was discovered in northern Madagascar that measured 28.9 millimeters.
Bonus fun fact: The male genitalia is about 20% of its body length.
3. Pineapple works as a natural meat tenderizer.
Pineapples are filled with the enzyme bromelain, which breaks down protein chains — which makes it a great addition when cooking meat.
4. Humans are the only animals that blush.
It’s not known why exactly, but American author Mark Twain once said, "Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to."
5. 170-year-old bottles of champagne were found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
It has been reported that the bottles sank to the bottom of the sea in the 1800s.
People who study wine and winemaking, oenologists, said it was the perfect place to age wine due to the temperatures down there.
6. Pregnancy tests date back to at least 1350 BCE.
According to an ancient papyrus document, it was said that women would pee on wheat and barley seeds to figure out if they were pregnant or not.
7. Martin Luther King Jr. got a C in public speaking.
Over a decade before his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, Dr. King earned a C in his public speaking class at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.
8. Wimbledon tennis balls are kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
It has been tested and proven that the temperature of the ball affects how it bounces.
The gas molecules are affected by the temperature, causing the balls to expand or contract.
9. Only two mammals like spicy food: humans and the tree shrew.
Chinese researchers found that these mammals have a mutation in their ion channel receptors that causes them to be less sensitive to heat.
10. The wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles was watched by 750 million people worldwide in 1981.
Sadly, Princess Diana’s funeral had over 2.5 billion viewers in 1997.
11. The Eiffel Tower can grow more than six inches during the summer.
Photo: WDG Photo / Shutterstock
Due to the hot summer sun, the metal expands causing the tower to grow in height.
12. Rabbits cannot throw up.
A rabbit's digestive system is simple. Everything goes in one way and comes out the other.
Unlike other animals that cough up hairballs or other inedible objects, everything moves through and out the bodies of rabbits.
13. “Psycho” was the first American movie to feature a toilet flushing.
The film, released in 1960, was also the first film where you can hear a toilet flushing on screen.
14. A tiger’s skin is striped, just like its fur.
Another interesting detail is that no two tigers have the same stripe pattern, as each one is different to some capacity.
15. Copper doorknobs are self-disinfecting.
Copper and brass are two of the most popular materials for doorknobs specifically because the compounds in these metals sterilize bacteria naturally.
16. Cotton candy was invented by a dentist.
The inventor, William Morrison, surely kept dentists in business with his creation.
In 1987, he helped develop the cotton candy machine — and the beloved treat has been a hit ever since.
17. Pigeons are able to distinguish between paintings by Monet and Picasso.
The pigeons learned to discriminate between color slides of paintings by the two painters.
18. The heart of the blue whale is five feet long and weighs 400 pounds.
The blue whale is the largest mammal on earth and can weigh up to 40,000 pounds.
19. The Pope can’t be an organ donor.
The Pope’s body belongs to the universal Catholic Church, according to the Vatican. Therefore, when the Pope dies, he must be buried with all organs intact.
20. Bats are the only mammals that can fly.
Unlike penguins, elephants or ostriches, bats are the only mammal equipped with the ability to fly.
21. Space smells like seared steak (or hot metal).
Astronauts that have been to space recall the odor that lingers after being on a spacewalk and say it’s similar to a “searing steak” or “hot metal.”
22. Polar bears actually have black skin — and their fur isn’t white.
Photo: FloridaStock / Shutterstock
Their fur is actually see-through, but its structure causes it to appear white when the light from the sun hits.
23. “Q” is the only letter in the alphabet that doesn’t appear in the name of a U.S. state.
New Mexico has “X” and Arizona has “Z" but no state contains the letter “Q.”
24. More human twins are being born now than ever before.
A study done in the journal Human Reproduction found that the rate of twins has increased by one-third since the 80s. That means one out of every 42 babies born is a twin.
25. Every octopus has three hearts.
Each one with a slightly different function, one circulates blood around the body, while the other two pump it past the gills to pick up oxygen.
26. The first person convicted of speeding was going eight mph.
According to the Guinness World Records, Walter Arnold broke the speed limit of two miles per hour in 1896.
He later paid a fine for his bicycle speeding.
27. The oldest-known living land animal is a tortoise named Jonathan.
He was born in 1882 and is 187 years old.
He has lived on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean since his birth.
28. The Four Corners in the U.S. is the only spot where you can stand in four states at once.
The four states that make up the four corners are Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
29. The oldest person to have ever lived was a French woman named Jeanne Louise Calment who reached the age of 122.
She sadly died in 1997, according to the Guinness World Records.
30. Scotland has 421 words for “snow.”
A sample of these words, which describe the wide variety of types of snow, include sneesl (to start raining or snowing), feefle (to swirl), and flinkdrinkin (a light snow).
31. Chicago isn't nicknamed "the Windy City" because of the weather.
A journalist coined the nickname when he was referring to the residents, whom he called “windbags” and “full of hot air.”
32. The tallest man ever recorded was American giant Robert Wadlow, who stood 8 feet 11 inches.
Wadlow lived from 1918–1940 and his size was due to an abnormally enlarged pituitary gland.
33. Baby blue whales grow 200 pounds per day.
Photo: Imagine Earth Photography / Shutterstock
For the first year of their lives, baby blue whales grow as much as 200 pounds a day. These gentle giants can swim up to 20 miles an hour if needed.
34. Peanuts aren’t actually nuts.
Cashews, pistachios, and almonds aren’t either. A nut is defined as “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.”
35. Octopuses lay 56,000 eggs at a time.
All the eggs are about the same size as a grain of rice. Shortly after laying the eggs, octopuses start to deteriorate and die.
36. Adult cats can be lactose intolerant.
Like many humans, cats don’t have the enzyme to digest lactose from milk which can cause many of them to become sick.
37. The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutes.
In 1914, a flight between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida paved the way for commercial flying.
38. The severed head of a sea slug can grow a whole new body.
At least two species of sacoglossan sea slugs, a type of sea slug, can grow its body back within hours of being decapitated.
It even grows back a heart!
39. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, from Willows, Wisconsin.
The doll was first displayed in New York in a toy store and was born on March 9, 1959.
40. Three of the Founding Fathers died on the same day — July 4.
The Presidents were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.
41. The heads on Easter Island have bodies.
Their torsos, which were excavated by archaeologists, were found to be about 33 feet tall.
42. The moon has moonquakes.
A U.S. geological survey found that it happens due to tidal stresses connected to the pull between the Earth and the moon.
43. All of an adult human’s blood vessels, if laid out end to end, would be about 100,000 miles.
This would be enough to encircle the earth four times.
44. Most Disney characters wear gloves because it is easier for animation.
Photo: spiderman777 / Shutterstock
It is said Walt Disney was the first to put gloves on characters as seen in 1929’s “The Opry House” starring Mickey Mouse.
45. A mash-up of two words to make a new word is called a portmanteau.
Words such as breakfast and lunch turn into brunch, and motel comes from motor and hotel.
46. The feeling of getting lost inside a mall is known as the Gruen transfer.
Austrian architect Victor Gruen, found that the design of malls could be confusing on purpose in order to have customers spend longer amounts of time inside.
47. The wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months.
Native to Alaska, these frogs do this in order to survive.
The warm urine actually keeps their body temperatures up during cold weather.
48. Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” when she was just 18.
She wrote it in Switzerland while hanging out with writers Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.
49. You lose up to 30 percent of your taste buds during flight.
The dryness experienced at high altitudes as well as low pressure lowers the sensitivity of a person's taste buds to sweet and salty foods by about 30%. This could explain why not many people are a fan of airplane food.
50. Hawaiian pizza was created in Ontario, Canada.
It was created by Greek immigrant Sam Panopoulos in 1962. A legendary day.
51. Boars wash their food.
Zookeepers in Switzerland reported watching boars take their apples to a nearby creek and washing them before chowing down.
52. Of almost all commercially grown artichokes, 99%, come from California.
There is a town in California, Castroville, which is nicknamed “the Artichoke Capital of the World.”
53. A chef's toque contains 100 folds.
Historically, people say it’s because it’s the same amount of the number of ways to cook an egg.
54. All Fruit Loops have the same flavor.
The famous cereal is actually the same flavor across all its different colors.
55. Superman couldn’t always fly.
Photo: Aisyaqilumaranas / Shutterstock
Superman in the first comic books couldn’t fly but only leap across several buildings at a time. It wasn’t until the 1940s where the animators found it easier to have him fly than bend his knees every time he jumped.
56. Pound cake got its name because the original recipe required a pound of each ingredient.
The ingredients included butter, flour, sugar and eggs. That’s a lot of pounds of ingredients.
57. Marie Curie is the only person to earn a Nobel prize in two different sciences.
She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and then later in Chemistry in 1911.
58. The English word with the most definitions is "set."
The word has an entry in the Oxford dictionary running 60,000 words or 326,000 characters, and no other English word has come close since.
59. Coca-Cola makes soup in a can.
Bistrone is a nourishing meal on the go that can be found in Japan in two different flavors.
60. The dot over the lowercase "i" or "j" is known as a "tittle."
It is believed that the phrase "to a T" actually comes from the phrase "to a tittle".
61. The tallest building in the world is the Burg Khalifa in Dubai.
It stands at over 2,700 feet tall.
62. The tallest building in the US is the One World Trade Center in New York.
It’s the sixth tallest building in the world standing at 1,776 feet.
63. The longest wedding veil was the same length as 63.5 football fields.
Maria Paraskeva, a woman from Cyprus, had her veil measure to 22,843 feet and 2.11 inches.
64. The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
The mystical creature was known as a "proud beast" in the Scottish royal coat of arms.
65. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne started Apple Inc. on April Fools’ Day.
They signed the documents to form the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976. It’s now a trillion-dollar company.
66. Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.
Photo: Everett Collection / Shutterstock
His license was discovered in 1930 and displayed in a Springfield liquor store. The President knew how to do more than lead the country.
67. The Great Wall of China is not visible to the naked eye from space.
The classic saying that the wall is so large it can be seen from space is unfortunately untrue.
68. Bees sometimes sting other bees.
There are “guard” bees that protect the hive. If a rogue bee from another hive is trying to steal some nectar, the guard bee will bite and even sting the intruder.
69. "E" is the most common letter and appears in 11% of all English words.
The next most popular letter is “A” with 8.5 percent of all English words possessing at least one.
70. An employee at Pixar accidentally deleted a sequence of “Toy Story 2” during production.
It would have taken a year to reanimate what was lost but thankfully another employee had a backup at home.
71. An espresso maker was sent into space in 2015.
Samantha Cristoforetti is the first female Italian astronaut to drink coffee in space thanks to the Italian Space Agency that got her permission to take it onboard.
72. The first footprints on the moon will remain there for a million years.
According to NASA, the footprints last a long time since nothing much happens there to wipe them away.
73. Days on Venus are longer than years.
In comparison to Earth, it takes 243 Earth days to spin once, but it only takes 225 Earth days to go around the sun.
74. The word aquarium means “watering place for cattle” in Latin.
The first aquarium that looks like what you’d imagine now was created in 1921 and opened in 1924 in England.
75. The healthiest place in the world is located in Panama.
A small valley near Volcán in Panama has garnered the distinction of being the world's healthiest place to live, according to a 2018 report by International Living.
76. Humans could never “land” on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune.
This is due to the fact that these planets are made of gas and have no solid surface.
77. Goosebumps are meant to scare off predators.
Photo: Tyler Olson / Shutterstock
When we get goosebumps, what’s really happening is that the small muscles attached to each body hair contract causing the hair to stand on end.
George A. Bubenik, a physiologist and professor of zoology at the University of Guelph said it was a defense mechanism that humans used once to appear larger in order to ward off predators.
78. A pharaoh once lathered his slaves in honey to keep bugs away from him.
King Pepi II thought so highly of himself that when he was bothered by insects, he would command that one of his slaves be covered in honey to lure the flies away from himself.
79. Buckingham Palace in London, England, has 775 rooms.
The gigantic palace also has 78 bathrooms.
80. The White House has 132 rooms.
The entire house also has 35 bathrooms. Seems small compared to Buckingham Palace.
81. It takes 570 gallons to paint the exterior of the White House.
According to the White House website, you would need a lot of paint.
82. Some people have an extra bone in their knee.
A fabella, as it’s known, has no use in our knees but for some reason, they are becoming more and more popular in newer generations.
83. Beethoven never knew how to multiply or divide.
The masterful composer only knew how to do basic addition. Safe to say he doesn’t know about P.E.M.D.A.S.
84. Onions were found in the eyes of an Egyptian mummy.
It was said that the rings and layers of onions were worshipped because people thought they represented eternal life. Pharaoh Ramses IV of Ancient Egypt was found with onions in his eyes.
85. The original script for 1984's "The Terminator" sold for $1.
James Cameron sold the script to Gale Ann Hurd in exchange for being able to direct the movie.
86. The teddy bear is named after President Theodore Roosevelt.
The President had refused to shoot a captured black bear on a hunt, so a stuffed animal maker decided to create a bear and name it after the president.
87. Play-Doh started out as a wallpaper cleaner.
They realized that the non-toxic material made a good modeling clay for children and rebranded it.
88. The hottest spot in the world is in Libya.
Photo: GR.Stocks / Shutterstock
The hottest place ever recorded in the world was in El Azizia, in Libya, where a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded on Sept. 13, 1922.
89. Humans have jumped further than horses in the Olympics.
Mike Powell set the record in 1991 by jumping 8.95 meters, and the horse Extra Dry set the record in 1900 by jumping 6.10 meters.
90. People started wearing pajamas because of World War I.
They did so on the off-chance they had to run outside during the middle of the night and they would still be clothed.
91. Freelancers originally referred to self-employed, sword-wielding mercenaries.
Hence the name “free” “lancers.”
92. Paint used to be stored in pig bladders.
The bladder would be sealed with a string and then pricked to get the paint out. A common method in the 19th century.
93. Bees can fly higher than Mount Everest.
Bumblebees can fly higher than 29,525 feet above sea level, which is higher than the tallest mountain in the world.
94. Pringles aren't actually potato chips.
Pringles aren't made of thinly sliced potatoes, but instead, dehydrated potato flakes pressed into their signature parabolic shape.
95. Guinness World Records was founded by the managing director of Guinness Brewery.
Sir Hugh Beaver was his name. In the 1950s, the two organizations used to be connected via a beer company.
96. There is a giant fish with a transparent head.
The barreleye, a large fish with a completely transparent head, lives at the deepest depths of our oceans.
97. Michelin stars are highly coveted by elite and upscale restaurants around the world over.
They are actually given out by the Michelin tire company.
98. Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard left his post at Ford's Theatre to go for a drink.
John Frederick Parker, Lincoln’s bodyguard, left his post to go for a drink at the bar next door and that’s exactly when John Wilkes Booth came in to kill the president.
99. The "M's" in M&Ms stand for "Mars" and "Murrie."
Photo: Amy_Michelle / Shutterstock
Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie were the two businessmen who created the chocolates together.
The million-dollar business quickly became worth billions.
100. Children's medicine once contained morphine.
The dangerous medicine was said to have soothed the gums and mouths of children.
101. More people visit France than any other country.
Spain and the U.S. are second and third on the list, respectively.
102. Water makes different pouring sounds depending on its temperature.
The heat changes the thickness, or viscosity, of the water, which changes the pitch of the sound it makes when it's poured.
103. You can still stay at the world’s oldest hotel which was founded in 705 AD.
Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan is the world’s oldest hotel.
104. One man has saved more than 200 people from suicide.
Officer Kevin Briggs of San Francisco has talked down more than 200 people from jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge.
105. The coldest temperature ever recorded occurred in Antarctica, -128.6 Fahrenheit.
The temperature was recorded in 1983 and reported in a research journal, the Journal of Geophysical Research.
106. The hottest temperature ever recorded occurred in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California.
Temperatures reached 134 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.
107. Our European ancestors were cannibals.
It was common in the 16th and 17th centuries as it was done for medicinal reasons.
108. Each year 16 million thunderstorms happen around the world.
At any given time, there are 2,000 thunderstorms occurring around the world.
109. Chewing gum boosts concentration.
Photo: Dean Drobot / Shutterstock
A study done in 2013 in the British Journal of Psychology found that those who chew gum recalled more in a memory challenge than those who did not chew gum.
110. The skin is the largest organ in the human body.
Adults carry 8 pounds and 22 square feet of it.
111. Sloths have more neck bones than giraffes.
There are seven vertebrae in the necks of giraffes, and in most mammals, but sloths have ten.
112. Redheads aren't actually going extinct.
It’s been reported that by 2060 they will all be extinct, but that’s actually untrue. Even non-redheads carry the gene that causes red hair so redheads are safe from extinction.
113. Koalas have fingerprints.
Like humans and chimps, Koalas have analyzable fingerprints.
114. Sweden has the most islands of any country in the world.
115. The Mariana Trench is the most extreme distance on Earth.
It is over 36,000 feet deep and can even hold Mount Everest inside of it.
116. Dinosaurs lived on every continent.
It’s safe to say dinosaurs have their remains scattered across the entire earth deep under the ground.
117. Medical errors are a top cause of death.
According to a Johns Hopkins research team, 250,000 deaths in the United States are caused by medical errors each year.
118. Visitors are not allowed to scatter loved ones’ ashes at Disney World or Disneyland.
This has been an issue for many near the haunted attractions and rides.
119. Ancient Egyptians used dead mice to ease toothaches.
People in Ancient Egypt would put a dead mouse in their mouth to ease toothaches.
They would also use them for treating warts and for other remedies.
120. Rolls-Royce made the most expensive car ever commissioned.
Specifically made just for one buyer, the Rolls-Royce Sweptail was purchased for $13 million in 2017 by an anonymous customer. It's made to look like a model from the 20s and 30s.
The most expensive car ever sold is the Bugatti La Voiture, which sold for a cool $19 million In 2019.
121. Ashrita Furman holds the record for most records set.
He has set more than 600 records and currently holds more than 200, according to Guinness World Records.
122. The inventor of the microwave oven only received $2 for his discovery.
Inventor Perry Spencer was an employee of Raytheon, so he only received the standard gratuity the company awarded their workers for their patents.
Though Spencer earned 300 patents while working for them, he never made any significant money, nor did he get any royalties.
123. The first iPhone wasn't made by Apple.
The first phone ever made under that name was actually created by Cisco.
124. There is only one U.S. state capital without a McDonald’s.
Vermont is the state and it’s probably due to the fact that Montpelier is the capital with the smallest population at just 7,500 residents.
125. Sweat doesn't actually have a bad odor.
It’s the bacteria that breaks down sweat that creates the foul smell.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment, and pop-culture topics.