Even if you consider yourself an expert on art or history, you certainly don’t know everything. Acquiring knowledge, indeed, is a never-ending pursuit. Some information we learn, let’s say at school, may seem absurd and not so useful. But sometimes your visiting French teacher finds himself detailing his secret technique to prepare a savory Raclette Potato Gratin. A recipe that you can’t unlearn!
If you’re nerdy enough, you might just get through this list of surprisingly interesting fun facts!
#1 American astronaut Buzz Aldrin pissed on the Moon. Psst!
#2 The size, weight and shape of cutlery affect the taste of dishes. According to a study carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford, pieces of cheese put on a knife taste more salty than eaten with a toothpick or a fork. In turn, the small spoons, which we usually use to eat desserts, enhance the sweet taste.
#3 In the United States, Kentucky, there was a blue-skinned family for many years. This was due to a rare illness and an unpopular marriage among closely related members of this family.
#4 The United States does not have an official language. Languages used include English, Spanish, Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese and others), French and Creole, Tagalog, Vietnamese,
#5 If we make ice cubes with tap water, they will be white. In turn, if we use boiled water, they will be transparent.
#6 The Canary Islands have names not from birds, but from dogs.
#7 In Switzerland, people cannot visit the bathroom late and flush the toilet after 10:00 p.m. in order to avoid noise.
#8 The longest city name in Europe is Llanfair-pwllgwyngyll-gochgery-chwyrn-drobwll-llan-llan-tysilio-gogogo-goch located in Wales.
#9 In the 12th century, there was a very ghastly musical instrument “cat piano”. The cats were arranged according to the height of the meowing, and pressing the keys caused a needle to stick into the tail of the cat.
#10 Man can still see his nose, but his brain ignores him and as a result, we do not have him in our sights. How many times have you tried to see the tip of your nose? With what results?
#11 When a man dies, the first sense he loses is his eyesight and the last sense is his hearing.
#12 Human eyes don’t change their size from birth.
#13 The thumb is the same length as the nose. Hard to believe? See more!
#14 Sneezing with your eyes open is impossible.
#15 Teeth are the only part of the body that can’t regenerate itself.
#16 The femur has a higher strength than the concrete.
#17 Damaged nails grow faster.
#18 A woman blinks twice as often as a man.
#19 Tennis rackets were once made from cow and sheep intestines.
#20 In Singapore, we cannot chew gums. This prohibition applies to the importation and sale of this product. People can sale the chewing gum here if there are medical indications. Chewing gum cannot be imported from other countries as well. There are different theories as to why Singapore introduced such a provision, but it all comes down to money. The first one is that the gums were glued everywhere. Removing them was associated with high costs. The second reason was that the vandals deliberately taped the door sensors in the subway with rubber.
#21 The Greek national anthem has 158 verses. Thus, it was included in the Guinness Book of Records, as the longest anthem in the world. It’s not easy to sing it in its entirety.
#22 There’s not a single river in Saudi Arabia.
#23 Women mustn’t drive a car in Saudi Arabia.
#24 Leonardo da Vinci could paint with one hand and write with the other.
#25 We can use coconut water as blood plasma. Coconut water is easily mixed with blood and is quickly absorbed by the human body.
#26 The average four-year-old asks more than 400 questions a day on average.
#27 Cuba and North Korea are the only countries we won’t buy Coca-Cola.
#28 In Las Vegas casinos, there are no both clocks and windows so customers can’t control the passage of time.
#29 Babies are born with the ability to swim. The child stays in the womb and amniotic fluid for 9 months, which makes such an environment natural for him/her. The newborn is able to swim and hold his/her breath underwater, however, this skill disappears around 6-7 months of age. Therefore, if you do not want to teach your child to swim from scratch, you should take them to the pool during the above-mentioned period.
#30 In Thailand people mustn’t walk outside the beaches without an upper part of the wardrobe. They also mustn’t drive with the chest exposed.
#31 Africa is the only continent in the world that lies in the northern, southern, eastern and western hemispheres.
#32 A corn cob always has an even number of rows (usually 16) and grains (on average 800).
#33 90% of the human population lives in the northern hemisphere.
#34 The Eiffel Tower was temporarily moved to Canada in 1967.
#35 The Chinese consume approx. 80 billion chopsticks a year.
#36 It’s no accident that the Facebook logo is blue. FB founder Mark Zuckerberg is a colour-blind, and blue is one of the few colors that Zuckerberg perceives correctly.
#37 Only 20% of the Sahara is covered by sand.
#38 Babies are born on the expected date only in 4% of cases.
#38 Cats don’t taste sweet.
#39 Crocodiles can’t show their tongues.
#40 Hawaiian pizza comes from Canada (pizza was invented by a Greek Sam Panopoulos in 1962)
#41 Red doesn’t infuriate bulls. Despite the prevailing belief, these animals do not distinguish between red and green. It is the movement of the fluttering material that makes them furious in the arena. They just feel threatened.
#42 You can’t hug trees in China.
#43 Dinosaurs often swallowed large rocks that helped them grind food in their stomachs.
#44 Ketchup used to be a medicine. In the 19th century it was sold in the USA in pill form.
Made it this far? You now have a fun fact to share with a stranger on the bus. Or maybe you’ll stick to preparing a fine Raclette Potato Gratin.
Check out our article about bizarre name meanings here.
