The Moon is shrinking. But only very slightly – by about 50m (164ft) in radius over the last several hundred million years. Mysterious seismic activity, known as moonquakes, could be to blame.
100 Mind-Blowing Be Facts
If the Earth doubled in size, trees would immediately fall over. This is because surface gravity would be doubled. It would also mean dog-size and larger animals would not be able to run without breaking a leg.
Giraffes hum to communicate with each other. It’s thought that the low-frequency humming could be a form of ‘contact call’ between individuals who have been separated from their herd, helping them to find each other in the dark. Some researchers think they sleep talk too.
The youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is Malala Yousafzai (aged just 17 in 2014), for her work as a child rights activist and champion of girls’ right to education.
A tiger’s roar can be heard up to two miles away.
Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport.
The Pope can’t be an organ donor.
Animals can also be allergic to humans.
A sheep was the first animal to be cloned.
Giraffe tongues can be 20 inches long.
Interesting facts aren’t just nice to have in your back pocket, but they can help foster a sense of connection with others, spark curiosity during a boring dinner conversation and even help you break past small talk on a first date. Get ready to show off your trivia prowess with one or more of the below fun facts across categories like food, travel, history, science, music and more. Be sure to bookmark this page for your next trivia night, and share it with your fellow fun fact obsessives. Dr Pepper was founded in Waco, Texas, by a pharmacist, in 1885, making it the oldest big soft drink brand in the country, per Southern Living.
In 1871, Potter Palmer, a Chicago businessman, built Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel, for a wedding gift for his wife, Bertha, who in 1893 asked the hotel’s pastry chef to make a chocolate cake-like treat that would be easy to transport for the World’s Columbian Exposition. The result of this request was the Palmer House Brownie, made of thick chocolate and topped with a walnut and apricot glaze and later published in a Sears Roebuck Catalog in 1898.
2024 marks 25 years of the Pokémon trading card game. Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) said it’s seen a spike in demand across sports cards and all categories of collectables, so it might be a timely moment to sell your Pokémon collection.
Hummingbirds are believed to be the only animal that can truly hover, says the National Audubon Society. They can do so by flapping their wings 20 to 80 times a second.
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.
Marla Gibbs continued to work as a flight attendant for two years after being cast on a hit TV show. Before taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played the housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family). In a 2015 interview, Gibbs told the Washington Post that despite it appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job as a flight attendant for American Airlines for two more years—just to be safe.
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.
There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet. Turns out, there’s quite a bit of gold on—or, really, in—our planet: 99 per cent 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.
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 in the business of making people famous, Biography reports. He discovered and signed the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and was a talent rep for acts like Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye.
People once ate arsenic to improve their skin. You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favourite 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.” Admit it: That’s one of the most interesting facts you’ve learned in a while.
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.
Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks. When there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer and then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.
Most 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. In addition to being easier to animate, there’s another reason for the gloves: “We didn’t want him to have mouse hands because he was supposed to be more human,” Disney told his biographer in 1957.
Giraffe tongues can be 20 inches long. Their dark, bluish-black colour is probably to prevent sunburn.
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.
Pigeon poop is the property of the British Crown. In the 18th century, pigeon poop was used to make gunpowder, so King George I confirmed the droppings to be the property of the Crown.
A waffle iron inspired one of the first pairs of Nikes. Bill Bowerman was a track and field coach in the 1950s who didn’t like how running shoes were made. He first created the 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.
The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutes. In 1914, Abram Pheil paid $400 (which would be $8,500 today) for a 23-minute plane ride. The Florida flight flew between Saint Petersburg and Tampa, where only 21 miles of water separated the cities. Pheil, a former mayor of Saint Petersburg, and the pilot, Tony Jannus, were the only passengers. This momentous flight paved the way for air travel as we know it.
South American river turtles talk in their eggs. Turtles don’t have vocal cords, and their ears are internal, so scientists believed that turtles were deaf and didn’t communicate through sounds. However, research has found that turtles communicate at an extremely low frequency that sounds like “clicks, clucks, and hoots” that can only be heard through a hydrophone (a microphone used underwater). These sounds even come from the egg before the turtle hatches. Researchers hypothesize that this helps all the turtle siblings hatch at once.
The first stroller was engineered to be pulled by a goat (or animal of similar size). William Kent, a landscape architect, invented the first stroller for the third 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.
Irish bars used to be closed on Saint Patrick’s Day. You might associate Saint Patrick’s Day with wearing green and drinking so much you think you see leprechauns. But until 1961, there were laws in Ireland that banned bars from opening 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.
Brad Pitt suffered an ironic injury on a film set. In Troy, based on Homer’s Illiad, Pitt plays the brave (and buff) Greek hero Achilles. Legend has it that Achilles could not be defeated unless hit in his heel. (It’s where we get the term “Achilles’ heel,” meaning a vulnerable point.) While filming an epic battle scene, Pitt ironically hurt his Achilles tendon—an injury that set back the film’s production by two months.
The Pope can’t be an organ donor. Pope Benedict XVI was issued an organ donor card in 1970. Once he ascended to the papacy in 2005, the card was invalid, reports the Telegraph. According to the Vatican, the Pope’s entire body must be buried intact because his body belongs to the universal Catholic Church.
Supermarket apples can be a year old. These weird facts might have you changing the way you eat. Those fresh apples aren’t all that fresh, per se. They’re usually picked between August and November, covered in wax, hot-air dried, and sent into cold storage. After six to twelve months, they finally land on your grocery store shelves.
Dunce caps used to be signs of intelligence. Thirteenth-century philosopher John Duns Scotus believed that a pointed cap would help spread knowledge from the tip to the brain, and his “Dunsmen” followers wore them as a badge of honour. In the 1500s, though, his ideas became less popular and the meaning of the Duns cap was turned on its head, becoming something of a joke.
The Statue of Liberty used to be a lighthouse. About a month after the statue’s 1886 dedication, it became a working lighthouse for 16 years, with its torch visible from 24 miles away.
Researchers once turned a live cat into a telephone. Princeton researchers Ernest Wever and Charles Bray took out a cat’s skull and most of its brain to connect the animal to electricity. When they spoke into the cat’s ear, the sound could be heard through a phone receiver in another room. The twisted experiment paved the way for cochlear implant developments.
Scotland has more than 400 words for snow. There are a lot of weird facts out there. But how many of them involve word choice? In Scotland, yes, there are more than 400 words for snow. There are 421, to be exact!
Cars can easily reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You might be driving along the highway and not notice how hot your car is getting. But when you pull over for a while, your car can reach intense degrees.
The Eiffel Tower can be 15 cm taller during the summer, due to thermal expansion meaning the iron heats up, the particles gain kinetic energy and take up more space.
Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport. Between 1912 and 1948, the international sporting events awarded medals for music, painting, sculpture and architecture. Shame it didn’t catch on, the famous pottery scene in Ghost could have won an Olympic medal as well as an Academy Award for the best screenplay.
An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain. This could be why the birds often run around in circles when trying to escape predators despite their fast running speed.
Queen Elizabeth II had a stand-in to make sure the sun wouldn’t get in her eyes. Ella Slack was a similar height to the late Queen, so she would rehearse big events beforehand to make sure everything would be comfortable for the monarch. However, she wasn’t allowed to sit on the throne, so she had to squat above it.
There are more than 1,000 types of bananas growing in the world. These can then be divided into 50 categories.
Candles were once eaten in famines. They used to be mainly made from beef fat or beeswax, and so they were often stolen in famines for people to eat.
Mariah Carey holds the record for the most number-one singles by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She surpasses Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson with singles including ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Always Be My Baby’.
Only 10% of the population is left-handed. And men are more likely to be left-handed.
The Pope can’t be an organ donor. All popes’ bodies belong to the Vatican when they die, which means no organ donation is allowed.
For a spirit to be classed as tequila, it needs to be made from the blue agave plant. It’s made from the centre of the agave plant, which is called the piña.
Typing keyboards used to be arranged alphabetically. Have you ever wondered why keyboards aren’t arranged by the ABCs compared to the QWERTY keys we know now? You’d be surprised to know the uniform QWERTY keys we use were chosen at random. Before PCs and laptops, the typewriter was man’s first typing experience. The earliest typewriters had alphabetic keys, but people typed so fast that the mechanical arms got jammed and tangled up. To solve this, the keys were randomly positioned to slow down typing and prevent key jamming.
Tomato ketchup was used as medicine for 16 years. Whether you love it or hate it, this condiment once had a place in the world beyond hotdogs. However, you’d be surprised to know that ketchup only had tomatoes in it starting in 1834. Before, ketchup was made with a mix of fish and mushrooms. When Dr John Cooke Bennet added tomatoes to the mix, he claimed that the antioxidants gave it a medicinal property. He had a pill salesman turn his tomato ketchup into pills and claimed it could treat diarrhoea, indigestion, jaundice, and rheumatism.
The brain is the fattest organ. The stomach may be our body’s fattest part, but the fattest organ is our brain. The brain is composed of nearly 60% fat.
You can’t move or touch William Shakespeare’s bones. William Shakespeare’s legacy doesn’t stop at his plays and how many words he created – but even in the afterlife, he leaves a lasting display of his wit. Buried in 1616, the playwright was said to have written his tombstone inscription which reads: “Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forebearer, To digg the dust enclosed heare; Bleste be the man that spares thes stones, And curst be he that moves my bones.”
The name for the Pringles shape is a hyperbolic paraboloid. The saddle shape of a Pringles chip is known in math as a hyperbolic paraboloid. Pringles were made in this shape because it allows the chips to be stacked easily and kept in place during packageing.
Toilet paper in France is generally pink. What is usually found in our homes as a stark white is a lively pink for the French. Pink toilet paper is commonly found in the bathrooms and kitchens of France as a regional preference. In the 1950s, coloured toilet paper was also the rave in the U.S. However, health and safety concerns over the dye caused it to be discontinued in the early ‘2000s.
Men’s dress shirt collars used to be detachable. To save on laundry costs, men’s shirt collars were removable in the mid-1800s. This was because the collar was the part that needed the most frequent cleaning.
Sneezing while travelling at 60 mph makes you close your eyes for 50 feet. In a not-so-fun fun fact, the few milliseconds you spend sneezing can make you lose track of the distance you travel. No matter how amazing that may be, it is very hazardous for the road. About 2,500 road accidents occur in a U.K. winter due to colds and sneezing.
If you make $1 every second, it will take you 2,921 years to be richer than Bill Gates. At a net worth of US$110 million, Microsoft founder Bill Gates consistently topped the world’s richest billionaires for 18 years. He was dethroned only recently by the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos.
February used to be the last month of the year. We may know January and February as the first two months of the year, but these months were the last couple of months added to the Gregorian calendar. Before, the Roman calendar only recognised 10 months. However, the winter period was measured in these two months – making February the last month of the calendar. This is also why February has the shortest number of days in a month.
Eating polar bear liver can kill a human being. If eaten in one meal, 30-90 g of polar bear liver can be fatal. Its high concentration of Vitamin A is toxic to humans.
Insects are attracted to light because of the moon. Bug behaviour can be especially strange, but scientists predict that night insects (like moths) are attracted to lights because they used the light of the moon to navigate the Earth way before artificial lights were made.
Lobsters used to be considered the cockroach of the ocean. It may be found in the most luxurious menus now, but lobster was once eaten regularly by the homeless, slaves and prisoners. However, lobster started to be seen as a delicacy after World War II.
Australia has a bright pink lake. Lake Hillier is a pink lake on the West Coast of Australia. Although coloured lakes seem to be a norm in the world, Lake Hillier is the only one that scientists have yet to figure out. To this day, the reasons for its pink colouration remain to be theory.
Artist Salvador Dali would get out of paying at restaurants by drawing on the checks. The renowned artist responsible for Chupa Chupp’s logo was not a fan of paying for his meals. Often, he would draw on the checks, making them priceless works of art. He may be stingy and obsessed with money, but you gotta give the guy credit for his genius.
J is the only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table. One of the fun facts for whenever you feel excluded: All 26 letters of the alphabet can be found in the periodic table except for the letter J. Out of the 118 elements, not once is J used.
Tic Tacs got their name from the sound they make. Ever shaken a Tic Tac container out of boredom? You’d be surprised to know that the name Tic Tac comes from the tic-ing and tac-ing sound the candies make when tossed around in their container.
You could go to jail for collecting eagle feathers in the U.S. Only official members of federally accepted Native American tribes can keep or collect eagle feathers. If a regular citizen had one, it would be illegal.
The founder of Pringles, Fredric Baur, requested to be buried in a Pringles can. Another morbid fun fact is that his children honoured his dying wish when Baur died in the ‘80s.
Manatees can get cold stress. These gentle giants may look like tough guys, but they can be pretty sensitive to cold. In waters below 20°C, manatees can get “Florida frostbite.” Manatee fat isn’t enough to insulate their body temperature in the cold – which is why manatee deaths spiked in the Florida cold snap of 2010.
May 22nd is the least common birth date. The 22nd of May is the least common day to be born. On the other hand, the 16th of September is the most common birthday. More people in the world are born in September than in any other month.
Penguins can jump as high as 9 feet in the air. These creatures may be known for their adorable waddling, but they’re quite the action stars. One of the fun facts about these fun creatures is that depending on their species, penguins can jump up to 9 feet. How do these boxy birds do it, you ask? The magic happens underwater – penguins wrap their bodies in air bubbles from their wings and use this to propel themselves up to the surface.
The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs. Insects are known to be all sorts of strange, but this is one of the cooler fun facts: The katydid hears with its legs! The katydid’s ears are located on its two front legs. Like the human ear, the ear of the katydid collects sound, converts it, and analyses the frequency.
Chickens are eaten for their whole life cycle. A not-so-fun fact for the chickens, but one of the fun facts to ponder: when you’re eating chicken katsu or a chicken omelette, you could be eating a whole family. You’re essentially eating a chicken before (AKA, the eggs) and after its birth. Oh, not to mention day-old chicks.
Millions of trees were estimated to be planted by squirrels that forgot their buried nuts. Dreamworks’ Ice Age franchise may not be fully accurate, but it sure got one thing right: Squirrels love burying their nuts.
Cats sleep for ⅔ of their lives. People have a love-hate relationship with cats. It’s somewhat understandable since cats tend to be the exact opposite of the warm, eager demeanour loved by many in dogs. Another stark difference is that cats spend a lot of time asleep. Like, a 15-hour average is kind of a lot. Cats sleep mostly during the day and only become active around twilight.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist. In more shocking fun facts (perhaps literally): Alfred Southwick was a dentist who conceptualized electrical execution when he heard of an intoxicated man who died from touching a live electric generator. Realizing the man’s quick death, Southwick concluded that electricity could be an alternative to hanging for executions. However, he first intended for electrocution to euthanize stray dogs.
In Elizabethan England, the spoon was so novel and prized that people carried their folding spoons to banquets. In the 13th century, the coronation of every British king was preceded by a ritual where the new king would be anointed with a ceremonial spoon.
The word “testify” is based on… testes? The term “testify” is said to be rooted in the Ancient Roman custom of making men swear on their testicles in court. However, there is no written confirmation that this is the case. Instead, people may have taken the Latin word testis out of context: it can mean testes but also translates to witness. You decide which one makes more sense.
“Pants” used to be a dirty word. Shortened from pantaloons, “pants” was considered vulgar by some language commentators. In Ambrose Bierce’s 1909 book Write It Right, he wrote the following on using the term “pants” for trousers: “Abbreviated from pantaloons, which are no longer worn. Vulgar exceedingly.”
A blue whale’s heartbeat can be heard from two miles away. Contrary to popular belief, a blue whale’s heart isn’t as big as a Volkswagen beetle. However, it is still huge at 5 ft in length, 4 ft in width, and standing at 5 ft tall. This massive organ weighs about 181 kg.
Subway footlongs don’t measure a foot long. Man, talk about false advertising. A fun fact you probably don’t know about this beloved sandwich joint is that Subway faced a 2013 lawsuit for their “foot” longs. The food chain explained that the Subway Footlong is merely a brand name and not meant to be the actual measure of the sandwich. The case was then promptly thrown out.
Marie Curie’s belongings still have radioactive residue in the present day. Marie Curie’s contributions to science had her named by many as the mother of modern physics. One of the works she was most known for was her study of radioactive materials and the discovery of elements such as polonium and radium. However, her research took a toll on her health. Radioactive exposure not only led to her death due to aplastic anaemia – but her clothes, furniture, and books remain radioactive to this day. Now, over a century later, her notebooks have to be stored in a lead box, as they will still be radioactive for another 1,500 years.
Tom Hanks was not paid for Forrest Gump. This may be surprising for one of his most iconic roles, but Tom Hanks did not receive a set fee for this film. Instead, he signed an agreement that entitled him to percentage points from the film’s profit. Ultimately, his part in the film’s earnings netted him at US$40 million.
Brendan Fraser almost died filming The Mummy. During a scene where his character is hanged, Fraser nearly loses his life on the set of The Mummy. According to co-star Rachel Weisz, Fraser had to be resuscitated after the botched hanging scene.
Crushed vitamins have been used for cocaine scenes in movies. For The Wolf of Wall Street, the actors inhaled crushed B vitamins in cocaine-snorting scenes. In fact, after so much inhaling, Jonah Hill contracted bronchitis and had to be hospitalized.
A pig was once held in trial for the death of a child. During the Middle Ages, it was normal for animals to be tried for human crimes. In 1386, a pig was even arrested for injuring a child. When the child died, the pig was placed on trial which ruled the pig’s public execution.
Starbucks flopped in Australia. Starbucks may be a staple in many countries, but Aussies couldn’t care less. Since opening dozens of locations in Australia in 2000, 70% have already closed down, leaving only 23 cafes still operating in the country. This is only one of the many fun facts about Australia.
Glaciers make sounds. Aside from the sound of global warming, melting glaciers and icebergs emit a sound similar to fizzling soft drinks that experts have dubbed the “bergy seltzer.” It occurs when melting water frees tiny bubbles of air under enormous pressure, resulting in a sound so loud that it can be used to determine the distance of icebergs.
Muhammad is the most popular name in the world. The most used name in the world is believed to be Muhammad with an estimated 150 million men who share this name. This is largely thanks to the Muslim practice of naming their first-born sons after the prophet.
There are more than 24 time zones around the world. If the Earth’s time zones were only one hour apart, then we would have 24 time zones. However, many time zones only differ by 30 to 45 minutes. This means that there must be more than 24 existing time zones.
The Hulk was supposed to be grey. Creator Stan Lee initially wanted the Hulk to be grey, but due to ink problems, the Hulk turned out green. However, the misprint was explained in canon as the two Hulk personas (Grey vs. Green) fighting in Bruce Banner‘s subconscious.
Walt Disney hated Goofy. Ah-Hyuck! As one of the first Disney staples, you’d be surprised to know that Disney hated the character of Goofy. He thought the cartoon was stupid, and the only reason he kept the character was to save other workers’ livelihoods.
The place where cartoon characters store things, just to pull out of thin air, is known as “Hammerspace”. If you’ve ever seen Tom & Jerry, you’d be familiar with those scenes where Jerry would pull a bat out of nowhere to bonk Tom mid-chase. However, animators have given this unseen, mysterious sphere where characters pull objects out of a name: the Hammerspace.
At the Humane Society of Missouri, kid volunteers comfort anxious shelter dogs by reading to them. Shelter dogs have usually lived through significant trauma. This makes it difficult for some dogs to be adopted due to their changed behaviour. To solve this, the Humane Society of Missouri created the Shelter Buddies Reading Program. It pairs kids aged 6 to 15 with anxious, mistrustful dogs to socialize them for home life.
Penguins used to be 6 feet tall. Whether a terrifying or adorable fun fact: bones found at Seymour Island showed that penguins stood at 6 feet tall and weighed 250 pounds 40 million years ago.
The “Like” button on Facebook was supposed to be the “Awesome” button. However, the developers decided “Like” would be a more universal term.
Bubble wrap was originally designed to be used as wallpaper. Bubble wrap was born in 1957 when engineer Al Fielding and Swiss inventor Marc Chavannes tried creating a textured wallpaper. However, their product was rejected. They also tried marketing it as a greenhouse insulator, but the material still fell short. However, when IBM released a new computer, Fielding and Chavannes pitched their concept as a protective covering for computer shipments. From then on, bubble wrap was adopted as the go-to protective wrap. The third time’s the charm, I guess.
Kleenex tissues were supposed to be for gas masks. During a cotton shortage in World War I, Kimberly-Clark devised a thin, flat cotton substitute to use as a filter for army gas masks. However, the war ended before scientists could perfect the material. In turn, the company constructed a thinner and softer material that eventually became Kleenex tissues.
Blue whales eat 500,000 calories in 1 mouthful. When whales open their gaping mouths in the ocean, they eat half a million calories worth of krill. If whales were like humans, their calorie deficit would be way off the charts: the energy they get is more than 240 times the energy they expend to gather all the krill in their mouths.
Humans have jumped further than horses in the Olympics. The Olympics has been a good measure of humanity’s physical limits and capabilities. You’d be surprised that the world record for the longest human long jump is even greater than the record for the longest long jump done by a horse. When Mike Powell jumped 8.95 meters, he beat the record of Extra Dry who jumped at 6.10 meters.