Elton John tried to commit suicide once by sticking his head in an oven with the gas on low and windows open. He was found and stopped by his best friend Bernie Taupin.
100 Mind-Blowing Best Facts
Alongside Sudoku, chess has been named one of the best ways to improve the mind and memory.
Nearest Green (“Uncle Nearest”), a formerly enslaved man, taught Jack Daniel as a young boy how to make whiskey, and served as the first master distiller for Jack’s Distillery No. 7 following abolition. While you may have heard of whiskey giant Jack Daniels, there is now a whiskey label called Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, honouring Uncle Nearest, “the best whiskey maker the world never knew.”
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.
Uncle Ben’s rice was air-dropped 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 air-dropped to American and British troops. After the war, the company rebranded itself and became Uncle Ben’s Original Converted Brand Rice, named after one of the company’s best rice suppliers. The product hit grocery store shelves in 1947.
Wimbledon tennis balls are kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of a tennis ball affects how it bounces. At warmer temperatures, the gas molecules inside the ball expand, making the ball bounce higher. Lower temperatures cause the molecules to shrink and the ball to bounce lower. To make sure the best tennis balls are used, Wimbledon goes through more than 50,000 tennis balls each year.
The U.S. treasury once printed $100,000 bills. Between December 18, 1934, and January 9, 1935, the notes with Woodrow Wilson’s face were issued to Federal Reserve Banks but never went out to the general public—which is probably for the best. Can you imagine losing that bill?
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.
M&Ms are named after the businessmen who created them. But what do the M’s stand for? Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie didn’t have the best relationship as Mars leveraged Murrie out of his 20% share of the business before it became the biggest-selling sweet in the US. Ouch.
Billie Eilish’s ‘No Time to Die’ is the most awarded song in history. It won 36 awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Song, and the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Squeaky floors were the best home security in 17th-century Japan. You’d expect Japanese feudal lords to live in pristine houses with the sturdiest materials – and that is mostly true, save for their squeaky, creaky floors. Nightingale floors were flooring systems that “chirped” when somebody walked on it. They were installed in temples and palaces to alert of intruders. The floors were built in a way that the flooring nails rub against jackets or clamps, causing squeaking noises.
Cows have “best friends” and will get stressed when separated. If a cow is taken away from her “best friend,” her stress levels will decrease her milk yields. Surprisingly, cows are not the only species that form attachments to certain companions. The “best friend” preference is also observed in certain bats, elephants, chimps, and dolphins.
There is a quick way to escape the grip of a crocodile. Experts state that the best way to escape a crocodile is to poke its eyes. The pain can distract the crocodile long enough for it to loosen its grip and for you to escape.
Humans consume a lot of water. Water is a major part of most life forms and cannot survive without it. By the time humans reach the age of 70, they would have consumed about 12,000 gallons of water. Water is known to be the best and most hydrating liquid that promotes cardiovascular health.
Fleas can jump 200 times its height. The fleas are claimed to be the best jumpers in the world due to their size and the lengths they can jump. The height of a flea jump is equivalent to a human being jumping to the top of the Empire State Building from the ground.
The average person eats a total of 8 pounds of grapes annually. The best-selling grape in the US is the Thompson seedless. A grapevine can grow over 50 feet long and has around 40 clusters of grapes.
The Titanic was made in Belfast. Here’s one of our best you-know facts about the famous Titanic ship. The ship was designed by Eric Kuhne who died from a suspected heart attack. Building the ship took almost 3 years to complete.
Machu Picchu is 100% handmade. You read that right – Machu Picchu is the best remaining example of Incan engineering. No tools, wheels, or animals were used in constructing the royal estate. Instead, hundreds of men pushed up 50-ton rocks or scaled the mountain to form what we now know as the Incan ruins.
Cleopatra was not Egyptian. Despite being portrayed as an Egyptian beauty, Cleopatra was Greek. You’d best brush up on your history.
The Rubik’s cube is the best-selling toy of all time. Since it was introduced in 1980, over 350 million Rubik’s cubes have been sold.
Pencils are yellow because of Chinese royalty. In the 1800s, the best graphite in the world came from China. The Americans wanted to pay tribute to the Chinese for the graphite used in their pencils. Yellow means royalty and respect in China, which is why the Americans manufactured their pencils in yellow. To this day, the default colour for pencils is still yellow.
A coin toss isn’t 50-50. The next time you’re trying to decide something, a coin toss may not be the best idea. Typically, the chances for a coin toss are 51-49, not 50-50. If you flip a coin, there is a 51% chance it will land on the side that it started on.
“Schindler’s List” won seven Academy Awards. The film received widespread critical acclaim and recognition, earning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.
Peyton List has a strong work ethic. Dedicated and driven, she consistently strives to give her best in every project she takes on.
The three best-known Western names in China: are Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.
There is no evidence of life on Mars. However, it is the planet with the best conditions to support life and scientists believe there is potential for life under the surface of Mars because they recently found water ice just under the surface.
There are stars we will never be able to see. Ever since the Big Bang, most objects in space have been moving away from one another. The expansion of the Universe is accelerating. This is one of the facts about space that has rocked the cosmological boat over the past few years. As regions of space are whizzing away from one another at an ever-increasing rate, the first population of stars to form in the Universe are now too far away for us to ever hope of spying on them – even using the best present or future telescope. Hope is not lost; we can attempt to spot them indirectly via the energetic bursts of radiation they emit at the end of their lives.
Pineapple is one of the best, natural meat tenderizers. This fruit contains bromelain, which breaks down the protein in chains. This enzyme is so powerful that people who work in pineapple factories have to wear protective gear so bromelain does not attack their skin.
Cows have best friends and experience stress when they are removed from them.
The first rap song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” It rapidly became one of Eminem’s most successful singles, staying at the top of the charts for 23 weeks running (that in itself won the song a Guinness World Record!). Eminem didn’t attend the Academy Awards as he thought he wouldn’t win, so instead spent the evening at home sleeping and watching cartoons with his daughter. One of his producers ended up accepting the award on Eminem’s behalf.
The Internet has its very own patron saint. St. Isidore of Seville may not seem at first to be the best patron saint of the Internet, considering he lived back in the 7th Century. While he certainly lived well before the Internet was invented, he shared many values with it. He tried to record all the knowledge he could get his hands on during his life, which isn’t that far from what the Internet is – a great big collection of knowledge!
M&Ms were exclusively sold to the US military during World War II. When they were first produced in 1941, they came in cardboard tubes, and the colours were violet, green, yellow, orange, red, and brown. By the time the US entered WWII, M&Ms had grown big enough to score a contract exclusively producing the conveniently easy-to-transport chocolate for the military. Following the war, M&Ms were wildly popular, as they were the best part of the day for many soldiers in the trenches.
The original name of Microsoft Windows was “Interface Manager”. In 1981, Microsoft began the development of a program called “Interface Manager”. Most people won’t recognise that name because Interface Manager became Windows in 1983. Microsoft released Windows 1.0 in 1985, and it’s now the most common operating system in the world. It’s hard to believe the OS would be successful with its original name. Interface Manager perfectly describes what Windows would become. In the marketing department, making that name sound interesting or useful would have been impossible. Everyone recognises Windows, and millions of computers run on Windows 10 today. Interface Manager should be considered a work-in-progress name and something best left in the past.
Top 5 best-selling video games of all time. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time by a large margin. The game was released in November 2011 and has sold 200 million units. People of all ages love crafting and survival games. Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto V holds the number two spot with 140 million units sold. Quite a few people log on every week to partake in this regularly updated open-world title. Both titles include sales across multiple platforms. On the other hand, Tetris holds the number three spot in mobile sales alone. The classic game has amassed 100 million in sales since its release in 2006. Wii Sports lands at number four and features sales on one platform as well. Finally, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds hit 70 million in sales across multiple platforms to round out the top five best-selling games list. Every title on the list saw an initial release between 2006 and 2017.
Best Apple iOS Apps and Games in 2021. In the gaming category: Toca Life World (iPhone App of the Year). LumaFusion (iPad App of the Year). Craft, (Mac App of the Year). DAZN (Apple TV App of the Year). Carrot Weather (Apple Watch App of the Year). “League of Legends: Wild Rift,” (iPhone Game of the Year). “MARVEL Future Revolution,” (iPad Game of the Year). “Myst,” (Mac Game of the Year). “Space Marshals 3” (Apple TV Game of the Year). “Fantasian” (Apple Arcade Game of the Year). In the connection category: “Among Us!”, Bumble, Canva, EatOkra, Peanut.
Surprising the sexists. Suffragist life partners, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson, both qualified doctors, attempted to join the armed forces medical services on the outbreak of war in 1914 but were not allowed to serve because of their sex. So they set up an independent hospital to treat wounded soldiers, with all-female staff, surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses. It rapidly became regarded as the best in the UK.
BitDefender Ranks as the Most Popular Free Antivirus, Accruing a 10.17% Share of the Industry. Statistics show that BitDefender ranks as the number one best free antivirus, having a staggering market share of 10.17%. While BitDefender ranks marginally ahead of its contemporaries, its major contender, Malwarebytes, declined to 7.29% in market share.
A handful of world-renowned scientists were born in England: Another intriguing fact about England is that it’s been the birthplace of several iconic scientists! Sir Isaac Newton, a household name, was born in Lincolnshire in 1643 and went on to write the laws of motion, gravity and the theory of colour. More recently, Stephen Hawking was born in 1942 in Cambridgeshire. The professor is best known for his theory of exploding black holes which has revolutionised the field of astronomy. These English scientists’ findings are still very relevant for science to this day, with their works being used frequently in education and the industry.
The South East of England is mostly flat: England’s topography is quite varied, with the Lake District National Park being a great example of the country’s high elevation. If you venture towards the South East, you’ll find the opposite. This part of the country is mostly low-lying, offering flat countryside with uninterrupted views. Some of the best places to experience these views are the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including the Cotswolds and Chiltern Hills. The glorious South Downs National Park offers a stunning mixture of coastal and countryside sights, including the Seven Sisters cliffs. It’s well worth checking out!
Asset Maintenance Is at the Forefront of AI Automation: According to Artificial Intelligence stats published in a Capgemini study, the most popular AI use cases in the manufacturing sector include predicting when machines are likely to break down and recommending the best time to perform maintenance. The study shows that nearly 29 per cent of AI applications in the manufacturing industry are for keeping production assets up and running.
Top Retailers Aim to Implement AI in 2023 to Facilitate Price Optimisation: Aware of the fact that 60 per cent of consumers choose the best-priced offers, leading retailers are planning to implement AI systems by 2021 to optimise the pricing of their products, according to Artificial Intelligence stats released in a study by IBM.
The development of machine learning is expected to be increasingly automated. Some sectors that best exemplify this fun fact about technology are agriculture, cybersecurity (you can read more about it from our expert interview on ransomware attacks and cybersecurity), fintech, manufacturing, and many more.
Google-owned AI DeepMind can beat most Starcraft 2 players and compete with the best.