Pluto was temporarily closer to the sun than Neptune. NASA recorded this instance during the years between 1979 to 1999. However, this was not the only time in history for a phenomenon like this to occur.
100 Mind-Blowing During Facts
A jockey from 1923 managed to finish a race after dying. During the middle of a race, the jockey suffered from a heart attack. However, his horse was able to finish the race on its own and won. This event in history is the first and only time it has ever occurred since.
A Polish doctor once faked an outbreak to keep the Nazis away. Eugene Lazowski announced that there was a typhus outbreak that ended up saving over 8,000 people during the Second World War. At the time, this was considered to be a smart move because Lazowski decided to tug on the German’s phobias about hygiene.
The release of Pokemon GO increased game-related accidents by 26.5%. During the first 5 months of its release, damages over $25.5 million had occurred. 2 deaths were also reported to have taken place while the individuals were playing Pokemon GO.
Polar bears charge at a group of walruses while hunting. They attack those who are crushed or left behind during the mass panic. Seeing a polar bear directly attack its prey is considered rare according to observations and studies.
In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Ironically, people were more excited to see its exhibit empty rather than to see the painting itself. The number of visitors also increased during this incident.
The average horse is capable of 746 watts of power. This is approximately 15 horsepower. This term was developed during the 18th century when the steam engine was being marketed.
A premature birth takes place when the baby arrives earlier than 37 weeks during pregnancy. Those who are born early will often have complicated medical problems. Premature birth usually occurs when not enough nutrition is given to the mother during pregnancy. A few famous premature births include Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, and Isaac Newton.
2 out of 1000 children are born deaf in the United States. More children will lose their hearing later on as they grow up. This can occur later on during childhood or as adults. Deafness is also the number one birth defect recorded in the United States.
Knowing how to speak Russian is a requirement to become an International astronaut. The ISS has operations in Russia and will not provide a translator during the job. Most new astronauts claim that learning a new language is the most difficult part of the job.
Moths do not have a stomach. Most species of moths survive solely based on the nutrients that are stored in their tissues. These nutrients are only acquired during the caterpillar stages in their life cycle.
In China, seductively eating a banana during a livestream is illegal. This was done so that the number of underaged women in China could not attract older male audiences. The Chinese government deems such acts like this harm the social morality.
Bacon was once a Middle English term used to refer to all pork. This was a common practice during the 16th century. The terms come from many German and French dialects.
Sneezing too hard can cause rib fractures. Suppressing a sneeze could also lead to the rupture of a blood vessel in the head or neck. This occurrence may lead to death. However, keeping your eyes open during a sneeze will not make your eyes pop out of their sockets.
Birds can recognise landmarks. Birds are built with their kind of GPS that allows them to navigate easily during migration. A young bird will imprint on the sun and stars that allow it to attain familiarity with its location.
The ice cream cone was invented during the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. The invention of this edible container was made when a Syrian named Ernest E. Hamwi used batter at his waffle booth to make cones. This was done to help out his neighbor who kept running out of serving bowls.
David Bowie once stated he was being stalked by a man in a pink rabbit suit. Bowie noticed a particular fan during his concerts who would always attend the events in a large pink rabbit suit. During one instance, he was alarmed to find the same rabbit onboard the plane he was on.
Greeks once believed that the mother’s milk originated from the uterus. During the Middle Ages, there was a vague understanding of the concept of breast milk. Many believed that this was produced in the uterus and travelled to the breast organ via a special vessel in the woman’s body.
The word ‘pants’ was once considered to be a dirty word. This was considered a vulgar statement during the 1880s in England. Any topic regarding the word was also frowned upon.
Originally, carrots were a purple colour. When carrots were cultivated in Afghanistan 1000 years ago, carrots were described as yellow or purple roots. Once carrots were exported into Southern Europe during the 14th century, they began to widely grow around the country.
Tulips were considered very valuable in the 1600s. It was reported that during this time, Tulips were worth more than gold. This flower was very popular during festivals and eventually became a form of currency.
3 Students once installed keystroke loggers onto their teacher’s computers to hack and sell grades to students. According to reports, the student was later sent to prison for stealing test answers and selling them to other students on campus. The spyware that the student installed was found during a routine check-up of campus computers.
A cat spends most of its life sleeping. A cat will spend an average of 15 hours a day sleeping. Some cats can sleep longer to a total of 20 hours a day. These felines do most of their sleeping during the day as they are generally active during the night.
Ducks cannot walk without bobbing their heads. Ducks often bob their heads to signify moods or emotions. At times, it may also be used to signify flirting during the mating season.
China originated paper making. The first papermaking process was documented during the 25-220 CE (Eastern Han period). At some point during the 8th century, Chinese papermaking spread to the Islamic world which later on was used as a method of making paper currency.
Until it blows against something, the wind makes no sound. Ready for more did you know the facts? The sounds you hear during a windy day are due to the speed of the wind coming into contact with various objects at the same time. The process of friction can also cause sounds at higher pitches depending on the speed of the wind.
Originally, tennis was played with bare hands. During the 12th century, Tennis was first played in France. The game was played by using your palm to hit the ball back to your opponent.
Disneyland serves 2.8 million churros a year. The churro was introduced to South America in the 1500s during the Spanish Inquisition. Around the same time, the Spanish brought cocoa to Europe, which they thickened with cane sugar to make hot chocolate. That probably explains why churros and hot chocolate are still a go-to pairing to this day.
Cheddar cheese is not orange. Originally, the colour of cheese changes with the seasons because of the cow’s diet. During the summer or spring, the beta-carotene in grass makes cows produce yellow cheese. On the other hand, fall and winter cause them to eat hay instead, producing whiter cheese. With that, farmers started dying the cheese since people preferred yellow ones.
Back in Medieval Times, bedrooms weren’t private. Aside from absurd, ominous art, we can all agree that the Medieval Ages was a weird time. During this period, beds were placed in areas where guests could see them. Usually, beds would be placed by a window, so passersby can admire whoever is sleeping. Sounds like something out of a thriller movie by today’s standards.
Baseball fans eat enough hotdogs to stretch from Illinois to Los Angeles. Hotdogs are a signature baseball snack. During MLB season, about 25,500,000 hotdogs and 5,508,900 sausages are sold every year. Lined up end to end, the hotdogs are enough to stretch from Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Chinese invented paper currency. During the Tang Dynasty which ruled between 618 and 907, China invented paper money. There used to be a warning written right on the bills that all counterfeiters would be decapitated.
Women were only allowed to wear shorts in public after WWII. With the scarcity of resources during the war, people had to wear less or opt for more cost-efficient clothing. After the war, it took time for countries to recover economically. As such, it was socially acceptable for women to wear shorts.
A Lord of the Rings actor would rather hike up a whole mountain than ride a helicopter. One of the things that makes Lord of the Rings lore so rich is the immersive environment of the story’s settings. While shooting the films, the cast had to fly to remote locations via helicopter. Sean Bean, who plays Boromir (and Ned Stark in Game of Thrones) was afraid of flight, and would only do it if he had no choice. During the shootings for the Fellowship crossing snowy mountains, he’d climb for two hours every morning to get to the set. He would make the climb already dressed as Boromir.
Big Brother U.S. only showed news from the outside world for one day. One of the main gimmicks of Big Brother is that the contestants are not allowed to be a part of the outside world. Communication was barred from their loved ones and they weren’t allowed to keep up with current events. However, the producers of Big Brother delivered the news to housemates just once during the 9/11 attacks.
George Lucas got stuck in the Jaws shark’s head. During a set visit, George Lucas thought it would be funny to stick his head in Bruce The Shark’s head. Steven Spielberg closed the jaws of the animatronic shark, and George Lucas got stuck inside. So much for funny facts.
The voice of the Exorcist demon ate raw eggs, chain-smoked, and had herself tied to a chair during recordings. Mercedes McCambridge fully committed to her role as Pazuzu’s voice in the 70’s horror classic, The Exorcist. Before recording her vocals, she chugged raw eggs, chain-smoked and drank whiskey to make her voice harsher than normal. One of the most shocking funny facts: During the recordings, she had herself bound to a chair. After all of that dedication, she insisted not to have her voice credited in the film!
Bonnie and Clyde’s gunshot sounds were so loud, that a projectionist kept lowering the volume. Director-star Warren Beatty deliberately made the gunshot sounds in Bonnie and Clyde pop out from the mix. During the film’s British premiere, Beatty noticed the projectionist at the cinema lowering the volume because he thought the loud gunshots were due to poor audio mixing.
Roman Polanski had pee thrown at his face during Chinatown. If you’ve had any experience making a video group project, you’d know the high-tension environment of productions. Fights are pretty much inevitable. One of the most iconic cinema fights and funny facts: During the shoot for Chinatown, Faye Dunaway asked for her character’s motivation in one particular scene. Instead of offering advice, Roman Polanski yelled, “Say the fucking words. Your salary is your motivation.” This friction continued until the director wouldn’t let Dunaway take a toilet break. Fed up, Dunaway threw a coffee cup with her pee in his face.
The blue meth in Breaking Bad is rock candy. Yup, they’ve been snorting rocks this whole time, but a confectionery kind: Crystal Sky is cotton candy-flavoured rock candy. It may have been fake drugs, but the cast and crew were still getting a different kind of high from it – they’d eat the sugary mixture to keep them up during shoots.
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf in his cap to keep it cool. Babe Ruth’s unusual way of keeping cool during games is one for WTF facts: He would take leaves off a head of cabbage and put them in a cooler. From there, he would take one and put it under his cap every two innings.
An actor’s brain activity is different when in character. Some actors are so good, you forget that they’re acting. However, the actors themselves seem to forget that too. During a study, researchers scanned performers’ brains while the actors answered questions either as themselves or in character. According to the results, the brain activity of participants differed between answering as themselves or as a character – almost as if the character is possessing the actor.
Before alarm clocks, there were human alarms. Knocker-Uppers originated in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. When people needed to wake up and get to work, a knocker-upper’s job was to take a wooden stick and knock on the door to wake them up.
Chip bags are full of nitrogen. The excess air in chip bags isn’t there to fool buyers into thinking there are more chips inside. Instead, bags of chips are filled with nitrogen. Oxygen would spoil the chips fast, but nitrogen preserves freshness, prevents combustion, and creates cushioning during shipping.
Harrod’s was the first place to sell toilet paper. Toilet “wipes” were invented in London in 1857. During this time, toilet paper was only sold in the men’s department at Harrod’s.
The man with the longest beard tripped and died because of it. Hans Steininger once became famous for having the world’s longest beard at almost 5 ft long. However, he became even more famous for dying because of his beard. One of the morbidly funny yet unfortunate WTF facts: he tripped on his beard during a fire, which made him fall downstairs and break his neck.
A 17-year-old once struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. At 17 years old, Jackie Mitchell pitched against the Yankees during an exhibition game and struck out baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. One of the more inspiring but still WTF facts.
Madame Tussaud used real heads for her first wax creations. Madame Anna Maria Tussaud started her waxing during the French Revolution. She would grab heads from the guillotine pile, look for the most interesting faces, and create wax masks with their faces for the revolution.
People in New England thought tuberculosis was vampirism. The 19th century was the height of the “New England Vampire Panic.” during this time, people thought that “consumption” (what they called Tuberculosis) was spread by vampires. People would even dig up Tuberculosis victims and stake them through the heart. Not a fan of Twilight, it seems.
Anna Mae Dickinson cheated death 5 times. Anna Mae Dickinson survived both the Titanic and Lusitania, the Hindenburg explosion, the Pearl Harbor bombing, and the destruction of her apartment during 9/11. She must be part cat.
America accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on South Carolina in 1958. Talk about clumsy. Here’s one of the scary WTF facts: In 1958, a B-47 plane was headed to the United Kingdom with an atomic bomb even bigger than the Nagasaki bomb. During the flight, one of the pilots accidentally released the emergency pin. However, the critical part of the bomb needed to activate it was still on the plane. If it were already equipped with the bomb, it would have obliterated the entire state and even more.
A solar eclipse once ended a six-year war. In 585 BCE, the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. The soldiers saw it as a sign to stop fighting.
Coca-Cola was the first soft drink consumed in space. Applesauce was the first food eaten in space by John Glenn during the Friendship 7 mission of 1962.
High heels were invented for men. Though heels are seen as symbols of femininity nowadays, high heels were initially designed for men’s use in the late 16th century. During this time, heels were seen as masculine and a great height booster.
Bears don’t poop during hibernation. You might wonder, “How do animals keep in their poop when they hibernate?” Before an animal goes into hibernation, they will eat a lot to sustain them until they wake. So, where does all the food go? Bears keep their food in by eating grass and twigs, creating a plug or stopper in their bowels. With this stopper, they can sleep continuously without having to poop. However, once they wake up, it all comes out.
List served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he worked as a laboratory technician.
During his trial, List claimed he was suffering from severe depression at the time of the murders.
List expressed remorse for his actions during interviews but maintained that he believed he was saving his family.
“Schindler’s List” was released in 1993. Directed by Steven Spielberg, this powerful black-and-white film tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.
The movie showcases the ordinary people who became heroes. “Schindler’s List” sheds light on the unsung heroes who risked their lives to save others during one of history’s darkest periods.
Peyton List is an alumna of the New York Film Academy. During her pursuit of a career in acting, she honed her skills at the prestigious New York Film Academy.
During World War II, Germany planned to collapse the British economy by dropping millions of counterfeit bills over London.
A male lion’s majestic mane helps protect its neck during fights and also acts as a visual signal of strength to other lions.
3 Musketeers candy bars used to come in three flavours. The original candy from the 1930s had three different kinds of nougat: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry (hence the name!). Unfortunately, it had to be cut down to one during World War II due to rations being too expensive.
Deaf people use sign language in their sleep. During a 2017 case study, a 71-year-old man with severe hearing impairment and “rapid eye movement disorder” was observed using fluent sign language in his sleep.
During the hot summer, our nails grow faster. This weird fact about the human body is because of the increased blood flow to our fingertips.
You are about 1cm taller in the morning when you first get up than when you go to bed. This is because during the day the soft cartilage between your bones gets squashed and compressed.
During the Victorian era, it was popular for people to take photographs of their loved ones after they had died.
The Moon is lemon-shaped. Despite its appearance in the night sky, our natural satellite is nowhere near round. The Moon is shaped like a lemon, with flattened poles and bulges on both the near and far sides around its equator. This strange shape is thought to have been created during interactions with Earth soon after its formation.
Gamma-ray bursts release more energy in 10 seconds than our Sun in its entire life. Nothing in the Universe rivals the power unleashed during a gamma-ray burst, a brief but incredibly intense flash of high-energy radiation. There are many types of gamma-ray bursts: some are thought to form when a massive star implodes; others when two neutron stars merge.
The moon is very hot (224 degrees Fahrenheit, average) during the day but very cold (-243 degrees average) at night.
There are 222 owl species in the world. Most are nocturnal, but a few are active during the daytime, such as the Barred Owl.
Golf is one of only two sports ever played on the moon. In 1971, Alan Shepard hit a ball with a six-iron while on the moon as part of the Apollo 14 mission. The other sport was a javelin toss, during the same visit.
Historians think that the narwhals are what the unicorn myth is based on. During the Middle Ages, unicorn horns were so coveted that royalty would pay extraordinary prices for them, often the weight of the horn in gold. Hunters travelled to Northern Europe to try and capture the narwhals and bring back their horns (which they would tell the royals were from unicorns).
The earliest menu dates back to the mid-1700s. They first popped up in Europe around then to accommodate high-class residents during dinner parties.
Cleopatra was Queen of Egypt from 50 to 30 B.C. She came into power at 12 years old and married two of her brothers during her reign. It sounds crazy today, but this was fairly common practice back then!
Earth has a squishy interior. Earth’s interior is not solid but rather has a semi-solid or ‘squishy’ consistency owing to high temperatures and pressures. This squishy consistency allows the mantle to flow and move over geological timescales, which is responsible for phenomena such as plate tectonics, volcanic activity and Earthquakes. One consequence of this squishy interior is a process known as post-glacial rebound. During the last ice age, large portions of Earth’s surface were covered by glaciers, causing the underlying mantle to deform and sink. As the glaciers melted and receded, the mantle slowly rebounded back to its original position over thousands of years, causing the land above it to rise. This process is still occurring today in places such as Canada, Scandinavia, and Greenland, where the land is still rebounding from the weight of the glaciers that once covered the region. Recent research has found that West Antarctica is rising faster than anywhere else in the world, thanks to data from ESA’s GOCE gravity mission. The study of post-glacial rebound provides important insights into the structure and behaviour of Earth’s interior, and how it responds to changes in the surface environment over long timescales.
Space junk is any human-made object orbiting Earth that no longer serves a useful purpose. Scientists estimate there are about 500,000 pieces of space junk today, including fragments from rockets and satellites, and everyday items like spanners dropped during the construction of the International Space Station!
The Easter Island heads are more than just heads. During excavation, archaeologists unEarthed bodies on these massive stones, some measuring as tall as 33 feet.
Hail storms are common. But, some planets have diamond storms. On Saturn and Jupiter, lightning strikes carbon soot and hardens into graphite. Then, the material becomes pressurized during the storm and becomes a diamond. The result is diamond hail.
Dolphins are highly trainable creatures. During the Vietnam War, both America and the Soviet Union trained dolphins. These animals could detect mines, deliver needed equipment to divers, retrieve lost items, and protect submarines. Dolphins are very intelligent and emotional. The dolphin who portrayed Flipper chose not to return to the surface for air and died with her trainer, essentially committing suicide.
Lincoln had a bodyguard on duty on the night of his assassination. John Frederick Parker had already arrived late for his shift. Then, he decided to take a break and get a drink at a nearby saloon during the show. During his absence, John Wilkes Booth entered Lincoln’s box and shot the President.
During Prohibition, the United States government became so frustrated citizens still consumed alcohol, that leaders took drastic measures. Bootleggers often stole industrial alcohol, so the government poisoned these alcohols. By the end of Prohibition, scientists estimate nearly 10,000 people died from this tactic.
There are many highly decorated military animals throughout American history. During World War I, the First Infantry Division used Rags, a terrier mix, to transport messages between units. Chief was the last mount, or military horse, in the Army. The military gave both of these animals full military honours at their burials. Leaders buried Chief in an upright position on Fort Riley.
M&M are one of the most beloved candies in the world. But, unknown to many, the Ms stand for Mars and Murrie, the two men who developed the candy. Rations given to soldiers during the Spanish-American War inspired this candy. Traditional chocolate bars would melt before soldiers could eat them. The candy coating ensured soldiers could enjoy their chocolates in the field.
Airplane food might not be that bad. During flights, elevation causes dryness and reduces sensitivity. This fact limits the amount passengers can taste while flying.
WHALES ARE OFTEN CAUGHT IN NETS. Over 85% of North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once during their lifetime – they often get caught many times in their lives.
An oak tree produces about 10 million acorns during its lifetime.
During the year 1881, three men served as presidents of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur.
The Titanic wreckage was discovered during a top-secret mission to search for sunken nuclear submarines. Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic wreckage, originally went to the US Navy to request funding to develop an advanced robotic submersible that would allow him to search for the wreckage. The navy liked his idea but decided to use it to search for two lost US nuclear submarines. The mission finished early, and Ballard was able to use the extra time to discover the lost ship.
Recessions may not be good for our finances, but it turns out that they’re good for our health. Researchers in the US initially studied data from previous economic crises expecting to find a correlation between mortalities and economic crises. What they found was surprising, as harder times seemed actually to reduce mortality rates instead of increasing them. This is because during a recession, there is less traffic, and cleaner air, and people have less money to spend on unhealthy things like drinking alcohol or smoking.
Only one married couple has ever been sent to space. Mark Lee and Jan Davis met during their astronaut training programs but decided to keep their relationship secret. NASA had an informal policy against sending out married couples on missions. Nine months before their mission, they got married, and by the time NASA found out it was too late to begin training replacements. Instead, they made their informal policy formal to prevent it from happening again!
Bill and Melinda Gates have given away more than $45 billion since 1994. Bill Gates alone has ranked among the world’s richest for decades now, amassing much of his vast fortune from Microsoft, which he co-founded. Bill and Melinda Gates founded the “Giving Pledge” in 2010 to encourage other wealthy people like themselves to donate much of their wealth either during their lifetimes or afterwards. Despite giving so much away, Bill Gates is still worth over $110 billion.
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!
One of Fleetwood Mac’s founding guitarists disappeared just before a show and was found days later as a newly initiated cult member. Jeremy Spencer was with Fleetwood Mac from the very beginning, but during a tour to the US in the 70’s he became quite disillusioned with his career and life in general. He met members of Children of God, a religious cult in California, and decided to join them instead of continuing on the road to stardom. Jeremy Spencer is still affiliated with the cult, now known as Family International.
The Pentagon has twice the number of bathrooms it needs. The US Department of Defence’s headquarters was constructed during the time of racial segregation, and as such, an extra set of facilities was created for African American employees. In 1941, before the Pentagon’s construction was complete, President Franklin D. Roosevelt prohibited racial segregation within federal organisations. Not only did the Pentagon end up with twice as many bathrooms as necessary, but twice as many cafeterias too!
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.
In the 18th Century, the doctor to the Danish King seized control of Denmark. Johann Friedrich was the royal physician for King Christian VII of Denmark, who could not truly serve as king due to mental illnesses. Friedrich soon realized the position of power he was in and declared himself the country’s de facto regent. During this time, he changed 1,069 laws, including abolishing torture, press censorship, and slave trading in the Danish colonies, and reformed the nation’s universities, among many other things.
At an average of 15 breaths per minute, we take about 400 million breaths during a lifetime. This is equivalent to about 53 million gallons of air.
Rocky Road ice cream was originally marketed during the Great Depression as a metaphor for coping with the economic crash.