The Poodle is one of the cleanest breeds of dogs, making them a great choice for people with pet allergies. They don’t moult much at all, and they rarely smell, either.
100 Mind-Blowing Making Facts
In 1923, a jockey suffered a fatal heart attack, but his horse finished and won the race, making him the first and only jockey to win a race after death.
The costume designers for The Lord of the Rings worked for two straight years making custom armour. Just one Orc suit had 13,000 rings and took 3 days to make.
July 3rd is International Plastic Bag Free Day – it’s a day about making a little change to make a big impact (for the better) in the future.
The Green Lantern debuted in 1940, making the Lantern’s first debut only two years after Superman’s.
Enceladus, one of Saturn’s smaller moons, reflects 90% of the sunlight, making it more reflective than snow.
The logo for the Monster energy drink cans is not an M, as most believe, but are claw marks from a monster ripping through the can. In 2014 a YouTube video gained an international audience when they claimed that each segment of the claw mark looks like the Hebrew symbol for the number six, making the logo 666, the number of the Beast.
You could sweat when you’re anxious to alert others. One theory suggests we’ve evolved to sweat whilst anxious to alert the brains of other people around us so they are primed for whatever it is that’s making us anxious. Brain scans have revealed that when you sniff the sweat of a panic-induced person, regions of the brain that handle emotional and social signals light up. When you’re anxious your sympathetic nervous system releases hormones including adrenaline, which activates your sweat glands.
“Avengers: Endgame” is the top-grossing film of all time, making over $2.7B!
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.
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.
Bees can make coloured honey. In France, there’s a biogas plant that manages waste from a Mars chocolate factory, where M&Ms are made. Beekeepers nearby noticed that their bees were making “unnatural shades of green and blue” honey. A spokesperson from the British Beekeepers’ Association theorized that the bees eating the sugary M&M waste caused the coloured honey.
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.
A one-armed player scored the winning goal in the first World Cup. Héctor Castro, who accidentally cut off his right forearm while using an electric saw as a teenager, played on the Uruguay soccer team during the first-ever World Cup in 1930. In the last game between Uruguay and Argentina, Castro scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. The final score was 4–2, making Uruguay the first country to win the World Cup title.
The world’s largest waterfall is underwater. Yes, there are waterfalls under the ocean. At the Denmark Strait, the cold water from the Nordic Sea is denser than the Irminger Sea’s warm water, making it drop almost two miles down at 123 million cubic feet per second.
The world’s smallest wasp is smaller than an amoeba. The Megaphragma mymaripenne wasp has the same body parts as any other bug (brain, wings, eyes, and more) but is a fifth of a millimetre long, making it smaller than most amoebas, which are made of just one cell.
A book called ‘A la recherche du temps perdu’ by Marcel Proust contains an estimated 9,609,000 characters, making it the longest book in the world. The title translates to “Remembrance of Things Past”.
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.
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.
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.
Ben & Jerry’s learned how to make ice cream from a $5 course at Penn State. The titular Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends. Although Greenfield finished college, he was unable to pursue med school. Cohen, on the other hand, dropped out of school. In 1977, Cohen and Greenfield completed a course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University’s Creamery. One of the fun facts no one knows about this famous product: Have you ever wondered why Ben & Jerry’s is so chunky? Ben Cohen has a condition where he can’t smell or taste anything. Instead, he relied on food textures texture to provide variety in his diet. This led to the company’s trademark chunks in their ice cream.
Bees can make different colours of honey. Beekeepers in France once noticed that their bees were making shades of green and blue honey. It was later discovered that the bees were consuming colourful M&M waste from a nearby Mars factory.
Soap is used for cleaning because its molecules trap dirt in the centre of its compound when in water. Soap cleans by acting as a surfactant and emulsifier. It can surround oil, making it easier to rinse it away with water.
White chocolate isn’t chocolate. This is made from a blend of sugar and milk products along with some cocoa powder and vanilla extracts. The reason why this cannot be classified as chocolate is that it does not contain any chocolate solids in its making process.
23% of all photocopier problems are caused by people sitting on them. People from all over the world cause machine difficulties by making copies of their buttocks. Sitting on the machines is also dangerous for the person because they emit ozone into the air. Constant exposure to this could irritate the eyes and respiratory tract.
Cats have a hundred vocal cords. Cats have two main vocal cords and are capable of making over 100 different types of sounds. They work in conjunction with the trachea and the cartilage in the throat.
Apples wake you up more than coffee in the morning. This is because of the high amounts of sugar that is found in apples. The vitamins from the apples also have similar effects to caffeine, thus making you feel more awake.
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.
It takes 3 alligators to make a pair of boots. The main parts of the alligator that are used in boot making are the belly, its tail, and the flank. Depending on the size of the alligator, fewer animals could be used to make a pair of boots.
Singing in a group boosts one’s mood. Maybe those Glee kids had it right all along. According to Multiple studies, singing as a part of a group provides different physical and emotional benefits. Singing with others releases hormones like oxytocin and cortisol into the bloodstream, making us feel happy and reducing stress.
Cows hate country music. You’d think that cows would vibe with country music, but that’s not the case. According to research, cows produce 3% less milk when listening to country music. The study was conducted on a Scottish herd of 45 cows, which were made to listen to classical music and country music. With classical music, their milk production increased, with one particular cow making 1 litre more milk than usual. However, with country music, 44 cows were observed to yield 3% less milk.
Lachanophobia is the fear of vegetables. The word originates from the Greek lachno (vegetables) and phobos (fear or aversion). This may be one of the funny facts that sound like we’re just making things up, but there is a medical diagnosis for the fear of veggies. In 2009, a woman was diagnosed with the condition. However, since she had a baby to care for, she overcame her phobia.
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.
Wimbledon tennis balls must be stored at perfect room temperature. Wimbledon tennis balls must be kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit because the temperature affects how it bounces. If it’s warmer gas molecules inside the ball expand, which makes it bounce higher. If it’s cooler, the molecules will shrink, making the ball bounce lower.
Medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Each year, medical error causes 250,000 casualties in the United States, making it the third-leading cause of death in the country.
There’s a sport for making weird faces. A gurn or chuck is a particularly funny facial expression. The typical “gurn” involves protruding the lower jaw as forward as possible, completely covering the upper lip with the lower lip. Anne Woods of the U.K. has won 27 gurning championships from 1977-2010, which makes her the record-holder for the most gurning world championships won.
Plants do a lot for your room aside from making you happier. Rooms with plants have up to 60% less airborne mould and bacteria.
The film showcases the power of individual action in making a difference. Schindler’s bravery and determination to save lives remind us of the impact one person can have in the face of unimaginable evil.
The film’s realism makes it difficult to watch. “Schindler’s List” does not shy away from depicting the brutal realities of the Holocaust, making it a challenging but essential viewing experience.
In 1923, a jockey suffered a fatal heart attack mid-race. His horse finished and won the race, making him the first and only jockey to win a race after death.
Fungi can control the mind and make them a zombie. Ophiocordyceps is a kind of tropical fungus that affects the ant’s central nervous system. After nine days, when it’s been inside the ant’s body, it has complete control over the host’s movements. It can influence the ant’s behaviour too by making them climb the tree and then fall.
A lion’s roar can be heard from as far as five miles (eight kilometres) away, making it one of the loudest roars in the animal kingdom.
The average temperature on Mars is -62C, making it much colder than the coldest place on Earth.
Tornadoes can have winds of up to 300 mph, making them the most violent storms on Earth!
Hippopotamuses can’t swim. We always see them in the water, but hippos can’t swim. Their bones are large and dense, making it hard for them to float. Instead, they do a sort of “slow-motion gallop on the riverbed or on the sea floor.”
One of the world’s oldest-known recipes is for beer. Archaeologists uncovered a 5,000-year-old brewery in China with ancient “beer-making tool kits” in underground rooms dating back to 3400 and 2900 B.C.
Mars is home to Olympus Mons, a dormant volcano and the largest volcano and highest mountain in our solar system. It is 16 miles high and 600 km across the base, making it 3x the height of Mount Everest.
There’s a place on Earth where seagulls prey on right whales. They dive-bomb the calves coming up to breathe air and take bites of blubber from their backs. The calves’ skin is thinner than adults, and they have to come up for air more frequently, making them more exposed and vulnerable to attack.
According to Tori Avey, coffee became a popular drink in America after the Boston Tea Party of 1773: Making the switch from tea to coffee was considered a patriotic duty.
Yuma, Arizona gets over 4000 hours of sunshine a year, making it the sunniest place on Earth. The least sunny place is the South Pole, where the sun only shines on 182 days a year. (Which would you rather live in?)
Atacama is the driest place on Earth. The Atacama Desert, located in South America, is widely considered to be the driest place on Earth, outside of the Antarctic dry valleys. This vast expanse of land spans over 100,000 sq km and receives an average of less than 1 mm of rainfall per year. The harsh climate of the Atacama is due to a combination of factors including its location in a rain shadow caused by the Andes mountains, the presence of the cold Humboldt Current offshore and a lack of moisture-bearing winds. Despite its arid conditions, the Atacama is home to several unique species of plants and animals that have adapted to survive in this harsh environment. The desert is also known for its stunning landscapes, including salt flats, geysers and towering volcanoes – making it a popular destination for adventurous travellers.
Earth’s magnetic pole is creeping westward. Unlike our geographic North Pole, which is in a fixed location, Earth’s magnetic north wanders. Until the early 1990s, the magnetic North Pole was known to lie some 1600 km south of true north, in Canada. Yet scientists realised that the location of the magnetic north wasn’t fixed and was drifting at a rate of 15 km a year. Since the 1990s, however, the drift of Earth’s magnetic pole has turned into more of a sprint. Its present speed is around 50-60 km a year and is making a dash towards Siberia at a pace not seen before. Why? Scientists studying the drift of Earth’s magnetic north pole, using data from ESA’s Swarm mission, have pinpointed a change in the circulation pattern of magnetic blobs deep below Earth’s surface. They learned a change in the flow underneath Canada has caused a patch of magnetic field at the edge of Earth’s core, deep within the Earth, to be stretched out. This has weakened the Canadian patch and resulted in the pole shifting towards Siberia.
Europe is the second smallest continent in size but the third largest in population. Europe is known for its diverse cultures, rich history and stunning landmarks. Despite being the second smallest continent in size (after Australia), Europe is home to a staggering population of over 746 million people, making it the third largest continent in terms of population (after Asia and Africa). Europe has one of the highest levels of urbanisation in the world, with over 75% of its population living in urban areas. With the world’s population expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, we must increase efforts to understand and mitigate the challenges brought by rapid and unplanned urbanisation, air pollution, as well as issues related to the management of water and energy. ESA and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), in collaboration with the Google Earth Engine team, have developed the World Settlement Footprint – the world’s most comprehensive dataset on human settlement. Featuring data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions, this unprecedented collection of data on human settlement will advance our understanding of urbanisation on a global scale.
SOME WHALES USE BUBBLE NETTING TO FEED. This involves whales cooperatively blowing bubbles that encircle their prey. As the prey won’t cross through the bubbles, they’re trapped, making it easy for the whales to eat them.
DEFORESTATION RELEASES CARBON DIOXIDE THAT HAS BEEN STORED AS CARBON IN TREES, ROOTS AND SOIL, MAKING CLIMATE CHANGE WORSE. This creates a feedback loop, as climate change increases the likelihood of deforestation, as the risk of droughts, wildfires and pest infestations increases and stresses the forest ecosystem. There is simply no way we can fight the climate crisis if we don’t stop deforestation.
A polar bear’s hair is not white – it’s colourless. Each thick strand of hair is hollow and reflects the light, making the polar bear appear white. Beneath this transparent fur, the skin is black, to soak up any warmth from the sun and keep the bear as warm as possible.
Since 1945, all British tanks come with tea-making equipment.
There’s a species of wolf that lives almost exclusively off seafood. Found on the coast of Vancouver Island, these sea wolves are truly unique in their hunting practices. Unsurprisingly, they have adapted to become excellent swimmers, which allows them to access food other wolves wouldn’t normally attempt to catch. Salmon constitute up to a quarter of their diet, with various shellfish, seals, bird’s eggs, and even whale carcasses making up the rest.
Peugeot has been making cars for more than one century. (126 years old).
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.
Smell test. A 17th-century King of Arakan chose wives by making women stand in the sun and then doing a blind sniff test on all their sweaty clothes. The ones he didn’t like he sent to lesser nobles.
Christmas is cancelled. A Christmas-themed one from the brilliant Joanna McCunn on that old chestnut, did Cromwell ban Christmas… In 1644 the Puritan parliament declared every last Wednesday of the month would be a legally mandated fast day. Christmas Day fell on the last Wednesday of the month so no feasting was to be allowed that year. Time should be spent in even more solemn humiliation, repenting of your sins for making Christmas a time of carnal and sensual delights in the past. In 1647 they went the whole hog, banning all celebrations of Christmas and Easter for good! (Charles II reversed this when he came to the throne in 1660).
Individual people can experience time differently, too. You’ve probably noticed how time seems to speed up when you’re racing against a deadline or having fun, and how it tends to drag when you’re bored. This is because when you’re focused on something, like a big work project or a party, your brain pays less attention to how time passes. But when you’re bored, or your brain is less stimulated, you become more aware of the passing of time, making it feel slower. One study proposed that dopamine—the neurotransmitter and hormone that helps us feel happy—may be an additional culprit. It showed that increased dopamine production, which happens when you’re enjoying something, may slow down your body’s internal clock, making time feel like it’s flying by.
Even with the advent of standardised time, people still struggled to keep their clocks in sync. One London family used this to their advantage and made a living by selling people the time. An astronomer named John Belville would set his pocket watch to the time at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He would then travel around the city and visit his network of subscribers, who paid to set their clocks by Belville’s pocket watch. After Belville died in 1856, his wife, and then later their daughter Ruth, carried on the tradition. Ruth continued to sell the time until World War II. By then she was in her eighties, and a couple of factors led to her timely retirement: Improved technology had made her role less important, and the war was making treks around London too dangerous.
Linux is the most famous example of open source software but did you know that it wasn’t always that way? Early versions of Linux were distributed with a license forbidding commercial use or redistribution. It was version 0.12, released in 1992, that saw Linus adopt the GPL, making his code freely available to all.
The Bank of Brazil has been using Linux since 2002, making it one of the first national banks to adopt the operating system.
Linus Never Intended to Make Money Out of Linux: As a strong advocate for open-source software, Linux never intended to commercialize Linux. In fact, as a hobby project, Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, never envisioned making a profit from his groundbreaking operating system. When he started working on Linux in 1991, his primary motivation was to develop a free and open-source alternative to proprietary Unix systems. Torvalds released Linux under the GNU General Public License, ensuring that it would always remain open for anyone to use, modify, and distribute freely. This commitment to openness and collaboration led to rapid growth and popularity over the years to become one of the most essential operating systems in the IT world.
Linux Powers a Multitude of Devices: Nowadays, Linux runs on almost anything: servers, desktops, smartphones, smart watches, etc. Almost every hand-held device has a Linux kernel at the core of its operating system. Linux’s open-source nature allows developers to customise it for different devices and software needs, making it a widely used operating system in the world.
Linux Dominates Web Servers: By 2023, 96.3% of the top 1,000,000 web servers were reported to run on Linux. The Android operating system is based on a highly modified version of the Linux kernel. Many websites you visit daily are hosted on servers running Linux due to its stability and security making it a top choice for web hosting companies, as it can handle a heavy load of website visitors without slowing down.
Ubuntu: The Global Leader in Linux Desktop Adoption: Ubuntu‘s status as the most popular Linux desktop globally can be largely attributed to its clean, simple, and intuitive user interface, ensuring a seamless user experience. This appeal makes it particularly well-suited for newcomers to the Linux world or Windows users making the transition to Linux. Ubuntu’s user-friendly design, combined with its extensive software ecosystem and strong community support, has established it as a go-to choice for those seeking an approachable and efficient introduction to the Linux operating system.
Linux Is Extremely Versatile: Modern Linux desktop distros provide applications that allow you to perform virtually any operation including software development, browsing, graphic design, video editing, gaming, entertainment, and much more. This versatility extends to entertainment options, making it a one-stop solution for diverse needs. Whether you’re a professional or a casual user, Linux’s rich ecosystem ensures you can perform virtually any operation efficiently, contributing to its growing popularity in the desktop computing world.
Phishing was the leading infection vector, identified in 41% of incidents, making it the most common initial attack vector. (IBM)
In a survey, it was proven that almost two in every five people in the UK love eggs for breakfast, making them the UK’s most popular breakfast food.
Only 8% of the world’s currency is in cash: The vast majority of the world’s currency exists in electronic form. Economists estimate that coins and banknotes make up just 8% of the world’s currency. The rest sits on a computer hard drive in electric bank accounts all over the world. Because of the worldwide acceptance of the Internet and online payments, people are making and spending money without actually touching it.
There Are 1.4 Billion $2 Bills Still in Circulation: The first $2 bills were printed in 1862. Although they originally featured Alexander Hamilton, they were later redesigned to feature Thomas Jefferson. The bills are still in circulation – 1.4 billion of them in fact – and are considered to be the rarest currency denomination in the U.S. Some people believed $2 bills were bad luck and would rip off the corners of the bill to “reverse the curse,” making them unusable.
AI is capable of making diagnoses just as accurately as world-leading experts in the medical field. For example, there is one such AI-driven algorithm that can detect metastatic breast cancer with 99 per cent accuracy.
AI is used in surgery not only for diagnosing patients but also for decision-making and automated (robot-assisted) surgeries.