Vanilla flavouring is sometimes made from something called castoreum, a scented oil which is naturally secreted by beavers’ butts.
100 Mind-Blowing Something Facts
The commonly known phrase “to a T” means something that fits just right. Interestingly enough, this expression derives from a similar phrase “to a title,” which is a small mark that is used in spelling norms, like the dots of i’s or j’s, or an accent mark.
If you keep smelling something that is not there, you may be experiencing the earliest symptoms of schizophrenia.
Give something back to the Earth on March 12th – because it’s officially known as “Plant a Flower Day.”
Dogs sniff good smells with their left nostril. Dogs normally start sniffing with their right nostril, then keep it there if the smell could signals danger, but they’ll shift to the left side for something pleasant, like food or a mating partner.
The French have their name for a French kiss. Is there something extra interesting about this kissing fact? The word hasn’t been around for long. In 2014, galocher—meaning to kiss with tongues—was added to the Petit Robert French dictionary.
H&M stands for something. This is one of those interesting facts you’ve probably never thought about before. The clothing retail shop was originally called Hennes—Swedish for “hers”—before acquiring the hunting and fishing equipment brand Mauritz Widforss. Eventually, Hennes & Mauritz was shortened to H&M.
The U.S. government saved every public tweet from 2006 through 2017. Starting in 2018, the Library of Congress decided to only keep tweets on “a very selective basis,” including elections and those dealing with something of national interest, like public policy.
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.
There is a word for someone giving an opinion on something they know nothing about. An ‘ultracrepidarian’ is someone who voices thoughts beyond their expertise.
The sound of a Star Wars lightsaber is the combined sound of a film projector and noise from an old TV. Sound designer Ben Burtt created the iconic whooshing sound of lightsabers almost accidentally. The sound made when lightsabers make an impact resulted from TV feedback on a shieldless microphone – which Burtt discovered on accident while looking for something to add to the projector hum.
Only ¼ of the Sahara Desert is sandy. When you think Sahara, you’d probably think of something out of The Lion King or National Geographic: stretches of dry, barren sands. However, this is not the case. One of the fun facts about the Sahara desert is that it’s hardly made up of sand! Most of it is covered in gravel with mountains and oases.
Glitter was invented by a farmer. You wouldn’t think something as sparkly and extravagant as glitter was created by a farmer. Henry Ruschmann of New Jersey was a cattle rancher who crushed plastic in 1934 to dispose of it. The resulting powdered form is what we now know as glitter.
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.
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.
Game of Thrones Night’s Watch cloaks are made from Ikea rugs. Creating something like Game of Thrones takes a lot of painstaking attention to detail to take people to the rugged, sooty world of Westeros. However, you’d be surprised that some of the production designs are just from everyday things. Namely, IKEA rugs for the Night Watch’s cloaks. IKEA has since released a tutorial for how to make GoT cloaks.
The organs in Grey’s Anatomy surgeries aren’t fake. … they’re cow organs. You were probably expecting something more dark, huh? Using synthetic organs for the operation scenes would have been shabby for a medical drama. Additionally, the hands shown in Grey’s Anatomy operation closeups are real surgeons’ hands.
Studies have shown that playing Tetris can curb sex, drug, and food cravings. Maybe it’s because the physical and visual representation of “fixing” things to fit just right gives us the illusion of having our sh*t together, or maybe it’s something else. Nonetheless, it’s proven that Tetris helps lessen impulsive behaviour. Carnal desires, no more.
People used to answer the phone by saying “Ahoy!” What would you do if you called someone and they answered with, “Ahoy!” I, for one, would throw my hands at how unnecessary that would be. However, when the public started using the phone in the 1800s, inventor Alexander Graham Bell decided that phone calls should be answered with “ahoy” instead of “hello.” However, Thomas Edison wanted users to answer the phone with “hello.” By 1880, “ahoy” was just something a pirate would say.
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.
Almonds are part of the peach family. Almonds are not true nuts but rather something called “drupes.”
Butterflies can taste with their feet, using something called chemoreceptors to help them identify plants. Females select the correct leaf on which to lay eggs by “drumming” it with their feet to release juices.
1 tsp of neutron star weighs the same as the human population. A neutron star’s density is mind-boggling. These stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed together in a tiny radius. Just a teaspoonful of this material would weigh over a trillion kilograms — more than the weight of the entire human population (which reaches a few hundred billion kilograms). To make something as dense as a neutron star, the whole of humanity would need to be crammed into a space the size of a sugar cube.
The wind is silent until it blows against something.
Before there was Beats by Dre, there was something else altogether. In the 60s and 70s, the Beatles teamed up with inventor John C. Koss to create their brand of headphones. They were known as “Beatlephones.”
Sea slugs are almost invincible. If something severs the head of a sea slug from the body, a new body grows.
Sadly, axolotls are now critically endangered. They’re on something called the IUCN Red List, meaning they’re in danger of going extinct.
The fear of running out of something to read is called “abibliophobia.”
Ancient Roman commoners went on strike by evacuating their cities, leaving the upper classes hopelessly fending for themselves. Secessio plebis (secession of the plebeians) is similar to a general strike but proved much more effective as the upper classes almost entirely relied upon the working classes. Pretty much everything in the city would close down, which proved to be incredibly effective at having the peasants’ demands met. Maybe this is something that we should try again in modern times.
As dogs were domesticated, their eyes evolved to look cuter. Have you ever seen a picture of a wolf’s eyes and seen something mysteriously menacing in them compared to those of a dog? Well, there’s a good reason for that. Dogs evolved muscles around their eyes, allowing them to change their facial expression slightly, commonly known as “puppy eyes.” It’s believed that they evolved so because dogs that looked cuter and friendlier were more likely to be looked after.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs thought he didn’t have body odour. Steve Jobs, genius as he was, had some interesting beliefs. For example, he was vegetarian and flirted with being a vegan and a fruitarian at various points for much of his life. He believed that his vegan diet prevented any form of body odour – something that his co-workers were quick to disagree with!
The 2007 video game Halo 3 was so popular that film executives blamed its creators for a drop in cinema attendance the week it was released. When it was released, the game was so popular that it broke previous sales records, raking in an incredible $170 million in the first day alone. The weekend the game was released, box office numbers were down 27%, something which Microsoft wasn’t even surprised about. Microsoft advertised the game similarly to a movie, targeting the same demographic (18-34) that frequent cinemas the most.
Arizona fines drivers under their unique “Stupid Motorist Law.” This law addresses something which Arizona is all too familiar with – flash floods and stupid drivers. When a section of an Arizona road is flooded, barriers are put up to prevent drivers from attempting to go any further. If you cross these barriers and need to get rescued, you will be fined under the Stupid Motorist Law to reimburse the cost of your rescue.
The quietest place on Earth is in Minnesota. Pretty much wherever you go in the world, there’s always going to be some sort of background noise, whether that’s the chirp of crickets or the slow, lazy whoosh of a gentle breeze. That’s the case everywhere except Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where something called an anechoic chamber lies. While the background noise in a tranquil bedroom measures somewhere around 30 decibels, Orfield Laboratories anechoic chamber recorded an average of -13 decibels – that’s so quiet that the inner workings of your body are audible.
The 1927 Liberian general election was the most rigged in world history. People are quick to claim an election was rigged when their ideal candidate isn’t chosen, but the people of Liberia had something to complain about back in 1927 genuinely. While there were only 15,000 registered voters, Charles King of the True Whig Party somehow managed to rake in 243,000 votes! Despite the results being falsified, the True Whig Party still won the election.
Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone let his fans vote on what he should change his middle name to. The famous Home Alone child star has faded away a little into obscurity these days, but he’s still manageing to stay relevant. In November 2018, he asked the world to give him a new middle name, as his name was “something dumb.” Out of a wide range of ridiculous finalists, he ended up changing his middle to his full name and is now officially known as Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin!
Recorders used to be a popular instrument. Many people around the world will fondly recall the moment in their early schooling years when they no longer had to screech out a horrifying rendition of Three Blind Mice or something along those lines on a recorder. This seemingly useless musical instrument, while shunned today, was all the rage back in the Baroque period of the early 1700s. It was so quiet that it was eventually replaced with the significantly louder flute so that the rest of the orchestra wouldn’t drown it out.
Stripey things like escalators and Venetian blinds can cause migraines. It turns out that our brains are simply unable to process incredibly uniform stripes, particularly vertical stripes. They increase something in our brains called gamma oscillations, which is one of the leading causes of migraines and even seizures. We’re not sure why, but it’s only artificial stripes that set us off, while the irregular stripes of a zebra are easy on the eyes.
Xerox is not a verb for photocopying but is the name of a company that creates and sells xerographic technology. Many people often use the word “xerox” when they want to photocopy something. Yet, they do not know that it is a company name called Xerox Holdings Corporation.
Google’s Name Comes From A Spelling Error. Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded Google in 1998. 70% of search queries worldwide run through Google’s search engine. On occasion, people wonder where the name Google comes from, and its origin story comes from a spelling error. A “googol”, in mathematics, is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. Page originally wanted to call the search engine googol. By the time the company was formed, it switched its name to Google. Perhaps the name is easier to spell and looks more friendly on the screen. People perform billions of search queries each day through Google. It’s such a popular name that it became a verb years ago among users. Most people refer to running an Internet search as “Googling” something.
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.
These Billion-Dollar IT Companies Started In A Garage. The tech industry is unique compared to other industries. Some of the largest names in tech originated in founders’ garages. In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen worked from their garage space to launch Microsoft. Google began as a side project of Larry Page and Sergey Brin in a garage they rented in 1998. Other companies like Apple, Amazon, and countless others began in garages as well. Perhaps there’s something about garages that spark creativity or productivity. Either way, the tech industry’s giants often come from humble beginnings. Now they’re worth billions of dollars each and counting.
Megabytes used to weigh hundreds of pounds. More specifically, 5 megabytes of data weighed one ton. In 1956, the first computer had something similar to a hard drive. At the time, it was a huge leap in storage capabilities, but the cabinet that contained the hard drive weighed over 2,200 pounds and could hold 5 MBs of data.
Computer Security Day is celebrated on November 30th. It was started in 1988 to help raise awareness of computer-related security issues. To celebrate Computer Security Day is easy and important – check your privacy settings on Facebook, and change your passwords to something stronger. You can also read the latest technology facts and make sure your data stored on your phone or in the cloud is secure.
The passwords for the nuclear missiles were just a string of zeros. Although the Air Force denies this, one Air Force launch officer, Bruce Blair, says they’re lying. And what government would want to admit to something that silly? For 20 years, the password was eight zeros all in a row – and it was written down, so nobody forgot.
Hackers uncovered a flaw in Hotmail’s security in 1999, which allowed access to any Hotmail email account by entering “eh” as the password. This crippling flaw was deemed to be “the most widespread security incident in the history of the web.” The group that took responsibility for the flaw’s exposure, known as Hackers Unite, claimed that they didn’t want to destroy anything by leaking it but rather wanted to draw seemingly much-needed attention to Microsoft’s failing security systems. Experts believe that the ability to access any email account with a simple password was unintentionally left behind as a “backdoor” by Microsoft’s engineers, something Microsoft has never admitted. Instead, they merely palmed it off as an “unknown security issue.”
Hitler’s half-nephew’s service in the US Navy. The son of Adolf Hitler’s half-brother, Alois, William Patrick Hitler was born in England in 1911 but moved to Germany in the 1930s. He was something of a problem for the German Führer, and in July 1939 he published an article in Look magazine titled ‘Why I hate my uncle. . .’ He moved to America in 1939. It has been reported that in 1944 he appealed directly to President Roosevelt to join the fight against his uncle and the FBI deemed it sincere. Though he never saw combat, Hitler served until 1947. He changed his name to William Stuart-Houston and died in 1987.
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.
Linus wanted to call this project “FreaX”, something of a combination of free+freak+UNIX
For paid users, it is possible to access the Internet through ChatGPT using the Bing selector, something that isn’t possible with GPT-3.5.