Wilma Rudolph (who set the world record in 1960 for 100, 200, and 4×100-meter relay) had polio, scarlet fever, and pneumonia as a child, leading doctors to believe she’d never walk again.
100 Mind-Blowing World Facts
The goblin shark is considered the ugliest shark in the world.
There are nine species of hammerhead sharks around the world.
Squirrel monkeys have the largest groups of any other New World monkey, with as many as 100 monkeys in a given band.
Here’s some amazing sports trivia for kids: Wilma Rudolph (who set the world record in 1960 for 100, 200 and 4×100-meter relay) had polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia as a child, leading doctors to believe she’d never walk again.
Due to World Wars, the Olympics have been cancelled three times.
The Grand Canyon is the largest in the world. Located in Arizona, it is massive, with an elevation of 2,600 feet and a length of 277 miles.
The hottest desert in the world is the Sahara desert. Located in Africa, the average temperature is around 30°C (86°F), but the hottest temperature ever recorded is 58°C (136.4°F).
The Andes in South America are the longest mountain range in the world.
The United States and Canada share the longest border in the world. In total, it spans over 1,538 miles!
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano in the world.
Speaking of books, there are lots of them to get through. In 2010, Google confirmed that there are over 129,000,000 books in the world.
North Korea and Cuba are the only places in the world where you can’t buy Coca-Cola.
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.
Antarctica is home to the largest ice sheet on Earth. More than six times as large as Greenland, Antarctica is the southernmost continent and is the coldest and windiest place on Earth – with temperatures that can drop as low as -89.2°C and winds that can exceed 320 km per hour. Antarctica is home to the largest ice sheet on Earth, containing a staggering 30 million cubic kilometres of ice. This represents an incredible 70% of Earth’s freshwater and 90% of its ice. As a result, changes to the Antarctic ice sheet can have significant implications for global sea levels and ocean currents. Monitoring the Antarctic ice sheet is therefore of paramount importance and satellite data plays a crucial role in this effort. Data from satellites such as CryoSat, ESA’s ice mission, allow scientists to track changes in the thickness and movement of the ice sheet over time, providing insights into how it is responding to a changing climate. ESA has recently teamed up with NASA and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to carry out an ambitious campaign in Antarctica which involved taking simultaneous measurements of sea ice from ESA’s CryoSat and NASA’s ICESat-2 satellites. This research is essential for informing policy decisions on issues such as climate change and sea level rise, and for developing strategies to mitigate their impact on coastal communities around the world.
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.
The Tibetan plateau is Earth’s ‘third pole’. The Tibetan Plateau is often referred to as the ‘third pole’ owing to the amount of freshwater it contains. With over 46,000 glaciers, the Tibetan Plateau holds the largest reserve of freshwater outside of the North and South Poles. These glaciers feed the rivers that run through the region, including the Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, providing a vital source of water for millions of people in China and Southeast Asia. The Tibetan Plateau’s glaciers, along with other glaciers around the world, are under threat from climate change. Rising temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate, which could have devastating consequences for the people and ecosystems that depend on them. New findings have found that values of ice lost from Himalayan glaciers from 2000 to 2020 were, on average, underestimated by 6.5%. This discovery has critical implications for predicting the demise of the region’s glaciers and for manageing critical water resources.
Throughout the world, people are familiar with animals in police service, particularly dogs and horses. But, there are regions in China that rely on the loud and disruptive nature of geese to help police the streets. Their commotion has deterred many criminals in recent years.
There is a species on Earth considered to be immortal. The “Immortal Jellyfish” is aptly named as it can transform some of its cells into a childhood state. This reaction usually occurs when the animal feels threatened. The jellyfish also has a habit of hitchhiking on boats and scientists have found them throughout the world now.
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.
Different time zones can make work difficult in some countries. France technically encompasses the most time zones with 12 unique time zones. But, these zones are not in a row as France has territories throughout the world. Russia and the United States both span 11 time zones, but there are no people in all these time zones in America.
THERE USED TO BE THOUSANDS OF BLUE WHALES IN THE ANTARCTIC. It’s estimated that there were over 225,000 Antarctic blue whales before their exploitation in the 1900s. Today, there are estimated to be less than 2,000 Antarctic blue whales left in the world.
FORESTS ARE HOME TO OVER 80% OF THE WORLD’S LAND-BASED SPECIES OF ANIMALS, PLANTS AND INSECTS. These animals help to keep the forest healthy. For example, elephants distribute seeds from fruits they have eaten. When the seeds pass through their gut, they come out undigested in their dung, and germinate in the ground.
FORESTS CAN MAKE RAIN. Over three-quarters of the world’s accessible freshwater comes from rivers in or around forests. Forests also move so much water from the soil into the atmosphere that they create rain. Parts of the Amazon actually trigger their own rainy season.
OUR TROPICAL FORESTS STORE ABOUT ONE-THIRD AS MUCH CARBON AS IS HELD IN THE ATMOSPHERE. Around 30% of all the carbon reserved in the world’s forests is stored in the forests of South America – around 82 gigatonnes
IN 2018 THE UK WAS THE SECOND LARGEST NET IMPORTER OF FOREST PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD, SURPASSED ONLY BY CHINA. To supply the annual UK demand for just seven products (beef and leather, timber, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, cocoa, and rubber) requires a land area of almost 90% of the size of the UK. Nearly 30% of this land is in countries at high risk of deforestation.
You can see axolotls right here at Deep Sea World! That’s right, Deep Sea World’s Temple of Frogs is home to a small group of axolotls, so you can enjoy an up-close view of these cute and curious critters.
The world’s shortest beach is Playa de Gulpiyuri. The shortest-ever beach is called Playa de Gulpiyuri. You can find the beach in Spain. The beach is only 50 metres long!
Fraser Island is the biggest sand island! The biggest sand island in the world is called Fraser Island! It is off the East Coast of Australia. The island is home to forests which, amazingly, grow through the sand!
Sweden has a rabbit show jumping competition called Kaninhoppning. The world record for the highest rabbit jump is 42 inches (106 cm).
Afghan poppy farmers have switched to solar power to run their irrigation systems. This has significantly increased the world’s supply of heroin.
If you were to remove all of the space from the atoms that make up every human on Earth, the entire world population could fit into an apple.
The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.
When adjusted for inflation, John D. Rockefeller is the richest man in the history of the world with a net worth 10 times more than Bill Gates.
The average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in a lifetime.
The United States, Burma, and Liberia are the only countries in the world that have not officially adopted the metric system as the standard of measurement.
A proposed amendment to the US Constitution in 1916 would have had citizens vote on all acts of war. In 1916 the United States had not yet entered World War I, but all signs pointed in that direction. The proposed amendment was submitted to Congress, along with a signed petition by Nebraska residents, but was ultimately rejected. The proposed amendment also would have ruled that anyone who voted in favour of an act of war would have to sign up as an army volunteer.
A silverback gorilla could deadlift 1,800 lbs. That’s 815 kg for you metric maniacs. To give you a better idea, the deadlift world record is just over 1,100 pounds (500kg). This should come as no real surprise, as gorillas are the largest primates in existence.
Stephen Hawking was rumoured to run over the toes of people he didn’t like. The world-renowned physicist used a wheelchair from the age of 22 due to a severe form of motor neuron disease. This didn’t stop this from having a bit of fun, crushing the toes of many who drew his ire – including the UK’s Prince Charles himself! When confronted about this tendency, Hawking passed it off as a “malicious rumour” before jokingly threatening to run over the toes of anyone who repeated it.
Jim Carrey was the first actor to star in three consecutive box-office hits. Jim Carrey didn’t have much success in the acting world until he hit his thirties, but that changed in 1994. In the space of eleven months, Carrey starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, And Dumb and Dumber, which truly kicked his acting career into gear. The Mask, in particular, took the world by storm, grossing $350 million and showcasing Carrey’s ability to explore a range of roles and emotions.
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.
It cost $265 million to make Grand Theft Auto V. When the game was released in 2013, it became the most expensive video game ever made. This was no cause for concern for its developers after it raked in a shocking $1 million within the first seventy-two hours of sales. It took five years to develop the game, with Rockstar’s studios all over the world working together in tandem.
Samsung’s various business activities account for more than 15% of Korea’s entire economy. While Samsung is known worldwide as a technology giant, it has its fingers in many pies in its home country. Being the world’s largest manufacturer of phones is not enough, as in Korea, there are hospitals, apartments, universities, and even funeral parlours owned by Samsung.
A chimpanzee was once ranked as the 22nd most successful money manager in the US. In 2009 Raven the chimpanzee was listed in the Guinness World Records book as the most successful chimpanzee on Wall Street. Raven chose her stocks by throwing darts at a board with 133 different Internet companies listed on it and achieved a 233% gain in 1999. She was so good that she performed better than 6,000 professional Wall Street brokers!
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.
Reindeer in the Arctic can see the world in ultraviolet light. While we cannot see ultraviolet (UV) light, reindeer seem to have developed this ability after moving to the Arctic. They likely evolved this ability to assist them in a world that would otherwise be very bright and white. Under UV light, both food and predators stand out much more against the harsh snowy background.
Charles Dickens’s novels were so popular in his day that poor people who couldn’t read would collectively pay someone to read his stories out loud. Charles Dickens was undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest novelists, at least in the Victorian era. While his works filled the shelves of aristocrats’ libraries worldwide, one of his greatest feats was his ability to reach out and inspire all classes of society. Masses of impoverished and illiterate fans would each pay a halfpenny (£0.25/$0.35 today) to have each of his monthly updates read out to them.
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.
All those scam emails you get from Nigerian Princes have purposefully bad grammar. At this point, it’s almost certain that every person in the world has received one of these emails, including actual Nigerian royalty. It turns out that there’s a good reason these scams are littered with mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This essentially filters out those who are less gullible and simply ignore the emails, while those more likely to be defrauded will ignore the typos and reply!
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 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!
The longest train journey in the world is in Russia. This should come as no real surprise, considering the absolute enormity that is Russia. The 5,778 miles (9,300 km) long Trans-Siberian Railway runs from Moscow to Vladivostok in the country’s far east. If you combine the length of the Trans-Siberian with all the other railway lines in the country, it would be able to circumnavigate the world twice!
The world’s first Guinness world record for push-ups was 6,006. Charles Linster took home the first Guinness World Record in this category when he completed all 6,006 push-ups non-stop back in 1965. There are plenty of different record categories for push-ups these days, ranging from the most completed in one hour (2,806) to the most consecutive one-finger push-ups (124).
Antarctica isn’t owned by any single nation. Instead, the continent is governed by many of the world’s countries through the Antarctic Treaty. The first signatories of the treaty were the seven nations that had some form of territorial claim to Antarctica: The UK, Norway, New Zealand, France, Chile, Argentina, and Australia.
The most popular car model in the world is the Toyota Hilux. This rugged pickup truck is known around the world for its incredible versatility. With that said, it should come as no surprise that half of the top-selling countries for Hiluxes are in Africa, where the true mettle of the cars is tested on a day-to-day basis. Four out of the top six car models worldwide are Toyotas – the other three are the Toyota Corolla, Rav4, and Land Cruiser.
Panama hats aren’t originally from Panama but from Ecuador! These timelessly stylish hats have been known to the Western world since at least the 1800s and have been seen atop the heads of many famous people ranging from President Theodore Roosevelt to Brad Pitt. They’re made from a type of palm called the Toquilla palm, a native Ecuadorian plant that is painstakingly woven together into the iconic shape. Artisans were struggling to sell the hats in Ecuador, so they exported them to Panama – where they ironically gained their name instead of from the country of origin!
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.
New Zealand has more cats per person than any other country in the world.
Canadians eat more macaroni and cheese than any other nation in the world.
The quickest commercial flight in the world is in Scotland and lasts typically under two minutes.
In 2012, a parrot achieved a world record for opening 35 canned drinks in one minute.
The world’s oldest cat lived to 38 years and three days old.
Harry Potter is the third most-read book in the world, coming behind only The Holy Bible and The Holy Quran.
Around 80% of the world’s orange cats are male.
The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Bamboo is the world’s fastest-growing plant. One species can grow up to 35 inches in a day.
The biggest mountain range in the world is in the ocean.
The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
Mongolia has the world’s sparsest population and in some regions, you can go days without seeing another person.
The most common wild bird in the world isn’t the sparrow or blue jay—it’s the red-billed quelea, which lives in Africa and has an estimated population of 1.5 billion.
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal in the world: They kill more people than any other creature, due to the diseases they carry.
With 3.572 billion viewers, half the world’s population watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup of soccer (or football, as many international fans call it), which is held every four years. That number is on par with the 2016 Summer Olympics, but only a quarter of the world watched the less-popular Winter Olympics in 2018.
Almost all commercially grown artichokes (99.9 per cent) come from California. One town in particular, Castroville, is nicknamed “the Artichoke Capital of the World.”
The tallest building in the world is the Burg Khalifa in Dubai, standing at over 2,700 feet.
The tallest building in the US is One World Trade Centre in New York, which comes in at number six on the worldwide list. It stands at exactly 1,776 feet as a nod to the date of the Declaration of Independence.
The Empire State Building in New York was the tallest in the world from 1931 until 1971 and was the first building with over 100 floors.
People started wearing pyjamas, originally spelt “pyjamas,” instead of nightgowns so they’d be prepared to run outside in public during World War I air raids in England.
Although no longer connected to the beer company, Guinness World Records was founded by the manageing director of Guinness Brewery in the 1950s.
Michelin stars are highly coveted by elite and upscale restaurants the world over—but they’re given out by the Michelin tyre company, the same one whose mascot is the marshmallow-like Michelin Man. If you want to get fancy, pronounce it in the original French, “mich-LEH.”
You can still stay at the world’s oldest hotel, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan, which was founded in 705 AD.
Japan records the most Earthquakes of any country in the world, but the most Earthquakes occur in Indonesia.
Each year, 16 million thunderstorms happen around the world, and at any given moment, there are about 2,000 thunderstorms in progress.
Sweden has 267,570 islands, the most of any country in the world.
Visitors are not allowed to scatter loved ones’ ashes at Disney World or Disneyland. This is a problem, particularly around the Haunted Mansion attraction.
There’s a world record for the holder of the most world records: Ashrita Furman, who’s set more than 600 records and currently holds more than 200. His records have ranged from the fastest mile on a pogo stick, the longest time to hula hoop underwater and the greatest distance travelled on a bicycle balancing a milk bottle on the head.
No one yet has verified the identity of Bitcoin’s founder. Satoshi Nakamoto is the only pseudonym for the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, the bitcoin. Up until now, his real identity remains a world mystery.
Japan has the fastest Internet speed of 319 terabits per second. This Internet speed is speedy enough to download approximately 80,000 movies per second. The engineers used fibre-optic cables to make this world-breaking record possible.
Aeromobil has introduced the world’s first commercial flying car. Flying cars exist! The Slovakian company aims to debut the world’s first roadable aircraft in the market this 2023, which will shake the transportation industry.
Using metal steel straws isn’t eco-friendly. Metal steel straws can save the turtles but the entire world. A single metal steel straw needs 2420 kJ of energy and releases a lot of carbon dioxide.
Facebook was originally a directory of freshmen with their names and pictures. It’s a book of faces! Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard colleagues created a digital book of new students with their faces on it. Since then, Facebook has become the leading social networking website in the world.
The world’s first computer mouse was wooden, not plastic.
King’s Field is the world’s first PlayStation game.
Electronic mail already existed before the birth of the World Wide Web.
The world’s most luxurious car, Bugatti La Voiture Noire, costs a whopping $18.7 million.
This is the first website ever. In 1989, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and published the first website ever which can be found here. Tim worked for CERN at the time. He hosted the first website on his NeXT Computer to allow scientists and universities to share information with ease. This archaic website described the World Wide Web (W3) project itself and was the start of the Internet Era as we know it today.
First cellular/mobile phone ever. Motorola released the world’s first mobile phone, the DynaTAC 8000x, in 1983. This portable phone cost $3,995 upon release and offered 30 minutes of talk time. Charging the device required 10 hours, and it could only store 30 phone numbers in memory. Unsurprisingly, few people purchased the device, but it marked a breakthrough in mobile technology. Nowadays, cell phones and smartphones (no matter how cheap or expensive they are) are indispensable gadgets in people’s lives.
The Most Powerful Supercomputer in The World. Riken Research Lab and Fujitsu developed the Fugaku supercomputer. In June 2020, Fugaku dethroned IBM’s Summit supercomputer as the most powerful in the world. This supercomputer broke the record for computations per second (TeraFLOPS) and various other supercomputer metrics. Fugaku offers 442,000 TeraFLOPS of performance while a Playstation 5 offers 10.2 TeraFLOPS.
The First Computer ever (ENIAC). The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) made history as the first computer in the world (which was electronic programmable). Development of the computer was completed in 1945, and the computer entered service in December of that year. ENIAC could displace the computational power of 2,400 human beings for $500,000. ENIC relied on octal-base radio tubes to function. However, these tubes constantly burned out daily and required replacement. This means that ENIAC ran about 50% of the time and experienced downtime for tube replacements otherwise. More specialised and durable tubes eventually became available, leading to failures every one to two days.