People once ate arsenic to improve their skin. You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favourite cosmetics were riddled with arsenic, but it gets worse. There were also products on the market in the late 19th century, like Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers, that were meant to be eaten. They claimed to get rid of freckles, blackheads, and other “facial disfigurements.” Admit it: That’s one of the most interesting facts you’ve learned in a while.
100 Mind-Blowing You’ve Facts
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.
Most wasabi paste isn’t real wasabi. Wasabi is expensive, so most companies use horseradish instead. Real wasabi is milder than what you’ve been getting with your sushi.
The longest wedding veil was longer than 63 football fields. If you think you’ve seen how crazy grand weddings can get, think again. Maria Paraskeva claimed the Guinness World Record for the longest wedding veil in 2018. This dream-come-true veil measured nearly 23,000 feet, which is the size of 63.5 football fields.
The place where cartoon characters store things, just to pull out of thin air, is known as “Hammerspace”. If you’ve ever seen Tom & Jerry, you’d be familiar with those scenes where Jerry would pull a bat out of nowhere to bonk Tom mid-chase. However, animators have given this unseen, mysterious sphere where characters pull objects out of a name: the Hammerspace.
All the Professors in Pokemon have been named after trees. If you’ve played or watched Pokemon, you’d notice that through all generations, the Professors are named after trees: Professor Oak of Gen I, Professor Elm of Gen II, Professor Birch of Gen III, all up to Professor Sycamore of Gen IX.
All Froot Loops have the same flavour. Yup, you’ve been lied to.
Turtles can talk to each other. If you’ve ever had a pet turtle, you would know they’re a silent bunch. However, scientists have discovered that they actually “talk” through low-frequency clicking and hooting.
18 newborns can be switched at birth daily. If you’ve ever worried whether you were switched at birth, it may be likely. On average, 18 babies can be sent to the wrong delivery rooms. However, cases of being switched at birth are usually identified immediately.
Hamburgers weren’t named after ham. If you’ve ever been a curious kid, you probably wondered where the ham was in hamburgers. Now, your inner child would be happy to know that hamburgers were named after the German city of Hamburg.
Cookie Monster’s real name is Sid. You’ve heard about villain origin stories, but we bet you haven’t seen this one yet: Before eating his first cookie, Cookie Monster was Sid. What this implies has not been confirmed, as well as who he was as Sid. How’s that for dark, interesting facts?
Some people experience post-sex sadness. If you’ve ever felt intense feelings of sadness, anger, and distress after sex, you may have gone through Post-coital dysphoria (PCD). It happens especially after orgasm.
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.
A cloud can weigh more than a million pounds. If you’ve ever pictured yourself lying in the clouds, keep this in mind: the average weight of a cumulus cloud is 1.1 million pounds – or almost 500,000 kg! They don’t seem as light and fluffy now, do they?
Bald eagles don’t sound like in the movies. If you’ve seen a Western film, the iconic bird screech comes to mind. However, you’d be surprised that it’s not the sound of a bald eagle. The piercing call that most people associate with the bird is a sound made by another bird of prey: the red-tailed hawk. Hollywood uses the red-tailed hawk’s cry because it has a more dramatic effect. Real bald eagles would chirp rather than screeching.
The Wombat poops in cubes. Before you ask, no – their buttholes aren’t square. You’ve heard of cubed watermelons. Now, nature brings us cubed poop! Wombat poop is cubical because of their long, slow digestive process.
A cockroach can live for weeks after its head has been cut off. If you’ve ever been assaulted by a cockroach, your instincts would be fight or flight – and the brave few who would fight can probably agree that cockroaches can be ridiculously hard to squish and kill. Even with its head cut off, a roach would survive because of its open circulatory system or using tiny holes in its body called spiracles to breathe. Additionally, cockroaches don’t need food like we do, so they’d be able to go for weeks without it.
A head of human hair is strong enough to support 12 tons. If you’ve treated your hair with anything other than your natural hair colour, you’d know that it is stronger than you think. Science has proof to back it up. According to a study, a strand of hair can hold up to 30 ounces, and an entire head of hair can withstand up to 12 tons (or, the size of two elephants).
Abercrombie & Fitch paid MTV to make sure the cast of Jersey Shore doesn’t wear their clothes. You’ve heard of sponsorship deals, but how about getting paid not to use a certain brand or product? Reality TV is almost like the epitome of all the evils of humanity. Simply put, it’s a very messy place. So, to protect its brand image, Abercrombie & Fitch offered a hefty sum just to ensure that The Situation and other cast members would switch to other brands. Yikes.
You can’t bring a Furby to the Pentagon. Since its release in 1998, Furbies have been a staple in the toy industry. You may find them adorable or creepy, but one thing for sure is that the American government doesn’t trust them. If you’ve ever encountered conspiracy theories about satanic Furbies, you’d be surprised that Furbies are banned from the Pentagon. One of Furby’s main features is speech imitation. Since most (if not all) of the communications in the Pentagon are confidential, they can’t risk a rogue Furby leaking everything to the public. As of 1999, the National Security Agency has banned Furbies from the Pentagon. See for yourself if a Furby would give away all of your secrets.
Moustache shields were a thing in the Victorian Era. You’ve heard of post-mortem photo ops and cocaine toothache drops, but another peculiar Victorian-Era thing is the moustache shield. Patented in 1876 by Virgil A Gates, the moustache shield was designed to keep facial hair out of the way when eating and drinking.
We are more creative in the shower. Here’s one of the most useful weird fun facts! If you’ve ever felt like you think better in a warm shower, you’re probably right! The warm water increases the flow of dopamine and makes us more creative.
Most wasabi paste isn’t real wasabi. If you’ve always thought that your store-bought wasabi tastes more like horseradish, you’re probably right. It’s often used as a substitute since real wasabi is expensive.
Once a chicken lived without its head for 18 months. Perhaps you’ve already heard of Mike the Chicken. Well if you haven’t, you’ll be surprised to find out that in the 1940s, Mike survived because his jugular vein and brainstem were still functioning. But don’t expect this for every chicken. It’s a weird animal fact, but a rare one.
A “jiffy” is a real measurement. If you’ve ever said, “I’ll be back in a jiffy,” you were saying, “I’ll be back in 10 milliseconds.” A jiffy is an actual measurement of time, referring to the length of one cycle of the computer’s system clock – about 10 milliseconds. When used in physics, it stands for the amount of time that it takes light to travel one centimetre.
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.
Einstein’s theory also states that gravity can warp time. If you’ve seen the 2014 movie Interstellar, this concept may seem familiar. The closer you are to a massive body—which, in the case of Interstellar, is a giant black hole—the slower time will pass for you.
New clocks are set at 10:10 for a reason. If you’ve bought a new clock or watch recently, you may have noticed that the default setting was 10:10, give or take a few minutes. There are various theories behind this particular choice of time, but really, it all comes down to aesthetics. Setting the time to around 10:10 allows the hands of an analogue clock to be displayed in a neat, symmetrical way that doesn’t obscure any logos in the centre of the clock’s face. Clocks were once set to 8:20, and occasionally still are, but the hands’ downward angles can make it look like the timepieces are frowning.
You Can Make Your Money Crisp by Ironing It: Ready for a surprising money fact that involves a little bit of fabric know-how? If you’ve got a creased, crumpled, or wrinkled dollar bill, you can make it look new by pressing it with your iron. As mentioned earlier, U.S. dollars are 75% cotton and 25% linen, so it’s fabric. To iron the money, dampen the dollar bill slightly with a spritz bottle, sprinkle water by hand, or use the spray function on the iron itself. Set the iron to low heat, put a towel under the bill and another on top of it, and then iron the money in a circular motion. Set aside to air dry. Presto! You should have a nice flattened bill.