Every once in a while, you might hear something that makes your brain go “Huh?” An idea, fact, or detail that does not at all sit right. So you sit down and Google it, only to have your entire worldview upended.
Someone wanted to know what facts sound definitely made up but are actually factually correct. The experts and trivia aficionados of the internet came together to share interesting and obscure facts that you can use. So get comfortable as you scroll through, prepare to have your mind boggled, and be sure to upvote your favorite facts. Comment any other interesting facts you didn’t see mentioned.
#1
Over 70 years ago then Naval Lieutenant James “Jimmy” Carter led a team that walked into a melting nuclear reactor core and shut it down safely. He got dosed with so much radioactivity (10,000x more than what we now consider safe) he pissed radioactive whizz for months. Yet he outlived not only his Presidential successor but his successor. He’s the nations oldest President ever, and recently celebrated his 77th wedding anniversary, also a record for a President.
He’s currently in EOL Hospice care. And has been… for almost 7 months now. The man is made of iron.
Final score: 429points 
Jennifer Smith Jennifer Smith Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
It gave him slight super powers
144 144points reply View More Replies… #2
it would be cheaper to have medicare for all than the current private healthcare scheme we have in the US. like trillions of dollars cheaper and would help with a lot of the social ills we have at the moment.
Final score: 421points 
Hokuloa Hokuloa Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Hey, don’t be confusing us with logic and maths!!
153 153points reply View More Replies…
Given the number of scientists and historians around the world, it’s not surprising that we have new bits of information or inventions to marvel at every day. For example, if someone were to tell you about holographic animals at a circus performance, you would wonder what sci-fi show they had just watched.
Well, Germany’s Roncalli circus has actually done that, using footage they filmed in 1991. The circus boss, wonderfully named Patrick Philadelphia, says the idea came from musicians doing the same. “If you can project someone who’s no longer living onto a holographic screen, why can’t you do it with an animal, a horse, an elephant? So that’s where the idea came from,” he shared with Euronews.
#3
Brazil is so big that the northernmost point in Brazil is closer to Canada than it is to the southernmost point in Brazil.
Final score: 284points 
Invader Zim Invader Zim Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
I like this one
36 36points reply #4
Bats help pollinate the agave plant. So if you like tequila, give props to the bats
Intothewasteland , https://unsplash.com/photos/qAts81pZrbg Report
Final score: 274points 
Mr.G86 Mr.G86 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Bats are so under appreciated
133 133points reply View More Replies… #5
You could be a carrier for any number of genetic diseases and not ever know it, and if you just happen to have a child with another carrier of the same disease, there is a 25% chance they will have it. Many of these diseases can be treated very well if caught on a newborn screening, but the majority of states don’t have many genetic diseases on their newborn screening panel, so you won’t have any idea until your child shows symptoms, and in most cases, by then it is too late.
Source: Me
I am a carrier for a rare terminal genetic disease called Krabbe Disease. Had two perfectly healthy children, then when my third child was 20 months old, he lost all of his abilities to walk, crawl, and even sit up unassisted in a matter of weeks. He is the 25% chance we didn’t even know existed since no one in either of our families ever had the disease. Now, he is fighting for survival through a stem cell transplant to prolong his life.
He has a page we use to spread awareness for anyone interested in seeing his journey. It’s called Prayers for Arthur, hope for a cure.
Final score: 258points 
Happy crow dragon (they/any) Happy crow dragon (they/any) Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Awwww poor thing. Sending love
64 64points reply View More Replies…
While that does seem like a solid idea, have you noticed that you often do your best thinking in the shower? No, you aren’t imagining it, it’s a real feature. Unless you’re taking a cold shower, the relaxation and heat help your brain produce dopamine, which stimulates creativity. So if you are feeling stuck with something, hop in the shower and see where it takes you.
#6
Pocahontas and William Shakespeare died less than a year apart and within 150 miles of each other.
Final score: 236points 
Chewie Baron Chewie Baron Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
That statue is not what Pocahontas looked like, and we’re not entirely sure that portrait is what Shakespeare looked like!
11 11points reply #7
Sharks are older than both trees and the rings of Saturn.
drewsiferr , Gerald Schömbs Report
Final score: 222points 
Porribix Porribix Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Which two trees are they?
175 175points reply View More Replies… #8
“Häagen-Dazs” has no meaning in any language, it was meant to sound “European”. It was started by Reuben Mattus, a Polish immigrant to New York who sold fruit ice and ice cream from a horse-drawn cart.
FLEXXMAN33 , Willis Lam Report
Final score: 197points cerinamroth cerinamroth Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
They chose it as Jewish immigrants from Europe because they thought it sounded Danish and they wanted to honour the way the Danes helped the Jews during the Second World War.
62 62points reply View More Replies…
Speaking of ideas, anyone who has spent more than four minutes in a city has no doubt encountered what some deem the “flying rat.” If that wasn’t enough of a hint, it’s a reference to the pigeon. Bumbling, clumsy, and somewhat annoying, these birds can actually tell the difference between the works of Picasso and Monet, despite not being able to tell a breadcrumb apart from some sand.
#9
80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive WWII.
FLEXXMAN33 , Emily Schultz Report
Final score: 196points 
unfilteredCigarette73 unfilteredCigarette73 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
That is sad😔 my grandfather was born that year
35 35points reply View More Replies… #10
Trees existed for a while before there was bacteria to break down trees, so most of the earth was just a pile of dead trees for awhile
IndianaJonesDoombot , Jordan Madrid Report
Final score: 190points Peter Parker Peter Parker Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Report
Without fungi breaking down the dead trees, the biomass accumulated and formed coal and oil. Would not be possible any more today.
118 118points reply View More Replies… #11
The moon is roughly 400x smaller than the sun, but also coincidentally about 400x closer to us than the sun. This makes them appear as though they are the same size – helpful for solar eclipses! This will change over time though as the moon drifts away from us, we just happen to live in a time that they appear the same size!
bobfossilnoway , Drew Rae Report
Final score: 187points 
A little Elf Conscious A little Elf Conscious Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Space facts are the best facts.
78 78points reply View More Replies…
The blue whale tends to feature on this list a lot, as the largest mammal and animal on our planet. Its heart might not fit into most commercial pick-up trucks and we could slide down its veins like a water park ride, but did you know that its massive cardiovascular system works with such power that you can hear its heartbeat two miles away?
#12
A kind of moth is found in Madagascar that almost entirely subsists on the tears of sleeping birds.
Technical-SaladE22 , Dan Doucette Report
Final score: 178points unfilteredCigarette73 unfilteredCigarette73 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago (edited) Report
Oh so this moth is what every emo kid was in their dreams
103 103points reply View More Replies… #13
Tsutomo Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip and on the day he was supposed to leave, the atomic bomb dropped. Tsutomo survived with minor injuries and returned to his home in Nagasaki where he went to work 3 days later. As he was describing his experience to his supervisor, the second bomb was dropped and he survived without any injuries. He ended up living into his 90s.
Final score: 173points 
Ron Man Ron Man Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
He gets to be mentioned in history, but there were a handful of people who were in both bombings. They’re not famous because they weren’t initially believed while he was. Even he admitted he wasn’t the only one.
38 38points reply #14
The founders of Adidas and Puma were brothers with a sibling rivalry.
Final score: 165points 
Mark (it/urgh) Mark (it/urgh) Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Adi Dassler. Forgot his brothers name.
23 23points reply View More Replies…
As mentioned before, there are more and more interesting facts about the world being revealed every day. Logically, not all of them will “make sense,” so if you want to read more, We has got you covered. Check out our articles on facts that sound fake at first but are actually real and our collection of “stupid facts” that are still true.
#15
There are more hydrogen atoms in a single molecule of water than there are stars in the entire Solar System.
Final score: 164points Happy crow dragon (they/any) Happy crow dragon (they/any) Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Took me a sec 😂😂
93 93points reply View More Replies… #16
There were already fossilized dinosaur bones while dinosaurs were still alive.
mjohnsimon , Narciso Arellano Report
Final score: 163points 
PeepPeep the duck PeepPeep the duck Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Fun Dino fact 2 : half that T-Rex’s rib cage are missing. You can look up Sue the T-Rex
32 32points reply View More Replies… #17
The timespan between the use of copper swords and then steel swords is longer then the timespan between the use of steel swords and the nuclear bomb.
Final score: 145points Mark (it/urgh) Mark (it/urgh) Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Imagine being the first person to make a steel sword. Why they didn’t end up ruling the world is anyones guess.
17 17points reply View More Replies… #18
Jimmy Carter left nuclear codes in his jacket, which he had sent to the cleaners.
RegularEmbarrassed36 , Library of Congress Report
Final score: 139points unfilteredCigarette73 unfilteredCigarette73 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
D@mnit I love that man to much to make some obvious jokes good dude if there ever was one
73 73points reply View More Replies… #19
Human children do not develop kneecaps until they are 3 years old.
Final score: 136points Katrina M. Alecson Katrina M. Alecson Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Even then it is cartilage, doesn’t become bone until about 10
65 65points reply #20
Salamanders are commonly associated with being summoned by fire in folklore. This is because they like to hide in decaying wood. And when people would burn the wood the salamander wouldn’t notice right away until it was fully engulfed in flames and then come out of the wood and crawl out from the coals.
Final score: 127points 
Sanjneel Sanjneel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
That’s why a salamander is the fire spirit in Frozen!
10 10points reply #21
There are boat bridges where a boat can travel over a ravine between two bodies of water. These boat bridges only need to be strong enough to hold the water in them. The boats, no matter how heavy they are, never contribute to the weight that the bridge must hold.
Final score: 127points Maggie Maggie Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
I want to see a picture of this to understand it.
79 79points reply View More Replies… #22
2/3 of Canada’s population lives south of Seattle.
FLEXXMAN33 , Chait Goli Report
Final score: 120points 
Nerenahd Dhaneren Nerenahd Dhaneren Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
2/3 of Canada’s population have better public healthcare than Seattle. Well, to be fair the other 1/3 has too. 😂
40 40points reply View More Replies… #23
Anne Frank and Martin Luther King jr. were born in the same year.
Final score: 118points Bell-icose Bell-icose Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Both of them would be sad to see how little has changed since the times they lived and died in.
82 82points reply View More Replies… #24
The population of earth would fit inside Texas at the same density as NYC.
Final score: 116points 
hitex hitex Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Let’s not try. It’s already getting a little cramped
70 70points reply View More Replies… #25
More people die annually as a result of coal power than have died due to nuclear power in its entire history.
Final score: 116points 
michael Chock michael Chock Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Problem is nuclear waste continues for thousands of years, so let’s add that to the equation
41 41points reply View More Replies… #26
If you cut some species of worms in half, they can regenerate into 2 separate, fully-functioning worms. On other species, the front half will become a full worm, but the back half will grow another tail instead of a head, and will eventually starve to death because it can’t eat.
Final score: 110points 
Saddest_Lion Saddest_Lion Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
That’s unexpectedly sad
92 92points reply View More Replies… #27
Lighters were invented before matches
93tilInfinityish , Rafael Alves Report
Final score: 104points Caitlin Davenport Caitlin Davenport Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
*The current form of the lighter was invented before the current form of the match.
40 40points reply View More Replies… #28
A day on Mercury is longer than a year on Mercury and if you could walk on the surface of the planet, you could out-walk the sunset.
Final score: 103points Pedantic Panda Pedantic Panda Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
This is incorrect, a day in mercury is 59 earth days, a year is 88 earth days. The post may be thinking of Venus where a day is longer than a year.
12 12points reply View More Replies… #29
that if you knock out a tooth and replace it in its socket, the tooth will grow roots again and survive.
Technical-Saladbb92 , Filip Rankovic Grobgaard Report
Final score: 100points Saddest_Lion Saddest_Lion Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Maybe I can remember that the next time I dream about them all falling out
63 63points reply View More Replies… #30
Woolly mammoths we’re walking the earth while the pyramids were being built
Final score: 96points Kat Downard Kat Downard Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
*were
72 72points reply View More Replies… #31
Wombats have cube shaped poo
Final score: 92points WindySwede WindySwede Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Report
How else are they going to build their pyramids..?
38 38points reply View More Replies… #32
The brain named itself
Final score: 88points WindySwede WindySwede Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Report
And then your parents: “Your name will be Brian”. Your brain: “huh..?”
35 35points reply #33
Johannes Gutenberg, the man credited with creating arguably the most important invention in history, only had an operating printing press for a few years. He went bankrupt after his financier successfully sued him for not paying his loans. His then former financier came into possession of the printing press and any unfinished books.
Final score: 87points hitex hitex Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Sounds akin to Nikola Tesla in that theu were essentially thrown out by those who were initially benefactos at 1st chance for greed & capitalize on their genius
42 42points reply View More Replies… #34
There was a time when a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln
Asleep-Trifle-5731 , distraingotnobrakes Report
Final score: 86points 
Daniel Yamada Daniel Yamada Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
It would have read “戦争を戦い、奴隷を解放するために私たちを雇ってください。”
24 24points reply View More Replies… #35
Plastic was introduced as a means to combat deforestation (paper bags were the norm back then)
Final score: 85points hitex hitex Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
I remember as a kid when grocery stores switched from paper to plastic…not Its back to paper again
31 31points reply View More Replies… #36
Did you know that Alaska is the northernmost, the westernmost, and the easternmost state in the United States? It’s practically playing its own game of hide and seek!
Final score: 83points 
Ian Webling Ian Webling Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
For completeness, Hawaii is the southernmost state.
42 42points reply View More Replies… #37
If you shuffle a deck of cards, it’s not only possible, but likely no deck has ever been in the same sequence in the history of humans
I-amthegump , PrathSnap Report
Final score: 83points WindySwede WindySwede Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 1 month ago Report
80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000 possible combinations!
42 42points reply View More Replies… #38
The total weight of all the ants on Earth is estimated to be roughly equal to or even greater than the total weight of all the humans on Earth.
Final score: 81points 
Tucker Cahooter Tucker Cahooter Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
No wonder so many people are keen to welcome the ant overlords
20 20points reply View More Replies… #39
The great pyramids were older to Cleopatra than she is to us. Also she was not Egyptian but was the first Egyptian ruler of her dynasty to speak Egyptian.
Final score: 79points 
TotallyNOTaFox TotallyNOTaFox Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago (edited) Report
By the time she ruled they had historians studying “Ancient Egypt”
36 36points reply View More Replies… #40
There used to be trillions of oysters living in New York harbor.
Final score: 68points Nerenahd Dhaneren Nerenahd Dhaneren Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Oh yeah, that was before they joined a weird Blue Cult or something. Heavy stuff.
90 90points reply View More Replies… #41
Most peoples wing span is the same as their height
Final score: 63points 
Babs Ishkabibble Babs Ishkabibble Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
A wing span? Hmm.
21 21points reply View More Replies… #42
Strawberries are not technically berries
Final score: 62points Happy crow dragon (they/any) Happy crow dragon (they/any) Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
But bananas are!
49 49points reply View More Replies… #43
Rabies virus has a 100% kill rate, if left untreated. (There are, like, one or two cases in all of human history of patients beating untreated rabies.)
Final score: 62points Katrina M. Alecson Katrina M. Alecson Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Soooo not 100% like 99.999999%. Also I’m pretty sure i read somewhere that there was a village somewhere where people had natural antibodies to rabies without being vaccinated?
48 48points reply View More Replies… #44
They put men on the moon before they put wheels on luggage.
ProfessorRaeWolfe , History in HD Report
Final score: 61points 
Gustav Gallifrey Gustav Gallifrey Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Incorrect. See pic from ‘Popular Science’ Sept 1947, page 115 suitcase-6…6c027e.jpg 
62 62points reply View More Replies… #45
You are more likely to win an Olympic Medal than the lottery.
Final score: 60points Daniel Atkins Daniel Atkins Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Sure with no skill whatsoever and being in my 40’s I’ll go with the lottery. I think what they mean is more people have won an Olympic medal than have won the lottery.
66 66points reply View More Replies… #46
*The Phantom Menace* is older now than *Star Wars* was when *The Phantom Menace* was released.
Final score: 55points 
Batwench Batwench Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
At time of release of Phantom Menace in 1999: Star Wars was 22 (1977). So at this current year (2023) , this fact is correct.
12 12points reply View More Replies… #47
Virtually all of the South American continent is east of Florida.
Final score: 55points 
Chad Uittenbogaard Chad Uittenbogaard Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Had to look that one up…
3 3points reply View More Replies… #48
The Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal is farther West than the Pacific entrance.
Final score: 55points Sand Ers Sand Ers Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
I told that one to my sister a while ago. She didn’t exactly doubt me, but she did go look it up on a map to be sure.
9 9points reply View More Replies… #49
France’s longest border is with Brazil.
Final score: 53points Bell-icose Bell-icose Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
In the area we call it the “Frog’s thong.”
19 19points reply View More Replies… #50
Alaska is the centre of the world.
I.E if you were going to set up an operation less than eight hours away from the three biggest economies in the world, North America, Asia and Europe then Alaska is the perfect place to set up!
Final score: 48points 
Andrew Read Andrew Read Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 1 month ago Report
Anywhere you choose is the middle of the world.
44 44points reply View More Replies…