Here are 50 random facts .....enjoy or not !!!!!! ..there is another ........... 50 right behind this........
Random Facts About Everything
It always feels good to drop a random fact or a little tidbit of knowledge on your friends. After all, it's a wide, random world out there, and you've got to be equipped with the best trivia. From strange watermelons to accidental encounters, here are the most random facts on Earth.
Random Facts About Everything
1. Orange, in Fact
The fruit orange isn’t named after the color; it’s the other way around. Before the late 15th century, orange was considered a shade of red. That's right: until the Renaissance, "yellow-red" was the only term the English language had for orange.
Factinate Video of the Day
2. Random Advice Fact
Abraham Lincoln grew his iconic beard in part on the recommendation of an 11-year-old girl, who suggested it to him via fan mail.
3. A Fact Full of Hot Air
Here's the most random of random facts: The first passengers to ever ride in a hot air balloon were a trio of sheep, duck, and rooster.
5. Random Facts About Poop
Wombats, furry little marsupials who live in Australia, are known to produce cube-shaped poop. They excrete up to 100 little cubes per day, and place them to on rocks and logs to mark their territory. The square shape is thought to have evolved so the poo pellets don’t roll away.
5. Random Side Interests
When he wasn’t busy fighting wars and serving as the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte found the time to write a romance novel, called Clisson et Eugénie. Because why not?
6. The Great Debate
Some scientists still argue the facts about whether corn is a vegetable or a grain—or maybe even a fruit! Who would have thought that something so harmless could cause such a controversy?
7. Real Men Wear Skirts
Ancient Greek men didn't wear trousers, and they thought men from other cultures who wore them were barbaric and effeminate.
8. The Chance Case of the Curious Mummy
Found in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, Ötzi “the Iceman” is the earliest natural human mummy ever found in Europe. Ötzi was alive from sometime between 3400 and 3100 BCE. The most surprising thing about him? He had tattoos! And not just a couple...researchers have identified a total of 61 different tattoos covering his body. That means he's not only the oldest tattooed person ever found, but also (probably) one of the oldest ancestors to today's Brooklyn hipsters.
The tattoo ink itself was produced from ash or soot and is believed to have been used as a form of pain relief.
9. How (Not) to Get Rich
You may have heard of a little Internet outfit called Google? They're kind of a big deal. But the fact you probably don't know is that in 1999, when Google was still little more than a search engine at the very beginning of the Internet, the founders offered to sell the company for one million dollars, to another company called Excite.
The geniuses at Excite saw the opportunity, considered the potential..and promptly turned it down. Good thinking there, fellas.
10. Luck of the Draw
In 1911, a Paris orphanage held a raffle where the prize was live human babies. Now that's a dark fact.
11. Ferocious Females
When armadillos mate, the female armadillo can postpone her pregnancy until she feels she is in a safe, nurturing environment for her little one. And all this can be done with no harm to the little unborn critter, who stays (presumably) blissfully unaware. It's an adaption known as “delayed implantation.” No more babies by accident!
12. Mmmm, Random BBQ Smell
If you could breathe in space without dying, it would in fact smell like barbecue, gunpowder, and diesel. These combined scents are created by dying stars.
13. Eat Your Vegetables!
During World War II, British intelligence spread the rumor that the Royal Air Force pilots enjoyed superior night vision because they ate copious amounts of carrots. The real purpose of the rumor was to keep German intelligence from discovering the Brits’ advanced use of radar. Of course, there's just one little problem.
The fact is, while the vitamin A in carrots is good for eye health, it probably won’t help you detect enemy forces in the dark from an airplane.
14. The Perfect Mate
If life is getting you down at all, here's a fact specifically designed to cheer you up: Seahorses are monogamous lifemates that travel in pairs while holding each other’s tails.
15. Fate or Random Chance?
Some things just aren’t meant to be, and sometimes that's actually for the best. A New York woman decided to end it all by jumping off the Empire State Building’s 86th floor, only to be blown back safely onto the floor below by a strong wind. Let’s all hope she took advantage of this new lease on life that she was lucky enough to get!
After all, that's the sort of freak occurrence that does tend to drive people to religion, or at the very least some kind of epiphany.
16. Random Access Boo-Yah
Here's a fact for the ages: a singing birthday card has more computing power than the entire Allied forces had during World War II.
17. Take the Stairs
The entire state of Wyoming has only two escalators, both in the city of Casper. They’re so rare that some Wyoming residents visit these escalators just for the novelty of it, with one of them describing it as “like riding a tilt-a-whirl, but only slower.” Annnnd that it is the most adorably mid-Western statement ever made. No wonder we love the middle states.
18. A Recycled Fact
There is a swirl of garbage in the Pacific Ocean, roughly the size of Texas. It's known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While it's often described as "an island of garbage," the GPGP is more accurately seen as something like garbage soup: a massive portion of the ocean with a high concentration of plastics, sludge, and other debris.
It's disgusting. But no reason to despair! There are a number of wildly innovative and interesting proposals to clean up the patch. Here's hoping they work out!
19. Let It Go
A food fact for you: Emperor Claudius once issued an edict allowing farting at Roman dining tables after hearing that a man nearly died from holding in his flatulence. You don't want to chance your life on a fart.
20. Good Samaritans
Switzerland has a law that forbids their citizens from owning a single guinea pig. If you want to have one of these critters as a pet, you are obliged to own at least two or more. Although this might seem like a bizarre law, it's really heartwarming: Switzerland actually doesn't want the furry little creatures getting lonely.
You see, guinea pigs are incredibly social animals, and they do much better with a partner by their side.
21. Dancing in the Dark
To many of us, the tango comes across as one of the classiest and most elegant styles of ballroom dancing. I mean, if you're anything like me, the name itself conjures up an image of two dark and glamorous strangers pulling graceful moves in a dimly-lit, exotic club. But the origins of the dance are not exactly classy.
In the early days, the tango was often used by Argentinian intimacy-industry professionals in order to seduce men into becoming clients.
pinterest
22. Bear-ly Succeeding
The Polish army adopted a bear named Wojtek during World War II and gave it the official rank of private so that it could be transported around from place to place with them, carrying their equipment and helping to boost morale. After a few years around humans, Wojtek loved beer, cigarettes, and wrestling.
In fact, the army loved Wojtek so much that he was eventually promoted to corporal.
23. Random Flex, But OK
George Washington personally owned a flock of between 600-1,000 Hog Island sheep, a rare breed only found in Virginia. Today, curators at his Mount Vernon estate breed and care for their descendants.
24. A Fishy Fact
Once a year, in the Honduran city of Yoro, it rains fish. It's aptly named the Lluvia de Peces (or Rain of Fish). In May or June every year, like clockwork, a torrential rainstorm rolls through town. In its wake, a mass of living fish can be found in the streets. The phenomenon was confirmed by a National Geographic team in the 1970s...
...but whether or not the fish are literally raining from the sky is still unknown. Some scientists believe the fish could be carried into town by waterspouts or water tornadoes, which drop their strange parcels over land when they run out of steam. Whatever the explanation, we hope the residents of Yoro like seafood.
25. Mr. First
From the late 1920s until the mid-1960s, a man by the name of Omero C. Catan became known as “Mr. First” in New York City. In what became an ongoing tradition, he was the first person to participate in over 500 openings in New York and beyond—including being the first person to skate on the Rockefeller Center rink.
He was also the first man to put a token in a parking meter, and the first man to drive through the Lincoln Tunnel. This seems impossible, but it's a fact! Maybe he just got lucky.
26. A Cat by Any Other Name
The cougar goes by more names than any other animal. You might know it as a puma, mountain lion, panther, catamount, or one of another 40 English, 18 native South American and 25 native North American names.
27. Catchy Tune
When Kazakh gold medalist Maria Dmitrienko took the podium in Kuwait for the medal ceremony she had trained her whole life for, she was shocked to hear an unfamiliar song playing in place of her national anthem. It turned out that the song playing was the fictional Kazakh anthem from the satirical film Borat, which mocks her country of Kazakhstan.
The event’s staff had mistaken it for the country’s actual anthem. Needless to say, more than a few people watching were unimpressed.
28. Sting or Bite?
Here's a biting fact: a mosquito has 47 teeth. These teeth are located at the end of their proboscis and are used not used to chew food like our teeth. They are used to cut through the skin or layers of protective clothes. Either way, they can buzz off.
29. Odd Acoustic Kitty
In the 1960s, the CIA tried to spy on the Kremlin and Russian embassies by turning cats into listening devices! The program, called Acoustic Kitty, involved surgically implanting batteries, microphones, and antennae inside cats. This would allow the CIA to listen remotely to any meetings that the cats could record and transmit.
The plan was scrapped after the CIA realized that you can’t train a cat to do much of anything. Now, that's a real fact.
30. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Cover Whale
Many expensive perfumes contain whale poop. More specifically they contain ambergris, which is a waxy substance produced in the intestines of sperm whales. The fragrance is iconic; some say it's like bottling the smell of the ocean breeze through a 5-star hotel window.
31. Texas True Facts
The phrase "don't mess with Texas" was originally an anti-littering slogan. Put that in your random facts notebook!
32. Oldest Joke in the Book
If anyone thinks that “your mom” jokes are solely within the domain of immature teenagers, internet memes, and wild comedies, think again—a 3,500 year-old one was found on an ancient Babylonian tablet in Iraq back in 1976.
33. Accidental Hero
Bao Xishun, a Mongolian herdsman and the current record holder for World’s Tallest Man, used his incredibly long arms to remove plastic from the stomachs of two dolphins, saving their lives. Bao stands 7 feet 8.95 inches tall and each arm extends over 3 feet long. All other attempts at saving the dolphins had failed.
34. Searching for Giants
The expedition of Lewis and Clark is famous for many reasons, but they had one goal you might not expect: Thomas Jefferson asked them to find a mammoth. Turns out, Jefferson had a thing for mammoths (or, more accurately, American Mastodons). He was completely enamored with the extinct behemoths, and held out hope that they continued to live many miles away in the west of America.
So when he sent Lewis and Clark out on their famous expedition, he told them to look for mammoths. What a discovery that would have been!
35. Purity
Looking for a new career path? Be glad you don’t live in Victorian times, where you might have wound up in the career of “pure finder.” Don’t be fooled by this profession’s inviting name—in fact, it consisted of collecting dog poop off the streets and selling it to leather manufacturers.
36. Fun Fact (Unless You're a Whale)
The loneliest creature on earth is a whale that has been calling for a mate for two decades. Researchers identified the whale's abnormally high call over 20 years ago. The unknown whale is called 'lonely' because it communicates at a frequency not used by any other whale in the North Pacific, and so far, it has never received a response.
37. Smells Like…Random Deodorant!
When he set out to write “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Kurt Cobain said that he was trying to write the ultimate pop song in the style of the Pixies. He came up with the title when a friend of his (Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of Bikini Kill) wrote the phrase “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on his wall. Cobain thought the sentence had a certain poetic ring to it, and the rest is history.
Really though, Hanna just meant he smelled like Teen Spirit, a popular deodorant at the time.
38. A Not-So Random Name
Here's a juicy fact. Watermelons may be delicious today, but they weren’t always. The melons originated in Africa and were first cultivated solely for their water content, not for taste—their flavor was very bitter.
39. Peel Me
Bananas share 50% of their DNA with humans. You’re looking a little yellow there.
40. The Random Followup
Everyone remembers Neil Armstrong’s famous declaration when he first set foot on the moon ("That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind). His next words were less dramatic (and far more fun). “The surface looks fine and powdery," said Neil, presumably assuming his mic was turned off, "and I can pick it up loosely with my toe.”
Now we'll admit, that line doesn't quite have the same heady, poetic quality. But considering no one had actually felt the surface of the moon before, the description itself is pretty important.
41. Lie Back and Think of Yourself
Once upon a time, if they were dissatisfied with their men, Medieval women could take their husbands to impotence court.
42. On the Llam
Two llamas took the social media world by storm in 2015 when they went loose in a retirement community and ran around evading capture, all while on camera. Eventually, three onlookers were able to do what the professionals weren’t and catch the adorable creatures.
43. Gorgeous Ghosts
Did you ever hear the expression, “That gives me the willies?” Did you ever wonder what the heck “willies” are? It’s likely actually the name for heartbroken ghosts, Wilis, from Slavic folklore. The romantic ballet Giselle features these beautiful zombies prominently, and the description of these ghosts is absolutely terrifying.
In their long white dresses and wedding veils, the Wilis wander the moonlit forests in search of men to kill. They travel in packs, and their method of killing is to round up the victim and force him to dance until his heart gives out. Creepy, huh?
44. Oscar Who?
Oscar Hammerstein is the only person named Oscar to win an Academy Award or "‘Oscar." Hammerstein won two Best Original Song awards in the 1940s.
gettyimages
45. Odd Eyes You've Got There
The eyes of Pharaoh Ramses IV, who died in 1149 BC, were replaced with a couple of small onions during the mummification process. Ancient Egyptians associated the onion with mysticism and though them to possess magic powers.
46. Not for All the Gold in the World
Almost 30% of the world’s gold reserves are held in a vault underneath the island of Manhattan. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York takes up a full block between Maiden Lane and William, Liberty and Nassau streets, and it holds the world's largest gold depository. Only 5% of the USA’s gold reserves are kept there though—the rest belongs to international banks like the IMF.
47. May I Offer You a Night Cap?
Thomas Jefferson hated formal events, and he often greeted foreign dignitaries in his pyjamas.
48. Space Pharaohs
Scholars generally agree that the Ancient Egyptian empire lasted for thousands of years-which can be hard to wrap your head around. To put it in perspective, the Great Pyramid of Giza was built roughly between 2550 and 2490 BC, while Cleopatra took the throne in 51 BC. That's a lot of facts and information, so let me put it into perspective for you:
That means that Cleopatra’s reign was closer in time to the freaking moon landing than it was to the building of the Great Pyramid.
49. Do Whales Have Irregular Heartbeats?
A Volkswagen Beetle is the same size as a Blue Whale’s heart. Its arteries are wide enough to swim through. That being said, we would advise you do not try to swim through a Blue Whale's heart after reading this fact, just to see if this is true. Some things are better left undone.
50. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
The “mirror test” is one of the key ways scientists determine the intelligence of a species. It involves placing an animal in front of a mirror to observe whether it can realize that the image it sees is a reflection of itself rather than a different animal, and many species fail. Nevertheless, some individual animals can stand out from the crowd.
For example, the late, beloved Koko the Gorilla passed this test, even thought the gorilla as species in general failed.
_(13587504875).jpg){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment