Facts that sound false but are true — Page 9
Our highest surprise rating: the facts people most often refuse to believe until they read the explanation. Every one of them is documented.
1017 facts
In Switzerland, owning one guinea pig is illegal.
Considered social animals, it is against the law to keep just one because it would get lonely, and companionship is…
A group of crows is called a 'murder'.
This creepy collective noun dates back to the 15th century, inspired by old folklore and the birds' association with…
The body has enough carbon to fill 9,000 pencils.
Carbon is the fundamental building block of all life on Earth. The average human body is about 18% carbon by mass…
Most wasabi outside Japan is actually horseradish.
Real wasabi is extremely difficult and expensive to cultivate. It loses its flavor within 15 minutes, so most…
The first webcam was invented to monitor a coffee pot.
In 1991, Cambridge University researchers pointed a camera at their office coffee pot to avoid wasted trips to a…
The original London Bridge is now in Arizona, USA.
In 1968, the 19th-century stone bridge was dismantled, shipped brick-by-brick across the ocean, and rebuilt in Lake…
Owls cannot move their eyeballs.
Their eyes are fixed in their sockets, which is why they must rotate their entire heads up to 270 degrees to look…
A single bolt of lightning can power a 100-watt light bulb for 3 months.
A typical lightning flash contains about 1 billion joules of energy, which is substantial but notoriously difficult…
In modern cars, the gas pedal controls the air, not the fuel.
When you press the pedal, you are opening the throttle plate to let more air into the engine. The car's computer…
Throwing an apple at someone was an Ancient Greek marriage proposal.
Catching the apple meant accepting the proposal. This tradition is the origin of the modern phrase 'the apple of my…
The oldest known living tree is over 5,000 years old.
Named Methuselah, this Great Basin bristlecone pine is located in the White Mountains of California. Its exact…
The first-ever SMS text message simply said 'Merry Christmas'.
Sent on December 3, 1992, by engineer Neil Papworth to colleague Richard Jarvis, it was sent from a computer to a…
Erno Rubik took a month to solve his own invention.
When the Hungarian architect invented the Rubik's Cube in 1974, he didn't realize how difficult it was. It took him…
Pistachios are fruits (drupes), not nuts.
Technically, they are drupes, which are fruits with a fleshy outer part surrounding a shell with a seed inside…
Formaggio di Fossa is a cheese aged in underground caves.
This traditional Italian cheese is wrapped in cloth, rubbed with fig leaves, and buried in special pits for months…
Snails have thousands of teeth.
Snails have a radula, a rigid structure with rows of denticles. A common garden snail can have about 14,000 teeth…
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world by weight, requiring about 75,000 flowers for one pound.
It is harvested entirely by hand from the delicate threads of the Crocus sativus flower, making the labor-intensive…
The hottest chili pepper in the world is the Pepper X.
Created by breeder Ed Currie, Pepper X averages over 2.6 million Scoville Heat Units. Eating it can cause severe…
The first product ever scanned with a barcode was a pack of chewing gum.
In 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Ohio, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum became the first item purchased using…
The first fax was installed in a palace in 1860.
Napoleon III installed a fax machine between his palace and his office in Paris in 1860. The device, a precursor to…
Brigadeiro was created to support a presidential campaign.
The Brazilian sweet brigadeiro was created in the 1940s during the presidential campaign of Brigadier Eduardo Gomes…
Coffee has been banned in several countries.
Throughout history, coffee has been banned in several places, including Mecca in the 16th century and Prussia in the…
The popsicle was accidentally invented in 1905 by an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson.
He left a glass of soda water with a wooden stirring stick outside on his porch overnight. It froze solid, and he had…
Lesotho is a country inside another country.
Lesotho is one of the few examples of a national enclave. Its entire territory is completely surrounded by South…