Fun Facts

Welcome to the new Fun Facts page! The title pretty much explains it.

1. Every day is about 55 billionths of a second longer than the day before it
2. No piece of normal sized paper can be folded in half more than 7 times
3. If an Amish man has a beard, he is married
4. Scuba divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below
5. The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions
6. More than 90% of plane crashes have survivors
7. Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children
8. The egg came first
9. Native Hawaiian women are not allowed to cook
10. The Himilayas cover one-tenth of the Earth’s surface
11. Walt Disney was afraid of mice
12. The first known marketer of the flushing toilet was Thomas Crapper (lol!)
13. The average bed is home to over 6 billion dust mites
14. The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it
15. The total combined weight of the worlds ant population is heavier than the weight of the human population
16. The deadliest war in history excluding WWII was a civil war in China in the 1850’s in which the rebels were led by a man who thought he was the brother of Jesus Christ
17. Happy Birthday (the song) is copyrighted
18. Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860
19. A German WWII submarine sunk do to malfunction of a toilet
20. The largest living thing on the face of the Earth is a mushroom underground in Oregon, it measures 3 and a half miles in diameter
21. 9 out of 10 people think Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. This isn’t true; Joseph Swan did
22. The population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas
23. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the Egyptian tombs of pharoahs has been tasted by archeaologists and found edible
24. Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel with over 50,000 words, none of which containing the letter “e”
25. On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day
26. An average person falls asleep in 7 minutes
27. A human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year
28. In “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, the dwarfs’ names are the same as the 7 stages of cocaine addiction
29. You share your birthday with about 9 million other people in the world
30. The word “democracy” is banned in online chat rooms in China
31. House flies have a life span of 2 weeks
32. There are no poisonous snakes in Maine
33. The electric chair was invented by a dentist
34. The longest one syllable word in the English dictionary is “screeched”
35. Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
36. There are approximately 50 Bibles sold every minute across the world
37. The average person laughs 15 times a day
38. If all the Coca-Cola vending machines in the U.S. were stacked one on top of each other, the pile would be 420 miles high
39. It is estimated that at any one time. 0.7% of the world’s population are drunk
40. Licking a stamp leads to the consumption of 1/10 of a calorie
41. Your odds of being killed in a tornado are 1 in 2 million
42. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been struck by lightning
43. The leg muscles of a locust are 1,000 times more powerful than an equal weight of a human muscle
44. Sound travels 4 times faster in water than air
45. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket
46. Knowledge is growing so fast that 90% of what we will know in 50 years time, will be discovered in those 50 years
47. When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds up to 3,000 miles per hour
48. Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man
49. There has never been an earthquake in North Dakota
50. Hawaii is moving closer to Japan at a rate of 4 inches per year
51. Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of 250 feet
52. Starfish don’t have brains
53. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
54. An octopus’ eye pupil is rectangular
55. Hummingbirds are the only animals able to fly backwards
56. There are more beetles than any other kind of creature in the world
57. Every minute, 30-40,000 dead skin cells fall from your body
58. A crocodile’s tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth
59. Sharks are immune to cancer
60. Giraffes are unable to cough
61. A cockroach can live for several weeks without its head
62. Ants do not sleep
63. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over 1 million descendents
64. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn’t like being seen wearing them in public.
65. A giraffe has a 20-inch tongue.
66. The US has used military force a number of times, but has only actually declared war 5 times (the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II).
67. Only humans sleep on their backs.
68. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
69. Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president to hold a patent. It was for an invention to buoy boats over shallow rivers.
70. Vikings used the skulls of their enemies as drinking vessels.
71. About one-third of recorded CDs are pirated.
72. Elvis was an avid gun collector. His collection of 40 weapons included M-16s and a Thompson submachine gun.
73. The harmonica is the world’s best-selling music instrument.
74. A piano covers the full spectrum of all orchestra instruments, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo.
75. A grand piano can be played faster than an upright (spinet) piano.
76. There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.
77. Carrots have zero fat content.
78. The shortest war on record took place in 1896 when Zanzibar surrendered to Britain after 38 minutes.
79. Since 1495, no 25-year period has been without war.
80. The doors that cover US nuclear silos weigh 748 tons and opens in 19 seconds.
81. The very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
82. When killed in battle, Japanese officers were promoted to the next highest rank.
83. In the 40’s, the Bich pen was changed to Bic for fear that Americans would pronounce it ‘Bitch.’
84. Dry cereal for breakfast was invented by John Henry Kellogg at the turn of the century
85. People with higher number of moles tend to live longer than people with lesser number of moles.
86. When filming summer scenes in winter, actors suck on ice cubes just before the camera rolls – it cools their mouths so their breath doesn’t condense in the cold air.
87. Thinking about your muscles can make you stronger.
88. Grapefruit scent will make middle aged women appear six  years younger to men.
89. Women blink twice as many times as men do.
90. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
91. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.
92. The life span of a taste bud is 10 days.
93. The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
94. The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that you’ll have a bad dream.
95. After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.
96. If you ate too many carrots you would turn orange.
97. A baby is born every seven seconds.
98. The foot is the most common body part bitten by insects.
99. The typical person goes to the bathroom 6 times a day.
100. A domestic cat can frighten a black bear to climb a tree.
101. Mosquitoes have 47 teeth.
102. A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
103. A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
104. A group of owls is called a parliament.
105. A group of ravens is called a murder.
106. A group of bears is called a sleuth.
107. More people are killed annually by donkeys than in airplane crashes.
108. Animal breeders in Russia once claimed to have bred sheep with blue wool.
109. Penguins are the only bird that can leap into the air like porpoises.
110. India has 50 million monkeys.
111. By some unknown means, an iguana can end its own life.
112. There are more insects in ten square feet of a rain forest than there are people in Manhattan.
113. Zebras can’t see the color orange.