100 surprising facts to blow your mind

 “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” Neil deGrasse Tyson

The world is filled with astonishing phenomena and facts that can astonish even the most knowledgeable among us. From the depths of space to the intricacies of our own planet, here are 100 surprising facts that are sure to blow your mind:

1. A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
   • Venus rotates once every 243 Earth days but orbits the sun every 225 Earth days.
2. Honey never spoils.
   • Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are over 3000 years old and still perfectly edible.
3. Bananas are berries, but strawberries aren’t.
   • Botanically, bananas qualify as berries, but strawberries do not.
4. A group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance.”
   • Other fun collective nouns include a “murder of crows” and a “parliament of owls.”
5. Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.
   • Two hearts pump blood to the gills, while the third pumps it to the rest of the body.
6. There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way.
   • Earth has over three trillion trees, while our galaxy has 100–400 billion stars.
7. Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
   • Cleopatra lived around 30 BC, while the Great Pyramid was built circa 2560 BC, and the Moon landing occurred in 1969.
8. Water can boil and freeze at the same time.
   • This phenomenon, known as the triple point, can occur under specific conditions of pressure and temperature.
9. Sharks existed before trees.
   • Sharks date back to about 400 million years ago, while the first trees appeared around 350 million years ago.
10. Vending machines are more deadly than sharks.
    • On average, vending machines kill about four people per year by falling on them, which is more than the number of shark-related deaths.
11. Wombat poop is cube-shaped.
    • This unique adaptation helps their droppings not roll away, marking territory and attracting mates.
12. The Eiffel Tower can be 15 cm taller during the summer.
    • When the temperature increases, the metal expands.
13. A single lightning bolt has enough electricity to cook 100,000 pieces of toast.
14. Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas.
15. You can’t hum while holding your nose.
    • Try it; when you hum, air needs to escape through your nose to create the sound.
16. Jupiter’s red spot is shrinking.
    • This massive storm could fit two to three Earths and has been observed for over 350 years.
17. There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.
18. Neutron stars can spin at a rate of 600 rotations per second.
19. A teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh about 6 billion tons.
20. Hot water freezes faster than cold water under certain conditions, a phenomenon known as the Mpemba effect.
21. Cats have fewer toes on their back paws.
    • They have four toes on their back paws but five on the front.
22. Butterflies taste with their feet.
23. The shortest war in history was between Britain and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896.
    • Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
24. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
25. A snail can sleep for three years at a time.
26. More than 60% of the human body is made up of water.
27. Frogs don’t drink; they absorb water through their skin.
28. At birth, baby kangaroos are only about an inch long, no bigger than a large water bug or a queen bee.
29. The Amazon Rainforest produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen.
30. The Spanish national anthem has no words.
31. It rains diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter.
    • The intense pressures and temperatures high in their atmospheres can turn carbon into diamond.
32. Humans are the only animals that blush.
33. The inventor of the Frisbee was turned into a Frisbee after he died.
    • Walter Morrison, the inventor of the Frisbee, was cremated and had his ashes turned into a Frisbee.
34. One light year is about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers).
35. Horses can’t vomit.
36. The inventor of the microwave appliance only received $2 for his discovery.
    • Percy Spencer, an engineer from Maine, discovered microwave cooking by accident when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket while he was working on radar technology.
37. If you could fold a piece of paper 42 times, it would reach to the moon.
    • Due to exponential growth in thickness.
38. Echoes may be used by some fish to help them determine where to swim.
39. The smell of freshly cut grass is actually a plant distress call.
40. The total weight of all ants on Earth once equaled the total weight of all people.
41. ‘Jaws’ is the most common name for a goldfish.
42. On Saturn and Jupiter, it rains diamonds.
43. Google’s founders were willing to sell to Excite for under $1 million in 1999—but Excite turned them down.
44. There’s a basketball court above the Supreme Court. It’s known as the Highest Court in the Land.
45. The shortest commercial flight in the world lasts just 57 seconds.
    • It covers a distance of less than two miles between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.
46. One-quarter of all your bones are located in your feet.
47. Birds need gravity to swallow; unlike humans, they can’t swallow in space.
48. A group of unicorns is known as a blessing.
49. Dolphins have names for each other.
    • They use specific whistles to identify each other.
50. Honeybees can recognize human faces.
51. The Twitter bird’s official name is Larry.
    • Named after Larry Bird, the famous basketball player.
52. A cow-bison hybrid is called a “beefalo”
53. You can hear a blue whale’s heartbeat from more than 2 miles away.
54. The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days.
55. The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
56. A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has one less groove.
57. A single cloud can weigh more than 1 million pounds.
58. A human could swim through the arteries of a blue whale.
59. The shortest complete sentence in English is “I am.”
60. An octopus has three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood.
61. The world’s largest snowflake was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.
    • It fell in Montana in 1887.
62. The first oranges weren’t orange.
    • The original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and they were green.
63. Scotland has 421 words for “snow”
    • This includes “sneesl” (to start raining or snowing).
64. Octopuses lay 56,000 eggs at a time.
65. The longest wedding veil was the same length as 63.5 football fields.
66. The Empire State Building has its own zip code.
67. A narwhal’s tusk reveals its health and life conditions.
68. Armadillos are bulletproof.
    • In a sense, their shell is hard enough to deflect a bullet under certain circumstances.
69. Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter.
    • The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and soak into objects, which is why it’s used to fight fires.
70. It’s possible to turn peanut butter into diamonds.
    • Scientists can mimic the high pressures of the Earth’s mantle to turn the carbon in peanut butter into a crystal form.
71. Rats laugh when tickled.
    • Scientists have discovered that rats love being tickled, and they make laughing sounds that are ultrasonic.
72. A group of crows is called a murder.
73. The world’s oldest “your mom” joke dates back 3,500 years.
    • Found on a Babylonian tablet from 1500 BC, it is considered the oldest known joke.
    • The joke goes: “…of your mother is by the one who has intercourse with her. What/who is it?” This riddle-like format suggests a play on words or a double entendre typical of today’s “yo momma” jokes, though much of the tablet is damaged which obscures the full context.
74. No piece of square dry paper can be folded more than 7 times in half.
75. Banging your head against a wall for one hour burns 150 calories.
76. In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one guinea pig.
    • This is because guinea pigs are social animals, and they are considered victims of abuse if they are alone.
77. Why pigeons bob their heads when walking?
    • It’s to stabilize their visual surroundings.
78. The inventor of the Pringles can is now buried in one.
    • Fred Baur, who invented the Pringles potato chip can, passed away in 2008. At his request, his family buried part of his cremated remains in a Pringles can.
79. In 2017, more people were killed from injuries caused by taking a selfie than by shark attacks.
80. The voices of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse got married in real life.
81. Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch.
82. The French language has seventeen different words for “surrender.”
83. Nearly 3% of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine.
84. Bob Ross never received any money for his show “The Joy of Painting”.
    • His income came from Bob Ross Inc.
85. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep to keep from drifting apart.
86. A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
87. A sheep, a duck, and a rooster were the first passengers in a hot air balloon.
88. In Uganda, around 48% of the population is under 15 years of age.
89. The shortest commercial flight in the world is between two Scottish Islands and lasts only 1.5 minutes.
90. Wind doesn’t make a sound until it blows against an object.
91. On Jupiter and Saturn, it rains diamonds.
92. Google was originally called “Backrub”.
93. In the 16th Century, Turkish women could initiate a divorce if their husbands didn’t pour coffee for them.
94. Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to watch TV for 3 hours.
95. Honeybees can recognize human faces.
96. The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been found in Slovenia and dates back about 5,150 years.
97. Humans are just one of the estimated 8.7 million species on Earth.
98. Iceland does not have a railway system.
99. The total weight of ants on earth once equaled the total weight of people.
100. Strawberries are not berries, but bananas are.

These facts remind us of the incredible diversity and the often surprising nature of our world, inviting us to learn more and continue exploring the unknown. Whether it’s the quirks of the animal kingdom or the oddities of human invention, there’s always something new to discover.

Related Quotes to Make You Think

1. Marie Curie
   • Quote: “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
2. Albert Einstein
   • Quote: “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
3. Neil deGrasse Tyson
   • Quote: “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”
4. Charles Darwin
   • Quote: “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
5. Richard Feynman
   • Quote: “I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
6. Galileo Galilei
   • Quote: “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
7. Stephen Hawking
   • Quote: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
8. Michio Kaku
   • Quote: “What we usually consider as impossible are simply engineering problems… there’s no law of physics preventing them.”
9. Isaac Newton
   • Quote: “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.”
10. Carl Sagan
    • Quote: “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Learn More

Resources to Learn More About Amazing and Surprising Facts

1. Books
   • “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson: This book covers scientific knowledge across various disciplines and explains how scientists learn about the world.
   • “What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” by Randall Munroe: A collection of informative answers to bizarre and hypothetical questions.
2. Websites
   • How Stuff Works (howstuffworks.com): Offers explanations for how things work in a way that is detailed yet easy to understand.
   • Today I Found Out (todayifoundout.com): Delivers fascinating facts from a wide range of topics, exploring myths, misconceptions, and amazing truths.
3. Podcasts
   • “Stuff You Should Know”: An informative podcast that delves into how things work and explores fascinating facts about almost everything.
   • “RadioLab”: A show that investigates a strange world of unbelievable stories and explores science and philosophy.
4. YouTube Channels
   • Vsauce: Michael Stevens explores fascinating scientific and psychological phenomena, along with paradoxes and philosophical thought experiments.
   • TED-Ed: Provides carefully curated educational videos, many of which focus on revealing and explaining surprising facts and ideas.

These resources provide a broad spectrum of interesting and amazing facts, offering deeper insights into the wonders of the world around us. Whether through books, articles, podcasts, or videos, there is a wealth of information waiting to satisfy your curiosity.