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

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.

#2

A kind of moth is found in Madagascar that almost entirely subsists on the tears of sleeping birds.

Image credits: Technical-SaladE22

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

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.

#4

Bats help pollinate the agave plant. So if you like tequila, give props to the bats

Image credits: Intothewasteland

#5

They put men on the moon before they put wheels on luggage.

Image credits: ProfessorRaeWolfe

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

Sharks are older than both trees and the rings of Saturn.

Image credits: drewsiferr

#7

Jimmy Carter left nuclear codes in his jacket, which he had sent to the cleaners.

Image credits: RegularEmbarrassed36

#8

80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive WWII.

Image credits: FLEXXMAN33

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

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

Image credits: IndianaJonesDoombot

#10

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.

Image credits: Alita_Of_Rivia

#11

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.

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

"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.

Image credits: FLEXXMAN33

#13

Pocahontas and William Shakespeare died less than a year apart and within 150 miles of each other.

Image credits: FLEXXMAN33

#14

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.

Image credits: hclpfan

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, Bored Panda 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.

Image credits: hymie0

#16

2/3 of Canada’s population lives south of Seattle.

Image credits: FLEXXMAN33

#17

Lighters were invented before matches

Image credits: 93tilInfinityish

#18

There were already fossilized dinosaur bones while dinosaurs were still alive.

Image credits: mjohnsimon

#19

that if you knock out a tooth and replace it in its socket, the tooth will grow roots again and survive.

Image credits: Technical-Saladbb92

#20

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.

#21

The founders of Adidas and Puma were brothers with a sibling rivalry.

#22

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.

#23

There was a time when a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln

Image credits: Asleep-Trifle-5731

#24

Anne Frank and Martin Luther King jr. were born in the same year.

#25

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!

Image credits: bobfossilnoway

#26

Human children do not develop kneecaps until they are 3 years old.

#27

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.

#28

More people die annually as a result of coal power than have died due to nuclear power in its entire history.

#29

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.

#30

Plastic was introduced as a means to combat deforestation (paper bags were the norm back then)

#31

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.

Image credits: Derderbere2

#32

You are more likely to win an Olympic Medal than the lottery.

#33

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

Image credits: I-amthegump

#34

*The Phantom Menace* is older now than *Star Wars* was when *The Phantom Menace* was released.

#35

Wombats have cube shaped poo

#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!

#37

Brazil is so big that the northernmost point in Brazil is closer to Canada than it is to the southernmost point in Brazil.

#38

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.

#39

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.

#40

The population of earth would fit inside Texas at the same density as NYC.

#41

There used to be trillions of oysters living in New York harbor.

#42

The brain named itself

#43

Strawberries are not technically berries

#44

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.)

#45

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!

#46

I have two facts about American baseball players:

* Stan Musial played for the St Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963. He's considered one of the greatest outfielders of all time. In 3,026 career games, he had 1,815 hits in home games and 1,815 hits in away games.

* Ken Griffey Jr. played for the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox from 1989 to 2010. He made the baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He is only the 2nd-best baseball player born on November 21st in Donora, PA (population of 4,568 as of 2020). The best? Stan Musial, born November 21st, 1920.

#47

Most peoples wing span is the same as their height

#48

Woolly mammoths we’re walking the earth while the pyramids were being built

#49

France's longest border is with Brazil.

#50

The Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal is farther West than the Pacific entrance.

#51

Virtually all of the South American continent is east of Florida.

#52

Polar bears are black