FACTOIDS
The word “factoid” was the 1973 invention of author Norman Mailer. It was meant to describe false information that is accepted as fact. It found its way into modern culture to refer to a trivial fact.
Franz Reichelt was a tailor and inventor. He dreamed of designing a parachute suit for pilots. In 1912, he started testing his invention on dummies. Reichert was so convinced of the success of his creation that he went to the lower level of the Eiffel Tower, put on the suit and jumped to his death.
There are over 50 chemicals including the toxins benzene and toluene in new car smell.
Avocadoes do not ripen on the tree. They ripen after they are picked. This accounts for why they are often rock hard in stores.
Capgras Syndrome is a condition where one believes someone close to them has been replaced by an identical clone.
The largest Japanese population outside Japan is in Brazil, where 2 million Japanese live.
The specialized hair inside a cat’s inner ear canal are called “ear furnishings”. They keep dirt from entering the ear, protecting the ear canal. They help lower risk of infection and pick up sound vibrations to improve hearing.
A cluster of bananas is called a hand. A single banana is known as a finger.
Chen Zhitong from Guangdong Province, China is known as the Claw King. He can retrieve all the toys from a claw machine in minutes. He has collected over 3,000 toys which require three rooms to store all his prizes.
A single strand of spaghetti is called a spaghetto.
Giraffes communicate with each other by producing low-frequency humming. This prevents them from alerting predators, usually at night, which allows the herd to keep track of each other in the dark. When distressed they grunt, hiss and snort.
A lightning bolt is five times hotter than the Sun.
The snow globe was created about 1900 by Edwin Perzy, a surgical instrument maker, in Vienna, Austria.
The most visited country in the world is France. They welcome 102 million visitors a year.
In ancient Rome, the bride wore a plain white tunic with an orange-yellow veil called a flammeum. on her wedding day.
The unicorn is Scotland’s national animal. It is believed to have been chosen because its untamed spirit and strength equals the country’s love of independence. They celebrate National Unicorn Day every April 9th.
The South Asian dish, chicken tikka marsela, is one of England’s most popular dishes.
Spain has a law on the books making public nudity legal.Some towns, however, have passed their own laws outlawing public nudity.
In 1881, Dr. Alfred P. Southwick a dentist in Buffalo, New York, witnessed a drunken man touch a live generator terminal, He was immediately electrocuted. Southwick thought that would be a more humane way of execution than hanging or other methods in use. He pushed the State government to pass a law requiring electrical executions.
Japan is made up of 14,125 islands.
The croissant was not created in France. It was created in Vienna, Austria and called the kipferl.
Indian inventions include the number zero, chess, buttons, and shampoo.
The Dutch eat the most licorice in the world. Each person munches on 4.4 pounds a year.
The Ceylon’s (Sri Lanka) coffee industry was killed by a fungal disease called coffee leaf rust in the 19th century. Plantations immediately switched to tea. It not only saved the economy but produced what would become celebrated Ceylon tea.
There is no other location on Earth that sells more chocolate a year than Brussels Airport. Every minute 3.3 pounds of chocolate are sold.
Supreme court justices do not have to be lawyers.
The first modern country to give women the right to vote was New Zealand in 1893.
Bologna has two leaning towers.
Queen Elizabeth was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War. She trained as a mechanic.
The world’s oldest bookstore, operating since 1732, is Livraria Bertrand in Portugal.
Research has proven that all the hunting performed by hunter gathers were not men. Women regularly engaged in hunting with nets, weapons and dogs.
In the 1880s, newspapers used the phrase “The Windy City” to describe Chicago. Not because of the wind but to make fun of Chicagoans as being full of hot air.
Wood furniture is sealed with shellac, a shiny resin that comes from insect secretions. It is also used on chocolate candy and apples to give them a luster.
Shakespeare had a curse engraved on his headstone to prevent grave robbers from stealing his bones.
Almost all of your online history is documented by Facebook, even after you have logged out and even if you don’t have an account.
The word Car comes from the ancient Gaulish word Karros. Romans adopted this term, meaning “two wheeled chariot” and called it Carrum.
Sea Otters hold paws when they sleep so they don’t drift apart in the ocean currents.
Mark Twain patented the adjustable elastic strap and clasp for garments in 1871. This design remains the way most bras still open and close today.
Before there were trees on earth, Prototaxites grew. They were trunk-like structures that looked like telephone poles They grew up to 30 feet tall and3 feet wide.
Germany produces over 5,000 different beers and has over 20,000 castles and fortresses.
Both inventors of the Frisbee requested that upon their death they be cremated with their remains added to plastic polymers and molded into Frisbees. Family and friends were given these limited-edition discs to play with in honor of the deceased.
The rarest blood type is RH null, called golden blood. It completely lacks RH antigens. Only 50 people have been found to have it, making it the rarest blood on earth.
Both France and Belgium claim to have invented the French fry.
During the Renaissance, it was the style for wealthy women to shave off their eyebrows.
Albatross’ can sleep while they fly by locking their wings in place and gliding in the wind.
The head of Coca-Cola Germany invented Fanta during the Second World War to replace Coke because they could not import Coke syrup from America.
In ancient Egypt the word for cat was miu or mau mimicking the cat’s meow.
Stepping on money in Thailand is a crime because the king’s image is on coins and banknotes. It is considered disrespecting the monarch.
Voodoo is an official religion in Haiti. Followers believe in a supreme creator named Bondye and communicate with spirits known as Iwa.
The first paper money was invented in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
In ancient times, sailors found the Canary Islands overrun by wild dogs and named the island after the Latin word for dogs, Canaria.
After the 1952 death of the first president of Israel, Chaim Weitzman, Albert Einstein was offered the job of second president of Israel but declined.
A grizzly bear’s bite is so strong it can squash a bowling ball.
In the 1830s, Dr. John Cook Bennett packaged tomato ketchup as medicine for diarrhea, indigestion, jaundice and rheumatism.
Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on television.
Kites were invented 3,000 years ago in China for military purposes. On reconnaissance missions, soldiers were lifted up with kites to observe enemy troops. Kites were also used to signal troops.
Fredric Baur invented the Pringles can and his cremated remains were buried inside one.
The only birds that can fly backwards are hummingbirds.
Ancient Romans used stale urine as mouthwash.
In Malaysia, there is a species of ants that, when threatened, commit suicide by exploding to protect the colony.
Prior to Queen Victoria getting married in a white wedding gown, there was no specific dress color for a bride to wear on her wedding day. After worldwide coverage of her wedding in magazines and newspapers, the color white was adopted in Western countries as the color of choice. China, India and Korea did not follow this practice.
The 1927 Liberian presidential elections were considered the most rigged in history. There were 19,000 registered voters with the incumbent, Charles D. B. King receiving 230,000 votes. His opponent received 9,000 votes. After the election, he was accused of selling slaves to the Spanish colony of Fernando Po and was forced to resign.
A medical term for a high heel shoe fetish is called Altocalciphilia.
Kerala, India has an elephant spa where they are given a day of extravagant pampering. The elephants get bathed, groomed, their bellies rubbed and massaged with oil.
Chinese brides usually wear red which symbolizes luck, love and prosperity.
The Taiga in Siberia contains approximately one fifth the world’s trees. It is the biggest continuous forest belt in the world, making Russia the most forested country in the world.
Hawaii allows no billboards in the state so as not to distract from the natural beauty of the land.
Thailand’s Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple, in the Sisaket Province was constructed from 1.5 million Chang and Heineken bottles
William Shakespeare added 1,700 new words to the English language through his plays.
Both France and Spain claimed they owned Pheasant Island in the Bidassoa River. They resolved their dispute by sharing the island. From February 1st to July 31st, Spain owns the island. From August 1st to January 31st, it belongs to France.
The red and while barber poles of today date back to the Middle Ages. During that time, barbers also acted as surgeons. The white stripes signified clean bandages that were washed and wrapped around the pole to dry. The red stripe signifies bloody bandages from their bloodletting services.
Seven thousand years ago, Western European hunter gathers had dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes.
Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar is a massive temple. It has a large umbrella structure which stands 8 feet 2 inches tall and 3 feet 3 inches wide. It is covered with 5,500 diamonds. At its peak, is a 76-carat diamond.
Picasso carried a gun filled with blanks. If anyone asked him what his art meant, or bored him, he would fire the gun at them.
The Spanish national anthem, (the “Marcha Real”) is entirely instrumental piece without any words. With so many regional differences, they could not agree on words. It is performed during sport and state events as marching music.
Fitted trousers were invented by horse riding Central and East Asian nomads. Ancient Celts were the first Europeans to wear them.
The Tahitian alphabet contains 13 letters. There are 5 vowels and 8 consonants.
Boring, Oregon is the sister city of Dull, Scotland. Bland, Australia then joined them to become the “Trinity of Tedium”.
The Florida Everglades is the only place on Earth that crocodiles and alligators live together.
Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender. He owned a tavern in New Salem, Illinois in 1833.
The oldest continuously operating zoo in the world is the Schonbrunn Zoo opened in 1752 in Vienna, Austria.
The largest cheese producer in the world is the United States with 28% of the total global production. Italy ranks 4th producing only 5%.
The only dog that does not bark is a Basenji. Instead, they have a distinct yodel-like sound called a baroo. This is a result of having a tighter and flatter larynx than other dogs.
In 1897, a dentist invented cotton candy.
One squirrel can hide up to 10,000 nuts a year, the ones they leave behind often grow into trees. They group and bury like nuts together. If they observe another animal watching them, they will only pretend to bury a nut to keep the animal from stealing them.
In our solar system both Uranus and Venus spin clockwise. All other planets spin counterclockwise.
Honey never expires.
Owls cannot move their eyes. Instead, they turn their heads to see.
In the 1840s, Charles Darwin removed the legs of his wooden armchair and replaced them with casters to slide across his lab from one experiment to another without having to get up.
Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories. I would be so curious to learn what morons volunteered as subjects for this study. The science behind this is basic kinetic energy. The action sets in motion an increased heart rate, muscle contractions, and energy expenditure. You can burn the same number of calories by chasing your cat around the house for 30 minutes.
Have a thought about any of these? Drop me an email at Calliope@TheSatisfiedThinkoholic.com
