Remembering all the math I did in high school, I can only say that looking at numbers can be confusing. Or just boring. But sometimes, they can offer you a better understanding of the world than a news show. And in a much more entertaining fashion, too.
In October, Redditor u/alexbbtkd asked other platform users, “What’s a crazy statistic?” and has received plenty of answers. We’ve combed through all of them and picked out the most surprising ones just to broaden your horizons. So put on your smarty pants, get a notebook, and enjoy!
#1
If you were to compress earth’s existence into a 24 hour day, life would first appear at 4am, plants would first appear at 10pm, dinosaurs from about 11pm-11:40pm, and humans emerge at 11:59pm.
From Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”
Image source: justf*ckinwitya, Greg Rosenke
#2
You are more likely to be bitten by a stranger in New York City than by a shark anywhere else in the nation.
You are more likely to be killed by a vending machine than by a shark.
What we can learn from this is that strange vending machines in NYC should be avoided at all cost
Image source: rhett342, Nariman Mosharrafa
#3
That the Catholic Church hid a (now self) reported 8.4 child rapes per day for over 71 years.
Image source: northsidemassive, Channel 82
#4
That there are A LOT more empty homes in the US than there are homeless people.
Image source: JethroKirby, Eric Muhr
#5
The average person is a 28 year old Chinese man
Image source: PassMeThatPerrier, Good Faces
#6
40% of homeless are employed.
Image source: coppertin, Nick Fewings
#7
The top 10% of drinkers account 60% of all alcohol consumed in the US. And they drink the equivalent of 74 drinks per week.
So the entire alcoholic beverages industry is kept alive by severe alcoholics.
Image source: WaTar42, Pawel Kadysz
#8
One third of adults still sleep with a comfort object
Image source: real_Tfilms, Sharon McCutcheon
#9
There is more actual lemon in Lemon Pledge cleaner than there is in Country Time lemonade
Image source: jackof47trades, Julia Peretiatko
#10
More first responders and survivors have now died due to 9/11 related illnesses than the number lost at Ground Zero on the day of the attack. The number will continue to rise because of the huge amount of health problems caused by the dust and smoke that everyone in the surrounding areas inhaled when/after the towers fell.
Image source: jodaqua, Anthony Fomin
#11
The U.S government has ‘misplaced’ six thermonuclear warheads. They were either lost or stolen in transit and at this juncture, one of the largest nuclear superpowers in the world has no idea where they are.
Image source: CaptainExplosions, wikipedia
#12
It is estimated that bears kill over two million salmon a year. Attacks by salmon on bears are much more rare.
Image source: triclops47, Pradeep Nayak
#13
The most common cause of death for pregnant women is homicide
Image source: possiblyhysterical, Suhyeon Choi
#14
40% of cops are domestic abusers
Image source: moistowletts
#15
86% of British people live within 8 miles from where they were born.
Image source: Jasonhopkins99, Gregory Hayes
#16
Sharks predate trees by 100 million years…
Image source: minnow99 , Alex Steyn
#17
There are more combinations in a 52 deck of cards than stars in the known universe.
Image source: GuccGunBushWacker97, Amanda Jones
#18
39% of the world’s population is overweight and that number is only getting “bigger”
Image source: Crazylivykid, towfigu
#19
If you were born in 1923 in the Soviet Union as a male, you would have an 80% chance of dying in world war II.
Image source: Proud-Pain-7064, Kevin Schmid
#20
In the US, you are more likely to be killed by a cow than you are to be killed by a coyote.
Image source: [deleted], Wolfgang Hasselmann
#21
Humans, (Homo sapien sapien), appeared on earth ~200,000 yrs. ago and didn’t reach a population of 1 billion until 1804. About one hundred years later, 1920’s, there were 2 billion. We now add a billion people to the planet every 12 years.
Image source: ProudLiberal54
#22
That you can fit all the planets in our solar system between the Earth and the Moon and still have some room spare.
Mind blown
Image source: Aggsthen, Harman Smith and Laura Generosa
#23
More energy from the sun hits Earth every hour than the planet uses in a year.
Image source: Redshift_1, Selvan B
#24
1 in 3 Australians will be diagnosed with a skin cancer by the time they’re 70.
Edit. Google search actually says (multiple times) that “at least 2 in 3 will be diagnosed with skin cancer by 70”
F*ck.
Image source: romilliad , Spute2008
#25
We are closer in time to the birth of Cleopatra than she was to the construction of the Great Pyramid
Image source: TonyHerbs, 20thcenturystudios
#26
According to the FBI, there are currently more than 25 active serial killers in the US
Image source: timelizard13
#27
The United States “land of the free” incarcerates more citizens per capita than any other country: US: 629 inmates per 100,000 citizens
Compared to other countries: Cuba: 510, Brazil: 381, Russia: 326, China: About 250, Mexico: 169, UK: 131, France: 100
Image source: rohnoitsrutroh
#28
Broccoli has more protein per calorie than a steak.
Image source: NuttyNatterer, Louis Hansel
#29
1 out of 25 people are sociopaths. No automatic sense of empathy.
Image source: CheeCheeReer
#30
There are approximately 78,000,000,000,000 000,000 atoms in a grain of sand.
Image source: MinerDy, jim gade
#31
60% of people with Bipolar disorder are unemployed
Image source: [deleted], Andre Styles
#32
One in 4 people have had sex at work
Image source: FatesCause, krakenimages
#33
Men are about 7 times more as successful at suicide than women.
Image source: adamsbrad47, Ethan Sykes
#34
Human life expectancy has increased more rapidly in the past 50 years than in the past 200,000 years.
Image source: amrodd
#35
20% of produce and fruit in the usa is never sold and is left to rot
Image source: qmrk346, Anton Darius
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