50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Not everything that you read on the internet is true. In a similar vein, far from everything that sounds made up is fake. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and some truly bizarre things about life on Planet Earth are closer to reality than myth.

Reddit user u/Mmemyo sparked an interesting discussion on r/AskReddit. They invited everyone to share the “stupid facts” they knew which might sound suspicious and weird but are actually correct. We’ve collected the most intriguing ones to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out! Hopefully, you’ll learn something new.

#1

The vikings, who came from Scandinavia, used iron as their main ingredient for forging weaponry, but it was also common practice to add the bones of dead animals to the mix. The belief was that it would infuse the weapon with the spirit of the creature, making it stronger, but they ended up making a primitive version of steel because of the carbon in the bones mixing with the iron making the weapon stronger, just as they thought it would. 

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Nameless_Chad, CC BY-SA 3.0

#2

Cows have best friends and can become stressed when they’re separated from them.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: berrybandz_, Pixabay

#3

You can go the rest of your life without breathing.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Janube, Kelvin Valerio

#4

When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!

Image source: SeanChewie

#5

There are more planes in the ocean than boats in the sky

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: vexix, Wilfred Hdez

#6

For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants.

Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet.

If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you’ll be responsible for killing? If you’ve got kids, you might have to kill more because a 2 year old isn’t going to accomplish a god damn thing if millions of ants are marching towards them.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: PM-ME-FOR-CATNIP, Jimmy Chan

#7

Bald eagles are not actually bald. Balde is old english for white.

Image source: whodunnitno

#8

Redheads require more anesthesia than non-redheads.

Image source: JohnnyWall

#9

Honey never spoils

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: willyw0nka_, ROMAN ODINTSOV

#10

Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: WantAllMyGarmonbozia, Charles J. Sharp

#11

A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he’s like “I’m outta here” and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia…where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later.

Image source: rgrtom

#12

-40C and -40F are the same temperature.

Image source: feewak

#13

The original name for the color orange was “geoluhread,” which means “yellow-red” in Old English

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: willyw0nka_, Sigrid Abalos

#14

If you open your eyes in a completely dark room, the name of the color you will see is eigengrau, a kind of dark grey shade

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Wisanbon, Ida Rizkha

#15

A lot of averages.

Example: The average number of legs humans have is less than 2.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Uilamin, Dominika Roseclay

#16

Some invader (don’t remember specifics) sent a letter to sparta saying that “If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again” and the Spartans sent a letter back with a single word in it. “If” 

Image source: Jaxonhunter227

#17

Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not true berries (in botanical terms berries are defined by their structure, and bananas fit the bill while strawberries don’t)

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: willyw0nka_, Kio

#18

The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion.

Image source: Light944

#19

Pink is really just a light shade of red, but we think of it as a distinct color because we have a word for it that stuck. Not all languages have that. In Italian, they have a similar word for light blue, called “azzurro,” and it’s so common they actually think of it as a separate color from blue. We have the word “azure” in English, but it isn’t nearly as common, so we tend to think of that color as just a shade of blue.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Atheist_Alex_C, Juan Sauras

#20

Coffee is not a bean it is the pit of the coffee plant which is a fruit.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Chance-Personality50, Daniel Reche

#21

Racecar spelled backwards is racecar.

Image source: uncultured_swine2099

#22

A man named John Young brought a corned beef sandwich to space illegally and shared it with his colleague on board and he would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for the recording of them talking about the sandwich.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Watermelonseeds8U, jeffreyw

#23

Our planet will exist long after humans go extinct

Image source: Vitaminpartydrums

#24

I’m closer to being a millionaire than Bill Gates is.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: i_am_cullivan, Greg Rubenstein

#25

– [ ] Of the few people who have top secret clearance at the White House one of them is the person who writes all of the party invitations.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Eejaypea14, angela n.

#26

Crows can be trained to bring you money

Image source: Hotsteppa_85

#27

Pirates wear eye patches to see better in the dark (covered eye doesn’t get used to sunlight and is more sensitive after uncovering).

Image source: henholic

#28

6X9+6+9=69

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: DushyantKhator, Louis Bauer

#29

Someone named the fear of long words hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Fynx_HD, cottonbro studio

#30

Less than 40% of great white sharks have filed their 2022 tax returns

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Due_Essay447, GEORGE DESIPRIS

#31

The Earth is not round. It is an oblate spheroid.

Image source: MacduffFifesNo1Thane

#32

There are 5.87 Popes per square mile in the Vatican City.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: henfeathers, Aliona & Pasha

#33

We thought to put wheels on luggage after we got to the moon.

The lighter the Roast the more caffeine coffee has.

A new car costs less than it’s equal weight in Hamburgers.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Chance-Personality50, Ketut Subiyanto

#34

You have to kill about 400 people to get enough iron from their blood to make a sword

Image source: human_person27

#35

The longest place name in the world is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: x_Fairy_Daisy, foolfillment

#36

Im always seeing my nose ..its just that my brain ignores it

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: PYROMANIA6, Engin Akyurt

#37

There are clouds of alcohol floating around in space.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Unexpected_Waffles, Pixabay

#38

There are more Hydrogen atoms in a single molecule of water than there are stars in the entire Solar System.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Wadsworth_McStumpy, Vlad Chețan

#39

Cleopatra is closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the Giza pyramids.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: feedg, Louis le Grand

#40

The Atari 2600’s release date and the last execution by guillotine happened less than 24 hours apart.

Image source: SleeplessShitposter

#41

The average number of skeletons in a human body is more than 1.

Image source: BelmontZiimon

#42

18% of adult Americans claim they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: OJimmy, cottonbro studio

#43

The plural of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac

Image source: invasive-breaker

#44

Sloths are most vulnerable to predators when pooping. They have to climb down to the trees to the floors floor, and it is a bit of a process for them to actually poop leaving them at risk of predators.

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: Faultiergeist, Roxanne Minnish

#45

A species of frog, the African clawed frog, was the most reliable pregnancy test for a few decades before at-home tests were widely affordable and accessible.

Image source: kawaiikaeru23

#46

New Mexico (the state) got its name before Mexico (the country)

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

Image source: HiThisIsMichael, TUBS

#47

You are constantly clapping, but the claps are just spaced differently.

Image source: bigfatpoopbum

#48

Dung beetles navigate using the Milky Way

Image source: Elementus94

#49

Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon

created the name (Lululemon) to have many L’s so that it would sound western to Japanese buyers, who often have difficulty pronouncing the letter. He later remarked that he found it “funny to watch (Japanese speakers) try and say it” and that “it was the only reason behind the name”

Image source: Kashmir6

#50

A bone “break” is the same as a “fracture.” Fracture is just the medical term. It does not have any correlation with the severity.

Image source: Horror-Impression411