We know how much you enjoy learning new things, dear Pandas. We do, too. Luckily for us, the internet has a nearly-inexhaustible supply of fun trivia, interesting facts, and intriguing tidbits about the world to whet our appetites for knowledge. If you’re constantly curious about things, then this article might be right up your alley.
Redditor u/Not_a_Replicant_ asked people to share the cool facts that they think others should definitely know, and they were not disappointed. Their thread quickly went viral and got over 41.5k upvotes in 3 days. We’ve collected some of the most interesting answers that are bound to reignite your curiosity about science, history, and other areas of knowledge. Perfect for that Ravenclaw living inside of you? We like to think so.
Scroll down and don’t forget to upvote the facts that you enjoyed learning about the most. Got some great trivia to share with all the other Pandas? Don’t be shy, drop on by the comment section.
Bored Panda reached out to Steven Wooding, a member of the Institute of Physics in the UK, to talk about how to keep ourselves constantly learning as we grow up, how we ought to approach random facts we stumble across online, and where to start if we feel that we’ve reignited our passion for science, history, and other areas. Steven is a member of the Omni Calculator Project and recently helped create the Weird Units Converter, a calculator that helps you make conversions from standard units to unusual ones like football fields, cats, and, yes, even Harry Potter books. They’ve even got a fun challenge set up.
“Getting information from a known, reliable source is an excellent shortcut to having to fact-check everything yourself,” Steven said that we should all put in the effort to find reliable news sources. “You should be very wary of believing something online from a source you don’t recognize. When you do find something, search for it on other websites you have heard of and see if they are all saying the same thing.” Read on for the full interview.
#1
The Guinness book of records was invented by the Guinness beer folks. They figured a book of verifiable facts would help stop bar arguments.
Image source: jmshub, John-Mark Smith
#2
Eugene Aldrin, the father of the famous moon landing astronaut Buzz Aldrin, not only witnessed the Wright brothers’ first flight but also went to see his son land on the moon in his lifespan.
We’ve been quick!
#3
Corgi is a translation of the welsh for dwarf dog. Cor gi.
In the Mabinogion, the welsh book of myths and legends, corgis were the battle steeds of fairies
Image source: TaffWolf, Alvan Nee
#4
If you type the word “askew” into the Google search box, the entire page will tilt slightly.
Image source: TripleGGreggStarski, Nathana Rebouças
#5
The figure in Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is not screaming but is, in fact, reacting to hearing the scream.
Image source: matthewloren, wiki
#6
Bob Ross was a Drill Instructor. When he stopped working as that, he promised he would not raise his voice at someone again. That’s why he was so soft spoken.
#7
There was a phantom poop on an Apollo mission. A poop, floating around, that none of the astronauts said was theirs.
Image source: chalk_in_boots, wiki
#8
If you skip to the end of a long YouTube video and press replay you can watch the whole thing without adds
Image source: Gat_Gat_Habitat
#9
The technology for the fax machine was invented in 1843. The feudal era in Japan ended in 1868 abolishing the samurai class. Abraham Lincoln lived until 1865. All of this combined lead to a 22 year period in which Lincoln could have received a fax from a samurai.
Image source: Chef_Groovy
#10
Human’s ability smell petrichor (smell of wet earth from rain) is greater than a Shark’s ability to smell blood in water.
Image source: issaparadox
#11
Honeybees can be trained to sniff out land mines in war zones! Obviously dogs can do it but to avoid blowing up poor unsuspecting doggos, they figured out that bees could do the same thing and swarm the area without setting the mine off to alert people to its presence
Image source: MasterofNoneya, David Clode
#12
You know that feeling like you’re falling you get when you’re falling asleep? That happens because sometimes your muscles relax and your heart rate slows down too quickly that your body thinks you’re dying. So, it gives you that falling sensation which jolts you awake.
Image source: moonlixqht
#13
Some birth control pills can cause vitamin B deficiency. Vitamin B is used to make seratonin. I’ve know a few people that got super depressed after starting birth control and taking B complex made a huge difference
*consult your doctor
Image source: BOBALL00, Benjamin Moss
#14
Andrew Jackson had a interesting assassination attemp. The person who was going to kill him pointed his gun and it jammed. Jackson then beat him up wjth his cane. The guy got back and pulled out the second gun which also managed to jam. This is a 1 in 125,000 chance.
Image source: DjPedromemes01, wiki
#15
Australia is wider than the moon.
Image source: fruit_cats, Dan Freeman
#16
Some people don’t have a inner dialogue, some can’t picture in their mind, and some have / can do both.
Image source: PurpleArmy21
#17
When the Rubix Cube was first released a mathematician said it would take the average person 30 years, working 8 hours a day, to solve a cube saying it was impossible for someone without a master’s in mathematics to solve it in under a month.
Image source: atombomb1945, Olav Ahrens Røtne
#18
NASA discovered a planet outside of the milky way a few days ago for the first time in human history
Image source: xlybear, an Chen
#19
German chocolate cake was invented by an English-American baker named Samuel German and has nothing to do with the country of Germany.
Image source: matthewloren, wiki
#20
Opossums generally cannot get rabies. Their body temperature is too low for the virus.
Also the stomach acid of a vulture is so highly acidic it kills rabies virus and most bacteria, which is why they can eat dead disgusting rotting things.
Image source: ginpanda
#21
Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the pyramids
Image source: LobotomistPrime, wiki
#22
That the patent for the fire hydrant was lost in a fire
Image source: CorinRyptide, Hrt+Soul Design
#23
Putting enough eye drops in someone’s food or drink will, in fact, kill them.
Image source: interlinkedenigma, Hopfphotography
#24
There’s a vast difference between a million and a billion. A simple way to visualize it: a million seconds is over 11 days. A billion seconds is just under 32 years.
Image source: CollinZero, Mufid Majnun
#25
The sun is not yellow. When viewed outside earths atmosphere it is white. It only looks yellow due to our atmosphere “pulling” the blue light out, leaving it looking yellow. It’s an illusion.
Image source: BeWiseExercise
#26
When a Camel spider (or wind scorpion) is chasing you, it’s just chasing your shadow. All they want is a little bit of shade! They’d never have the intent of harming you
Image source: Mobile_Macro
#27
There was no “s” sound for the letter c in ancient Roman Latin. Thus Gaius Julius Caesar was pronounced “Gaius Julius Kaiser”. His name is where the Germans and Russians got their name for king (Kaiser and Tzar respectively).
Image source: linpashpants
#28
When a person receives a kidney transplant they don’t take out the old kidneys, they just shove em to the side and leave em in there.
#29
Gases and particles in Earth’s atmosphere scatter sunlight in all directions. Blue light is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. Now you know why the sky is blue.
Image source: Accurate_Efficiency1, Timo Volz
#30
Komodo dragons are the largest animals in the world capable of reproducing asexually
Edit: y’all I just found this on google when I was curious one day don’t ask me how it works I’m failing biology
#31
Due to evolution, humans share genes with all living organisms. For example, 60% of your DNA is the same as a strawberry.
#32
More people die from vending machines than sharks
Image source: Jackpot09, Estera Nicoi
#33
Emma Morano of Italy was the last (documented and verified) person to die that was born in the 1800s. 29th November 1899 – 15th April 2017
Image source: SkippyMcLovin
#34
Stephen Hawking died on March 14, the Pi Day, which is also the birthday of Albert Einstein.
Image source: initialpizza
#35
There was a short period of time when Picasso and Snoop Dogg were both alive together.
Image source: ReadaboutitXD
#36
The shell is part of the turtle’s skeleton.
Image source: haydensidun, Marcus Dietachmair
#37
Butterflies and Moths can drink blood and tears in order to get nutrients. It’s called Mud-puddling. I think more horror movies should use this.
Image source: MonetsMenagerie
#38
The amount of water in, on, and above planet earth does not increase or decrease. It’s always in a constant cycle. Even the water humans use.
Image source: energizerbunneee
#39
90% of the population on Earth lives in the Northern Hemisphere.
Image source: Johndoe448, Greg Rosenke
#40
Lamborghini started making supercars because Enzo Ferrari was being a jerk to Ferruccio Lamborghini.
Image source: dis_not_my_name
#41
Your oral health is very important , poor oral health is more than just bad teeth / bad breathe it can lead to heart problems , infections and more
Image source: Additional-Back4889
#42
Sharks existed before trees existed.
Image source: prairiemountainzen, Nariman Mesharrafa
#43
The “Easter Island Heads” actually have bodies, and some were excavated in 2017.
Image source: Poppycorn144
#44
If you stare at your own reflection in dim lighting for a few minutes, your face will begin to distort and you will essentially begin to hallucinate. Don’t do it. It’s a trap.
Image source: Halo-Kai, Marc-Olivier Jodoin
#45
Penguins trade nice rocks for sex.
Image source: Qu1tyerbitchin
#46
As the result of a collision with another moon eons ago, Neptune’s moon “Triton” has a retrograde orbit; meaning an orbit in the direction opposite to its planet’s rotation. Triton is the only large moon our solar system to have such an orbit. Not impressed?
The collision eons ago also altered Triton’s orbit of Neptune in another, far more sinister way. Despite obviously emerging victorious from the collision, the impact ever so slightly threw Triton off course. Every year, Triton creeps a fraction of an inch closer to Neptune.
This means that one day billions of years in the future, Triton’s orbit will get too close to Neptune and Neptune’s superior gravitational pull will tear Triton apart.
Image source: baiqibeendeleted17x
#47
Hyenas are actually more related to cats than dogs. Hyenas are part of the Suborder Feliformia along with cats.
Image source: amxorca
#48
You can make tasty fresh bread yourself in four or five hours with flour, salt, yeast and water, no kneading and zero skill. It literally takes less than 10 minutes of actual effort. Since finding out about this last year I’ve done it dozens of times. Google no-knead bread!
Image source: AmiableBowelSyndrome
#49
Big bird was almost in the Challenger explosion
Big bird was planned to go so they could do something to get kids interested in space, but the costume (over 8 feet tall) was just too f**king big to fit.
They sent a school teacher instead. And then the shuttle exploded
Image source: DoggoDude979
#50
Spit will instantly harden super glue.
Image source: MichelleTheEngraver
#51
A platypus makes venom. One of several interesting things about them.
Image source: ladyinchworm
#52
Shaq hit almost 12,000 baskets in his career. Exactly 1 of them was a 3-pointer.
Image source: MrMister26, wiki
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