Kids see their parents as their superheroes and think that they know everything there is to know about the world. But being a parent to an inquisitive child is like living with the constant possibility of a pop-quiz coming up—you never know when they’ll ask you why the sun shines, whether aliens exist, or when they’ll want to hear random facts about the universe.
That’s exactly the challenge that Reddit user MoonBaboon was faced with. The redditor asked the online community what mind-blowing but simple facts would satisfy their 3-year-old son’s daily request for one fact before bedtime. And people delivered!
From facts like pink dolphins actually being real to interesting trivia tidbits like somebody having had the hiccups for 68 years, these bits of knowledge are fun for everyone, not just parents. We’ve collected the best mind-blowing facts, so scroll down and remember to upvote your faves. When you’re done with this list, have a look at Bored Panda’s earlier post about a father who asked strangers for interesting facts to tell his daughter.
#1
Crows can see a color that we can’t called ultraviolet. Their feathers have pretty patterns on them, like peacocks, but they’re all colored ultraviolet, so even though they look black to us, they all look really fancy and colorful to each other.
Image source: surt2, Govisity.com
#2
There is a species of burrowing tarantula that lets tiny frogs live in their burrows. The frog eats pests that are too small for the spider to get, and in return, the frog is kept safe by the big ol’ spider. This is pretty much how the domestication of cats went.
Tiny frogs are tarantula housecats.
Image source: The_First_Viking, David Boté Estrada
#3
sea otters hold hands while they are sleeping to not drift apart
Image source: gecko_007, seabagsmaine
#4
Crows have the critical thinking skills of a 7 year old child… which is far superior to most animals
Image source: chainsaw_penguin
#5
Manatees fart to sink deeper in the water, it’s like letting the air out of a balloon.
Image source: insertcaffeine, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region
#6
The male emu goes around and collects the eggs that the female lays, painstakingly moves them all to a nest, then sits on them until they hatch. After they hatch he is their only caretaker. The mother isn’t involved at all.
Image source: WifeofTech, Cathy Stanley-Erickson
#7
Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale’s tongue is my favorite
Image source: MoonBaboon, antoine
#8
The word “Arctic” doesn’t mean “cold” but rather comes from the Greek word for “bear.”
Therefore, Arctic means Bear-place and Antarctic means Not-bear-place
Image source: LifesHighMead
#9
A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
#10
The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
Image source: nyrmac2152, Lemon~art
#11
If you shave a tiger you’ll see striped skin.
Image source: mixiship
#12
Blue whales have the loudest voices in the animal kingdom, up to 180 dB. (Jet engine is this loud). They have been known to modulate their calls so as to not hurt the ears of divers. Mothers and calves have also been discovered “whispering” to each other to avoid attracting predators.
Image source: bombkitty
#13
Hummingbirds offer some cool facts:
They’re the only bird that can fly backwards or hover and this is due to their wings flapping in a figure 8 pattern.
They eat by sticking out their tongues which is covered in barbs.
They often hitch rides on bigger birds for migration.
They build their nests using gossamer (spider webs) so that the nest will expand with the babies as they grow, they always lay 2 eggs at a time.
When they rest, they go into this catatonia called torpor which lowers their heart rate to less than a quarter of beats per minute as when they’re active so that they don’t starve to death while they sleep.
Image source: urmama22
#14
Elephants think humans are cute like humans think puppies are cute
Image source: frenchoffry
#15
Cats can be allergic to people
Image source: Break_Away_1776, Lilithis
#16
If you were 66 million light years away from Earth and had a telescope that could see Earth, you could still see the dinosaurs.
Image source: DaKittyWhisperer, Stock Catalog
#17
Queen Elizabeth can’t sit on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. – the ruling monarch can’t sit on a foreign throne, even if it’s fictional.
Image source: xenobia92, Joel Rouse
#18
It rains diamonds on Jupiter
Image source: retreatedkeys, tonynetone
#19
Both boys and girls used to wear dresses. It was only when boys got older they started wearing pants.
Image source: chcampb, Midnight Believer
#20
A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale.
Image source: xenobia92, National Marine Sanctuaries
#21
Wombats poop in cubes.
Image source: chcampb, Fifinator
#22
Squirrels forget where they hide about half of their nuts.
Image source: xenobia92, Kathleen Christiansen
#23
Crows and Ravens can learn to imitate human speech.
Image source: insertcaffeine, David Michalczuk
#24
Squids have doughnut shaped brains!
Image source: Juturna_, Chris Frazee and Margaret McFall
#25
There are pink dolphins in the amazon river
Image source: astroturtle1212, NilbleysNihilism
#26
If you lift a kangaroos tail of the ground it can’t hop (but he will not be happy).
Image source: xenobia92, Tambako The Jaguar
#27
You can hear a lion roar from up to 5 miles away.
Image source: xenobia92, Tom Driggers
#28
Nutella was invented during WWII, when hazelnuts were mixed into chocolate to extend chocolate rations.
Image source: xenobia92, Willis Lam
#29
There are more plastic flamingos in the world than real flamingos.
Image source: riano25, Alan Levine
#30
Before he became president, Abraham Lincoln was a wrestler.
Image source: NakedOlsenTwins, Alexander Gardner
Follow Us
