In this modern world, where the amount of fake news, alternative facts, scams, and quasi-claims seem to be off the charts, it’s easy to doubt things. But despite our suspicions, many of us still enjoy and seek out good “truth is stranger than fiction” stories. Because life is weird. Science is crazy. Evolution is wild. And there are so many staggering or downright surreal things happening right under our noses we don’t even notice.
Chances are, you’ve stumbled upon at least one piece of trivia that is so weird, it sounds totally made up. And you’re definitely not the only one. There’s an entire thread on ‘Ask Reddit’ where this subject matter takes center stage. “What is a true fact that sounds fake?” asked user TheMemeing and inspired hundreds of members to share their intriguing tidbits of knowledge immediately.
From snails having 14,000 teeth to Mantis shrimp generating light, just because something sounds a little bogus, it doesn’t mean it’s not real. We’ve gathered some of the most illuminating responses from the thread, so continue scrolling! Although remember that a little healthy skepticism goes a long way, so put your thinking caps on and take everything you read online with a pinch of salt. Then upvote the facts that surprised you most, and be sure to share your own nuggets of information with us in the comments.
Psst! When you’ve finished this list, take a look at our previous post filled with fake-sounding facts here.
#1
The oldest hotel in the world is The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan and has been in business since 705AD. The crazy thing is that it’s still a family business. For 52 generations
Image source: novaorld, Boltor
#2
Female dragonflies drop out the sky and pretend to be dead to avoid unwanted male advances.
Image source: SuvenPan, Stijn Dijkstra
#3
Donald Trump was actually the US President at one time.
Image source: Zinger2020, Shealah Craighead
#4
In 1895 there were 2 cars out of the entire state of Ohio and they still managed to crash into each other
Image source: Infamous_fire94, dan_jimeta01
#5
There’s a penguin named Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III who is the ceremonial head of the Norwegian Royal Guard
Image source: Poorly-Drawn-Beagle, wikipedia
#6
Nestle intentionally created a famine by giving put free formula in African countries and pushed a campaign that said it was healthier than breast milk. Then when most of the population had converted and dwindled the number of mothers capable of nursing, they began charging exorbitant prices for formula. this caused thousands of children to starve to death and they got away with it.
Image source: CxT_The_Plague, Raúl Hernández González
#7
There are more slaves today than in any point in history
Image source: tranc3rooney, Rio Lecatompessy
#8
The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.
Image source: klakkrr, Paul Bill
#9
Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire by 3.5 centuries.
Image source: astrielx, Anna Kozlova
#10
Humans can smell geosmin (the chemical released when it rains or snows) at 5 parts per trillion. Which means that humans are 200,000 times more sensitive to smelling geosmin than sharks are at smelling blood.
Image source: spookyskelley, Andriyko Podilnyk
#11
Dinosaurs were around for so long that there were already dinosaur fossils while they were still alive.
Basically, as T-Rex was munching away on Triceratop steaks, Stegosaurus had already been dead and underground for millions of years by that point.
Image source: mjohnsimon, Narciso Arellano
#12
People were on the moon before they put wheels on suitcases.
Image source: sheepywife, Pixabay
#13
In the Pompeii eruption, the extreme heat caused some victims’ brain tissue to turn to glass.
Image source: 0ddcharlie, wikipedia
#14
The Mantis shrimp punches so hard it generates light.
Image source: Angel_OfSolitude, Amber Wolfe
#15
Johnny Cash was the first westerner to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. He was a morse code operator at the time
Image source: gavh428, CBS Television
#16
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions.
Image source: Lone_Wolf_888, Dave Kim
#17
The greenland shark, has a life expectancy of between 250-500 years. That means there could be a greenland shark swimming around, that swam the oceans when the Spanish conquistadors went to search Mexico for gold, which at that time, were inhabited by the Aztecs.
Image source: Eremitic23, wikipedia
#18
Bananas are berries and strawberries aren’t.
Image source: sushandeep, alleksana
#19
Koalas are so dumb that they can’t recognise a eucalyptus leaf if it isn’t attached to a tree.
Image source: thedragoncompanion, Valeriia Miller
#20
More people drown in the desert than die of dehydration.
Image source: mitchade, Amine M’siouri
#21
Alligators will give manatees the right of way if they are swimming near each other
Image source: Duncan970, Lia Schmidt
#22
Sharks existed before grass.
Image source: Yrrebnot, Tomáš Nožina
#23
Placebo medicine is more effective if patient is told it’s expensive.
Image source: capable_taco
#24
The ancient Egyptian empire lasted more than 3000 years. It has been less time since the empire fell.
Image source: librician, Alex Azabache
#25
Snails have 14,000 teeth and eat bones and meat not just vegetables.
Image source: Feathertail80, PhotoMIX Company
#26
A fully loaded Amazon Kindle is a billionth of a billionth of a gram heavier than an empty one.
Image source: Aggravating_Speed665, freestocks.org
#27
McDonalds feeds 1% of the world’s population daily.
Image source: UniquePotato, C. Cagnin
#28
Butterflies are fond of cow s**t, fresh blood, and corpses.
Image source: itsme_Imtheproblem, Pixabay
#29
There’s a type of mold that, as a single celled organism, can move around by itself, learn, recognise colours and solve mazes. there are many species of slime mold that can come in all colours such as banana yellow, hazard-jacket orange and, fittingly, slime green.
Image source: WesternApplication76, mountainamoeba
#30
Australia has the largest amount of wild camels in the world.
There are more pet tigers in Texas than there are in the wild of the entire planet.
Image source: Black—Sun, Frans van Heerden
#31
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of big words.
Image source: Kiabobiia, Thought Catalog
#32
Hot water freezes faster than cold water. Mpemba effect. The guy who discovered it (in modern times, since Aristotle wrote about it) was ridiculed by everybody including his own teacher, but 6 years later the results were published and is considered fact.
Image source: BowDownToThor, Eva Bronzini
#33
The creation of sticky notes was a result of glue that wasn’t sticky and deemed a failure( 3M)
The formula was put in the records as a failure and later a scientist found it to be useful to stick notes to his workbench.
Then we got sticky notes
Image source: SnooRadishes3472
#34
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were turned away from a German restaurant in 2011 since there were no free tables and they didn’t have a reservation.
Image source: ronin668
#35
Cheetahs don’t roar, they meow.
Image source: BeastAlpha07
#36
The chainsaw was invented to aid in childbirth. It was used and invented in the 1700s to cut through the woman’s pelvic bone before C-sections became the commonplace way to deliver babies.
Image source: YourMomSmokesMeth, Karolina Grabowska
#37
When Joe Biden was born, he was closer to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency than his own.
Image source: JustAShi**yProducer
#38
The lighter was invented before matches.
Image source: Unhappy-Nail-9281, Ricardo Liberato
#39
The day Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial was the exact middle of his life.
Born: August 29, 1958
(9,281 days)
Pepsi incident: January 27, 1984
(9,281 days)
Died: June 25, 2009
Image source: divshappyhour
#40
The Michelin Star system was developed by Michelin tires.
Image source: Pasghetti_Western, Ye Massa
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