50 Ridiculous Facts You Didn't Know Were True
The reality can often be stranger than fiction! For example, did you know that microorganisms make up 2 to 3 pounds of your body weight? We've compiled a list of 50 mind-blowing facts that we're sure you didn't know were real. Some of these details can also make you squirm in your seat or make you look at food in a new light. Continue reading, and your perspective on the world could shift a little.
1. A single sneeze moves at 100 mph and releases 100,000 germs into the atmosphere.
2. You are born with just 1 pint of blood, but by adulthood, you have 4 to 5 quarts.
3. The average person has enough fat in their body to produce seven bars of soap.
4. Humans, including bats and whales, are capable of echolocation.
5. Keeping your nose makes it difficult to hum. Go ahead and give it a shot!
6. Every human being has a built-in dive reflex. Your pulse slows and your blood vessels narrow to conserve oxygen when your face is immersed in cold water or when you hold your breath.
7. Since their windpipes close while they are underwater, newborn babies cannot drown. At six months, however, the reflex vanishes (but we do NOT recommend testing this odd fact at home).
8. The acid in your stomach is powerful enough to melt metal.
9. The NBA logo features a silhouette of Hall of Fame Los Angeles Laker Jerry West.
10. An MLB baseball has an average lifetime of just 7 pitches.
11. Golf is the only sport that has ever been played on the surface of the moon. Alan Shepard used a makeshift 6-iron to smash two golf balls on the lunar surface in 1971.
12. Horse racing gave us the phrase "winning anything by a long shot." When a jockey is well ahead, he should relax the reins and hold his hands down.
13. Wild dolphins address each other by their given names.
14. At 230 decibels, sperm whales are the loudest animals on the planet. (By contrast, an aircraft takes off at 150 decibels.)
15. In the Arctic, polar bears have been breeding with grizzlies, resulting in the pizzly, a new breed!
16. Sea otters hold hands while sleeping to keep them from drifting apart.
17. The heart of a blue whale weighs nearly a ton and beats every ten seconds.
18. A dog's sense of smell is so acute that it can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water, which is equivalent to two Olympic-size swimming pools.
19. The apple you bought at the supermarket may be more than a year old.
20. Most wasabi paste in sushi restaurants is actually horseradish, not wasabi.
21. The word "OK" is most likely a misspelling of the expression "all right."
22. Hot water freezes faster than cold water in such conditions.
23. Lobsters were once so inexpensive that they were often used to feed inmates.
24. Since tomatoes are native to the Americas, tomato sauce did not exist in Italy until the 16th century.
25. In the past, dentures were often made from real human or animal teeth.
26. To whiten their teeth, the ancient Romans used urine.
27. The bulk of orange juice sold in supermarkets is chemically flavored.
28. Red food coloring comes from cochineal "beetles," which are actually a form of scale insect that feeds on cactuses.
29. The Food and Drug Administration has a handbook that lists the safe amounts of "insect particles" and other icky-sounding pollutants in various foods for humans.
30. The "bloody mary" drink is thought to be named for Queen Mary of England, who had hundreds of people burned at the stake.
31. To treat illness, rich Europeans consumed medicines containing human body parts in the 16th and 17th centuries.
32. Coral spawns by releasing eggs and sperm into the water, which are released by the tiny polyps that make up the coral. During a full moon, an entire reef normally releases all at once over about 20 minutes.
33. The Pacific Ocean is bigger than all of the Earth's landmasses put together.
34. The pressure in the deepest part of the ocean is over 8 tons per square inch, which is equal to being stacked on top of 50 jumbo jets.
35. Pez candy was created to aid in the cessation of cigarette smoking; the original Pez dispensers were shaped like cigarette lighters.
36. Babies are born without what we call "kneecaps." By the age of four, cartilaginous structures in the knees of babies have turned to bone.
37. The most shoplifted food on the planet is cheese.
38. The world's largest waterfall is deep underwater in the ocean between Iceland and Greenland, so you can't see it. The Denmark Strait cataract has a flow 2,000 times greater than Niagara Falls.
39. Is your zipper YKK? Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha is a Japanese company that loosely translates to Yoshida Company Limited. This business is thought to produce half of the world's zippers.
40. Until 2011, beer was listed as a soft drink in Russia.
41. The heart of a hummingbird will beat up to 1,260 times per minute (in one species, at least).
42. Your mobile phone is cleaner than the toilet seat.
43. Gum chewing is not digestible.
44. The hiccupping assault that lasted the longest was 68 years.
45. Octopuses are thought to be the smartest invertebrates, and they've even been observed using gadgets.
46. The Mariana Trench, the deepest region of the ocean, has seen more inhabitants than the moon.
47. Tsunamis will travel at speeds of over 500 mph!
When Twister was first released in the 1960s, it was considered a risqué game.
49. The sheer amount of shrimp consumed by flamingos causes them to turn pink.
50. It might come as a surprise, but a whole lemon has more sugar than a single strawberry! However, this is due in part to the size difference: a cup of strawberry slices contains more sugar than a cup of lemon slices. Check out the strangest little-known truth about each state for more bizarre facts.
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