30 Strange Facts That Will Shock You
- Jeronnie Richardson (MBA)
- Nov 25, 2017
- 3 min read
I sat at my desk feeling very curious today, so I went searching for facts. Talk about being bored — but being bored has its benefits! I found facts that made me laugh, wonder, and just shake my head. Have you ever wondered what the strangest thing out there is? Well, check out these 30 strange-but-true facts that will shock you. Here we go:
Donkey Kong got his name because his creator believed “donkey” meant “stupid” in English, and wanted to convey that the character was a “stupid ape”.
The medical name for a butt crack is the “intergluteal cleft”.
Mr Potato Head was the first toy ever advertised on TV.
In 2014, a missing woman on holiday in Iceland was found when it was discovered she was in the search party looking for herself.
In 2014, Sony made a cassette tape that can store 185TB of data.
Two PlayStation 1 games, FIFA 2001 and Gran Turismo 2, had scratch-and-sniff discs — FIFA smelled like a soccer field, Gran Turismo like car tyres.
Snails have around 14,000 teeth, and some can even kill you.
In 2015, a silver coin featuring Superman was made legal tender in Canada — only 350,000 were produced.
The two tiny holes in every BIC pen keep the air pressure equal inside and out, helping the ink flow to the tip.
Admiral Ackbar from Return of the Jedi wasn't a man in a suit — he was a giant puppet.
There are no bridges over the Amazon River.
In Morse code, -.- means “K”.
A duel between three people is actually called a “truel”.
In South Korea there's an emergency number (113) to report spies.
Sonic the Hedgehog's full name is actually Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog.
Even though Froot Loops are different colours, they all have exactly the same flavour.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur — and like fingerprints, no two tigers share the same pattern.
Most toilet paper sold for home use in France is pink.
Both Nicolas Cage and Michael Jackson were married to the same woman — Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
The human nose can remember around 50,000 different scents.
Before the term “bloopers” was coined, out-takes were called “boners”.
Daddy longlegs have penises, which technically means they aren't spiders.
Ketchup originated in China as a boiled-down brine of pickled fish and spices called “ke-chiap”.
In 2005, a fortune-cookie company called Wonton Food Inc. correctly foretold lottery numbers, resulting in 110 winners and an investigation — no fraud was involved.
Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Trivago, Travelocity and Orbitz are all owned by the same company, Expedia Inc.
The collars on men's dress shirts used to be detachable — to save on laundry, since the collar needed cleaning most often.
Rowan Atkinson — also known as Mr Bean — is the voice of Zazu in The Lion King.
If you sneeze while travelling at 60 mph, your eyes are closed for an average of 50 feet.
Alligators will give manatees the right of way if they're swimming near each other.
Google's “I'm Feeling Lucky” button reportedly cost the company around $110 million a year, as the 1% of searches that used it bypassed all advertising.
And a bonus one: baked beans aren't actually baked — they're stewed.
Did you enjoy these random facts? If you said yes, then I know you were as bored as I was. Good job! :)