What are some useless, but interesting, pieces of information you know?

 1. Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji on his first voyage, yet managed to completely miss mainland Australia. How that happened I’ll never know.

2. Mahatma Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, some people actually think he doesn’t deserve it.

3. Yassir Arafat and Henry Kissinger both won the Nobel Peace Prize. Amazing right?

4. It is arguably believed that the D in “D-day” stands for day. So day-day?

5. The Finnish capital of Helsinki was founded by a Swedish king in 1550. I don’t think this is useless.

6. The U.S. and the British fought the bloodless “War of Pork and Beans” in 1839.

7. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked every hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.

8. You can tell the sex of a horse by its teeth. Most males have 40, females have 36. Interesting. But who even has the time to check that?

9. If you put two straws in your mouth, one inside a drink and one outside it, you won't be able to drink through either straw. I haven’t tried this, but if you do let me know.

10. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of painted plaster for 3 years. After the war, the Academy invited the recipients to redeem the plaster awards for gold-plated ones.

11. Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year. This one though. 

What are some useless, but interesting, pieces of information you know?

 

1. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated
2. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
3. The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses. No one in Greece has memorized all 158 verses.
4. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
5. The average secretary’s left-hand does 56% of the typing.
6. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes
7. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
8. The name for Oz in the “Wizard of Oz” was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence “Oz.”
9. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
10. It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
11. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
12. In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
13. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
14. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
15. Almonds are members of the peach family.
16. New Jersey grows two-thirds of the world’s eggplant.
17. There are more chickens than people in the world (at least before that chicken-flu thing).
18. The “dot” over the letter “i” is called a tittle.
19. The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.
20. Honey is the only natural food that is made without destroying any kind of life. What about milk you say? A cow has to eat grass to produce milk and grass are living.
21. Honey is the only food that does not spoil.
22. It’s physically impossible for a pig to look up at the sky.
23. One single teaspoon of honey represents the life work of 12 bees.
24. Flamingos can only eat with their heads upside down.
25. It is impossible to tickle yourself.
26. A typical pencil can draw a line that is 35 miles long.
27. Astronauts get taller in space due to the lack of gravity.
28. Buttermilk does not contain any butter and is actually low in fat.
29. Your own dead skin cells make up the majority of the dust in your house.
30. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
31. A giraffe can go longer without water than a camel can.
32. Snails can sleep up to 3 years.

33. You can’t smile and breath at the same time