Random Interesting Facts That Sound Almost Made Up

John Summers • Contributor

Sep 16, 2024 11:00 PM EDT

We love random facts, but the kind we love the most are the ones that sound made up—like the fact that there are more trees on planet Earth than there are stars in our galaxy. But that's absolutely true. In fact, there are a lot more trees—about 3 trillion on Earth—while there are "only" about 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Or how about the fact that there are more permutations of a standard deck of 52 cards than there are seconds since the Big Bang? I mean, we all understand there are many ways to rearrange a deck of cards, but the fact that it's a number larger than the total seconds since the Big Bang? What?!

I also love the fact that Vikings accidentally made steel by grinding animal bones into iron, thinking the bones of a strong animal would make the iron stronger—and they were right!

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Vikings used the bones of slain animals when smithing new weapons believing this would enchant the weapon with the animals spirit. This actually made the weapons stronger because the carbon in the bones coupled with the iron made a primitive version of steel.
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Human beings only use one nostril at a time. Each nostril takes a turn at being dormant (about five minutes), as the other nostril does all the work. The process is then reversed and the resting nostril takes over.
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Humans are the best endurance runners on the planet, able to outrun ANY species given enough distance/time.
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Chupa Chups logo was designed by Salvador Dalí.
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The wingspan of a 747 is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
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cashew nuts grow like this
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Shaq hit almost 12,000 baskets in his career. Exactly 1 of them was a 3-pointer.
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In a 2008 survey, 58% of British teens thought Sherlock Holmes was a real guy, while 20% thought Winston Churchill was not
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All of the planets could fit in between the earth and the moon
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In Japan more paper is used to make manga than toilet paper.
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There are more permutations of a standard deck of 52 cards than there are seconds since the Big Bang.
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There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way.
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The measurement of time, the second, is called that because it's the second division of the hour.
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More French soldiers died during WW1 than American soldiers during the entire US military history, including both sides of the civil war. The same can be said for Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary.
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There was a bear enlisted in the polish army who made it to the rank of Corporal. He also smoked, drank and carried weapons to the front during battles. His name was Wojtek.
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90% of the population on Earth lives in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Ohio is the only state that doesn't share a letter with the word "mackerel".
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From when it was discovered to when it was declassified as a planet, Pluto did not make a full orbit around the sun.
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A lot of cities used to close all the bars on election day. They wouldn't open until the polls closed. Political corruption used to be more localized and personal. You could buy people drinks, and thus buy their votes.
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If it were brighter, the Andromeda Galaxy would appear six times bigger than a full moon.
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If you lined up elephants from the Earth all the way to the moon they would die