From how many thoughts per day the average human has to what the moon smells like, join us as we delve into 20 amazing facts to soothe your curiosity.
20. In 2008, 70 year-old Omkari Panwar became the oldest mother to give birth. After IVF she delivered twins!
19. Peanuts are actually legumes. Despite ‘nut’ featuring in the word, they grow underground and belong to the plant family of Leguminosae.
18. The American frontier officially closed in 1890 after rapid settlement of the west took place. Nearly 3 million families settled the area in just 25 years.
17. The term ‘Uncle Sam’ refers to Samuel Wilson, a New York businessman who supplied barrels of beef to the US Army during the war of 1812.
16. The prefix ‘Jay’ in the word ‘Jaywalk’ was an early 1900s curse word meaning idiot or simpleton.
15. Hippos secrete a sticky, red sweat that acts as a form of sunscreen.
BoredomRage14. Root beer was originally flavoured using the root or bark of the sassafras tree.
13. Researchers estimate that the average human has 50,000 – 70,000 thoughts per day.
12. The Incredible Hulk was originally intended to be grey but issues with the printing press kept turning him green.
11. Leeches have 32 brains! Well sort of. Internally their body is divided into 32 parts, each with their own interconnected neural ganglia that can operate independent of each other. So it’s like one brain divided into 32 separate parts across its body!
10. In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel prize for literature but declined because he had always refused official honours.
9. Texas makes up for 7.4% of the US’ total area.
8. According to Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, the moon smells and tastes like spent gunpowder.
Wikipedia7. Walt Disney originally intended the name of his lead animated character to be Mortimer Mouse instead of the iconic Mickey.
6. In 1927, American inventor John Carter patented one of the first forms of mini golf – he called it ‘Tom Thumb Golf’.
5. Southern Florida is one of the only places in the world where crocodiles and alligators co-exist.
4. At 1.44 MB in size, you would need over 700 3.5-inch floppy disks to equal just one gigabyte.
3. The most expensive coffee in the world can sell for as high as $3000 per kg. Oh and it’s pooped out by a small weasel-like creature called a civet.
2. Out of any animal, snails have the most teeth. Some species can have up to 20,000 teeth!
1. The first chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1937 by the owner of the Toll House Restaurant, Ruth Graves Wakefield in Massachusetts, USA.
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So there’s our list of 20 random facts. Did this listicle make you thirsty for knowledge? If so, let us know on Twitter and Facebook.
