38 Obscure facts that gave us a new perspective

I like to learn facts about the world that make me reconsider the things I thought I knew about the world. The universe is so complex and there are so many different things going on at once that there’s always something interesting to learn.

These are some facts that left me questioning everything I thought I knew.

Bottom Of The Totem Pole

Despite the common phrase implying that being “low on the totem pole” means you’re unimportant, Indigenous Americans would actually place figures of greatest significance at the bottom since they “hold the weight of all the others.”

Rhubarb Grows Faster Out Of Sunlight

There’s a method of growing rhubarb called “forcing” which is where the plant grows in complete darkness except for candlelight. Apparently, it grows so quickly that you can hear it growing.

Sumo Wrestlers Are Very Healthy Athletes

Despite consuming a diet of up to 7,000 calories per day and weighing up to 400 lbs, sumo wrestlers typically do not suffer from symptoms of obesity due to their intense workout regimens.

Trees Are Being One-Upped By Phytoplankton

Everyone knows that trees provide oxygen, but what many don’t know is that the rainforests aren’t the main producers of oxygen. Tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton actually contribute to 50–80% of the world’s oxygen supply.

Guess A Less Expensive Wedding Is The Way To Go

There’s an inverse correlation between the amount of money a couple spends on their wedding and how long the marriage lasts; the more extravagant and expensive a wedding is, the more likely it is that the marriage will end in divorce.

Fast Food Chains Can’t Expand Easily In Vietnam

While fast-food chains like McDonald’s have taken off in other Asian countries, they’ve struggled to gain appeal in Vietnam since Vietnamese street food is already so available, cheap, and quickly made.

Without Elvish, None Of It Would Exist

J.R.R. Tolkien, the author behind the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, originally just set out to create his own language: Elvish. He then figured that language needed a history, which needed its own world, and thus the series was born.

That’s An Impressive Legacy

Bill Haast, who’s commonly known as “Snake Man,” injected himself with snake venom for several years in an effort to build up immunity. He was the first person to survive a king cobra bite, donated his blood to snakebite victims, and lived for over 100 years.

How Much Does A Prop Gun Cost?

In the 2005 film Lord Of War, the production team bought 3,000 real guns to use on set because it was significantly cheaper to buy and resell them than to buy prop guns.

Sharks Are Terrifyingly Powerful

Scientists discovered that there are a group of sharks are living in an active underwater volcano. However, scuba divers can’t investigate further because they would get severe burns from the acidity and the heat.

Isn’t It Bad Enough That They Can’t Go Outside Comfortably?

People with pollen allergies can develop “oral allergy symptoms” and have mild allergic reactions, such as an itchy mouth/throat, to raw fruits/veggies that contain proteins similar to the ones found in pollen.

Imagine How Loud The Screaming Had To Be

The screaming of fans at Beatles concerts was so loud that no one could hear them play—not even the Beatles themselves. They stopped playing live performances entirely, retreated to the studio, and ultimately created albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band intended to just be listened to as recorded versions.

There Are Houses That Are Just Disguises In Toronto

The city of Toronto has about 90 fake houses that look completely real and normal but actually house electrical transformers that convert raw, high-voltage electricity to a voltage low enough to be distributed across the city.

A One-Take Wonder

The recorded version of Celine’s famous song “My Heart Will Go On” that appears in Titanic was her first and only take. She recorded the demo and sent it to James Cameron and he liked it so much that he used it without any changes.

Medical Discoveries Are So Incredible

In 1916, there was an 80% chance of death for soldiers who experienced a femoral fracture (broken thigh bone). The introduction of the Thomas splint in 1917 reversed that statistic so that there was an 80% survival rate.

On That Note, I Might Cut Back On The Hot Sauce

The human anus is covered by cells similar to those found in the mouth, which is why spicy foods can burn just as much when you go number two as when you eat them.

Recycling Really Does Work!

Nearly 75% of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today due to recycling. It’s the most valuable thing you can toss into your recycling bin; the aluminum industry spends more than $800 million a year on recycled cans.

I’m Sure Sony’s Glad It Made That Decision

The Sony PlayStation was never meant to be a product—it was intended to be a new console that would play exclusively Nintendo games on CDs. When Nintendo backed out of the deal at the last minute, Sony went ahead and launched what would become one of the most successful consoles of all time.

Dogs Are Manipulating You

As dogs became domesticated, they developed specific muscles to move their eyebrows in order to influence humans’ emotional reactions to them.

Dogs who make the facial movement enabled by these muscles are more likely to be adopted from a shelter than those who don’t.

At Least He Apologized

Ethan Zuckerman, the man who invented the original pop-up ad in 1997, has apologized to the world as a whole for creating the most annoying and hated form of advertising.

The Most Wholesome Goggle-Wearer

Though he received Lasik surgery to correct his nearsightedness, NBA player Horace Grant continued to wear his trademark goggles on the court after hearing from parents that he was an inspiration to their children who wore glasses.

The Cost Difference Is Staggering

An annual supply of bottled water for a person who drinks eight glasses a day would cost about $200. In contrast, drinking the same amount of tap water would cost approximately $0.33 a year.

Super Mario Is Named After A Real Guy

The famous red-wearing video game character was named after a businessman named Mario Segale who rented out a warehouse to Nintendo. When the company was late on rent payments, Segale didn’t evict them, but gave them a second chance to pay later. When Nintendo succeeded, they named the character after him.

They Better Have Apologized To The Students

After a student failed the math portion of Minnesota’s Basic Standards Tests, her father demanded to see the exam, threatening to sue for it. A series of scoring errors were found meaning math scores for 45,739 Minnesota students were wrong and 7,935 students who were told they failed had actually passed.

A True War Hero

A quiet American prisoner of war was nicknamed “The Incredibly Stupid One” by his Vietnamese captors. Upon his return to the US, he provided the names of over 200 prisoners of war, which he had memorized to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

So We Learned All That Math For Nothing?

Less than a quarter of U.S. workers report using math any more complicated than basic fractions and percentages during the course of their jobs. Blue-collar workers generally do more advanced math than their white-collar peers.

Can You Imagine Shrek With A Canadian Accent?

Shrek was originally given a thick Canadian accent by actor Mike Meyers. However, Meyers decided the character would be better portrayed with a Scottish accent. The film had to be re-animated and cost over $4 million.

The Human Brain Is So Interesting

Schizophrenic hallucinations are shaped by culture. For example, Americans with schizophrenia tend to have more paranoid hallucinations, whereas people with schizophrenia in India and Africa tend to have more playful and positive voices.

Aluminium Used To Be A Luxury

Aluminium used to be so rare that Napoleon III would serve his most prestigious guests on plates made out of it while the lesser patrons were fed on gold and silver plates.

A Tough Guy On Paper And In Practice

Esteemed writer Ernest Hemingway survived two separate plane crashes in 1954. He was even presumed dead for 24 hours until he was spotted walking out of the jungle with a bottle of gin in one hand and bananas in the other.

Elephants Kind Of Hold Funerals

Elephants are among the very few land mammals apart from humans that actively mourn the loss of their loved ones. They’ll gather around the body of a dead elephant—family members will show signs of distress while others will stand by silently.

I Guess It’s A Good Place To Have The Stomach Flu?

There are twice as many bathrooms than necessary in the Pentagon because it was originally built with black and white segregated bathrooms. However, President Roosevelt made Jim Crow laws illegal on Federal grounds prior to its opening, making the segregated bathrooms obsolete.

Pretty Fast And Furious To Say The Least

While filming the third instalment in The Fast and the Furious franchise, Tokyo Drift, the production crew couldn’t get a specific permit to shoot a scene. They did it anyway and had a fake “director” take the blame and spend a night in jail.

So It Actually Has A Purpose?

Medical researchers have deduced that the appendix is designed to hold and protect digestive bacteria in the gut. When your body experiences diarrhea or another illness that clears out the intestines, the good bacteria can multiply in the appendix and return later to improve digestive health.

Give Me Your Liver!

All citizens in Singapore are automatically registered as organ donors once they turn 21. Citizens can opt-out, but will be put at the very bottom of the organ priority list, should they need an organ transplant.

There’s Nothing Like A Woman Scorned

Sibylla, the Queen of Jerusalem in the 12th century, agreed to annul her marriage to Guy de Lusignan to appease the High Court on the condition that she would have free rein to choose her next husband after her coronation. The moment she was crowned queen, Sibylla announced that she chose Guy as her husband.

Intoxicated, But A Hero Nonetheless

One of the greatest heroes during the sinking of the Titanic was a drunken baker who helped load women and children into lifeboats and threw chairs overboard for people to hold onto in the water to float. By some miracle, he survived hours in the cold water.

Your Nagging Wife Might Be Your Ticket To Wealth

A New Jersey man bought a $5 bottle of orange juice from Shoprite, but his wife said it was too expensive and sent him back to return it because juice was on sale for $2.50 elsewhere. He decided to buy two lottery tickets with the refund from the OJ and he won $315.3 million.