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It should come as no surprise that we love a good fact, and that goes double whenever we can find a great one that many people don’t already know.
And while a few of these 15 might be familiar to you, we’re betting that at least a few of these interesting facts will be new to you!
15. South American river turtles talk inside their eggs.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7l1SS2Bz7D/
Turtles communicate in clicks, clucks, and hoots at an extremely low frequency – one that can only be heard using a hydrophone – and researchers believe “talking” before birth helps the turtles all hatch at once.
14. The MGM lion’s roar is trademarked.
You know the one, he does it at the beginning of every MGM movie. That sound is trademarked and has been since the 80’s.
13. Brad Pitt injured his Achilles heel…while playing Achilles in Troy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YyQajlfqu/
He hurt it while filming an epic battle scene and was off for 2 months.
12. There were pregnancy tests as far back as 1350 BCE.
Ancient Egyptian women used to pee on wheat and barley seeds to determine whether or not they were pregnant. The idea was that if the wheat sprouted, she’d have a girl, if the barley sprouted, she’d have a boy, and if nothing sprouted then she was not pregnant.
Modern recreations proved the seed theory was accurate 70% of the time (at least for the pregnant/not pregnant dynamic. No word on the accuracy of the gender testing part).
11. MLK, Jr. got a C in public speaking.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Y9gToFJ4b/
He might be famous for his pubic addresses now, but while attending Crozer Theological Seminary he earned a C in public speaking.
10. The French-language Scrabble champion doesn’t speak French.
Nigel Richards is a native New Zealander who memorized all 386,000 words in the French Scrabble dictionary before earning his title.
He also has the English world title, the US national title, and the UK Open Scrabble tournament title, and he’s won them all multiple times.
9. Penicillin was first called “mold juice.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B70v7OaFVDD/
Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin when he left a petri dish unattended while on vacation, only to return to find that some liquid round the mold had killed all of the bacteria. In 1928, he called the stuff “mold juice” before transforming it into the world’s first antibiotic.
8. A goat pulled the first baby stroller.
I wouldn’t trust my wee ones to a goat, but when William Kent first invented a stroller for the Duke of Devonshire in 1733, it was pulled like a small carriage…except by a goat.
7. In 2004, Neil Armstrong’s hair sold for $3k.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8XfAtfK6XH/
The man who bought it holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of hair from historical celebrities (what). The money was donated to charity.
6. Bananas glow blue under black light.
Bananas appear yellow due to organic pigments called carotenoids. Those same pigments also make bananas glow under black lights.
5. The British Empire was the largest in history.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ARaNynQR8/
It might be small, but Britain knows how to conquer – in the 1920s, they ruled over 23% of the world’s population and around 13 million square miles.
4. Blue jeans were born in 1873.
Levi Strauss the company celebrates its birthday as the day their founder (Levi Strauss the person) and Jacob Davis patented the process of adding metal rivets to men’s denim work pants for the first time in history.
3. Irish bars used to close on St. Patrick’s Day.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Y8g1KH6an/
Until 1961, Irish law banned bars from opening on the holiday – mostly because the holiday falls during Lent in a country that’s mostly Catholic (religion is complicated in Ireland).
2. Nikola Tesla hated pearls.
He might have been a genius, but Tesla had some serious quirks – including despising being in the presence of pearls. His secretary forgot one day and was sent home to remove her jewelry.
1. Wimbledon keeps all 50,000 of its tennis balls at the same temperature.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8XUVsOnHLT/
68 degrees Fahrenheit ensures the best bounce for your money, apparently. Take that, Tom Brady.
I definitely learned a few things that are going to help me win my next trivia night!
Did you learn something new? Do you have a favorite fact? Talk to us about our favorite topic in the comments!
