Facts Archive
Daily doses of knowledge from science, history, and nature.
The human brain takes in 11 million bits of information every second but is aware of only 40.
The short-lived Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is the shortest war in history, lasting only 38 minutes.
The first-ever VCR, which was created in 1956, was the size of a piano.
It is impossible for most people to lick their own elbow.
Octopuses have three hearts.
A teaspoonful of a neutron star would weigh about 6 billion tons.
In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.
The first computer mouse was made of wood.
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time: 1/100th of a second.
The heart of a shrimp is located in its head.
Sound travels 4.3 times faster through water than in air.
Cleopatra was not Egyptian. She was of Greek descent.
Google was originally called "Backrub".
The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
A snail can sleep for three years.
It's impossible to hum while holding your nose.
The Vikings were the first people to discover America, long before Columbus.
The QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow typists down.
Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
Venus is the only planet to spin clockwise.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa was never straight to begin with.
Approximately 100 billion emails are sent and received each day.
There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.
A rhinoceros's horn is made of hair.
On average, a person will have over 1,460 dreams a year.
The first toilet ever seen on film was in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho".
The first alarm clock could only ring at one time: 4 a.m.
The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
A bat can eat up to 1,000 insects per hour.
An average human produces enough saliva in their lifetime to fill two swimming pools.
In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one guinea pig.
In 1983, the first mobile phone went on sale in the USA at a price of almost $4,000.
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.
A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
The human eye can distinguish 10 million different colors.
The Great Wall of China is not visible from the moon.
The world's first website is still online.
A group of crows is called a murder.
The electric eel can produce a shock of up to 600 volts.
Hot water will turn into ice faster than cold water.
The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
The original name for the search engine DuckDuckGo was "DuckDuckGo".
A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
The chameleon’s tongue is twice as long as its body.
Your bones are 31% water.
The first known contraceptive was a crocodile dung pessary used by the ancient Egyptians.
The first public text message was sent in 1992.
There is a town in Norway called Hell.
Koalas sleep for about 22 hours a day.
The speed of a computer mouse is measured in "Mickeys".
The longest reigning monarch in history was Louis XIV of France.
The first email was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson.
The word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo".
A group of owls is called a parliament.
If you could drive your car straight up, you would reach space in just over an hour.
The first Olympic games in 776 BC awarded olive wreaths, not medals.
The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
In Japan, it is considered rude to blow your nose in public.
The sea otter holds hands with other otters while sleeping so they don’t float away.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere; it bulges at the equator.
The shortest US president was James Madison at 5 feet 4 inches.
The first webcam was used to monitor a coffee pot.
The longest word in the English language without a vowel is "rhythms".
The tongue of a blue whale weighs as much as an elephant.
An individual blood cell takes about 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body.
The first person to be convicted of speeding was going 8 mph.
The term "bug" for a computer glitch was popularized after a real moth was found in a computer.
The only letter that does not appear in any U.S. state name is "q".
A giraffe's neck is too short to reach the ground.
About 70% of an adult human body is water.
The famous "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was improvised.
The first banner ad on a website had a click-through rate of 44%.
A group of porcupines is called a prickle.
The oldest known living tree is over 5,000 years old.
You can't taste food without saliva.
The first capital of the United States was New York City.
The @ symbol was chosen for email addresses to separate the user name from the domain name.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
A group of jellyfish is called a smack.
The average person has about 100,000 hairs on their head.
The inventor of the Pringles can is buried in one.
The first video game was created in 1958.
There is a species of jellyfish that is biologically immortal.
The star-nosed mole can find and eat food in less than a quarter of a second.
The human nose can remember 50,000 different scents.
The word "avocado" comes from the Aztec word for testicle.
The first photograph of a person was an accident.
The longest English word is 189,819 letters long and is the chemical name for titin.
A group of pandas is called an embarrassment.
The strongest muscle in the human body is the jaw muscle.
The shortest war in history was between Britain and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896.
The first text message said "Merry Christmas".
The fear of long words is called "hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia".
The only mammal capable of true flight is the bat.
The human stomach can dissolve razor blades.
The first American president to have a telephone in the White House was Rutherford B. Hayes.
The creator of the popup ad has apologized for his creation.
The "M's" in M&Ms stand for "Mars" and "Murrie".
A group of kittens is called a kindle.
The human brain is more active at night than during the day.
The first person to circumnavigate the globe was Ferdinand Magellan's slave, Enrique.
The first search engine was called Archie.
The state of Florida is larger than England.
A group of rhinos is called a crash.
The average person walks the equivalent of five times around the world in a lifetime.
The first book ever printed was the Gutenberg Bible.
The first mouse pad was invented in 1969.
The world's largest desert is Antarctica.
A group of apes is called a shrewdness.
The human body contains enough carbon to make 9,000 pencils.
The first person to break the sound barrier was Chuck Yeager.
The first smartphone was created in 1992.
The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days.
A group of geese is called a gaggle.
The human heart beats over 100,000 times a day.
The first chewing gum was sold in 1848.
The first computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace.
The smallest bone in the human body is in the ear.
A group of fish is called a school.
The human body has enough fat to make seven bars of soap.
The first man to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong.
The first video to be uploaded to YouTube was "Me at the zoo".
The oldest "your mom" joke was discovered on a 3,500-year-old Babylonian tablet.
A group of larks is called an exaltation.
The human eye blinks over 4,200,000 times a year.
The first pair of sunglasses were invented in China in the 12th century.
The first photo on Instagram was of a dog.
A shrimp's heart is in its head.
A group of crows is known as a murder.
The Earth's core is as hot as the surface of the sun.
The first Olympic games were held in Greece.
The first video game to be played in space was Tetris.
A duel between three people is called a truel.
A group of whales is called a pod.
The human body has more than 600 muscles.
The first movie with sound was "The Jazz Singer" in 1927.
The first computer virus was created in 1983.
The longest hiccups on record lasted for 68 years.
A group of eagles is called a convocation.
The human brain weighs about 3 pounds.
The first recorded use of the word "hello" as a greeting was in 1827.
The first laser was built in 1960.
The only food that doesn't spoil is honey.
A group of lions is called a pride.
The human body is made up of about 7 octillion atoms.
The first credit card was introduced in 1950.
The first digital camera was invented in 1975.
A "moment" is a medieval unit of time equal to 90 seconds.
A group of elephants is called a parade.
The human body has enough iron to make a 3-inch nail.
The first successful parachute jump was in 1797.
The first website was created in 1991.
A group of ferrets is called a business.
The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.
The average human brain contains about 86 billion neurons.
The first public library in the world was opened in ancient Rome.
The first successful video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey.
A group of cats is called a clowder.
The shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
The human body has more than 200 bones.
The first restaurant was opened in Paris in 1765.
The first television broadcast was in 1928.
A group of bears is called a sloth or a sleuth.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world.
The human body produces about 25 million new cells each second.
The first newspaper was published in Germany in 1605.
The first successful airplane flight was in 1903.
A group of frogs is called an army.
The ostrich is the largest bird in the world.
The human body has 206 bones.
The first electric traffic light was installed in 1914.
The first ATM was installed in London in 1967.
A group of ravens is called an unkindness or a conspiracy.
The kangaroo can't walk backwards.
The human brain uses 20% of the body's oxygen and calories.
The first successful heart transplant was in 1967.
The first mobile phone call was made in 1973.
A group of sharks is called a shiver.
The crocodile can't stick its tongue out.
The human body contains about 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
The first person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was Jean Henri Dunant.
The first video game with a high score was "Space Invaders".
A group of giraffes is called a tower.
The butterfly has 12,000 eyes.
The human brain is 73% water.
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize was Marie Curie.
The first computer to defeat a world chess champion was Deep Blue.
A group of gorillas is called a band.
The bee has 5 eyes.
The human body has more bacteria than human cells.
The first person to reach the North Pole was Robert Peary.
The first website to sell something was a pizza from Pizza Hut.
A group of hippos is called a bloat.
The starfish has no brain.
The human body can survive for weeks without food, but only a few days without water.
The first person to reach the South Pole was Roald Amundsen.
The first laptop computer was the GRiD Compass.
A group of jaguars is called a shadow.
The whale shark is the largest fish in the world.
The human body contains enough phosphorus to make 2,200 match heads.
The first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean was Charles Lindbergh.
The first computer with a graphical user interface was the Xerox Alto.
A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
The electric catfish can generate a shock of up to 350 volts.
The human body contains enough potassium to fire a toy cannon.
The first person to climb Mount Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary.
The first video game to feature a female protagonist was "Ms. Pac-Man".
A group of lemurs is called a conspiracy.
The monarch butterfly migrates up to 3,000 miles.
The human body contains enough sulfur to kill all the fleas on an average dog.
The first person to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong.
The first social media platform was SixDegrees.com.
A group of leopards is called a leap.
The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head 360 degrees.
The human body has more than 100 trillion cells.
The first person to discover penicillin was Alexander Fleming.
The first MP3 player was the "MPMan F10".
A group of nightingales is called a watch.
The seahorse is the only animal where the male gives birth.
The human body contains about 4 grams of iron.
The first person to invent the telephone was Antonio Meucci.
The first search engine to index the entire web was AltaVista.
A group of otters is called a raft.
The walking stick insect can grow up to 21 inches long.
The human body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
The first person to invent the light bulb was Humphry Davy.
The first video game to have a story was "Adventure".
A group of parrots is called a pandemonium.
The wood frog can survive being frozen solid.
The human body has enough carbon to fill 9,000 lead pencils.
The first person to invent the airplane was Richard Pearse.
The first video game to have a password system was "Metroid".
A group of penguins is called a colony.
The tardigrade, or water bear, can survive in the vacuum of space.
The human body has a liter of saliva in it at all times.
The first person to invent the car was Karl Benz.
The first video game to have a battery-powered save feature was "The Legend of Zelda".
A group of pigeons is called a flock.
The glass frog has transparent skin.
The human body has more than 650 muscles.
The first person to invent the radio was Guglielmo Marconi.
The first video game to have an ending was "Donkey Kong".
A group of rabbits is called a herd.
The mimic octopus can imitate other sea creatures.
The human body has about 5 liters of blood.
The first person to invent the television was John Logie Baird.
The first video game with voice acting was "Dragon's Lair".
A group of rats is called a mischief.
The pistol shrimp's claw can create a bubble that is as hot as the sun's surface.
The human body has 22 internal organs.
The first person to invent the computer was Charles Babbage.
The first video game with 3D graphics was "Battlezone".
A group of squirrels is called a scurry or a dray.
The archerfish can spit water to shoot down insects.
The human body has enough sodium to fill a salt shaker.
The first person to invent the bicycle was Karl von Drais.
The first video game with a female protagonist was "Samus Aran" from "Metroid".
A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge.
The bombardier beetle can spray a boiling hot chemical spray.
The human body has enough chlorine to disinfect a swimming pool.
The first person to invent the printing press was Johannes Gutenberg.
The first video game to be made into a movie was "Super Mario Bros.".
A group of tigers is called an ambush or a streak.
The sea cucumber can eject its internal organs as a defense mechanism.
The human body has enough magnesium to make a spark.
The first person to invent the camera was Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.
The first video game to have a licensed soundtrack was "Journey".
A group of turtles is called a bale.
The hairy frog breaks its own bones to produce claws.
The human body has enough zinc to make a small coin.
The first person to invent the battery was Alessandro Volta.
The first video game to be rated "M" for Mature was "Mortal Kombat".
A group of vultures is called a committee.
The horned lizard can shoot blood from its eyes.
The human body has enough copper to make a penny.
The first person to invent the steam engine was Thomas Savery.
The first video game to have a live orchestra was "Final Fantasy VII".
A group of walruses is called a herd or a pod.
The malaysian exploding ant can rupture its own body to release a sticky, corrosive substance.
The human body has enough cobalt to make a blue crayon.
The first person to invent the cotton gin was Eli Whitney.
The first video game to have a celebrity endorsement was "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker".
A group of weasels is called a gang or a pack.
The texas horned lizard can squirt blood from its eyes up to 5 feet away.
The human body has enough lead to make a bullet.
The first person to invent the sewing machine was Thomas Saint.
The first video game to have a cover system was "Kill Switch".
A group of wolves is called a pack.
The potato bug is not a true bug and is actually a type of cricket.
The human body has enough tin to make a tin can.
The first person to invent the refrigerator was Oliver Evans.
The first video game to have regenerating health was "Halo: Combat Evolved".
A group of woodpeckers is called a descent.
The hagfish is the only animal that has a skull but no vertebral column.
The human body has enough nickel to make a coin.
The first person to invent the microwave oven was Percy Spencer.
The first video game to have a physics engine was "Trespasser".
A group of wombats is called a wisdom.
The bone-eating snot flower worm lives on the carcasses of whales.
The human body has enough aluminum to make a soda can.
The first person to invent the computer mouse was Douglas Engelbart.
The first video game to have a day/night cycle was "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time".
A group of zebras is called a zeal or a dazzle.
The ancient Egyptians used slabs of stone as pillows.
Polar bear fur is not white; it is transparent and hollow, which makes it appear white.
The Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.
The average person blinks 20 times a minute.
The color red doesn’t make bulls angry; they are color-blind.
The first person to be featured on the cover of Time magazine was Joseph G. Cannon in 1923.
Goldfish can remember things for up to five months.
The mimic octopus can impersonate up to 15 different marine species.
The first successful photograph was taken in 1826 and took eight hours to expose.
The "dot" over the letter "i" and "j" is called a tittle.
The shortest war in American history was the "Toledo War" between Michigan and Ohio, with no casualties.
Humans and giraffes have the same number of neck vertebrae.
A group of porcupines is called a prickle.
The first commercially available cell phone, the DynaTAC 8000x, cost $3,995 in 1984.
The plural of "cul-de-sac" is "culs-de-sac".
The U.S. flag was designed by a 17-year-old high school student.
An octopus has nine brains.
The immortal jellyfish can revert to its juvenile polyp stage after reaching maturity.
The original name for Windows was "Interface Manager".
The "sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick" is considered one of the toughest tongue twisters.
The Nobel Prize was established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
It takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth.
A shrimp’s heart is in its head.
The first computer was so large it took up an entire room.
There is a "Museum of Bad Art" in Massachusetts.
The ancient Romans used urine as mouthwash.
A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
The axolotl can regenerate its limbs, heart, and even parts of its brain.
The first alarm clock was invented in ancient Greece and used a system of rising water.
The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9,000 years old.
The first submarine was invented in 1620 by a Dutch engineer.
The average human body contains enough sulfur to kill all the fleas on an average dog.
A group of alligators is called a congregation.
The term "Wi-Fi" doesn't actually stand for anything.
The longest wedding veil was longer than 63 football fields.
The first vending machine was invented in ancient Greece and dispensed holy water.
More than 50% of your body is not human, but composed of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
A newborn kangaroo is only about 1 inch long.
The first-ever computer bug was a real moth stuck in a computer.
The voice actors for Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life.
The ancient Olympic games included a competition for trumpeters.
Space smells like a combination of diesel fumes, gunpowder, and barbecue.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
The first Apple logo featured Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree.
The longest English word without a true vowel (a, e, i, o, u) is "rhythm".
In the 19th century, dentures were commonly made from the teeth of deceased soldiers.
Babies are born with approximately 300 bones, but adults have only 206.
A group of hummingbirds is called a "charm".
The first text message ever sent was "Merry Christmas".
The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as a medicine.
A bolt of lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun.
Wombat poop is cube-shaped.
The first consumer digital camera was released by Kodak in 1994 and had 0.01 megapixels.
There are more fake flamingos in the world than real ones.
The fork was once considered scandalous and blasphemous.
Your brain generates about 12-25 watts of electricity, enough to power a low-wattage LED light.
A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
The brain itself cannot feel pain.
The world's first novel, "The Tale of Genji," was written in Japan in the early 11th century.
The word "robot" comes from a Czech word "robota," meaning forced labor or drudgery.