It is unexpected or unusual knowledge from the worlds of science, history, and pop culture that delights and entertains us and everyone with whom we share it. But these fun facts aren’t just fun bits of information that will make you a quiz-answer master: they’re really fun, and once you get started, you’ll want to listen until your curiosity is satisfied.
1 | Samsung is testing the phone with a butt-shaped Robot
People are constantly hiding their phones in their back pockets, so Samsung has created a butt-shaped robot that “sits” on their phones to make sure they can withstand the pressure. It’s unbelievable but true, the robot even wears jeans.
2 | Peanuts aren’t technically nuts
They are beans. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it is “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a detachable skin or shell and an inner core”. This means that walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios are not nuts either. These are seeds.
3 | The longest English word has 189,819 letters
We will not spell it here, but it will take three and a half hours to say aloud the full name of the protein, nicknamed titin. While it is by far the longest word in the English language, the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary has 45 letters, while the longest made-up word has only 28.
4 | Human noses and ears get bigger with age
Quite often you can come across the statement that the nose and ears are the only parts of our body that continue to grow with age, but this is not entirely true. Our nose and ears stop growing with the rest of our bodies, but thanks to the weight of gravity, both parts continue to lengthen over time, according to the Discovery Channel.
5 | Some octopus species lay 56,000 eggs at a time
On average, a giant Pacific octopus lays 56,000 eggs at the end of a month’s pregnancy, according to NPR. At first, these newborns swim in the surrounding water, not attached to each other or to their mother. But then the mother picks up each egg the size of a grain of rice and weaves them into pigtails, allowing her to keep an eye on them all at the same time.
6 | Cats have fewer toes on their back paws
Like most four-legged mammals, cats have five toes on their front paws, but only four on their hind paws. Scientists believe that their four-toed hind feet may help them run faster.
7 | Blue whales eat half a million calories at a time
Just try to make sense of the second part of this animal fact: that 457,000 calories are more than 240 times the energy a whale uses to scoop up that krill with its mouth.
8 | This tiny pocket in jeans was designed to hold a pocket watch
The original jeans only had four pockets, this tiny pocket plus two more in the front and just one in the back.
9 | Turkeys can blush
When turkeys are frightened or agitated, such as when males see a female they are interested in, the pale skin on their head and neck turns bright red, blue, or white. The patch of skin above the beak, called the muzzle, also turns red. By the way, that’s why the President forgives the turkey every Thanksgiving.
10 | The current American flag was designed by a high school student
It started as a school project for Bob Heft’s junior history class in 1958, and he only got a B-minus. His design had 50 stars even though Alaska and Hawaii did not yet state; Heft believed that the two would soon receive state status, and showed his project to the government. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower called to say the design had been approved, Heft’s teacher changed his grade to an A.