Facts You Never Knew

[01dragonslayer]

People spend roughly 13% of their lives zoned out.​

It happens to us all, according to a study from 2005.

One minute you’re living life and you’re on the ball, then next moment… wait, what was I doing? Oh well, whatever, never mind. I’ll just read some amazing facts instead…

According to the same study, this figure can increase to 26% when you’re intoxicated!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Before trees existed, Earth was covered with giant white mushrooms.​

These huge fungi were 24 feet tall and three feet wide, and covered most of the Earth’s surface before trees existed.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Snakes can burp fire.​

For this to happen, a decomposing animal a snake has eaten has to burst whilst being digested, releasing methane and hydrogen into the snake’s stomach.

All that’s needed for the snake to fire up is a spark.

 

[GoPro]

Scientists in California created a machine to harness power from snowfall.​

The machine worked by using negatively charged silicone to catch positively charged snowflakes, which created a static electric effect that was then harvested.

Impressive, yes, but a little fruitless in California right?

That's pretty awesome. Don't know how practical, but still cool.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Soviet Cosmonauts took shotguns to space with them.​

This wasn’t to fight off any capitalist aliens they might encounter in space…

It was for when they returned to Earth in case they landed in Siberia and had to fend off hungry bears.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Jackie Chan sung the theme songs for all his films in the 1980s.​

Nope, it’s not a different Jackie Chan, it’s the two-parts martial arts and one-part comedy fellow y’all know and love.

However, Jackie Chan is quite the singer as well as a fist-slinger.

In 1984, he won the Japanese Best Foreign Singer Award, has sang in over 5 languages on over 100 songs, and sang at the Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony in 2008!

 

[01dragonslayer]

You’re more likely to get bitten by a person than a shark.​

Especially in New York City, where the annual number of people-on-people bites is 10 times higher than the annual number of worldwide shark bites!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Bryan Cranston learned how to roller skate for an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.​

Bryan Cranston is one hell of a dedicated actor if you ask me.

He spent literally hundreds of hours learning how to roller skate, like an absolute boss!

All this for his “last dance” in the episode where he teaches his son, Malcolm, how to skate.

 

[GoPro]

Bryan Cranston learned how to roller skate for an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.​

Bryan Cranston is one hell of a dedicated actor if you ask me.

He spent literally hundreds of hours learning how to roller skate, like an absolute boss!

All this for his “last dance” in the episode where he teaches his son, Malcolm, how to skate.

Never watch the show ever lol.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Dogs can learn up to 250 words and gestures.​

The average intelligence of a dog is akin to that of a two-year-old human child.

You may also like these 100 amazing facts about dogs & puppies!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Fried chicken originated in Scotland.​

It was a Scottish tradition from the Middle Ages to deep fry chicken.

The Scots bought this dish over to the Americas with them when immigrating to the Southern United States where it became a staple of American cuisine.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Avocados never ripen on trees.​

Because of this, farmers often use the avocado trees as a form of storage to keep their fruit fresh until they are ready to pick it and sell it.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The slang term for dollars, “bucks”, originates from the early 1700s.​

It refers to deer skins from male deer, or bucks as they’re commonly known.

This is because during these early times, deer skins were used as an informal currency.

In fact, a diplomat in 1948 noted that 5 Bucks would buy you a cask of whiskey.

 

[GoPro]

The slang term for dollars, “bucks”, originates from the early 1700s.​

View attachment 33917

It refers to deer skins from male deer, or bucks as they’re commonly known.

This is because during these early times, deer skins were used as an informal currency.

In fact, a diplomat in 1948 noted that 5 Bucks would buy you a cask of whiskey.

Wow. Never knew that!!

 

[01dragonslayer]

40 million years ago penguins were 6 feet tall.​

This was discovered from bones found at Seymour Island dating back to 37 – 40 million years ago.

These gigantic penguins would have weighed up to 250 pounds!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Beer was classified as a soft drink in Russian until 2011.​

Before 2011, anything with less than 10% alcohol was classified legally as a soft drink.

 

[01dragonslayer]

25% of all mammal species on Earth are bats.​

There are a whopping 1,200 different types of bat!

They range in size from a Bumblebee Bat – the world’s smallest mammal – all the way up to the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Bat which has a huge wingspan of almost 6 foot!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Jellyfish are 95% water.​

Not surprising, given that they have no brain, no blood and no heart!

The other 5% is made up of what little solid mass jellyfish possess.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Fortune cookies are an American invention.​

They were invented by Makoto Hagiwara of San Francisco in the 1890s and sold at the Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Garden.

 

[01dragonslayer]

When Nintendo was formed, there were only 38 US states in the Union.​

The company that would go on to bring us Super Mario and Pokémon was formed in September of 1889.

By the end of that year there were 42 US states in the Union!