Fun Facts That’ll Actually Make Your Life Better

[01dragonslayer]

Every year, the Netherlands sends Canada 20,000 tulip bulbs.​

This is done as a way of thanking Canada for their role in liberating the Netherlands from Axis occupation during World War II.





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[01dragonslayer]

Jupiter has a “lost” moon.​

The planet’s outermost moon, S/2003 J 2, was discovered by scientists in 2003, but hasn’t been spotted since then and is considered as lost.

How embarrassing, to lose a moon!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Famous French painter Claude Monet was only rich because he won the lottery.​

Like most other artists of his time, Monet was dirt poor. And, like most dirt-poor people, he played the lottery.

His luck changed when he won 100,000 Francs and lived a life of luxury and wealth after this.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Before alarm clocks were affordable, there were professional “Knocker Uppers” to wake people up for work.​

This was something that started during the industrial revolution in Britain, and carried on in some places until the 1970s.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s life was saved by a random toilet break.​

During his World War II service, LBJ was due to fly in the observation seat of the B-26 bomber Wabash Cannonball. However, he was replaced when he had to go to the toilet before take-off.

The Wabash Cannonball was shot down during that flight over New Guinea with no survivors.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The coloring of Gizmo’s fur from The Gremlins matches Steven Spielberg’s dog.​

Spielberg, who executive produced the film, requested the effects team make Gizmo’s fur orange and white to match his beagle, Chauncey.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Japanese people use more paper for manga than toilet roll.​

Crazy as though it may sound, this is 100% true – especially as most modern Japanese toilets feature bidet washing facilities rather than toilet paper.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Birds don’t urinate.​

Contrary to what most mammals do, birds convert nitrogen to uric acid.

They get rid of this uric acid through the same place as they get rid all their other waste – their anus.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Chickens are the closest living relatives to the T-Rex.​

This was discovered through the intricate reconstruction of the avian genome structure, which discovered that the chicken lineage most closely resembles that of the king of the dinosaurs.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Adult Mayflies have no functional mouth.​

Because of this, they die of malnutrition. This is an evolutionary occurrence that happens so ageing mayflies don’t pass on genetic defects to the next generation.

 

[01dragonslayer]

M&M’s turned down product placement in ET.​

They were offered the chance to feature as the titular alien’s favorite candy by Steven Spielberg, but they turned the offer down as they believed the movie would bomb.

Instead, the then-unknown Reece’s Peanut-butter Cups were used and this catapulted their product to its current heights.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a type of mouse that howls to defend its territory.​

Known as The Grasshopper Mouse, this fierce little rodent has a main diet of scorpions, centipedes and other scary creepy crawlies, and it marks and defends its territory by howling loudly.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The words “laser” and “radar” were originally acronyms.​

They stood for “Light Amplifications by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” and “Radio Detection And Ranging” respectively.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Men are 23% more likely to be left-handed than women.​

This means that being a left-handed lady is incredibly rare, seeing as only 10% of the world’s population are left-hand dominant.

 

[01dragonslayer]

In Japan, girls buy boys gifts on Valentine’s Day.​

One month later, on March the 14th, the Japanese celebrate “White Day”, which is when boys will buy gifts for the girls who gave them gifts on Valentine’s Day.

This happened because of a printing error by a chocolate company in their initial promotions for Valentine’s Day.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Over one quarter of the world’s hazelnuts are used to make Nutella.​

Each year, roughly 365 million kilos – the rough weight of the Empire State Building – of Nutella is consumed.

Because of the world’s huge Nutella consumption, the Italian company Ferrero buys one quarter of the globally produced hazelnuts each year.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Seeing Eye dogs can poop on command.​

This is part of the rigorous training they must undergo, and is essential so that their blind owners know when to pick up their poop.

 

[01dragonslayer]

A black cat called Luna once saved her owners from a house fire.​

Despite being widely considered unlucky, this particular black cat was a lucky omen for its family of owners when it woke one them by biting her feet as the house caught ablaze.

Luna’s owner, Emily, was able to safely evacuate her entire family – Luna included – before the house burnt to the ground.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Scientists put fake tails on chickens to understand how T-Rex might have walked.​

As the closest living relative to a T-Rex, any practical testing falls to the humble chicken.

So researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Chile found that chickens with raised tails walk vastly different over chickens with natural tail features, showing them how a T-Rex would have walked.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Mock naval battles were sometimes held in Rome’s Colosseum.​

Often thought of as the home of just the gladiatorial games, the Romans would sometimes flood the Colosseum with water from a nearby aqua-duct and hold full-scale mock naval battles for entertainment and to test out new technologies and tactics.