Useless Facts

[01dragonslayer]

There are more chickens in England than people.​

There are around 982 million chickens eaten each year in the U.K. by 66 million people... this statistic means that should the chickens decide to take over the country, (a la Jurassic Park) we would be massively outnumbered. The threat is real, people. Come the chicken uprising don't say we didn't warn you.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Bears don’t poo during hibernation.​

They also don't eat, drink or wee! So once they are all snug in their cave, bears form a kind of plug for their bottom made out of their bedding, which is pretty gross but seems to work!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Crows hold grudges.​

A 2011 study revealed crows can remember the human faces of those who capture them. According to another study, ravens, including crows, jays and magpies, can 'hold grudges' for up to two years. So make sure you don't upset a crow, because they just won't let it lie!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The word 'hipster' goes back to the 1930s.​

The earliest uses of hipster are often mixed with a very similar word, the hipster. Hipster began appearing in the late 1930s and primarily referred to a knowledgeable person or interested in jazz.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Water makes different pouring sounds depending on its temperature.​

Hot water produces a higher-pitched sound when poured because the energised molecules are moving around more rapidly. Put another way, hot and cold water have a different ‘thickness’.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Thousands of rabbits once attacked Napoleon.​

Eight years before Waterloo (another humiliating defeat for Napoleon), he was beaten by a barrage of bunnies. He was signing a treaty when the rabbits (who had been captured) were released to be hunted. Instead of running away, they attacked their would-be hunters, including Napoleon, who was forced to flee.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a town in Nebraska with a population of one.​

According to a recent census, Monowi is the only place in the USA with just one resident. She is her own clerk, mayor, librarian, treasurer, librarian and bartender and the only person left in the USA's tiniest town.

 

[01dragonslayer]

‘Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is a fear of long words.​

Well, that's easy for you to say.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The 1st King of England made a law that everyone had to be in bed by 8 pm.​

Alfred The Great even introduced a curfew bell rung at 8 o'clock to tell people to go to bed. They had to get their lights out and settle down and stop acting up, it's bedtime. You could be punished if you didn’t go to beddies!

 

[R2D2]

damn, i need to get her number 🙂

 

[01dragonslayer]

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.​

A tiger's skin still displays its stripes if you shave away the fur. Leopards are the same way with their spots. So if you shaved a tiger, it would still be a) stripey and b) miffed.

 

[01dragonslayer]

A group of jellyfish is called a smack.​

Of course it is. There are loads of other excellent collective nouns for groups of animals, for example - a cauldron of bats, a coalition of cheetahs, and a rhumba of rattlesnakes. If you're surrounded by a rattlesnake rhumba you might say your rhumba's up. (Although you'd probably forego wordplay and just scream your head off.)

 

[01dragonslayer]

Beaver bum gunk is sometimes used as a vanilla flavouring.​

A chemical compound used in vanilla flavouring and scents comes from the anal glands of beavers. So the vanilla scent could be due to the animal's diet of bark and leaves. Whatever the reason, chances are you've encountered said bottom debris. Enjoy.

 

[01dragonslayer]

You can sneeze faster than a cheetah can run.​

We sneeze at around 100 miles per hour, faster than cheetahs run and four-and-a-half times faster than Usain Bolt's world record. You might think that's impressive, but it's SNOT.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The little plastic tube at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet.​

Aglets are usually plastic or metal and they are designed to stop your shoelaces from fraying. That's all there is to tell you about that. We told you the facts were mostly pointless, don't blame us.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months.​

They tend to do this in winter – because it’s too cold to pee? No, because they recycle the nitrogen in their own wee to keep themselves warm from the inside out!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Due to a genetic defect, cats can’t taste sweet things.​

This is because they are missing a taste receptor gene that allows their brains to recognise sweet tastes. No wonder they're often grumpy!

 

[01dragonslayer]

There are only four words in the English language which end in “dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.​

Those words include; tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. There's also the specialist zoological term apodous, which means 'without feet'.

 

[01dragonslayer]

You can't lick your own elbow.​

Okay, so there are a few people who MIGHT be able to lick their own elbows, but it's very rare, and you'd need to have short arms. So why not give it a go and see if you can do it?

 

[01dragonslayer]

A giraffe can go longer without water than a camel can.​

Giraffes can go up to 3 weeks without a drink. When they do drink, they've been known to down 12 gallons in one sitting to keep themselves going. In comparison, a camel can go about 2 weeks.