Useless Facts

[01dragonslayer]

Yrausquin Airport on the Caribbean island of Saba is considered the smallest airport in the world​

The airport is little more than a strip of runway on a rocky outcrop, and is considered the runway in the world, at only 400m! This means that bigger aeroplanes can't actually land there, so you probably can't go on a package holiday. Other tiny airports include Barra in Scotland, Charles Kirkconnell International Airport in the Caribbean, and Luang Prabang Airport in Laos.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The largest bone in the human body is the femur, also known as the thigh bone​

Not only is it the largest bone in the body, it's also one of the strongest, able to withstand a force of up to 1,800 to 2,500 pounds. The smallest bone in the human body, meanwhile, is the stapes, which can be found inside the ear, and which helps with transmitting sounds. All in all, you have over 200 bones in your body!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Red and yellow are supposed to make you hungry.​

Have you ever wondered why so many fast food restaurants have a yellow or red colour scheme? It's actually a clever bit of science - according to research, these colours are meant to stimulate your taste buds and make you hungry! Blue, on the other hand, is supposed to suppress hunger. This may be because there are almost no naturally blue foods in nature - even blueberries are purple!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Robinson Crusoe was based on a real man​

Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, based his story on a real castaway called Alexander Selkirk, who survived alone on an island after being shipwrecked for four years in the 17th century. Selkirk lived on the island for four years and four months, unlike Crusoe, who was there for a whopping 28 years! Let's hope he brought enough sunscreen!

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a festival in Spain where people throw tomatoes at each other​

La Tomatin is a festival held every year in the town of Buñol in Spain and yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. People get together and throw tomatoes at each other in the street! There isn't really a reason behind it, apart from the fact that it's fun! The rules are very strict to make sure no one gets hurt, and at the end of it the whole town has to clean up!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Beyoncé has an insect named after her​

Scaptia beyonceae is a species of horse fly that was named after the pop star in 2011. It's not entirely clear why the fly was named for her, although it does have a very prominent behind...Hmm, not as glamourous as it sounds, maybe.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Daniel Radcliffe was allergic to the contact lenses they used in the Harry Potter films, which is why Harry's eyes aren't green​

Yes, you may have noticed that Harry doesn't actually have green eyes, despite it being made very clear in the books. This is because Daniel Radcliffe found the contact lenses they gave him (his eyes are blue) too irritating! As long as his eyes were the same colour as his mothers, it didn't really matter.

 

[01dragonslayer]

In China there is a dish called Bird's Nest Soup​

Yes, birds nest soup. As in, a birds nest. But it isn't made from twigs - the nests used are made by Swifts, and are composed of bird saliva! This makes them very rich in protein and (apparently) full of flavour, which means the dish is very highly prized! They have been part of Chinese cuisine for over 400 years, but you probably won't find it at your local Chinese restaurant! Would you eat a bird spit soup?

 

[01dragonslayer]

High heels, wigs, dresses and make-up have all been worn by men in different times in history through the world​

We might think of these items as 'girly' today, but everything women wear has also been worn by men throughout history! Men in ancient times were much more likely to wear a tunic or skirt than trousers, whilst 17th century fashion favoured huge tall heels for men, the idea being that you would look taller and therefore more masculine. Everyone from the Celts to the Georgians wore make up, including face powder, rouge and eyeliner, and wigs were all the range a few hundred years ago in Britain - the bigger and curlier, the better!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The Victorians had a special code language using flowers.​

The Victorians were into all sorts of weird ways to send messages, and flowers were no exception. The flowers you gave someone would send them a message, and people wrote whole books about which flowers meant what. For example, a bluebell could mean 'humility' while a yellow hyacinth meant 'jealousy'! And we thought they just looked nice!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The deepest part of the ocean is the Challenger Deep​

Located in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific ocean, the Challenger deep is about 36,200 feet deep, which is very VERY deep, much deeper than a human could ever dive safely. In fact, it's so deep down there that barely anything lives there, because so little light and oxygen reaches it. There may be undiscovered animals down there, but so far we haven't found them! Kinda spooky!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The first ever sound recording was made in the 1850's​

We're used to being able to capture every little sound on our phones and computers nowadays, but a few hundred years ago, that wasn't the case. In fact, until the 1850s there was no way of recording sound at all! That all changed when scientific advancements started to develop inventions like the wax cylinder and the record, and now we can actually hear stuff from over 150 years ago! There is a bit of dispute as to exactly what the first recording was - some people think it was a recording of 'Clair de Lune' in 1860, but other people say that there are even earlier recordings!

 

[01dragonslayer]

When the Eiffel tower was first built, the people of Paris thought it was hideous and ruined the city.​

Nowadays, Paris has got to be one of the most sought-after destinations in the world. It was like that in the 19th century as well, but then something came along and threatened to ruin it. Yup, incredibly, when Gustav Eiffel first proposed his tower, Parisians were horrified and thought it would ruin the skyline of their beloved city! Nowadays it's not only a must-see if you're in Paris, it's considered one of the most romantic places in the world!

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a museum of witchcraft and magic in Cornwall​

Witchcraft has been part of British culture for hundreds of years, and although it wasn't always accepted, we've always been fascinated by the supernatural. If you're really interested, there is a whole museum dedicated to witchcraft down in Cornwall, where you can see all sorts of spooky objects and artefacts that used to belong to witches! Cool!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Birds are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs​

Believe it or not, reptiles are not actually the closest living thing we have to dinosaur. In fact, it's another group entirely - birds! Yes, modern birds all evolved from a common ancestor which was also related to dinosaurs! That explains the eggs, the wings and the big scaly feet! Next time you see a bird, study the way it moves - does it remind you of a dinosaur?

 

[01dragonslayer]

Salvador Dali had a pet anteater​

Salvador Dali was a pretty strange bloke, it's fair to say. A member of the Surrealism art movement, Dali enjoyed shocking and surprising people. His other antics included painting melted clocks, making a lobster telephone and designing the Chupa Chups lolly wrapper!

 

[01dragonslayer]

K Pop stars train in special K Pop schools. Only a tiny handful of pupils ever make it in the industry​

Kpop may look shiny and happy, but in reality its a very hard lifestyle. 'Idols', as their known , are picked at a young age and sent to special schools to train in singing, dancing and acting. If you don't work hard enough to meet the right standards, you can be made to leave! Even though thousands of kids go through this system, only a very small number actually make it into the Kpop bands we all know and love. Would you have what it takes?

 

[01dragonslayer]

'Google' comes from the word 'googol', which is the number 1 followed by one hundred zeros​

The term 'googol' was first used in the 1920s, and is a term used in maths. Founded in 1998, the name was chosen because each 0 represents the possibilities of the search results. Good thing they decided on 'Google' and not 'Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle'.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The most stolen food in the world is cheese​

Who would have thought that cheese would be so popular? More popular than chocolate, chips, or anything fancier like truffles, apparently cheese goes missing from shops at an alarming rate! Apparently cheese is getting more expensive and thieves are looking to cash in on this. We can't say we'd be super keen on buying second hand cheese, but clearly someone is!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The largest known diamond in the world was called 'Star of Africa' or the 'Cullinan Diamond'.​

'Was' rather than 'is', because after it was discovered it was then cut into lots of smaller diamonds. To be fair, it would be pretty heavy to carry around on a ring! The diamond was discovered in a mine in 1905 and surprisingly took a few years to sell! Maybe no one had any use for a massive diamond? Eventually, however, it was bought, and several of the smaller diamonds in made are now owned by the queen!