Unbelievable Facts That Are Actually True
This question was recently posed in an askreddit thread. What "that can't actually be true" fact is actually true?
- Peter Durand patented the tin can in 1810. Ezra Warner patented a can opener in 1858. In between, people used chisels and hammers.
- Kangaroos have 3 vaginas
- A quarter of all animal species are beetles. Yes, that's 'animal', not 'insect'.
- China used more concrete in 3 years than the U.S. used in the entire 20th century.
- This probably is nothing compared to most other stuff, but I've always gotten a "that can't be true" response to telling people that a million seconds is equivalent to 11 days, while a billion seconds is equivalent to 31 years.
- “A billion hours ago, human life appeared on earth. A billion minutes ago, Christianity emerged. A billion seconds ago, the Beatles changed music. A billion Coca-Colas ago was yesterday morning. —Robert Goizueta, chief executive of the Coca-Cola Company, April 1997”
- Hillary Clinton won a Grammy.
- Almost every single Android phone has FM Radio support. It's just disabled.
- The difference between hardwood and softwood has to do with its seeds, and has nothing to do with how hard or soft the wood is.
- The Atlantic entrance to the panama canal is further west than the pacific entrance
- In 1923, jockey Frank Hayes won a race at Belmont Park in New York despite being dead! He suffered a heart attack mid-race, but his body stayed in the saddle until his horse crossed the line for a 20–1 outsider victory.