120 Mind Blowing Facts You Won’t Believe Are True

The Greek philosopher Aristotle famously wrote, “the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.” This is a statement that rings true when you realize the number of mind blowing facts there are that you’ve probably never heard before. Even if you’re an avid reader or love attending trivia nights, there are so many interesting and eye-opening tidbits of information that you can never stop learning or gaining knowledge. 

For instance, did you know there are more cells of bacteria in your body than there are human cells? Or how about the unicorn is the national animal of Scotland? And are you aware Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr. were born in the same year? These are just some of the amazing facts you will discover when reading our list of incredibly true but surprising facts below. 

120 Mind Blowing Facts You Won’t Believe Are True

1. The world’s oceans contain 20 million tons of gold.
2. There are black apples called Black Diamond apples.
3. Urine was once used as a detergent
4. Apple pips are poisonous and can kill you but you will have to eat several thousand to feel the effects.
5. If the oceans dried out, the salt left over would cover the continents to a depth of 5 feet.
6. Australia has over 10,000 beaches. You could visit a new beach every day for over 27 years.
7. Most Canadians living in America reside in south Seattle. 64% of Canadians live in the south of Seattle. 
8. 60% of human brain cells are made up of fat.
9. The Bayeux Tapestry is 70 meters long and depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
10. You can’t hold your nose and hum. Just try it. 
11. Dung beetles can use the Milky Way to navigate.
12. There is a fish with legs. It’s called the Pink Frogmouth.
13. There are more cells of bacteria in your body than there are human cells.
14. Walt Disney World would fit inside Canada 81,975 times.
15. On average, your spinal cord stops growing at 4 years old.
16. An estimated 16 million people died during World War I. 
17. Before Prince Charles became King, the last King of England was King George VI who ruled between 1936 – 1952.
18. Peanuts aren’t actually nuts. They are part of the legume family.
19. There’s a species of jellyfish that is essentially immortal.
20. The kangaroo mouse never needs to drink water. 
21. More French soldiers died during World War I than American soldiers during all of U.S. history. An estimated 1,360,000 million French soldiers died. 
22. The national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn.
23. Agatha Christie has sold over 2 billion books.
24. Ladybirds can fly at speeds up to 37 mph.
25. A baby is born with around 300 bones. By the time they are an adult that number is closer to 200.
26. The moon has earthquakes known as moonquakes. 
27. There are roughly 2 pints of water in every cubic foot of soil on Mars.
28. Spending just a few months in Antarctica can shrink your brain.
29. The U.S. government has an official plan for a zombie apocalypse. It’s known as Conplan 8888.
30. The directors of the film Despicable Me actually wrote their own language for the Minions called Minionise.
31. The Mariana Trench is deeper than the highest mountain is tall.
32. When dissolved in water, Viagra can make cut flowers stay erect for up to a week longer than they usually would.
33. Humans are the only animal that blushes.
34. You can use a blue whale’s wax earplug to work out its life history.
35. Greenland sharks don’t reach sexual maturity until they’re 150.
36. The “word of the year” in 2015 was a picture. It was the emoji of a smile with tears of joy.
37. The longest bicycle in the world is over 135 feet long. 
38. The Nazis were the first ever people in modern history to start an anti-smoking and tobacco movement.
39. Water makes a different sound whether it’s hot or cold. 
40. An orgasm can clear your sinuses.
41. In the history of the Earth, humans are closer to Tyrannosaurus Rex than T. Rex is to stegosaurus.
42. The longest tiramisu ever measured was 897 feet and 3 inches.
43. Prince Charles has a car fueled by wine. It’s a vintage Aston Martin. 
44. There is an uninhabited island in the Bahamas known as Pig Beach, which is populated entirely by swimming pigs.
45. Your sweat doesn’t smell. It’s the bacteria on your skin that breaks down sweat that causes a bad odor.
46. Crows hold grudges. Scientists in 2011 discovered that crows remember faces.
47. If eaten in one meal, 30 to 90 grams of polar bear liver is enough to kill a human being.
48. Atoms are mostly empty space.
49. Hares are born with fur and can see whilst rabbits are born “naked” and blind.
50. The Ethiopian calendar is seven years behind the rest of the world.
51. In the film Star Wars Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith, every single one of the clone troopers was produced using CGI effects.
52. The earth isn’t round. It’s not flat either, but more of an oblong type of shape.
53. The longest book title is 4,558 words. The main header begins, with Stock Price Prediction, a referential approach on how to predict the stock price using…
54. There are 4.2 billion active social media users worldwide.
55. More than 800 languages are spoken in New York City. That makes it the most diverse city in the world when it comes to languages spoken. 
56. Every atom in your body is billions of years old.
57. A parking spot in Hong Kong once sold for almost $1 million.
58. One of the most painful stings known to mankind is from the platypus.
59. Hawaii’s state flag is the only United States state flag to feature the Union Jack upon it.
60. The town of Monowi has just one resident. That is 87-year-old Elsie Eiler.
61. Clams have feet. Fact. 
62. The Incredible Hulk was originally grey, not green.
63. The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk saved 193,000 British and 145,000 French troops.
64. If you are shot by a sniper you will be dead before you hear the gunfire. 
65. Homer Simpson’s hair is shaped like two letters that are the initials of creator Matt Groening.
66. If you folded a piece of paper 42 times, it would be thick enough to reach the moon.
67. There are more trees on Earth than stars in the galaxy.
68. When written down, the word “almost” is the longest word in the English language to have all of its letters in alphabetical order.
69. The word “oxymoron” is an oxymoron itself.
70. Polar bears aren’t actually white. They have black fur but when light is trapped inside the hollow part of the hair, it causes a reaction called luminescence that makes them appear white. 
71. The last murder in Lichtenstein occurred in 1997. 
72. The human eye can differentiate approximately 10 million different colors.
73. Nokia was originally founded in 1865 as a paper printing company.
74. The Bloukrans Bridge, Western Cape, South Africa, is the highest commercial natural bungee jump in the world. It’s a 709-foot plunge.
75. The world’s biggest-ever recorded turtle was a Leatherback Turtle estimated to be 100 years old which was almost 9 feet in length and weighed 2,016 pounds.
76. Sea level rise is accelerating and is projected to rise by a foot by 2050.
77. The human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times in the average lifetime.
78. There are six official languages of the UN. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
79. You can hear rhubarb as it grows.
80. A queen termite can live up to 50 years.
81. You are three times more likely to get a virus on your computer from a religious website than from a pornographic website.
82. Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland all remained neutral during World War II.
83. Oxford University is older than the Aztecs.
84. Minnesota has more shoreline than California, Florida, and Hawaii combined.
85. Yoda and Miss Piggy were voiced by the same person – Frank Oz.
86. The most cappuccinos made in one hour is 420. The world record was set by Australian Liza Thomas.
87. The largest bone in the human body is the femur, also known as the thigh bone.
88. The Las Vegas Strip isn’t really in Las Vegas. It’s actually part of the city of Paradise. 
89. Armadillos almost always give birth to identical quadruplets.
90. Shaking ketchup makes it 1,000 times thinner.
91. Humans are the only animals that enjoy eating spicy foods. Nobody quite knows why. 
92. Horses cannot physically vomit due to having stronger lower esophageal sphincters than other animals.
93. Chewing gum after a meal reduces heartburn. 
94. High-heeled shoes were originally designed for rich men. Persian men started the trend.
95. Dogs can smell cancer. 
96. The longest word you can type with just your left hand is “Sweaterdresses.”
97. Humans are the only animals whose brains shrink as they age. 
98. A chicken survived for 18 months without a head.
99. The FDA once banned sliced bread because it used too much plastic packaging. 
100. You have a deeper sleep in a hammock than in a bed. 
101. The average cloud weighs an estimated 1.1 million pounds.
102. Every two minutes people take more photos than were taken in the entire 19th century.
103. Human teeth are as strong as shark teeth.
104. Female kangaroos have three vaginas. 
105. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match stick.
106. 20% of coffee mugs contain fecal matter.
107. The human nose can detect more than 1 trillion smells.
108. The raptor sounds in Jurassic Park are actually mating tortoises.
109. Radioactive particles from the Cold War were found in the deepest parts of the ocean.
110. It would take 12,00,000 mosquitoes sucking at once to completely drain a human of blood.
111. Alfred Hitchcock’s Pyscho was the first film to show a toilet being flushed on screen.
112. Your mouth produces about one liter of saliva a day.
113. Drug lord Pablo Escobar spent $2,500 a month on rubber bands to hold all his cash.
114. A million seconds is about 12 days while a billion seconds is about 32 years.
115. Otters sleep holding hands.
116. Americans thought tomatoes were poisonous until the early 19th century.
117. Humans and giraffes have the same number of neck bones.
118. Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime. 
119. Cows moo in regional accents.
120. Beer in Russia was considered a soft drink up until 2011.