The world is full of fun, thrilling, and interesting facts – facts that might make us giggle or even shake our heads in disbelief. But those fun facts are as easy to learn as they are to forget. The following facts, however, are not those kinds of factoids, these are the kind of facts worth holding on to and jotting down in our memory bank although they are often of the less fun variety.
Most Laugh Tracks Used In Sitcoms Were Created In The 1950s. You Are Hearing Dead People Laugh.
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Invented in the 1940s, laugh tracks have been used for decades in radio and television shows to recreate the atmosphere of live shows and motivate viewers and listeners to chuckle and laugh out loud. Although laugh tracks are still recorded nowadays, most production companies just use the same old laughter recorded back in the 1950s.
According To Research, 20% Of Office Mugs Carry Fecal Matter.
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According to a 1997 study carried out by Dr. Charles Gerba, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona, communal kitchen sponges are not changed frequently enough. They are, in fact, the reason why almost 90% of office mugs are coated in germs and 20% of them actually carry fecal bacteria.
Fridges Have Magnetic Doors Because Kids Used To Get Stuck Inside Them.
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If you have ever seen an older refrigerator, you might have noticed a feature recent models no longer have: mechanical door latches. Back in the day, many children would climb into refrigerators, get stuck inside, and suffocate before their parents could find them. To prevent these horrible accidents from ever happening again, refrigerator manufacturers now make fridges with magnetic doors instead.
Only 18 States In The US Require Sex Ed To Be Medically Accurate.
Since there are no federal guidelines for sex ed, standards in public schools across the US vary widely depending on each state. Interestingly, 27 states require lessons to focus on abstinence and only 18 states require lessons to have a medically correct syllabus.
It Only Takes 7 Pounds Of Force To Rip Someone’s Ear Off.
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Talk about unfun facts. This is one we’re sure we’ll never forget. It turns out the amount of pressure necessary for someone to be able to rip a human ear off is 7 pounds. Do what you will with this information, but we kindly ask you to not try this at home.
There Are More Tigers In Captivity In The US Than In The Wild.
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While there are only approximately 3,900 tigers in the wild, it is estimated that the U.S. captive tiger population consists of about 5,000. This means that there are more tigers kept in American backyards than there are tigers left in the wild.
Cockroaches Will Eat Human Flesh If Given The Chance.
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If you ever get a roach infestation, act quickly if you don’t want to be bitten. It turns out cockroaches are omnivores – which means they eat plants and meat. Although they are more likely to take bites of fingernails and eyelashes while picking at food remnants and dead skin, they have also been recorded to bite feet and hands.
Your Bones Are Not Only Wet But Also A Little Soft.
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When we think about bones, we usually picture skeletons made up of dry and brittle bones. But living bones – the ones inside our bodies right now – are far from dry. They are wet with various bodily fluids, which also makes them a little soft too.
Your Phone Carries Ten Times More Bacteria Than A Toilet Seat.
According to studies by the University of Arizona, cell phones have ten times more bacteria than most toilet seats. Our skin is naturally covered in microbes and natural oils that get passed on to our phones each time we send a text or check the time on our lock screen.
Human Sperm Is Extremely Nutritious For Ants.
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Like every cell in the human body, sperm contains sugar molecules. And if there is one thing we all know about ants is that they absolutely love some sugar as it is a great source of energy for them.
According To Studies, Left-Handers Die At Least 3 Years Earlier Than Those Who Are Right-Handed.
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If being left-handed in itself wasn’t hard enough. Being left-handed means that nothing quite fits right in your hands, your handwriting is likely going to be terrible, and using video game controllers are a nightmare. For those who are blessed by this arrangement of dexterity, there is more bad news. They are also more likely to die earlier than their right-handed counterparts. The reasons range, but a major contributor is the higher likelihood of suffering a fatal accident when handling power tools or driving as those who are left-handed operate them inherently incorrectly.
In 44 States There Is No Legal Minimum Age In The US For Marriage, As Long As There Is Parental Consent.
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Unbelievable as it may sound, child marriage is a perfectly legal practice in almost all states in the U.S.The only caveat is that the parents have to give permission for the marriage. The only states in which you must be at least 18 years old to marry are Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island with 20 others where there is no legal age. According to Equality Now, in just the years between 2000 and 2010 over 240,000 child marriages occurred with the majority being older men marrying underage girls.
As A Person Reaches The End Of Their Life, Their Senses Fade. Hearing Is The Last Sense To Go.
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As death approaches the faculties of the body decrease and becomes less sensitive before they steadily fade out. The first few senses to be lost are that of hunger and thirst as the body has no more use for food and drink, next is the sight which fades away, then the sense of touch is lost, and the last such sense to go is hearing. Researchers found that even after the body has reached a state where it would be considered deceased soundwaves can still be picked up by the brain.
The Youngest Mother To Ever Successfully Give Birth Was Only 5 Years Old.
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The record-breaking mother is Lina Medina hailing from Peru. When Medina was only 4 years old she became pregnant with her first child. Medina went on to give birth when was 5 years and 7 months old in 1939, becoming a mother when most other children are still learning to read. Medina survived childbirth and when to have a long life, still surviving to this day at the ripe old age of 88.
According To The Wall Street Journal, Disneyland Is One Of The Most Frequently Visited Places To Scatter The Ashes Of Deceased Family Members
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The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland may be more literally haunted than Walt Disney may have liked. According to the Wall Street Journal, the parks are frequently used as dumping grounds for the ashes of deceased relatives. The decision to do so likely comes from a love for the place but Disney has made it clear that the activity is prohibited, not to say completely illegal.
According To Researchers, The Messy Handwriting On Doctors’ Notes Kill Over 7,000 People In The U.S. Each Year.
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Doctors’ handwriting has long been known to be almost universally awful, so much so that it has become a common trope in TV and films, but that trope has harrowing real-world consequences. Some estimates say that up to 7,000 deaths every year could be prevented if were not for a misunderstanding of the writing on a doctor’s notepad.
Rabies Has A Fatality Rate Of 99.9%, If It Is Diagnosable It Will Be Almost Certainly Deadly.
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Rabies is the most deadly disease on earth in terms of its mortality rate. The disease has a shockingly high 99.9% fatality rate, meaning that it’s almost certainly a death sentence once received. The only way to survive the disease is by receiving treatment as early as possible before any symptoms appear. The best thing to do is treat any animal bite as if it is possibly rabies-infected and immediately head to a hospital.
In Medieval Europe, Many Would Pay Executioners To Drink The Blood Of The Freshly Executed Warm From The Gallows Believing It To Be A Powerful Health Tonic.
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In a time when superstitions were the bread and butter of medicine, it was believed that drinking the blood of freshly executed criminals would be a tonic. The belief stems from the idea that an executed criminal has been purified via their punishment and so would now offer a source of blood that brings healing to those who consumed it.
Despite Popular Belief, Hair And Nails Do Not Grow After Death. As The Body Dries Out, The Nail Beds And Skin On The Head Retract, So Nails And Hair Seem Longer.
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It’s a myth that’s not unfamiliar to any attendant of an elementary school that your hair and nails don’t stop growing even after death. However, this myth is unfounded though true in appearance. Hair and nails do appear to get longer after a person has died, not because they have grown but because the skin surrounding the follicles became retracted after death.
Graves Being 6 Feet Deep Came From The 1665 Plague Outbreak In England. The Mayor Of London Decided The Burial Depth To Be 6 Feet To Limit The Spread Of Disease.
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The practice of burying our dead at least 6 feet deep has a surprisingly practical birthplace, that of trying to prevent the spread of disease. During the plague that ravaged much of Europe, the mayor of London came up with the idea to bury those who had passed on at least 6 feet deep, to prevent the disease that killed them from further spreading.
Mount Everest Is Littered With The Bodies Of 200 Frozen And Failed Climbers.
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Climbing Mount Everest is one of the pinnacles of human achievement, and it’s not only due to its difficulty that the mountain has such a reputation. Located in the snowy mountain range of Tibet, the mountain reaches freezing cold temperatures, and at its summit, the air is so thin as to be unbreathable. This translates to tremendous risk to those who would attempt to climb the peak.
People Know When Death Is Near. In Their Final Moments, People Feel What’s Known As “Existential Slap”. It’s When A Person Knows, On A Deep Level, That Death Is Coming.
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Palliative care is the name given to those who make it their business to care for people on their deathbeds. A common experience described by those who work in this field is what is known as the “existential slap”, the “slap” being a sudden grasp of the nearness of death and an awareness that their time to pass on is fast approaching.
The Second World War Claimed The Lives Of Roughly 80% Of All Soviet Males That Were Born In 1923.
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The Second World War was one of the bloodiest periods in all of human history, seeing much of the world dying by the tens of millions. But one group who perhaps suffered larger losses than almost any other were the young men of Russia who were conscripted to fight in the war. Some estimates have the loss of life for young Soveit men born during 1923 at 80%, making them just 18 at their time of death.
A Male Honeybee Drone Lives For Only 50 Days, Dying Quickly After He Reaches Maturity And Mating With The Queen Bee
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While it takes just 24 days for a male honey bee to go from freshly laid egg to buzzing worker, his short lifespan is barely double the time. The male honey bee only survives for roughly 55 days, fulfilling its roles in the hive by mating with the queen and dying shortly after its purpose has been completed.
The Royals get weighed before and after eating Christmas dinner
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As embarrassing as some family traditions might be, we wouldn’t trade any of ours for this flabbergasting piece of royal protocol. Since the days of King Edward VII, guests of the Royal Family’s Christmas dinner are weighed both before and after the meal. Putting on weight after the meal (ideally 3 pounds) was seen as a measure of enjoyment.
Brain Aneurysms Are Sudden, Almost Impossible To Predict, And Can Happen To Anyone. The Only Warning Signs Are Those Of A Migraine
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Brain aneurysms are the boogeyman of the medical world, incredibly deadly with a 50% fatality rate while simultaneously being almost impossible to predict and treat. An aneurysm occurs when a blood vessel expands and ruptures in the brain, causing deadly cranial bleeding. However, the symptoms themselves are mild, being closer to a migraine in appearance than the fatal freak accident that it often is.
There Is More Plastic Than Plankton In The Oceans
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Plankton is the cornerstone of the ecosystem within our oceans, operating as the foundation for the food chain and essential to the health of the world’s waters. But in recent years the essential organism has become dwarfed by the plastic that floats alongside it. There is estimated to be roughly 1 billion tonnes of plankton, while the volume of plastic belittles this amount at 5.25 trillion tonnes.
Tapeworms Can Grow Up To 32 Feet Long Inside Of An Adult Human Body
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Tapeworms are a resident of childhood for many people as they are frequently found in the gut of children who have not washed their hands after playing outside, but the parasite is no childish matter. The worms can grow up to a staggering 32 feet long inside of a human being, often existing unnoticed while it lives off our bodies.
Horses Can Be Omnivores If Hungry Enough And Are Known To Eat Baby Birds
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While every little girl’s favorite animal is known for its grace, beauty, and emotional intelligence, like much of nature horses can also have a darker side to them if pushed. The animals are known to eat baby birds and other small animals when hungry enough, some reports even suggest that horses may even develop a preference for meat once exposed to it.
When Whales Die Of Old Age They Simply Become Too Exhausted And Drown As They Lose The Strength To Resurface
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Aging is a natural part of life and it could even be said that the process is the better side of the coin when it comes to ways to die. Often dying of old age means that an immune system becomes too weak to fight off the diseases that assault it daily, but for whales, they instead simply become too exhausted to resurface, functionally drowning.
Some Estimates Approximate That There Are 1 Million Ants For Every Human Being On Earth
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Ants. Almost impossible to get rid of once they enter your home, in no small part thanks to the seemingly endless supply of the insect that has now invaded your kitchen. But that endlessness is closer to the truth than you might think. The insect is so abundant that some estimates see them outnumbering human beings a billion to one.
Vending Machines Kill More People Each Year Than Sharks Do
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Vending machines are roughly 13 times more deadly than sharks, at least that’s what the statistics show. In the year 2021, there was only one fatal shark attack worldwide while the death toll for those dastardly vending machines is far higher. In the year 2021 alone, those sneaky snack dispensers claimed the lives of 13 people in just the U.S.A.
Woodpeckers Wrap Their Tongues Around Their Brains To Protect Them From The Vibrations Of Their Drilling
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The common woodpecker has an incredibly long tongue, long enough to reach deep into the bark of the tree that it drills to extract the insects that call the wood it pecks home. That long tongue is kept sheathed in an unlikely place, around the bird’s brain. This has the double function of creating a tongue cushion for the bird’s brain while it does its drilling work.
Ancient Romans Would Gargle Urine As A Primitive Form Of Mouthwash
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Mouthwash is a part of many people’s daily routine and has been a part of human culture for a very long time. The ancient Romans also included it as a part of their cleaning habits, though they had a somewhat less minty version of the cleaning device. They would use urine to whiten their teeth, which despite the taste would actually be an effective way to do so, the ammonia in the urine operating as a kind of tooth bleach.
The Average American Will Spend Roughly 42 Hours Of Each Year Commuting In Traffic
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Depending on who you are and where you work, commuting can be a major part of how you spend your day. Many Americans spend at least an hour on the road each day of their lives, with a significant portion of that time spent stuck in gridlock traffic. The result is that on average Americans will spend nearly two entire days of each year waiting for traffic to thin.
Some fast-fashion garment makers earn just $1.58 per hour
The fast fashion industry’s shocking realities are a grim reminder of the human and environmental costs behind cheap clothing. Exploitative wages, unsafe conditions, and grueling hours plague garment workers, while child labor remains a distressing presence. Furthermore, the amount of waste that’s created wreaks havoc on our planet.
Bob Marley’s Final Words To His Son Were: “Money Can’t Buy Life”
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Bob Marley is one of the most instantly recognizable faces in popular music and media. Whether it is his incredible music or powerful politics, it’s hard to imagine a more impactful person. That impact stretches all the way through his too-short life to his deathbed, where even his last words left an indelible mark on the world, his last words to his son echoing into the popular consciousness: “money can’t buy life”.
Bus Seats Are Designed With Ugly Patterns Intentionally To Disguise Graffiti And Stains Left By Previous Passengers
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Ugly designs on bus and train benches are as ubiquitous as the modes of public transport themselves. If you’ve ever set foot onto a public bus you’ve surely been assailed with the scattering of squares, squiggles, and triangles that usually make up the designs of the cushions. These ugly designs are a purposeful ploy, put there to distract from the dirt and graffiti that so often is a part of public transportation.
Dog Toys Squeak So They Can Hack Into The Hunting Instincts Of Your Pet, The Squeaking Sounds Like A Dying Or Injured Small Animal To A Dog
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It’s hard to imagine but underneath the many layers of the domestication and adoration of our fluffy friends lay the roots of where they came from – the violent and cruel world of the animal kingdom. It’s those roots that your pet’s favorite toy taps into, in a dark twist the squeaky toy is squeaky for precisely this reason- to simulate the sounds of a dying animal that would have once been the prey of your dog’s ancestors.
There Is An Acceptable Amount Of Bug Parts And Rodent Hairs To Food Ratio, As Outlined By The FDA.
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While we all like to believe that our food products contain absolutely no traces of insects or rodent hairs, the reality is far from it. Even the FDA, the governing body that sets the standards for food safety, has an acceptable ratio of food to insect parts and rodent hairs. The FDA allows for 225 insect parts to 225 grams of macaroni. For tomatoes, it’s even worse with an acceptable ratio of 10 fly eggs per tomato product.
No tiaras before 6 pm
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With the exception of her wedding day, a member of the Royal Family is not permitted to wear a tiara before the clock strikes 6 pm. Rather, hats and extravagant fascinators are the only things a lady should wear on her head during the daytime, according to the Royal protocol.
Chewing gum could lead to irreversible jaw pain
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Chewing gum, especially when unevenly distributed on one side of the mouth, can cause imbalances in the jaw muscles and potentially lead to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues. Overusing specific muscle groups can cause ligaments to contract excessively, resulting in severe pain. Additionally, it may contribute to earaches, toothaches, and headaches, further exacerbating discomfort and discomforting symptoms associated with excessive gum chewing.
Pistachios, If Stored In Large Quantities And Without The Proper Measures, Can Spontaneously Combust
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Pistachios are not only undeniably delicious but also undeniably dangerous – especially when kept in large quantities. The yummy nut has a high-fat content, roughly 45% of the total mass of each nut is fat. All that fat results in creating the perfect catalyst for spontaneous combustion if the nuts are not kept in a cool, dry, and well-spaced storage.
Bubble Gum Is Illegal In Singapore. You May Only Possess It If You Have A Special Doctor’s Note
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Bubble gum is one of the most consumed forms of candy in the world. That is, everywhere except Singapore where the consumption of gum is strictly prohibited. The reasoning behind the ban is an attempt to curb littering. Access to the candy is possible, but you would need to get a doctor’s note first explaining why the gum might be a necessity for your health.
Roughly 1 In 4 Americans’ Garages Are So Cluttered That They Can’t Park Their Car Inside
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We’ve all seen, or even own, garages that are a bit too cluttered for their own good. If you’re a visitor from a foreign land you may wonder why Americans seem to always park in the driveway instead of the garage nearby. The answer is clutter, 25% of Americans use their garages as storage units for their household items instead of their vehicles.
Barbie Dolls Used to Be Sold Alongside Her Teenage Best Friend, Midge, Who Was Pregnant
In the official Barbie canon, Midge Hadley is Barbie’s best friend from her hometown of Willows, Wisconsin. Midge was first released in 1963 with a detachable pregnant belly and has been discontinued and reintroduced several times over the years, always causing controversy. Whether claiming that she promotes teenage pregnancy or premarital sexual relationship, Barbie fans throughout the decades have mobilized to get Midge pulled from the shelves.
Kanye West’s Mother Died While Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery. The Donda West Law Was Named After Her, Aimed At Stopping These Avoidable Deaths
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Kanye West’s mother, Donda West, sadly passed away in 2007 at the young age of 58 due to complications that occurred while she was under anesthesia and undergoing cosmetic surgery. Her shocking death led to the creation of the Donda West law in California that states that in order to have cosmetic surgery you must first have a physical to demonstrate your body can handle the operation.
The ‘Meat Paradox’ Is The Name For The Way Animal-Lovers Are Able To Rationalise Eating Meat
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Despite the overwhelming majority of people having a soft spot for animals and being pet-owners, most people are not vegetarian or vegan and continue to eat meat. In order to conquer their own meat guilt, people are able to dissociate the act of killing animals from eating meat. This rationalization is so common that it even has its own name, the ‘meat paradox’.
Cats Can Be Allergic To Humans
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While it’s far more common for people to be allergic to animals than the other way around, the converse is still possible – particularly for cats. Symptoms for human allergies in cats include coughing, sneezing, and having trouble breathing. But cat lovers don’t need to worry too much, provided they bathe frequently, keeping yourself well-washed should stop the worst of these symptoms.
Some people stuck in comas retain awareness and can even perceive sounds but are unable to communicate this.
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We can’t think of something more awful than this. While in a coma, some individuals may retain awareness and perceive sounds. Studies suggest that brain activities can respond to auditory stimuli, indicating some level of processing. However, they can’t communicate that they are aware of what is happening around them. Just awful.
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Can Cook Itself If It Becomes Too Stressed Due To Its Warm Blood
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Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the very few kinds of fish that have warmblood similar to mammals. Their warm blood allows them to survive the frigid temperatures of the seas they swim but at a cost. Should the fish overexert itself it can actually cook its own body through its overheated blood.
In England And Wales, It’s Legal To Drink Alcohol On Private Premises From The Age Of 5
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While in America the laws surrounding the consumption of alcohol are some of the strictest in the Western world, drinking is limited to those over the age of 21. However, many Europeans have a different take on booze, with some countries, like Wales and England, allowing even minors from the age of 5 to be able to drink provided they are on private property.
Banging Your Toe Hurts So Much Because So Many Nerves Are Jammed Into a Small Place
Each of your toes have two large nerves called “nociceptors” which send high-speed messages to your brain. These are the same thick nerve fibers that make you drop a hot pan before you realize your hand is burning. Unfortunately, once you’ve stubbed your toe, there’s no going back. However, that’s why a toe injury usually feels like an outrageously sharp pain following by a dull, throbbing pain.
Japan’s Criminal Conviction Rate Is 99.9%
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Japan is well known for many things; anime, saki, sushi, samurais, and body pillows to name just a few. But there are other sides to the culture that aren’t as import friendly, such as their 99.9% criminal conviction rate. The rate is so high due to a number of factors, one of which is the fear that lawyers have of tarnishing their records by losing a case so they just choose to not prosecute.
The Last Two Living Speakers Of The Mexican Ayapeneco Language Won’t Speak To Each Other
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Ayapeneco is an indigenous language from Mexico, once spoken by some tribes that populated the land before the Spanish arrived. The ancient language still survives to this day but is barely holding on with only two speakers still living. But perhaps most tragic of all is that those two speakers are not on speaking terms with one another.
As You Gain Weight, Your Tongue Does Too And Can Cause Health Problems
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While it may seem intuitive once you learn that tongues, like the rest of the body, also can grow with the amount of fat stored by the body, it’s not a conclusion that is easy to come to. Worse than just the unseemly size of the tongue that coincides with weight gain is the health problems that often follow, such as sleep apnea.
There Is One Doctor In The Entire Tusheti Region Of Georgia. He’s Now Over 80 Years Old
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The Tusheti region in Georgia is most definitely beautiful, and also most definitely treacherous. Its steep hillside and rarely maintained roads make for dangerous fare for travelers and locals alike. Adding to the danger factor is the fact that the region only has one doctor who depends on a horse to get around, a doctor Irakli Khvedaguridze. And Irakli is over 80 years old.
When Photographer Robert Landsberg Realized He Wouldn’t Survive The Eruption Of Mount St. Helens, He Used His Body To Shield The Photographs He Had Taken Of The Event
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The brave photographer and natural disaster documentarian Robert Landsburg spent the final moments of his life gathering some of the more valuable information that geologists have about volcano eruptions. The fearless photographer didn’t have enough time to escape the eruption and so carefully packed away his gear before laying over his camera, using his body to shield the valuable images from the approaching hot gas.
In 2019, A Seven-Year OId Boy In India Complained Of A Toothache, After Examination He Was Found To Have Over 520 Extra Teeth
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A young boy in India had been complaining about occasional toothaches for most of his life but had refused to allow doctors or dentists to see inside it to find the cause. During a particularly bad episode, he was taken to a hospital where he was given anesthesia. What the doctors found truly shocked and made medical history, the boy had over 526 teeth in his small mouth.
Stone Man Syndrome Is A Rare Condition Where Any Damaged Tissue Regrows Into Bone, Eventually Turning The Sufferer Into A Living Statue
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While there are many unfortunate and awful syndromes in the medical world that can cause untold agony, there are few that had us recoiling with the same kind of ferocity as stone man syndrome – a rare condition whereby the sufferer’s own body steadily turns to bone, trapping them in a sarcophagus of their own skin.
There Are More Slaves Working Today Than During Any Other Period In History
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Slavery is one of the darkest parts of our shared human history, categorically known to be one of the worst things that human beings inflict on one another, yet surprisingly the cruel practice still exists and even thrives today. Historians estimate that there were 13 million slaves worldwide between the 15th and 19th centuries, today experts believe that there are at least 40.3 million slaves globally.
A 2015 Study Found That 10% Of Vegetarian Hot Dogs Contain Meat
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A 2015 study found some decidedly unsettling details in the making of many a vegetarians’ favorite meat-free snack – that it’s not actually vegetarian. In the study, it was found that of all the advertised vegetarian hot dogs, roughly 10% still contained meat. Adding an even further upsetting spin on the nutritional information, 2% were found to contain human DNA.
Pirates Also Had A Red Flag They Would Fly Instead Of The Usual Black. It Would Mean No Mercy And That No Prisoners Would Be Taken
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The pirate’s black flag is easily the trade’s most recognizable form of regalia, an instant advertisement to those about to be boarded who were doing the boarding. Less famous but significantly more terrifying was the red flag – the pirate’s red flag meant one thing: blood. If a ship flew the red flag those under attack knew that no mercy would be given.
Royals have royal undertakers who are responsible for planning for sudden deaths and keep a special coffin in case a member of the royal family passes
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Queen Elizabeth has passed and will be honored by a state funeral. The royals have certain customs when it comes to funerals and mourning. There are many strict traditions that must be followed. Funerals for members such as the Queen and Prince Philip are planned months ahead of their death. Her coffin will be open to the public for 23 hours a day adn the nation will also partake in two minutes of silence.
If You Took Out All The Empty Space Between The Atoms That Make Up A Person, The Entire Human Race Would Fit Into A Container The Size Of A Sugar Cube
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Life is both more and less significant than we ever give it credit for. More, as the more we know about it the more miraculous our existence seems to be. Less, as we increasingly learn how tiny we truly are, both on a cosmic scale and it terms of the core ingredients that actually make us who we are.
In The Movie, Poltergeist Real Corpses Were Used Instead Of Special Effects As Fakes Would Be Too Expensive
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This may not be new information to many horror movie buffs out there, the classic 1982 movie ‘Poltergeist’ was only horrifying due to its story and visuals but also thanks to its use of real corpses in one iconic scene. The reasoning behind the real bodies was less to do with scares and more to do with budget – it was cheaper and easier to use real cadavers than have to create them.
Vesna Vulovic Broke The World Record For The Highest Fall Without A Parachute. She Did It While Being The Sole Survivor Of A Plane Crash
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Vesna Vulovic was a Serbian flight attendant who scored herself the Guinness World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute in 1972. Unfortunately, that record wasn’t won intentionally but instead was earned by being the sole survivor of a crashing plane. Vulovic survived by becoming trapped in the fuselage as the rest of the aircraft fell away and disintegrated.
Twenty Percent Of All Marriages Globally Are Between First Cousins
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Cousin marriages can sound incredibly offputting and wrong to us in the Western world but are far less rare than you might think. According to some estimates, roughly 20% of all marriages are between first cousins, with some countries recording almost 50% of their marriages being between cousins.
The All-Time Record For The Most Children Born To A Single Mother Is 69
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While we’ve heard of big families, some people really do take it to the next level. Valentina Vassilyev and her husband Feodor hold the world record for the most children born to a single couple. Valentina gave birth to 69 children in her lifetime, 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triples, and 4 sets of quadruplets.
Some people can lose their long-term memory after waking up from a coma.
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During a coma, individuals experience a deep state of unconsciousness where they are generally unresponsive. As a result, they usually do not form new memories. Once they regain consciousness, they typically have no recollection of their time in the coma. However, the extent of memory loss can be more serious and even affect a patient’s long-term memories from before the coma.
Boanthropy Is A Psychological Disorder In Which Patients Believe They Are A Cow
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While we’ve heard of many different syndromes that people have that make them believe they’re all kinds of things this is the first time we’ve heard of someone believing that they’re a cow. Boanthropy is exactly that, a condition where the sufferer believes they are cattle. Apparently, the disorder is caused usually by dementia brought on by contracting syphilis.
Mosquitos Have 47 Teeth
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While mosquitos do have teeth it’s most likely not the kind of smile you’re thinking of. Rather, the so-called teeth of the mosquito are the small dagger-esque serrations that run along the insect’s proboscis, the long needle-like appendage the bug uses to suck blood. The serrations help the mosquito cut through and pierce the skin to get to the meal beneath.
Pigs Can Get Sunburnt
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While it may seem like intuitive knowledge that the pink skin that covers a pig’s body could get sunburned, the reality is a little darker than that. The reason pigs can get sunburnt is due to factory farming and other forms of pig farms that force pigs to spend most of their lives indoors where they’re never exposed to the sun.
A Broken Arm Can Result In An Incision, Staples, Screws, And A Plate
A scar is a mark that is left on the body after a wound or an injury has healed, but not all scars are created equal. Some are bigger, darker, and don’t always fade or completely disappear. Even the most minor scar can take up to two years to heal and may never go away. Scars may also put an emotional toll on people who have them, such as depression, feelings of shame, and anxiety.
The State Of Ohio Gives Out Different Colored License Plates For Those With A DUI Conviction
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In Ohio, if you manage to get yourself a DUI you could be the unlucky recipient of what is jokingly called a party plate. The plates are yellow, as opposed to the usual white of the state’s license plates, and are earned by drinking and driving. The idea is that the fear of public shame will be a deterrent to would-be drunk drivers and help police officers pick out repeat offenders more easily.
Safety coffins were invented because people were scared of being buried alive
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The fear of being buried alive is a real thing and it’s known as taphophobia. Taphophobia has been around for years and it got so bad in the 19th century, it prompted the creation of the safety coffin. These coffins gave people the ability to escape if they happened to be buried alive.
A mortician will sew a person’s jaw shut and insert special contact lenses into their eyes to keep them shut in order to prepare them for an open casket
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When it comes to funerals, there are two types- an open casket and a closed casket. There is a lot that goes into preparing for an open casket. Not only do they need to sew the person’s mouth closed, but they also have to put contact lenses which keep the eyes shut. Additionally, morticians will also ensure that the hair is styled and makeup is applied.
In 1923, A Jockey Suffered A Fatal Heart Attack But His Horse Finished And Won The Race, Making Him The First And Only Jockey To Win A Race After Death
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Frank Hayes has the distinct honor of the only jockey who has posthumously ever won a horse race. The unlucky jockey managed to get the record by suffering a heart attack while riding his horse during a race. The heart attack proved to be fatal but that didn’t stop Hayes from giving it his all and still coming out the winner.
Starfish Don’t Have Blood. They Circulate Nutrients By Using Seawater In Their Vascular System
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The world is truly filled with all kinds of interesting, fascinating, and just crazy kinds of creatures. One such creature of the latter variety is the starfish, not only is the fish brainless and has regenerative properties but it is also bloodless. The ingenious creature uses the seawater of its home instead to circulate nutrients throughout its body.
A Study From Harvard University Found That Having No Friends Can Be Just As Deadly As Smoking
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In a study published in 2016 by Harvard University, titled ‘Alone In A Crowd’, it was found that being friendless can be just as detrimental to your heart’s health as being a smoker is. The study found that loneliness and social isolation have an effect on your body’s ability to regulate itself and those who are often alone are more susceptible to heart attacks.
Butterflies Will Drink Blood, Sweat, And Tears
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If given the chance, those delicate butterflies would drink human bodily fluids. Butterflies are known to do something called “mud-puddling” wherein they hover over pools of liquid to determine if it contains the nutrients they need. Human blood, sweat, and tears all contain a large number of valuable nutrients.
Geysers Are A Rare Phenomenon And Are Springs That Eject Violently Through The Earth With Steam
Geysers are usually located near volcano regions and is affected by its proximity to magma. Geysers occur when surface water reaches the hot rocks and boils, and as a result, the water pressurizes and sends it back up to shoot out of the surface. There are about 1,000 geysers that exist today, but can cease to exist if there are changes due to earthquakes, hot springs, or human activity.
There Are Tiny Mites That Live On Human Skin, Even Faces
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Microscopic follicle mites called Demodex are known to live in human eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and hair follicles. Demodex are truly tiny – the eight-legged, worm-like creatures are so small they can’t be seen without a microscope. The mites live and breed in pores, laying their eggs and feeding on human skin.
The Irukandji Jellyfish Can Inflict A Sense Of Impending Doom
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The Irukandji is a species of tiny jellyfish, whose stings are known to overcome victims with a sense of impending doom. Some patients have been so certain they are going to die that they’ve even asked their doctors to end their misery. Irukandji stings also invoke vomiting, headaches, anxiety, and cramping.
Most Cruise Ships Have To Have Their Own Morgue
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Along with swimming pools, golf courses, and movie theaters, most cruise ships are also equipped with a morgue. The reason is that if any passenger dies while aboard, the ship’s crew has to be able to tend to the body and store it until they arrive in port. An estimated 200 people die on cruise ships every year.
Frogs Use Their Eyeballs To Swallow.
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If you’ve ever seen a frog close its eyes after it eats, the amphibian is not just blinking but using its eyeballs to help its digestive process. Researchers X-rayed frogs while they ate, and they found that when swallowing, a frog will retract its eyeballs down to its esophagus to push the food down.
Cell Phones Have More Germs Than A Toilet Seat
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Common sense would tell you this is true but in case you need to hear it officially, scientists found that cell phones carry more than 10 times the bacteria of a toilet seat. Once you stop to think about all the places your phone has been, it makes a lot of sense. Take this as the motivation to wipe down your phone every night.
Jelly Beans Are Coated With Insect Secretions
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Most jelly beans and other candies, like candy corn and bubble gum, are coated with a glaze known as shellac, a substance made out of the secretions of the female kerria lacca, an insect from Thailand. Usually, shellac is billed as “confectioner’s glaze” in the ingredients list. It’s the coating that makes jelly beans so shiny.
“I found this wasp nest in my washroom.”
How scary is that? Imagine walking inside your washroom to find this huge wasp nest! We would immediately start screaming like crazy! However, according to this man, running into the nest was very scary at first but the wasps turned out to be quite peaceful in the end. We are dying to know how he managed to get rid of them, tho.
Fear Can Actually Make Blood Curdle
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We’re sure you’ve heard of the cliche that something sounded like a “bloodcurdling scream,” but it’s more than just an expression. In an experiment, scientists found that watching a horror movie increased the coagulant in subjects’ blood. This increases the blood’s ability to clot, which is likely a defense mechanism in anticipation of an attack but can also be deadly.
“Impending Sense of Doom” May Be a Symptom of an Incorrect Blood Transfusion
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It turns out, the body has more ways to warn you of impending tragedy and danger than just through pain. For example, if you had blood transfusion with the wrong blood type your body begins to destroy the blood cells that were given from the procedure, which can be fatal. This is called hemolytic transfusion reaction, and the first symptom is an impending sense of the end being near.
Human Meat Is Rich In Protein
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If you’re ever stranded and in desperate need of protein, the meat of your neighbor is a great source of the nutrient. That being said we do not recommend eating human meat, aside from the ethical reasons it can also make you exceedingly ill. Besides, we’ve heard that we taste terrible.
Scientists Believed That A Full Moon Causes Seizures And Influenced Episodes Of Fever, Also, Can’t Sleep? It May Be Full Moon
The moon is both beautiful and interesting and studies have shown that we may experience difficulty sleeping or falling asleep during a full moon due to the brightness of the moon. Since there is a connection between unusual behavior and the moon, in the Middle Ages these people were referred to as lunatics or “moon sick.”
Woodpeckers Eat The Brains Of Smaller Birds If They Get Too Hungry
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We’ve all been so hungry that we could eat anything but woodpeckers really take that to the next level. In a scenario where the birds did not have access to food such as insects and when their hunger got bad enough, they were found to pin down and devour the brains of other smaller birds.
Adult Cats Only Meow At Humans To Manipulate Them
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Cats are even more conniving and manipulative than we thought, and we already thought they were pretty sneaky. The meows that we all find so cute are not actually a part of the pet’s usual vocabulary, rather it’s an adopted tactic used by the animals to try and manipulate their owners and friend into giving them more treats and attention.
People From All Over The World Send Their Ashes To India To Have Their Ashes Spread Over The Ganges River
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Flowing through India and Bangladesh, the Ganges river is considered the holiest of rivers in the Hindu religion. For this reason, when people of the Hindu faith die in a different country, they sometimes have their cremated ashes sent all the way to India in order to be scattered over the Ganges.
German Police Stop A Car That Looks Like It Has Blood Splattered All Over It, Turns Out It’s Just A Sticker.
We say looks can be deceiving for a reason, and this is the ultimate example of that. This car definitely looks like it’s been through a crime scene, so it’s no surprise that the driver was pulled over by police. However, don’t worry, it’s not blood…it’s a sticker. We’re pretty sure the police were totally confused, yet relieved.
A Person Is Base Jumping Off The Side Of Marina Bay SkyPark In Singapore.
Although it may look frightening at first glance, it’s just a guy enjoying some base jumping. This is actually one of the biggest base jumping venues in the world and it’s located in Singapore. If you’re not super into extreme jumping, there’s something for everyone. You can enjoy the roof top pool and relax.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean Ride In Disneyland Used Real Corpses
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The Pirates of the Caribbean, before it was a massive movie franchise, began as a theme park ride. The ride consists of a pirate ship that would sail through a collection of animatronic pirates, but the pirates weren’t always of the robotic variety. At the start of the ride’s history, the ride had real cadavers in place of the now animatronic pirates.
A Jury Didn’t Believe His Story And Was Found Guilty Of Attempting To Steal Chickens.
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This vintage mug shut is of Jake Vohland from 1931. His story is a very strange one and he apparently stole 10 chickens valued at $5. His escaped by foot, but his car was found at the scene. He claimed that someone else was driving his car and stole the chickens. He was sentenced to one year in jail.
A woman’s uterus develops an extra organ during pregnancy to take care of the embryo.
The placenta is a temporary organ connected to a woman’s uterus that provides all the nutrients needed to the developing embryo (what turns into the fetus and eventually the baby) through the umbilical cord. Usually, when she gives birth, the placenta comes out naturally along with the infant. Sometimes it won’t and can lead to complications that require immediate care.
Picking or peeling off your skin can create an opening that lets in bacteria.
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We’ve all been there after a sunburn from the beach when our skin starts to peel. It takes a lot of willpower for some of us to not peel the skin off ourselves. No matter how badly you want to do it, just don’t. Moisturize with some aloe vera instead and let the skin peel naturally. Not worth the risk of infection.
This is what melted and damaged mannequins look like after a fire at the Madam Tussaud Wax Museum, London, 1930.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and don’t worry, this isn’t want it looks like. It’s not a crime scene, these are mannequins that were destroyed in a fire. Melting faces everywhere is quite the spectacle.