From Abraham Lincoln's wrestling career to the killer habits of cats, these random facts are guaranteed to boggle your mind.
Abraham Lincoln is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, having lost only once in more than 300 matches.Public DomainIt costs the U.S. Mint almost twice as much to mint each penny and nickel as the coins are actually worth. Taxpayers lost more than $100 million in 2013 just because of the cost it took to make the coins.Public DomainChristopher Columbus never set foot in mainland North America.Getty ImagesThe Earth is actually farthest from the Sun during summer (in the Northern Hemisphere).Wikimedia CommonsAlbert Einstein and Charles Darwin both married their cousins.Wikimedia CommonsTongue prints are as unique as fingerprints. Public DomainAbout eight percent of men in 16 populations spanning Asia are related to Genghis Khan.Wikimedia CommonsNapoleon was actually slightly taller than average.Wikimedia CommonsNeil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on it.NASAHumans did not evolve from chimps or any other extant primates, but instead, chimps and humans evolved from the same, now extinct, common ancestor.Wikimedia CommonsThe longest time between two twins being born was 87 days.Wikimedia CommonsDomestic cats kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion mammals every year.Wikimedia CommonsLight doesn't always travel at the speed of light. In fact, it's been clocked at speeds as low as 38 miles per hour.Public DomainBetty White is actually older than sliced bread. Public DomainThere is a single mega-colony of ants that spans three continents, covering much of Europe, the west coast of the U.S., and the west coast of Japan.Public DomainThe Dance Fever of 1518 was a month-long plague of inexplicable dancing in Strasbourg (in present-day France), in which hundreds of residents danced continually for no apparent reason. Several danced themselves to death.Wikimedia CommonsA United States park ranger named Roy C. Sullivan held the record for being struck by lightning the most times, having been struck — and survived it — seven times between 1942 and 1977. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1983.Wikimedia CommonsThere are no words in the English language that rhyme with "wolf."Wikimedia CommonsHumans have far more than five senses, with some scientists putting the number above 20.Wikimedia CommonsIn 1923, a man named Frank Hayes won a steeplechase at Belmont Park in New York. Before crossing the finish line, he suffered a fatal heart attack, making him the first – and only – dead man to win a horse race. Wikimedia CommonsThe first foreign-born samurai was named Yasuke and was of black African origin.Wikimedia CommonsA penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could not actually kill anyone.Wikimedia CommonsThere are no bridges over the Amazon river.Wikimedia CommonsGerman doctors were the first ones to link smoking and lung cancer. As a result, the Nazis initiated the first government anti-smoking campaign in modern times.Wikimedia CommonsPhysicist William Higinbotham worked on the first nuclear bomb and what is thought to be the first video game ever, "Tennis for Two."Wikimedia CommonsCowboys mostly didn't wear cowboy hats, but instead bowlers, derbies, and the like.Getty ImagesIn 1993, San Francisco held a referendum over whether a police officer named Bob Geary was allowed to patrol while carrying a ventriloquist's dummy named Brendan O'Smarty. He was.YouTubeThe apple tree that inspired Sir Isaac Newton is still growing at his family home. Getty ImagesVatican City consumes the most wine per capita at 74 liters per citizen per year.Wikimedia CommonsBulls aren't enraged by the color red and, in fact, can hardly perceive it at all.Public DomainDucks can keep their eyes open underwater due to a third, sideways eyelid.Wikimedia CommonsThe largest living organism on Earth is a giant fungus.Wikimedia CommonsThere is no added danger in waking a sleepwalker.Wikimedia CommonsSunsets on Mars are blue. NASAThe head of Columbia Studios once threatened Sammy Davis Jr. with the Mob to prevent him from marrying a white woman.Wikimedia CommonsDetroit once gave Saddam Hussein a key to the city.Wikimedia CommonsHuman birth control pills work on gorillas.Public Domain"Stewardesses" is the longest word able to be typed using only the left hand.Wikimedia Commons Female kangaroos have three vaginas.Wikimedia CommonsAlthough Donald Trump is the 45th president, he is only the 44th person to be president. That's because Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as the 22nd and the 24th president.Wikimedia CommonsBats are not actually blind.Wikimedia CommonsThe first "breast implant" surgery occurred in 1895 and was perfumed by Dr. Vincenz Czerny.Getty ImagesThe film Pearl Harbor cost as much as the actual rebuilding of Pearl Harbor and lasted an hour longer than the attack.Wikimedia CommonsGunpei Yokoi, the inventor of the Game Boy was originally the janitor at Nintendo.Wikimedia CommonsAfter his death, Napoléon Bonaparte’s penis was removed from his body during autopsy, displayed at a museum, and eventually sold for $2,700 in the 1970s.Public DomainYou can tell what color a chicken’s egg will be by looking at its earlobes.Public DomainThe world's largest tire manufacturer is LEGO.Public DomainThe longest-serving prisoner is American history was Paul Geidel, who served 68 years and 245 days between 1911 and 1980 for second degree murder. He was released at age 86.Public DomainYour largest organ is actually outside of your body — it’s your skin.Public Domain
If you're looking for a fact or two to impress all of your friends, look no further. These interesting random facts will teach you everything you never knew about animal eyeballs, incestuous historical figures, Betty White, Abraham Lincoln's wrestling career, and maybe even your own body.
And you may also find that you've been wrong about plenty of things you only thought you knew. Like that old saying "blind as a bat"? Is it actually true or not? And has anyone ever told you that if you drop a penny from the top of the Empire State Building, it could kill whoever it lands on? Well, let's find out the truth.
Explore these topics and others in the collection of interesting random facts above.
