It’s no secret that the internet is brimming with random facts that are often not only interesting, but very amusing, too. And that’s one of the things that makes it fascinating - you can find yourself reading about something you never knew you were interested in—until that very moment—just because you accidentally wandered off a few clicks away.
If you’re curious to learn some random facts today, you’re in luck, as we have prepared an entire list of them for you to browse. Shared by members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community, they ought to bring a smile to your face, or at least teach you something new, consequently providing another icebreaker for when the conversation lags. Scroll down to find the fun facts and enjoy!
Though, below, you will find not only the fun facts, but Bored Panda’s interviews with the redditor who started the thread, as well as Social Psychology Area Head and Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, Michael E. W. Varnum, PhD, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions, too.
#21
Brett Michaels had the cops called on him when a hotel maid saw him shooting up when in fact, he’s diabetic and was giving insulin.
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128points
#22
Oxen are just bulls (or a cow) with jobs, not a whole separate species of bovine.
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122points
#23
Locusts are just grasshoppers that have undergone a transformation. This usually only happens when huge numbers of them get together, but you can trigger it by rubbing their butts. The transformation only takes a couple hours.
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119points
#24
The tips of giraffe tongues are dark purple, to protect against the sun. They spend most of their time in the wild, eating.
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117points
#25
Dragonflies suck water up their butts and shoot it out like jets when they get tired.
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108points
#26
Wasps lay their eggs in fig flowers and die, then the fig eats the dead wasp and grows into a fig, and the baby wasps hatch and leave, usually. But sometimes the fig doesn’t eat all of the wasp, and sometimes the eggs don’t hatch, and sometimes the baby wasps don’t escape, and you don’t really notice any of this when you eat them, most of the time.
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90points
#27
The reason UK Pubs had stupid names, was so the illiterate patrons could find them with the artwork.
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89points
#28
When you exercise, your body compensates for the calories lost by burning fewer calories over the course of the day.
So roughly 25-50% of the calories burned are negated. Meaning if you burn 100 calories, it really only comes to 50-75.
The higher your body fat percentage the worse it is 😐.
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88points
#29
El Paso, Texas is closer to San Diego, California than it is to Houston, Texas.
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87points
#30
Cold water holds oxygen better than warm water. Which is why you'll usually find fish in shadier areas during sunny days.
Also, if you want ice cubes to be clear, you have to boil the water first to get the extra oxygen/bubbles out.
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87points
#31
Imitation vanilla used to be made from Beaver a**l sack juice.
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86points
#32
The universe has either been around for all of eternity, or it literally went from absolutely nothing to suddenly having a universe. Thinking too hard about either one can make your head spin.
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85points
#34
If there is someone on trial who has a history of domestic violence, the prosecutors want all domestic violence victims off of the jury.
Conversely, the defense wants them ON the jury.
Why? They clearly stood by someone who abused them. They’re, statistically speaking, more likely to be more sympathetic to perpetrators.
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80points
#36
Marijuana was not decriminalized in Jamaica until 2015, despite its association with the country.
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70points
#37
Before the movie Psycho came out, movies didn’t have showtimes. You just walked in and watched until you’d seen the whole movie.
Alfred Hitchcock didn’t want the twist spoiled for people, so he insisted on showtimes.
66points
#38
A cockroach can live up to 168 hours without its head.
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66points
#40
Someone in the world just died as you were reading this.
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60points