Science & Technology,History,CuriositiesAUG 18, 2023

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

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Not everything that you read on the internet is true. In a similar vein, far from everything that sounds made up is fake. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and some truly bizarre things about life on Planet Earth are closer to reality than myth.

Reddit user u/Mmemyo sparked an interesting discussion on r/AskReddit. They invited everyone to share the “stupid facts” they knew which might sound suspicious and weird but are actually correct. We’ve collected the most intriguing ones to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out! Hopefully, you'll learn something new.

#1

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real

The vikings, who came from Scandinavia, used iron as their main ingredient for forging weaponry, but it was also common practice to add the bones of dead animals to the mix. The belief was that it would infuse the weapon with the spirit of the creature, making it stronger, but they ended up making a primitive version of steel because of the carbon in the bones mixing with the iron making the weapon stronger, just as they thought it would.

Nameless_Chad, CC BY-SA 3.0

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449points

#2

Cows have best friends and can become stressed when they're separated from them.

berrybandz_, Pixabay

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396points

#3

You can go the rest of your life without breathing.

Janube, Kelvin Valerio

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277points

Misinformation can spread just as quickly as—if not faster than!—legitimate info. So before you go sharing any random factoids or news snippets that you found in a dimly-lit corner of the digital realm, slow down and think about the claims. Double-checking every tiny little piece of info would be exhausting, so you need to consider the (un)reliability of the source.

Legitimate news sources that employ fact-checkers and editors, and have high journalistic standards are far more trustworthy than those that don’t. So you’re better off relying on sources like AP, the BBC, Reuters, and The New York Times, rather than random tabloids that survive on gossip and manufactured drama. You should consider what the goal of an outlet is, whether it’s to report on the news or to generate outrage (and clicks!).

In the meantime, you can consult fact-checking websites like Snopes which do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to outlandish claims.

#4

When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!

SeanChewie

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276points

#5

There are more planes in the ocean than boats in the sky

vexix, Wilfred Hdez

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250points

#6

For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants.

Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet.

If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you'll be responsible for killing? If you've got kids, you might have to kill more because a 2 year old isn't going to accomplish a god damn thing if millions of ants are marching towards them.

PM-ME-FOR-CATNIP, Jimmy Chan

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243points

The core idea is that nobody should blindly accept anything as “fact” without a pinch of salt. According to the Macdonald-Kelce Library at the University of Tampa, readers should also check the author’s credentials. Not only should the author be well-versed in the topic they’re writing about but they should also have a history of legitimate reporting.

Of course, everyone makes factual mistakes from time to time. The best journalists admit theirs and correct them. The worst of the bunch, however, report on semi-legitimate hearsay with impunity and don’t bother to provide a broader context for their news stories.

#7

Bald eagles are not actually bald. Balde is old english for white.

whodunnitno

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242points

#8

Redheads require more anesthesia than non-redheads.

JohnnyWall

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238points

#9

Honey never spoils

willyw0nka_, ROMAN ODINTSOV

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229points

The more dramatic and emotionally charged a fact, claim, or topic, the more careful you should be. If the author leans heavily toward a particular point of view, it’s likely that they’re biased and ignoring some of the nuances. Life is rarely black and white, and most stories have at least two sides.

A good rule of thumb is that you should be very skeptical about sensational news. Try to build a broader picture of what’s going on by reading a wide range of sources from outlets with different leanings. And if your gut tells you that something is far too good or bad to be true, then it probably is.

#10

Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards.

WantAllMyGarmonbozia, Charles J. Sharp

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209points

#11

A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he's like "I'm outta here" and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia...where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later.

rgrtom

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205points

#12

-40C and -40F are the same temperature.

feewak

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199points

#13

The original name for the color orange was "geoluhread," which means "yellow-red" in Old English

willyw0nka_, Sigrid Abalos

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190points

#14

If you open your eyes in a completely dark room, the name of the color you will see is eigengrau, a kind of dark grey shade

Wisanbon, Ida Rizkha

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189points

#15

A lot of averages.

Example: The average number of legs humans have is less than 2.

Uilamin, Dominika Roseclay

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178points

#16

Some invader (don't remember specifics) sent a letter to sparta saying that "If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again" and the Spartans sent a letter back with a single word in it. "If"

Jaxonhunter227

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173points

#17

Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not true berries (in botanical terms berries are defined by their structure, and bananas fit the bill while strawberries don't)

willyw0nka_, Kio

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168points

#18

The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion.

Light944

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166points

#19

Pink is really just a light shade of red, but we think of it as a distinct color because we have a word for it that stuck. Not all languages have that. In Italian, they have a similar word for light blue, called “azzurro,” and it’s so common they actually think of it as a separate color from blue. We have the word “azure” in English, but it isn’t nearly as common, so we tend to think of that color as just a shade of blue.

Atheist_Alex_C, Juan Sauras

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162points

#20

Coffee is not a bean it is the pit of the coffee plant which is a fruit.

Chance-Personality50, Daniel Reche

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156points

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