Facts You Never Knew

[01dragonslayer]

Sharks are older than trees.​

Sharks have been about on this planet for roughly 400 million years, which is about 50 million years longer than trees!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Belgium once tried using cats to deliver mail.​

In the 1870s, the town of Liège came up with the idea of employing felines as their new mail couriers.

The mail was loaded into waterproof bags that were tied around the kitties’ little collars and they were sent to their destination.

However, this was quickly dropped as the cats proved slower and more unreliable than human post couriers. Go figure.

 

[01dragonslayer]

In China, ghost marriages are illegal.​

Alright, you had me at “ghost marriages” but what exactly is that?

Well, it’s when recently deceased women and men are matched up and ritually married by their respective families to ensure they aren’t lonely in the afterlife.

It’s kind of like those Cher lyrics, just the other way around. Do you believe in love after life?

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.​

It was formed in 2013 and some of the inductees include Rocky Balboa, Mr. Miyagi and Happy Gilmore.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Scientists in California created a machine to harness power from snowfall.​

The machine worked by using negatively charged silicone to catch positively charged snowflakes, which created a static electric effect that was then harvested.

Impressive, yes, but a little fruitless in California right?

 

[01dragonslayer]

An ant can’t die from falling.​

Because of their incredibly small weight and rock-hard exoskeleton, an ant’s terminal velocity isn’t enough to harm it upon impact.

Simply put, they could survive being dropped from heights like the Empire State Building and walk away unscathed.

 

[01dragonslayer]

People spend roughly 13% of their lives zoned out.​

It happens to us all, according to a study from 2005.

One minute you’re living life and you’re on the ball, then next moment… wait, what was I doing? Oh well, whatever, never mind. I’ll just read some amazing facts instead…

According to the same study, this figure can increase to 26% when you’re intoxicated!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Before trees existed, Earth was covered with giant white mushrooms.​

These huge fungi were 24 feet tall and three feet wide, and covered most of the Earth’s surface before trees existed.

 

[GoPro]

The Burj Khalifa is so tall you can see two sunsets from it in one day.​

You can see the sunset happen at ground level, and then if you get the elevator all the way up the building you can see it set again from the top.

I wanna base jump it.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Snakes can burp fire.​

For this to happen, a decomposing animal a snake has eaten has to burst whilst being digested, releasing methane and hydrogen into the snake’s stomach.

All that’s needed for the snake to fire up is a spark.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Soviet Cosmonauts took shotguns to space with them.​

This wasn’t to fight off any capitalist aliens they might encounter in space…

It was for when they returned to Earth in case they landed in Siberia and had to fend off hungry bears.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Jackie Chan sung the theme songs for all his films in the 1980s.​

Nope, it’s not a different Jackie Chan, it’s the two-parts martial arts and one-part comedy fellow y’all know and love.

However, Jackie Chan is quite the singer as well as a fist-slinger.

In 1984, he won the Japanese Best Foreign Singer Award, has sang in over 5 languages on over 100 songs, and sang at the Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony in 2008!

 

[01dragonslayer]

You’re more likely to get bitten by a person than a shark.​

Especially in New York City, where the annual number of people-on-people bites is 10 times higher than the annual number of worldwide shark bites!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Bryan Cranston learned how to roller skate for an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.​

Bryan Cranston is one hell of a dedicated actor if you ask me.

He spent literally hundreds of hours learning how to roller skate, like an absolute boss!

All this for his “last dance” in the episode where he teaches his son, Malcolm, how to skate.

 

[GoPro]

Antarctica is the world’s largest desert.​

The Antarctic Polar Desert covers the Antarctica continent and covers roughly 5.5 million square miles.

The Sahara Desert covers roughly 3.6 million square miles.

Wish we could melt it and get to the amazing soil underneath it!!¡ Or create a huge greenhouse on it!

 

[GoPro]

In China, the police use geese as sentries.​

In many parts of rural China, police have opted to use geese as police animals as they are highly alert and capable of making lots of noise.

Also “police geese” sounds cooler than “police dogs”.

I can say from younger personal experience living there that I never saw this in use lol.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Dogs can learn up to 250 words and gestures.​

The average intelligence of a dog is akin to that of a two-year-old human child.

You may also like these 100 amazing facts about dogs & puppies!

 

[01dragonslayer]

Fried chicken originated in Scotland.​

It was a Scottish tradition from the Middle Ages to deep fry chicken.

The Scots bought this dish over to the Americas with them when immigrating to the Southern United States where it became a staple of American cuisine.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Avocados never ripen on trees.​

Because of this, farmers often use the avocado trees as a form of storage to keep their fruit fresh until they are ready to pick it and sell it.

 

[GearProRep]

Bro this has quickly become my favorite thread to check out on all the boards. So far that I say Thank You!!!