Useless Facts

[01dragonslayer]

The sperm of a mouse is longer than elephant sperm.​

However, the fruit fly produces the longest sperm known to science at 6cm. How’s that for useless facts?

 

[01dragonslayer]

You can’t see the Great Wall of China from space.​

You may have seen fact sites claiming that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space, but this is actually not the case. According to the Apollo astronauts, the Great Wall cannot be seen from space. However, city lights at night, roads, and the Pyramids of Giza are said to be visible.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Ice cream warms the body.​

It might make perfect sense to eat ice cream when you’re feeling hot, but it actually does the opposite to our bodies. The high fat content in ice cream warms us up rather than cooling down the body as it metabolizes.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The oldest piece of chewing gum is more than 9,000 years old.​

The oldest chewing gum ever found was a lump of birch bark tar that dates back to the Stone Age.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Fritos means “little fried things.”​

The name for Fritos Potato Chips comes from the Spanish word fritas, which means “little fried things.” We love a name that’s straight to the point.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Pepsi is named after indigestion.​

When Caleb Bradham created Pepsi in 1965, he named it after the word “dyspepsia,” or indigestion. Bradham believed that his fizzy drink would help cure indigestion, hence the name, Pepsi.

 

[01dragonslayer]

3.6 cans of Spam are consumed each second.​

In the U.S., Spam is the number one brand for canned meat with 3.6 cans eaten every second.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Conception occurs most in the month of December.​

Improved sperm quality, ovum receptivity, and rising sexual activity in the winter months all contribute to the most babies being conceived in December.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Oreo has made enough cookies to go to the moon and back 5 times.​

Since Oreo was introduced to the market in 1912, over 450 billion Oreo cookies have been sold worldwide.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Hershey's makes one million miles of Twizzlers every year.​

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there is certainly enough demand for Twizzlers for Hershey’s to create over 1.6 million kilometers of it. Think about that the next time you slander Twizzlers.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The cream in a Twinkie isn’t really cream.​

The sweet, buttery filling in Twinkies is actually Crisco – otherwise known as vegetable shortening.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The average American looks at eight houses before buying one.​

Now that’s a lot of choices. So much for the American dream house.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Soda fountain workers were called soda jerks​

The workers were called soda jerks because of the jerking motion used to pump soda water.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.​

The little indents on golf balls aren’t just there to help you differentiate it from other sports balls. The dimples on a golf ball’s surface create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball’s surface, which affects the overall trajectory of the ball.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Corn dextrin is also used for glue on envelopes and postage stamps.​

Corn dextrin is used as a thickening agent in junk food and a binding agent for fireworks. Mmm.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Germans eat twice as much chocolate as Americans.​

At 11.3 kg of chocolate consumed each year, Germans eat twice the amount of chocolate that Americans do.

 

[01dragonslayer]

"Underground" is the only English word that begins and ends with the letters "-und."​

There’s another one of the useless facts you can actually use to sound smart.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.​

He wasn’t born without a belly button, but Alfred Hitchcock lost his belly button due to multiple gastrointestinal surgeries.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat."​

Shah Mat means “the king is dead.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The S in Harry S. Truman does have a meaning.​

Harry S. Truman may have said that the “S” doesn’t mean anything, but it’s likely he was just trolling the media. In fact, the “S” stands for two names: his grandfathers Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.