Useless Facts

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Dolphins give each other names.​

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According to a 2013 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bottlenose dolphins each have their own special whistles, which are just like human names. "Bottlenose dolphins develop their own unique identity signal, the signature whistle," the researchers reported. "This whistle encodes individual identity independently of voice features. The copying of signature whistles may therefore allow animals to label or address one another."

 

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And sloths can hold their breath for longer than dolphins.​

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You likely picture a sloth lounging around in a tree or slowly making its way from one branch to another. But it could also be in the water. In fact, the animal's arms, which are both long and strong, make them great swimmers. And you don't have to worry about their slow-moving ways being an issue: According to the ZSL London Zoo, sloths can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes, which is 30 minutes longer than a dolphin.

 

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"Schoolmaster" is an anagram of "the classroom."​

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"Schoolmaster" is an old-school word for a male teacher. It also happens to be an anagram (meaning it uses the exact same letters) as "the classroom."

 

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There is only one walled city in North America.​

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The next time you're planning a trip and want to head somewhere that's both breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly unique, check out Quebec City in Canada. In the capital of the province of Quebec, the Old Town (Vieux-Québec) area is the only fortified walled city in North America. It was founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century.

 

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Ravens know when someone is spying on them.​

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Ravens are notoriously clever creatures—so much so that they're aware of when they're being watched. A 2016 study published in the journal Nature Communications found that the super smart birds display what's called "theory of mind," which is the ability to attribute mental states to others. That means that ravens can tell when someone (or something) else can see them. In the 2016 study, researchers put this idea to the test and found that ravens acted as if they knew they were being watched when there was an open peephole available for other birds to spy on them.

 

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Frank Sinatra was offered the starring role in Die Hard when he was in his 70s.​

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Bruce Willis played the legendary John McClane in the Die Hard film franchise. But before Willis landed the role in the action-packed movies, the part was offered to singer Frank Sinatra, who was in his 70s at the time. While that may sound strange, it all has to do with a legal obligation.

The movie was based on the 1979 Roderick Thorp novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which was a follow-up to 1966's The Detective. In 1968, that novel had been made into a film starring Sinatra (not as John McClane, but as Joe Leland, a former New York cop who becomes a private investigator). When Sinatra signed on for The Detective, it was in his contract that the studio had to offer him the main part in the sequel. However, when that eventually happened, Ol' Blue Eyes refused the role.

 

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Sleeping through summer is called "estivation."​

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You surely know that when bears and other animals sleep through the colder winter weather it's called "hibernation." But did you know that there's a name for sleeping through the summer? If you were to snooze the sun-soaked months away, then you would be indulging in "estivation." Snails, tortoises, salamanders, and crocodiles all estivate, as do the Malagasy fat-tailed dwarf lemur and East African hedgehogs.

 

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You produce about six pounds of stool per week.​

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Some of us eat more than others, but according to Kim Barrett, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, on average, men and women both produce around 14 ounces of feces every day. That equals a little over six pounds per week!

 

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Around 16 million people alive today are direct descendants of Genghis Khan.​

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Genghis Khan wasn't only known for being the leader of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227—he also fathered a lot of children. In fact, he sired so many offspring that a 2003 historical genetics paper found that around 16 million people alive today are his direct descendants.

 

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The cheesiest pizza ever was topped with 154 varieties of cheese.​

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Johnny Di Francesco of 400 Gradi restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, set the Guinness World Record for the cheesiest pizza by creating a pie using 154 different kinds of cheese. Di Francesco said he was inspired by the 2014 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in which the Donatello character claims that a 99-cheese pizza was a "culinary impossibility."


As a direct response to the movie, Di Francesco first came up with a pizza topped with 99 kinds of cheese. And it was such a success, he wanted to outdo himself. "We had an overwhelming response from our customers, so much so that they petitioned to have it a permanent menu item," he told Guinness World Records. "Since then we decided to up the ante and create a 154-cheese pizza. So my apologies Donatello, culinary impossibility debunked!"

 

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Pope John Paul II was an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.​

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When you think of the pope, you probably envision a holy man in robes, not an athlete. But Pope John Paul II was, in fact, a member of one of the most famous basketball teams in the world.

In 2000, the Harlem Globetrotters made the head of the Catholic church an honorary member of their squad. The CBC reported that the team's owner and chairman, Mannie Jackson, and some players met with the pope during a visit to the Vatican City where the pontiff was given an autographed basketball and his very own jersey.

 

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Basenji dogs are the only breed that doesn't bark.​

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Some smaller dogs have high-pitched yappy barks while larger dogs tend to have deep howls and low growls. But the Basenji is a breed of dog that doesn't bark at all—although that doesn't mean they're silent. Instead, according to the American Kennel Club, "they make their feelings known with an odd sound described as something between a chortle and a yodel."

 

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The most common password is "123456."​

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Hopefully, the passwords you choose are unexpected and cryptic, unlike the vast majority of people who still use incredibly common ones. According to an analysis by SplashData, the most popular passwords of 2018 was "123456." That was followed by "password," "123456789," "12345678," "12345678," "12345," "111111," "1234567," and then, delightfully, "sunshine," and "iloveyou."

 

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The largest bill to go into circulation in the U.S. was a $10,000 note.​

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While your wallet may be filled with $5, $10, $20, $50, or even $100 bills, the government once decided that it might be handy to have some higher denominations available. That's why there were once banknotes of $500, $1,000, and even $5,000 value.

But the largest note ever issued for public circulation was the $10,000 bill, which featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864. The bills were first printed in 1945, and on July 14, 1969, the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury announced that the larger bills would be discontinued due to lack of use.

 

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Messages from your brain travel along your nerves at up to 200 miles per hour.​

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The human body is capable of amazing things. For instance, when your brain sends messages via your nerves, the signals travel along billions of nerve cells (neurons), synapses, and neurotransmitters in a process that can be as speedy as 200 miles an hour, according to National Geographic.

 

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Most pandas in the world are on loan from China.​

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If you're lucky, you may be able to see a panda or two at a nearby zoo, but that cute creature is most likely on loan from China. In fact, the majority of pandas around the world either come from China or, if they're born somewhere else, have to be sent to a Chinese breeding program before they turn four in order to expand the gene pool of the species.

 

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Sweat doesn't smell bad.​

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Yes, you might stink when you're sweaty, but it's not the sweat that smells bad. Medical News Today explains that body odor—also known as B.O., bromhidrosis osmidrosis, or ozochrotia—is actually caused by bacteria breaking down the protein in sweat and turning it into certain (unpleasant) acids. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it—except shower, of course.

 

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More than two-thirds of millennials sleep nude.​

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There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love to sleep naked and those who could never drift off if they aren't wearing proper PJs. But according to a survey conducted in 2018 by MattressAdvisor.com, plenty of people prefer to head to bed in the buff. The poll found that 65 percent of millennials sleep in the nude.

 

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The average person has four to six dreams a night.​

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If you're over 10 years old, you likely have around four to six dreams every single night, The National Sleep Foundation says. And, according to a 2003 study published by the Association for the Study of Dreams, the most common dreams include being chased or pursued, falling, school and studying, and sexual experiences.

 

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Maryland tried to ban Randy Newman's song "Short People."​

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In 1977, Randy Newman sang, "Short people got no reason to live … Well, I don't want no short people … Round here." Although it's meant to be a satirical take on short-sighted people's intolerance and prejudice, the state of Maryland didn't take kindly to the tune. In 1978, delegate Isaiah Dixon Jr. tried to introduce legislation to make it illegal to play the song on the radio, proposing a $500 fine. However, his effort was unsuccessful; the assistant attorney general deemed that the move would be a violation of the First Amendment.