350+ Random Fun Facts For Curious Minds
We live in a weird and wonderful world, and the more you learn about it, the more it fascinates you. If you love reading random fun facts about things, places and people around the world, we have got you covered! This list is filled with 350+ random, interesting, heartwarming, and fun facts that are not only entertaining, but are also educational.
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The World’s Largest and Most Expensive Embassy is in Baghdad
The Embassy of the United States of America in Baghdad is the largest and most expensive embassy in the world. It covers an area of 104 acres and is almost as large as Vatican City. The complex is over ten times the size of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and has its own power station and water and waste treatment facilities.
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Cool Patch Pumpkins – A Massive 60-Acre Corn Maze in California
The Cool Patch Pumpkins corn maze in Dixon, California, is the largest corn maze in the world. It covers an area of 60 acres and is so big that people who dare to enter it often get lost and call 911 for help.
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Leonardo da Vinci Designed a Robot over Five Centuries Ago!
Leonardo da Vinci not only invented the ancestor of the modern automobile and conceptualized a crank-powered armored tank, but he also designed and possibly constructed a humanoid automaton called Leonardo’s mechanical knight in 1495, over 500 years ago.
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The World’s Most Expensive Water Comes in a Bottle Made of Gold
Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani is the most expensive bottled water in the world. The 750 ml water bottle costs a whopping $60,000. The water comes from the natural springs in France and Fiji, and the bottle is made of 24 karat gold. Furthermore, the bottle has been designed by famous designer Fernando Altamirano.
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Sony Could Have Owned the Entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Chose Only Spider-Man!
In 1998, Sony had the opportunity to buy the rights to nearly every Marvel character, including the likes of Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Black Panther, for $25 million. But they chose to buy the rights to only Spider-Man for $7 million, stating “Nobody gives a shit about any of the other Marvel characters. Go back and do a deal for only Spider-Man.”
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This Bell Has Produced around 10 Billion Rings Since 1840!
The University of Oxford is home to a battery-powered bell that has been running nearly continuously since 1840. It has been dubbed as the “world’s most durable battery” by the Guinness Book of World Records. Experts don’t know what has made the battery function for so long and they cannot break apart or open the device as it would ruin the experiment to see how long it will last.
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Aramu Muru – The Interdimensional Doorway of the Incas
In Peru, near Lake Titicaca, there is a 23 feet tall flat stone with a T-shaped niche carved into it. Believed to be an abandoned Incan construction project, the structure is named Aramu Muru, and it is shrouded in legends. The locals call it “Gate of the Gods” and believe it is a portal to other dimensions.
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Giorgio A. Tsoukalos of Ancient Aliens Used to Be a Bodybuilding Promoter
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, a popular meme and an “expert” on Ancient Aliens, holds no academic qualifications in any field relevant to the show. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and worked as a bodybuilding promoter for several years.
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Newgrange – A Pre-Historic Monument Older than Stonehenge
Newgrange, a prehistoric monument in Ireland, is older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Every year, during the Winter Solstice, the rising sun shines directly along the passage of this structure and illuminates the inner chamber for around 17 minutes, revealing the carvings inside.
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When Sandra Bullock Won the Oscars Right after Receiving a Razzie for Worst Actress
In 2010, Sandra Bullock personally accepted her Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her role in All About Steve. The following night, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Blind Side.
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A Tree That “Bleeds” and Can Live for a Thousand Years
The remote island of Socotra, also known as the jewel of Arabia, seems like an otherworldly place because of a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree known as dragon blood tree. The trees live for a thousand years and produce a blood-like red sap when cut, and you won’t find this tree anywhere else on earth.
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The Eerie Abandoned Island of Skellig Michael
The last scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was filmed on a real island in Ireland. Known as Skellig Michael, the now-abandoned island was once inhabited by monks. The two islands formed on the Atlantic Ocean around 374 to 360 million years ago during a period of mountain formation. Today, it is home to an ancient monastery and a graveyard.
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Indonesian Park Ranger Fights Off Vicious Komodo Dragon Attack
In 2009, a ranger for Indonesia’s Komodo National Park was attacked by a Komodo dragon that was hiding under his work desk. The cleaner had accidentally left the door open overnight and the creature came looking for food. The smell of blood attracted more Komodo dragons, and at one point, there were seven large dragons surrounding him. Thankfully, he survived and was rescued.
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Scientists 3D-Printed a Functional Miniature Heart Using a Patient’s Cells
In 2019, Tel Aviv University’s researchers were able to 3D-print a heart using a human patient’s cells. The first of its kind, the 3D-printed miniature human heart was replete with blood vessels, cells, chambers and ventricles. Experts hope that this technique can one day be used to engineer new hearts for transplants.
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Send Me to Heaven – a Game That Encouraged Users to Throw Their iPhones
The game, Send Me to Heaven, which measures the vertical distance that a mobile phone is thrown, was immediately banned from the App Store. Apple determined that the game was designed to encourage behavior that could end up damaging the users’ devices. The creator of the game was disappointed by the ban and said that he wanted to have people shatter as many iPhones as possible.
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Why The United States Stores Crude Oil in Underground Salt Caverns
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve stores crude oil in underground salt caverns across Texas and Louisiana. Salt creates perfect storage mediums as it does not react with oil and is self-healing. At high pressure and temperature, salt behaves like plastic and can naturally close gaps or factures, preventing leakage.
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Danish Woman Strip-Searched in NYC for Leaving Baby Outside a Restaurant
In 1997, a Danish woman was arrested and strip-searched in New York City for leaving her 14-month-old baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she and the baby’s father dined inside, which is a common practice in Denmark. She later filed a lawsuit against the city and was awarded $66,000.
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Salt Mine Located 1,100 Feet below the City of Detroit
The Detroit salt mine is located 1,100 feet below Detroit, Michigan. It opened in 1910 and covers an area of 1,500 acres underground.
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Early Trains Were Thought to Make Uteruses Fly Out of Women’s Bodies
Critics of early steam locomotives believed that women’s bodies weren’t designed to go at 50 miles per hour. They worried about the many dangers of traveling at such high speeds, and one of their concerns was that a train ride can cause a woman’s uterus to fly out of her body.
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How Singapore is Incorporating Greenery in Urban Architecture
Urban planners in Singapore have found a way to weave nature into modern buildings by including plant life in the form of verdant walls, cascading vertical gardens, and green roofs. Furthermore, all HDB developments must have a “green plot ratio” of at least 4.5, which means the total “leaf area” has to be 4.5 times the site area.
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From Janitor to Principal – The Incredible Journey of Gabe Sonnier
Gabe Sonnier was a janitor at an elementary school in Port Barre, Louisiana until one day in 1985, the then-Principal of the school told him that he would like to see Sonnier as a teacher. Sonnier, who was 39 years old at the time, began studying for a teaching degree, and got his first teaching job shortly after. He then became the principal of the same elementary school where he worked as a janitor.
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A Love Story between Storks that Will Make You Feel Single!
A male white stork named Klepetan traveled from South Africa to Croatia to mate with Malena, a female white stork who could not fly due to a gunshot injury. Klepetan has made the 8,000 miles, month-long journey every spring since 2001, and the pair has made 66 chicks in total. Sadly, in July 2021, Malena died due to old age.
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Acacia Trees’ Defense Mechanism That Evolved Because of Giraffes
Giraffes love to munch on the leaves of Acacia trees. Because of that, the trees have evolved to release an airborne chemical compound called ethylene when under attack. Ethylene alerts the nearby trees and signals them to increase tannin biosynthesis, which makes the leaves poisonous. To avoid this, giraffes eat from the trees that are upwind or crosswind from one another.
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The Ingenuity of the Isolated American Farmers in the 1880s
In the 1880s, American farmers in sparsely populated areas used steel barbed wires to create telephone lines, and they could even connect as many as 20 telephones together, which meant all of them would ring simultaneously regardless of who was calling and who they were trying to call. This ingenious trick helped the homesteaders avoid loneliness and depression.
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Former Athlete Walks across Africa over Two Years
Former professional track and field athlete, Mario Rigby, completed an epic two-year-long walk across Africa. He walked roughly 7,456 miles from Cape Town to Cairo, and trekked through eight countries. He was greeted with kindness in most of the villages he visited, and he never lacked housing even in the villages that did not have a hotel.
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Filmmakers to be Charged for Filming at a Mountain of Trash
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Ex-Marine in His 60s Broke Record for Longest Plank
In early 2020, a 62-year-old ex-Marine named George Hood broke the Guinness World Record for the longest time in plank position for a male. He held the position for eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
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From Enemies to Friends – The Story of a German and a British Pilot
In the early days of WWII, the British were fighting to free Norway from the Nazis. During aerial combat, a German plane was shot down by the British, and a British plane had to make an emergency landing in the same area. The crew of both planes met and helped each other survive. Years after the war, two of the pilots met and visited each other’s hometowns. The 2012 film Into the White was inspired by this event.
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Why Power Stations in the UK Pay Attention to TV Schedules
In the UK, power stations pay attention to TV schedules to anticipate and prepare for when there will be a break during a popular program. This way, they are ready to handle huge power draw as a large number of people open their fridges or operate electrical appliances at the same time. This phenomenon is known as TV pickup.
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Copyright Dispute over Selfie Taken by a Monkey
In 2011, Celebes crested macaques pressed a trigger on a wildlife photographer’s camera, which was set up in a jungle for that specific purpose, and took selfies. The photos led to a series of copyright disputes with the photographer claiming copyright. PETA argued that the monkey should be assigned the copyright. In 2016, a federal judge ruled that copyright law does not extend its protection to animals.
