701 Interesting Facts To Share With Your Friends
400/701
The Telephone Exchange Building that Moved
In 1930, the seven-story, 22 million pound, Indiana Bell Building was moved 52 feet and rotated 90 degrees from its original location. The massive structure was moved 15 inches per hour over a period of 34 days with all the 600 employees working inside, without any interruptions to gas, electricity, or water. Nobody inside felt the movement.
399/701
The Black Diamond Apple of Tibet
The black diamond apple is a rare apple with a dark purple skin that costs around $7 per apple. It grows at an altitude of 3,500 meters, and only in Tibet.
398/701
Smallest Known Octopus
Octopus wolfi, or the star-sucker pygmy octopus, is the smallest known octopus in the world. It is found in fairly shallow waters of the western Pacific.
397/701
Benefits of Sleeping Next to Loved Ones
A 2022 University of Arizona study found that sleeping next to someone you love reduces the severity of insomnia, anxiety, stress, and depression.
396/701
Economically Most Stable Countries
Singapore and Switzerland are economically the most stable countries in the world.
395/701
World’s Largest Rough Diamond Sent via Registered Post
When the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, the world’s largest rough diamond, was transported from Africa to England, it was ceremoniously locked in a ship with high security. That stone however was fake. The real diamond was simply sent via a registered post.
394/701Last Remaining Northern White Rhinos
This is a northern white rhino, one of the only two remaining of the subspecies of white rhinos. The two rhinos are protected from poachers around the clock by armed guards. Both are female, so functionally, their subspecies will soon be extinct.
393/701
Two Pilots Who Flew for Two Months
In 1958, two pilots, Robert Timm and John Cook, flew a Cessna 172 for more than 64 days without landing. They refuelled using a moving truck, and the record remains unbroken.
392/701
Extreme Bans on Women From Entering Sumo Rings
Women are traditionally banned from entering a sumo ring. It is so strictly followed that in 2018, when a female nurse and two other women entered the ring to perform CPR on the city’s mayor who collapsed mid-speech from a brain hemorrhage, they were told to leave.
391/701
Neil Armstrong’s Visit to a Scottish Town
In 1972, Neil Armstrong visited the Scottish town of Langholm, home to Clan Armstrong, which had an obscure law which declared any Armstrong entering the town was to be executed by the order of the king.
390/701
Turkish Storm Blows Away a Sofa
On May 18, 2023, a storm in Ankara, Turkey, had such strong winds that a sofa was blown off a high-rise building.
389/701
One of the Largest Solar Farms in China
In the Shanxi Province of Northern China there is a solar farm that covers more than 10,590 acres of mountainous region and is capable of generating 1.51 billion kilowatts of electricity per year.
388/701
New Zealand Won French Scrabble Championship
In 2015, a New Zealand scrabble player, Nigel Richards, spent nine weeks studying a French dictionary before entering the French World Scrabble Championships. He won the championship as well as the one in 2018 despite not previously being able to speak French.
387/701
Austria’s Park that Turns into a Lake
There is a place in Austria called Grüner See which is a dry park in winter and turns into a 12-meter-deep lake in summer.
386/701
Wahlberg and MacFarlane Luckily Missed the 9/11 Attack
Actor Mark Wahlberg and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane were scheduled to fly on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center. At the last minute, Wahlberg decided to go to Toronto instead, and MacFarlane missed the plane due to a hangover.
385/701
Brazilian Man Flown to Hospital for Transplant
A 48-year-old Brazilian man was hiking on a remote mountain when he received a notification for immediate availability of a compatible kidney. He waited nine years for the transplant and hiking back would have lost him the kidney. So, Brazilian firefighters took a helicopter and flew him to the hospital for the surgery.
384/701
The Rock’s Cousin and Stunt Double
Tanoai Reed has a similar body type to his cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and has been the actor’s stunt double for many of his movies over the past 21 years.
383/701
Downtown Toronto’s Massive Underground Shopping Complex
Downtown Toronto has a network of 30 kilometers of tunnels collectively known as “The PATH.” They connect shops, restaurants, and entertainment areas over four million square feet, offering pedestrians refuge from snow, heat, and humidity.
382/701
Overqualified Writers of Futurama
The writing staff of the animated sci-fi sitcom Futurama held three Ph.D.s, seven master’s degrees, and a total of 50 years at Harvard University. According to series writer Patric M. Verrone, “We were easily the most overeducated cartoon writers in history.”
381/701
Sea Wolves of Vancouver
Vancouver sea wolves are a subspecies of grey wolves endemic to British Columbia and genetically distinct from inland wolves. They are known for swimming miles into the sea to find food, with seafood forming almost 90% of their diet.
380/701
Role-playing Game Obsession of D&D’s Inventor
Gary Gygax was so obsessed with playing wargames that his wife was convinced he was having an affair and barged into his friend’s basement to find him and his friends hunched over a map-covered table. A few years later, he went on to invent Dungeons & Dragons.
379/701
Voting System of African Wild Dogs
African wild dogs vote by sneezing whether they should go on a hunt or not. When the top dog sneezes first, only three more sneezes will suffice, but if a low-ranking dog sneezes first, then ten more sneezes are needed to decide to go on the hunt.
378/701
Tom Cruise’s Ex-wives
All three ex-wives of Tom Cruise – Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes – were born 11 years apart and were all 34 years old at the time of their divorce from Cruise.
377/701
The Uncensored Library of Minecraft
There is a place in Minecraft called The Uncensored Library built by Reporters Without Borders and three media companies that houses a number of articles critical of the governments of countries in which they were banned. The library is an attempt to bypass the censorship in those countries allowing people to read them.
376/701
South Korea’s New Capital City
South Korea has been in the process of shifting its capital city from Seoul to Sejong City. The new, planned city, founded in 2007 and to be finished by 2030, is expected to ease congestion in Seoul.