325/701
Transylvanian Village with just One Divorce in 300 Years

In the Transylvanian village called Biertan, the church has a “matrimonial prison” where couples who want to get a divorce have to live in a small room for six weeks sharing a small bed, cabinet, table, and chair. Over the past three centuries, there has been only one divorce.

324/701
Hippos Have Zero Fat

Despite their rounded appearance, hippos have little fat in them. Their 1,500 kilos of body is mostly made of organs and muscle, and a six-centimeter thick skin.

323/701
Gas Requirements to Mow American Lawns

It takes 800 million gallons of gas every year to mow American lawns

322/701
Real Estate Holdout From Seattle

In 2006, 84-year-old Edith Macefield refused an offer of $1 million from commercial real estate developers to leave her 108-year-old Seattle farmhouse. So, they had to build their five-story mall around her house instead.

321/701
There Are an Incredible Number of Centenarians in Japan

As of 2022, there are over 90,000 people who are more than 100 years old in Japan.

320/701
Cruise Ship Resort Atop a Cliff

That cruise ship isn’t stuck. It’s the Sun Cruise Resort & Yacht, an eccentric hotel resort on the east coast of South Korea.

319/701
Two Women Gave Birth to the Other’s Baby Due to an IVF Mix-Up

In 2019, two Californian mothers gave birth to the other’s baby because of an IVF mix-up. Following a DNA test, the babies were swapped four months later and returned to the real parents.

318/701
The Rent Remains Unchanged Since the 16th Century in a German Housing Complex

The rent in Fuggerei, the world’s oldest housing complex in Germany, is just $1 for a whole year and has been so since the 1520s.

317/701
Annie Oakley’s Remarkable Marksmanship

Annie Oakley was such a great sharpshooter that from 75 feet away, she could split a playing card that’s held on its edge and riddle an airborne card with holes before it fell to the ground.

316/701
Bolivia’s Limestone Wall with Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints

Bolivia’s Cal Orcko quarry has a limestone wall with over 5,000 dinosaur footprints, many of them dating back to the Cretaceous Period over 68 million years ago.

316/701
Billy Joel’s Trick to Have Real Fans in the Front Seats

Billy Joel never sells tickets to his front row. Instead, he gives them to random audience members in the cheap seats so that he could look at his real fans who would enjoy the show rather than the rich who just want to show off.

316/701
Efficiency of the Japanese Railway System

Japanese train operating companies have sensitive seismometers installed. On March 11, 2011, the Kinkazan seismometer recorded an 8.9 magnitude earthquake, triggering automatic stop signals and emergency brakes on 33 bullet trains 12 seconds before the disaster. Only one test train without passengers derailed that day.

316/701
Ancestor of Every Blue-eyed Person

Every blue-eyed person in the world shares a single common ancestor dating back to the Neolithic period.

316/701
A Man Accidentally Swallowed and then Excreted an Intact AirPod

A man swallowed an AirPod while sleeping and realized it was beeping from inside his stomach when he used the iPhone’s tracking feature after waking up. The medics at Kaohsiung Hospital gave him a laxative and it passed out of his body naturally. After washing and drying it, he found it still worked and the battery was at 41%.

315/701
The Origin of Super Mario’s Name

As the legend goes, Super Mario was named after the real-life businessman Mario Segale who rented a warehouse to Nintendo and stormed into the office one day because the rent was overdue. After the crew convinced him that they’ll pay, they nicknamed their main character after him due to similarities in appearance. The name stuck.

314/701
Newly Discovered Green Comet

Comet Nishimura, a newly discovered half-a-mile-sized green comet, will come closest to Earth at 78 million miles on September 12th. The comet last visited 430 years ago and will disappear again for that same length of time before its next visit.

313/701
The Youngest Person to Visit all Countries

At just 21 years of age, Lexie Alford set the world record for being the youngest person to visit every sovereign country in the world.

312/701
The Long-living Apple Tree that Inspired Newton

The apple tree that inspired Newton’s theory of gravity still stands to this day, 350 years later, at his family’s estate, Woolsthorpe Manor.

311/701
The Swindon Police Apology that Went Viral

In 2015, police apologized to residents of Swindon, UK, for repeatedly using sirens. They were trying to settle a debate among a group of four-year-olds during an emergency services presentation whether the siren goes “nee-nah” or “woo-woo.”

310/701
“La Tomatina” a Traditional Spanish Festival

In Spain, there’s a fun tradition called “La Tomatina” where folks throw tomatoes at each other in a big food fight just for fun.

309/701
The Exceptional Memory of Elephants

Elephants have such a good memory that they are not only capable of recognizing other members of their group, but also other species who leave an impression on them. Shirley and Jenny, two elephants that performed in the same circus, were able to recognize each other when they met again 23 years later.

308/701
Trail Trees of North American Forests

Native Americans have intentionally bent trees horizontally to mark trails or important places.

307/701
US Airways Flight’s Emergency Landing on the Hudson

In 2009, an US Airways flight made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York after getting struck by a flock of birds, all in under four minutes.

306/701
Qatar’s Fight Against Heat

In 2019, Qatar painted some of its roads blue as part of a pilot project to reduce heat radiating from asphalt.

305/701
Why Do I Wake Up Before My Alarm Goes Off?

You wake up right before your alarm goes off because your body wants to avoid the shock and stress the alarm would cause. A regular sleep cycle prepares the body for waking up by gradually releasing hormones, increasing temperature and blood pressure. To prevent getting startled during this time, your body schedules its own clock to wake up before the alarm goes off.

304/701
Oreos Are Safe in Case of an Apocalypse

In October 2020, Oreo constructed a concrete bunker in Svalbard, Norway, to protect their recipes in case of an asteroid impact. The vault also contains Oreos wrapped in Mylar and vials of milk powder.

303/701
IKEA Heights, Guerrilla Filmmaking at IKEA Store

In 2009, a spoof soap opera was covertly filmed in Burbank’s IKEA store for a whole year without the knowledge of anyone working there. The cast and crew shot in different areas of the store creating a seven-episode show called IKEA Heights.

302/701
Ever-constant Icelandic Language

Owing to its remote location and the purist movement in the 19th century, Icelandic language has changed so little that Icelandic speakers can easily read texts created in the 10th through 13th centuries.

301/701
Jane Kazmarek – Seven Emmy Nominations, No Wins

Jane Kazmarek who played Lois in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle received seven Emmy nominations, one every year the show aired, but never won.