217 Random, Fun, and Interesting Facts

Everything That Will Shock You

You’re going to kill it at trivia night.

By Guy Wann

How will you ever be Jeopardy-ready if you don’t commit these random facts to memory? Knowing the answer to something that no one else in the room does has a way of making you feel like a genius. History Facts So if you’re a trivia enthusiast, looking to dominate your next game night, or just love learning new and uncommon things, you’ve come to the right place. You never know when you’ll need to pull these facts out, which is part of the fun.

Is there such a thing as useless information? No way. All those little random, interesting, funny, and even scary tidbits or “did you know” facts stored in your brain are there for a reason. They will surely come in handy someday, whether it’s to beat your best friend at Trivial Pursuit or to amaze your bored kiddo during a family excursion.

Here’s a plethora of fun and fascinating facts to keep handy.

Interesting and Fun History Facts

• Henry VIII knighted all four of his “Grooms of the Stool” — the people in charge of wiping his butt for him.
• Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress four years before women could even vote.
• Women couldn’t apply for credit at a bank until 1974.
• Before modern false teeth, dentures were commonly made from the teeth of dead soldiers.
• In ancient Egypt, servants were smeared with honey to attract flies away from the pharaoh.
• Using a fork was once considered sacrilegious.
• Abraham Lincoln was a champion wrestler and a licensed bartender.
• George Washington owned a whiskey distillery.
• Over 2% of the American population was killed during the Civil War.
• John Adams was the first president to live in the White House.
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa never stood up straight.
• Many Vikings dyed their hair blonde because they viewed it as the best color.
• Alexander the Great may have been accidentally buried alive.
• There were female gladiators in Ancient Rome called gladiatrices.
• Cleopatra was Greek with Macedonian ancestry, not Egyptian.
• Ancient Romans used stale urine as mouthwash.
• The longest year in human history, 46 BC, lasted 445 days.
• The shortest war in history, between Britain and Zanzibar, lasted 38 minutes.
• In the 1740s, Roman Catholics formed a secret society called the Order of the Pug. Members wore dog collars and scratched at doors.
• Galloping crocodiles inhabited the Sahara Desert 100 million years ago.
• The 1883 Krakatoa volcano eruption was so loud that it ruptured eardrums 40 miles away.
• During World War I, the French built a “fake Paris” to mislead German bombers.
• Theodore Roosevelt’s kids had a pet bear, badger, and hyena, which they brought to the White House.
• There are over 700 ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols, compared to the 26 letters of the alphabet.
• The Wright Brothers only flew together once, as they promised their father they’d always fly separately.
• During WWII, British soldiers had to make do with only three sheets of toilet paper per day.
• Thomas Edison didn’t actually invent most of the things he patented.
• Romantic poet Lord Byron kept a tame bear in his college dorm to protest a rule against dogs on campus.
• In the Victorian era, men with mustaches used cups with guards to prevent their facial hair from dipping into their drinks.
• Ancient Spartans were so wealthy that no one had to work.

Interesting and Fun Travel Facts

• The average person in Sweden eats about 22 pounds of chocolate a year.
• Montana has three times as many cows as people.
• Parts of the Great Wall of China were made with sticky rice.
• Ninety percent of the world’s population lives above the equator.
• Finland has more saunas than cars.
• Sixty percent of the world’s lakes (three million total) are in Canada.
• Virginia is the only state with the same state flower and state tree, the dogwood.
• In Egypt, it’s considered rude to salt food that has been served to you.
• At Disney World, you’re never farther than 30 steps from a trash can.
• Ninety percent of Libya is desert.
• There are reportedly no mosquitoes in Iceland.
• The Eiffel Tower’s height can vary up to six inches, depending on the temperature.
• A small town in Italy has a fountain that serves free wine.
• Pilots and co-pilots eat different meals before flights to avoid both getting food poisoning.
• Roughly 600 Parisians work at the Eiffel Tower each day.
• There’s a city named Rome on six out of seven continents.
• When visiting Key West, you’re closer to Havana than Miami.
• The Great Barrier Reef is so massive it can be seen from outer space.
• Antarctica’s ice is made up of almost 3% penguin urine.
• Alaska is the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States.

Interesting and Fun Music Facts

• Mary, of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” fame, was a real person and the song is based on a true story.
• “Happy Birthday” was the first song ever played on Mars by Mars Rover Curiosity on its first anniversary.
• Listening to music can sync your heart to the rhythm.
• President Nixon played five instruments, including the accordion.
• An “earworm” is a song stuck in your head.
• None of The Beatles could read music.
• George Harrison could reportedly play 26 instruments.
• Barry Manilow didn’t write “I Write The Songs.”
• Metallica is the only band to perform on all seven continents.
• Department stores play slower music to keep customers shopping longer, while restaurants play faster music.
• Monaco’s orchestra is bigger than its army.
• The song with the longest title has 29 words: Hoagy Carmichael’s “I’m a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin’ Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues.”
• A concert promoter once sold a thousand tickets to a Spice Girls concert in Hawaii that was never booked.
• Leo Fender, inventor of the Stratocaster and Telecaster, couldn’t play guitar.
• In 2016, Mozart sold more albums than Beyoncé.
• During a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina relief, someone donated $35,000 so VH1 Classic would play “99 Luftballons” on repeat for an hour.
• “A Boy Named Sue” wasn’t written by Johnny Cash but by Shel Silverstein.
• In 2015, Belfast police used ice cream truck music to deter teenage rioters.
• Prince played 27 instruments on his debut album.
• Eminem’s song “Rap God” has the most words with 1560.

Interesting and Fun Sports Facts

• Gatorade was named after the University of Florida Gators.
• China didn’t win its first Olympic medal until 1984.
• Tug of war used to be an Olympic sport.
• The average golf ball has 336 dimples.
• Tennis was originally played with bare hands.
• The Cleveland Browns are the only team to neither play in nor host a Super Bowl.
• Wilt Chamberlain is in the Volleyball Hall of Fame.
• Some golf balls are filled with honey.
• Despite taking about three hours to play, the average baseball game has about 18 minutes of active playing time.
• MLB umpires wear black underwear in case they split their pants.
• Bo Jackson refused the teams that tried to draft him in baseball and football.
• Both volleyball and basketball were invented in Massachusetts.
• Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls once went eight seasons without a three-game losing streak.
• NFL refs also get Super Bowl rings.
• President Hubert Hoover invented “Hooverball,” a game combining tennis and volleyball played with a medicine ball.
• In 1935, the Detroit Lions won the Super Bowl, the Tigers won the World Series, and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.
• Over 100 baseballs are used during a typical professional baseball game.
• Ancient Olympics contestants performed in the nude to achieve closeness to the gods.
• There are over 8000 sports played worldwide.
• The silhouette on the official NBA logo is Los Angeles Lakers guard Jerry West.

Interesting and Fun Human Facts

• You can’t hum while plugging your nose.
• Tomatoes have more genes than humans.
• We’re one to two centimeters taller in the morning than at night.
• One-quarter of all our bones are in our feet.
• The human body contains enough fat to make about seven bars of soap.
• You can’t lick your elbow.
• You can’t tickle yourself.
• By the time we die, we’ll have spent roughly a year sitting on the toilet.
• You are always looking at your nose; your brain just chooses to ignore it.
• Astronauts can grow up to two inches taller in space.
• Some blood vessels in a blue whale are big enough for humans to swim through.
• We’re the only species known to blush.
• You only breathe out of one nostril at a time.
• Babies are born with more bones than adults. (Babies have 300 bones, while adults have 206.)
• Most newborns lose all the hair they were born with by six months old.
• It’s impossible to burp in space.
• Everyone has a unique smell, except identical twins.
• Thumbs have their own pulse.

With these fascinating facts, you’re now ready to impress at your next trivia night or just amaze your friends and family with your newfound knowledge!

Interesting and Fun History Facts: The shortest war in history was between Britain and Zanzibar in 1896, lasting only 38 minutes. The Great Wall of China is not visible from space with the naked eye, contrary to popular belief. Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, lived closer to the time of the moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The oldest known written recipe is for beer, dating back to ancient Sumeria around 1800 BCE. The first computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace, who worked on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in the 1840s. Interesting and Fun Travel Facts: The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with an average ground level of just 1.5 meters above sea level. The Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia is the longest railway line in the world, spanning approximately 9,289 kilometers. The Amazon Rainforest in South America is home to more than 400 billion individual trees, representing 16,000 different species. The Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world, with an area of just 0.44 square kilometers. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living structure on Earth, visible from space. Interesting and Fun Music Facts: The Beatles hold the record for the most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 20 songs reaching the top position. Mozart composed his first symphony at the age of eight. Bob Dylan’s real name is Robert Zimmerman. Beethoven continued to compose music even after he became completely deaf. Elvis Presley’s iconic black hair was dyed, as his natural hair color was blond. Interesting and Fun Sports Facts: Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, with an estimated 2.5 billion fans. The fastest recorded serve in tennis was clocked at 163.7 mph (263.4 km/h) by Samuel Groth of Australia. Michael Phelps holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals won by an individual athlete, with a total of 23 gold medals. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, holds the world records for both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Interesting and Fun Human Facts: The human brain is the most energy-consuming organ in the body, using about 20% of the body’s total energy. Humans are the only animals capable of shedding emotional tears. The average person will spend about 6 months of their life waiting for red traffic lights to turn green. The human nose can remember and recall about 50,000 different scents. On average, a person will spend about 25 years of their life asleep. With these fascinating facts, you’re now ready to impress at your next trivia night or just amaze your friends and family with your newfound knowledge!