Here at listverse we love fun facts. But even more than fun facts, we love unknown facts – things which make us seem a little smarter than the average person when we pull them out at parties. This list looks at 15 fascinating facts that you probably are unaware of (at least we hope so!) Be sure to add any of your own to the comments.
1. Armadillos of the Dasypus genus give birth to four genetically identical quadruplets. This is the only reliable manifestation of polyembryony (two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg) in mammals.
2. Of the entire human body, around 3 pounds of the weight is microbial life; in other words, parasites and the like. Many of these are essential to the functioning of the body.
3. The germs in feces can pass through up to ten layers of toilet paper. Don’t forget to wash your hands!
4. Earwigs can fly. They have membranous wings folded underneath short forewings which they can use for limited flight. They are not particularly good at it but sufficiently good to move about if necessary. Contrary to popular belief, earwigs don’t transmit diseases amongst humans.
5. Cuttlefish have eyes shaped like the letter ‘w’ (pictured above). Although they cannot see color, they can perceive the polarization of light, which enhances their perception of contrast. They have full use of their eyes before they are born.
6. The pyramids were originally covered with a highly polished white limestone so they would glisten from a distance. Some of these (albeit worn) are still visible at the top of the Pyramid of Khafre (pictured above).
7. Female koala bears (which are marsupials not bears) have two vaginas. Male koalas have a forked penis. No doubt their mating practices would be similar to those of these two humans who had the most bizarre relationship in history.
8. Human eyes contain a blind spot. The brain fills in with surrounding detail and with information from the other eye, so the blind spot is not normally perceived. To see the blind spot in action, go here.
9. The avocado is a ghost of evolution. It was originally consumed by large creatures in the Pleistocene period (when modern humans appeared). Creatures the size of wooly mammoths would have eaten the avocado whole, and excreted its seed in their dung. As these giant creatures died off, man cultivated the avocados for his own use and it is this cultivation which meant the avocado survived extinction.
10. Many traffic lights and lift buttons are actually placebo buttons – in other words, they do nothing at all when pressed. They exist to give the presser the feeling of control. [Source]
11. When tickled, rats laugh. Here is an excellent video clip demonstrating this fact.
12. At certain points on Mercury’s surface, an observer would be able to see the Sun rise about halfway, then reverse and set before rising again, all within the same Mercurian day. Having said that, one day on Mercury is 176 earth days. [Source]
13. In his lifetime, Adolf Hitler had four relationships (three confirmed and one suspected). Of those relationships, all four women attempted suicide at least once, and two succeeded.
14. Sand sharks have a very unique gestation. A mother shark develops two embryos when impregnated. The stronger of the two embryos eats the other before it is born. This is called “intrauterine cannibalism”. It will also eat any other eggs that exist in the mother at the time.
15. The center of a rainbow is the shadow from your head. A primary rainbow is always somewhere on an arc 42 degrees around the shadow of your head (called the anti solar point). So brightly illuminated rain must be in this direction away from you to see a rainbow. [Source]
how come you had any idea about this facts?!
hey! im 15 facts smarter now! nice list!
ok man we get a dude with 2 wangs married a woman with 2 tacos, you dont need to bring it up everygoddamnday
Is it true that up until 1993 rape was allowed in marriage?
Im having some argument with my friend and i just cant see how it was possible that up untill 1993 something like that would be ‘acceptable’
Woot! I’ve never posted single-digits before!
Awesome list, koala bears are amazing. Enough said.
are you counting Eva Braun in the successful suicide attempt??
@Pyderz (4): not only is that correct Currently,in the Bahamas, there is a bill that is trying to outlaw marital rape on the grounds that a woman can’t be raped by her husband.
a quote from a person interviewed…
“”It is ridiculous for them to try to make that a law, because I don’t think a man can rape his own wife. After two people get married, the Bible says that they become one – one flesh. How is it possible to rape what is yours?”
craziness, huh?
you are aware there are p[laces in the world where women are circumscribed & have their breasts pounded…where women are literally stoned to death, and a man can kill his female relative in a bid to prevent familial shame?
do some research. then do something about it.
rtr
p.s. the “anti solar point” was a new one to me! thanks, jay!
JFrater!!!!
Awesome list, BUT the intro only says 10 facts… methinks it should be changed haha.:D
i remember no.8 from GCSE biology. also, the eye only sees stuff at the edge of your vision in black and white, but your brain fills it in with colour that it already knows is there. if i remember right, that is…
must be fun being a koala
Must of been pain in the ass being maried to hitler.:)
@schiesl (6): Of course – she succeeded
Number 9 has absolutely nothing to do with evolution, why is it called a ghost of evolution? :S
LOL I always suspected the placebo buttons existed but was not sure until now.
Many a time I’ve sat at traffic lights in my car and the pedestrian crossing light is on, even though no-one was there to press the button – just shows that they are on a timer and someone pressing the button doesn’t make a blind bit of difference!
I have always thought that about number 10. You can press those stupid buttons till you are blue in the face and nothing happens. I don’t bother with them but it’s funny to watch others losing it over the robot not changing at their will.
Loved these facts
Good job
Always figured those buttons didn’t do anything. I still press them constantly because I like pressing buttons. It somehow relieves stress for me. It’s either that or I punch someone. I guess the buttons are the better alternative.
i can’t seem to hav the spot disappear like my friend…(she did the blind spot test…) IT WONT DISAPPEAR
anyways~ nice list ^^
confusion about #1 – aren’t human identical twins “two…. embryos developing from a single fertilized egg”?
@leelee (19): “This is the only RELIABLE manifestation of polyembryony”. Which means it ALWAYS happens. Twins in humans are pretty rare so it’s not really a reliable source.
I have always been amazed seeing people pressing the lift buttons several times. Placebo or not… IT DOES NOT MAKE THE LIFT COME MORE QUICKLY!! Good list Mr. Frater.
Man, I was just eating when I read the poop one. But I always wash my hands. I’m a germaphobe or whatever you call it. And jfrater, you must be oppsessed with that bizarre couple.
For thousands of years, people actually believed trees gave birth to birds.
Man must of these were disgusting…good ,ist, but kinda gross. lol
Please, please, PLEASE. Koalas are not referred to as bears. No one in Australia EVER refers to a koala as a “koala bear” Only uninformed dimwits refer to koalas as koala bears.
Interesting list otherwise, but please remove the bear bit. Its a pet hate of mine…..
I’ve known that fact about sharks for ages (I’m a shark fanatic) – always fascinated me how their primal urge to kill is their from even before birth.
Also, I can’t believe I could weigh 3lbs lighter if it weren’t for damn parasites… Ew.
LOLz on #10!
#4: depending what country your in the legislation is different, but it wasnt til the late 80′s if i remember correctly that rape was acknoledged in marrriage,
that was because when a women married a man, they gave “irrebuttable” consent to *****.
that im not making up it was the law
acknowledged* sorry
By “lift”, do you mean “elevator”? That surprises me that they can be a placebo. I always thought that you pressed a button to let it “know” to stop at that floor. In other words, I thought they worked by stopping at the floors that people pressed the button on. How do they work? They don’t stop one floor at a time. When I’m waiting I see the numbers light as they reach a floor-they keep going until they reach the floor I’m at.
(If you keep reading the word “floor” it looks strange after awhile!)
It's something they do in the British Commonwealth countries to irritate the commoners. When they stopped the practice of lopping off 'eads sometime in the 1960's or maybe early -70's, the nobility demanded some kind of compensatory practice, and this was chosen as second best without actually killing people. We don't have fake buttons in the U.S. since we still have the death penalty. Naturally it wasn't publicized and they deny it to this day, but this is another one of those interesting facts.
actually hitler had 6 recorded relationships not 4
three commited suicide but murder is suspected for two
eva also commited suicide but at the same time as hitler.
two died of natural causes one of which had attempted suicide years earlier.
Must’ve been a lot of fun being in a relationship with Hitler!
3 pounds of parasites and the such? gross. is the 10 pounds of undigested red meat in peoples bowels also true? anyone know?
Like this list. Always in the mood to learn something new. I share a lot of these types of facts with my co-workers to pass the time.
Number 3 made me cringe. I see people who don’t wash their hands when they leave the restroom and it make me sick.
Number 10 cracked me up. I’m a button pusher, and I keep pressing the button hoping that I can get the light/lift to go faster.
Fact 6 – also about the pyramids. In the iconic photo of the three, the middle one appears taller. The right-hand one is actually taller, but is further away, so appears smaller.
Fact 10 – “Many traffic lights and lift buttons are actually placebo buttons”. It follows that some buttons actually function, so press away repeatedly. The one I pressed this evening certainly works. (And I pressed it once.)
Fact 13 -”Must’ve been a lot of fun being in a relationship with Hitler!” Just ask Czechoslovakia and Poland!
enoooo(#20) ah, now i understand – thanks to your explanation….and some caffeine in me at last.
timmar68 (30): I think the lift buttons that they are referring to are the “door open” and “door close” buttons that quite often don’t do anything at all. The floor buttons do work
@10, yeh, maybe, but Koala’s are prone to Clamidia. Lol.
And @25, Amen. No more Koala BEAR please.
Entering “koala penis” into Google image search is a BAD idea!
Great! I didn’t know about any of these except for no. 8, which I only know about because I have exceptionally large blind spots in both eyes. It’s really interesting actually because no matter the size of the blind spot your mind still tries to fill in the blanks around it. I didn’t even notice the small of the two blind spots until I applied to learn how to drive and had to take a test for it.
13. Stalin’s son from first marriage twice attempted suicide, second wife commited suicide.
@WALRUSONION (3): Oh god, how did I miss that comment my first time around? I did notice that too, been bringing that up quite a lot lately. Jamie must be very proud for finding it. I know I would be.
Very interesting list but what would be cool is if we could have a source for every single fact. Cause when I manage to show off about some fact that I read here or on some other site, sometimes people ask me where I heard that, and when I answer “from this entertaining internet site” it becomes less credible ^^.
I’ve come here long enough to know that jFrafter doesn’t invent anything, and is serious in his research, but I’d still like to see the sources for every single fact stated on here.
#3- Made me throw up in my mouth a little… I always wash my hands but your little fact is going to push me into OCD mode!
@Kibey (39): Now you made me curious… I looked it up and all I could find is a picture of a baby born with a second penis… on his back. OK, you´re right. Bad search idea.
The center of the rainbow is NOT the shadow of your head. It’s just that the shadow of your head and the center of the rainbow are both formed at the anti solar point.
great list, I only heard of the one about the pyramids but the others were all new to me. well done!
#3 is absurd, bacteria don’t have drills or laser beams. Where did you come up with that one?
And yes, I still wash my hands.
Learned something today – thanks nice list, not so sure on the lift button one though.
It’s tragic to hear about what happened in the Château de Machecoul, shows how savage humans can be. I hope to visit the Poenari Castle in the near future, looks quite interesting to say the least. Well put list J.
lmfao wrong list, I meant that comment about the Spooky travel destinations list. My bad. HA!
todays my birthday
Here in Clearwater, FL you can stand at an intersection all day long and not get a walk sign unless you press the button. I guess we are not the norm…
@SnowFlake (18):
Make sure you are closely starring at the cross and then move your head closer to the computer until it disappears from your peripheral vision.
@timmar68 (30):
I think the placebo buttons on an elevator would be the button that says “close door” because that always happens automatically.
The avocado amazing fact and rats laugh, thats so cute heh
Holy crap i knew the dam street buttons were jus bull*****in me. I guess hitler wasn’t much of a ladies man.
The giggling rat is so cute!!
if i tickle my snake’s belly he tightens up his muscles and straightens up, I think he must be ticklish too
Not the best list. cause knew most of the facts
Good list.
Happy Birthday, Naruto! Many happy returns.
Interesting. I didn’t know half that *****. Very nice.