Interesting Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

The following interesting facts are probably all things you never knew before. Though, to be fair, they may not be things you necessarily need to know at all. Still, who doesn’t love a collection of interesting facts you can whip out at the next party? Keep on reading for some fun examples.

1. Despite what you may think, the loudest land animal alive is not your mother-in-law, but actually the appropriately named howler monkey. This primate’s guttural growl can travel as far as 3 miles.
2. Only one state in North America grows coffee beans: Hawaii. Hawaiians call it Kope and it’s actually some of the most expensive coffee sold in the entire world.
3. Golf balls have their iconic dimples because they help add a degree of turbulence, which results in greater distance. Regulation balls are made with 336 dimples on them.
4. Though considered one of the most famous pieces of art in the entire world, most people don’t notice something very unusual about the Mona Lisa: she lacks both eyebrows and eyelashes.
5. The only food that never goes bad is honey, meaning you could essentially leave it out forever. In order to make just one pound of this precious food, bees need to use more than 2 million different flowers.
6. When a bird known as the Clark’s Nutcracker prepares for winter, it leaves nothing to chance. The species can hide as much a 30,000 prized pine nuts in over 6,000 different places spread out over 300 square miles. Of course, it can also remember where 70% of these locations are too, even after snow covers them.
7. While most of us think of McDonald’s when someone mentions a hamburger chain, it’s actually White Castle that can lay claim to being the first such establishment in this country.
8. Although over 12 people have walked on the moon, it’s now been over 40 years since the last time it happened. 1972 was the last year an astronaut walked across it.
9. Despite what you may think, giraffes actually have the same number of vertebrae in their necks as humans, despite being much larger, proportionally speaking.
10. Let’s make it two interesting facts about giraffes. They can also survive longer without water than camels can.
11. Some of these interesting facts are actually valuable and here’s an example. Although we use it every day, one household item could potentially actually be quite dangerous. Toothpaste’s active ingredient is known as sodium fluoride. It can be lethal in large doses which is why you always want to monitor children who are using it. Just by swallowing a tiny amount they can experience stomach pains.
12. There are no snakes native to New Zealand despite the large amount that are to nearby Australia. The country actually has laws mandating that anyone who sees a snake reports it immediately. By doing so, they hope to protect their homeland’s biodiversity and keep a competitive species from taking over.
13. Some of these interesting facts may have you scratching your head. For example, did you know buttermilk actually contains no butter whatsoever? It actually makes sense when you think about it. Instead buttermilk is usually a mix of milk, white vinegar and lemon juice.
14. On average, it should only take you 7 minutes to fall asleep at night. And despite conventional wisdom telling you to count sheep, it’s generally considered to be a better idea to simply clear your mind of every thought in general.

Hopefully you enjoyed the above interesting facts. Again, though they may not all be equally useful, these interesting facts should at least come in handy when you’ve run out of things to say.