11 Surprising Facts That Will Challenge Your Reality. You’re about to encounter 11 shocking facts that will make you question the very fabric of our existence. From groundbreaking discoveries to little-known secrets, these surprising facts will keep you on the edge of your seat and challenge your understanding of the world.
Surprising Facts
1. Every Canadian is allowed to get a free Canadian flag from the government. However, if you ordered a flag today, you would get it in approximately 100 years.
The amount of people who request a free flag from the Canadian government has surged in popularity in recent years so much so that one would have to wait about 100 years before they get one mailed to them.
2. Eventually, a day on Earth will be 25 hours long.
According to scientists, this has everything to do with the moon moving away from our planet. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth on Earth lasted just 18 hours. The moon is moving away from our planet at just 3.82cm a year, which is having a small, but measurable effect on Earth’s movement. Eventually, in about 200 million years, every day on our planet will be 25 hours long, the researchers say.
3. You can rent an entire country.
If you really want to throw a party everyone will remember, try renting out an entire country for the night. For just $70,000, you can rent Lichtenstein for an evening.
4. Shaking ketchup makes it 1,000 times thinner.
It’s natural to shake the ketchup bottle before using it. Turns out, the more you shake it, the thinner the consistency gets. Why? Spherical tomato particles form into thinner ellipses when shaken, making your ketchup 1,000 times runnier.
5. The Mongolian Navy consists of one small tugboat and seven men.
The landlocked country really does not need a navy, but they feel like they need at least one. So, the Mongolian Navy is one tugboat with a seven-man crew.
Discover more facts
6. If you are ever face-to-face with a shark, keeping eye contact and making yourself appear big might help you.
If a shark is circling you, the worst thing you can do is panic. According to experts, climbing to safety immediately is the best measure. If you are away from land or boats, your best defense would be to maintain eye contact and make yourself appear as big as possible in the water. According to Richard Peirce, a shark expert and former chairman of the UK-based Shark Trust Charity, “The bigger you are in the water, the more respect you’ll get.”
Also, never get into a position where the shark can get behind you. “Keep your back to something like a coral reef. Then you’ve only got one direction to look. Pierce explains, ‘When wearing a shark shield, it protects you from behind, allowing you to maintain visual contact with the shark in front and slowly swim up to the reef’s surface where your boat awaits.
7. There are giant pyrosomes – hollow 100-foot bioluminescent worms – living in the ocean.
Also known as “Sea Unicorns” pyrosomes are transparent and hollow worms that are rarely found in the ocean. Although it gives the appearance of a single living organism, it actually consists of thousands of organisms that glow in the dark with bright and long-lasting light. They replicate themselves and keep on growing forever based on available food and physical disturbance.
8. The use of forks was considered sacrilegious.
Today, we can’t imagine eating a meal without utensils but back when it was first introduced in Italy in the 11th century, they were seen as offensive. Oddly enough, people used to eat with their fingers and the number of fingers and the number of figures used to eat the meals distinguished the upper class from the lower class. Three fingers were considered to be good manners.
9. “Mary Had a Little Lamb is based on a true life story.
The poem, “Mary Had a Lamb”, was based on a real person, Mary, who did have a little lamb. Mary Sawyer was born in 1806 and in 1816, she was heading to school when her little lamb decided to follow her. At the same time, John Roulstone saw Mary’s little lamb following her to her school and Mary wrapping the lamb in a blanket that she placed at her feet until it made a noise, informing the teacher of its blanket that she placed at her feet until it made a noise, informing the teacher of its company. So, Roulstone wrote a poem about the incident and delivered it to Mary.
10. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded Netflix before Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google.
One would assume that Google has existed longer than Netflix but it turns out, that Netflix is older than Google. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph incorporated Netflix, Inc. on August 29, 1997. Google, inc. was incorporated on September 4, 1998. Netflix is one of the biggest contributors to internet traffic in many regions and these numbers account for more than one-third of all internet traffic.
11. It takes 2 years for a pineapple to grow.
Pineapple plants require two years to grow and produce fruit because it takes 200 flowers to develop into one fruit. This means every segment you see on the skin of a pineapple was once berries from the flower on the same stalk to form the pineapple you see.
