Are you a curious person?
Don't deny it!
We all are!
The world around us is full of surprises and secrets, so it's impossible not to be.
So here I am to satisfy your curiosity, and quite possibly make you the most knowledgeable
person in any room.
1.
Chocolate milk was once a medicine This delicious beverage was originally invented
by an Irish physician when he was traveling to Jamaica back in the 17th century and noticed
how locals drank water mixed with cocoa.
After returning home he made some changes to the recipe and it was sold at a drugstore.
2.
Bird's saliva is actually an expensive delicacy You might think that caviar and truffles are
the foods of the rich.
But in China, they prefer Bird’s nest soup, and the swiftlets' saliva is one of its ingredients.
This weird dish is believed to have exquisite flavor and be good for health.
3.
The popsicle was invented by an 11-year-old boy
Back in 1905, Frank Epperson, who was only 11, left a mixture of powder flavored soda
water with a stir stick in it on the porch.
Because it was really cold outside on that night, the drink froze.
And that's how your favorite hot weather treat was born!
4.
Bananas' curved shape What makes all bananas look like crescent
moons?
This yellow fruit grows in rainforests where there is not much sunlight.
That's why bananas bend trying to reach for the breaks of light in the canopy.
5.
Elephants can't jump You might have seen them jumping in cartoons
but it’s actually impossible.
And not only because it's hard to do it when you weigh 4 tons or more.
The elephants have relatively weak leg muscles and fairly inflexible ankles.
6.
Flamingos are born white or grey It takes them up to 3 years to get their mature
pink, orange, or red plumage.
And the color of their feathers changes because they eat a lot of brine shrimp and algae.
That's why zoo flamingos might turn white if there’s not enough of those ingredients
in their diet.
7.
Cats can't taste sugar It just so happens that their taste buds for
sweet are not very responsive.
If your cat ate candy and was pretty delighted, it doesn't mean the pet has a sweet tooth.
It was probably more about the fat contained in that candy.
8.
Crocodiles can't stick their tongues out Wanna know how to tell a crocodile from an
alligator?
Alligators can stick out their tongues while crocodiles don't.
There is a membrane that holds their tongue in place on the roof of their mouth so it
doesn’t move, which protects their airway when they spend so much time underwater.
9.
Your fat cells don't just disappear If you're trying to shed a few pounds, you
won’t actually lose fat cells.
They stay with you but change their size.
And if you gain weight they grow bigger.
10.
Traffic lights can be blue.
Yes, you can see it in Japan.
Some traffic lights there turn blue instead of green because historically both colors
were named with the same word.
11.
Charles Darwin invented an office chair This famous scientist was the first who came
up with the idea to attach wheels to a chair so that he could move around more quickly.
Yeah, he was a real genius after all!
12.
Hawaiian pizza is actually Canadian This pizza with ham and pineapples was invented
in Ontario in 1962 by a Canadian chef.
He named it Hawaiian after the brand of canned pineapple he used.
13.
Snail teeth are the hardest natural material There is a type of aquatic snail called limpet.
Limpet teeth are 100 times thinner than a human hair but they can withstand more pressure
than it takes to create diamonds from carbon.
Before, it was believed that spider silk was the strongest material in the natural world.
14.
Tigers have striped skin They say a leopard can't change its spots.
But tigers can't change their stripes either because their skin has the same stripe pattern
as their fur.
Besides, the stripe pattern is unique for every animal just like human fingerprints.
15.
Champagne was once used as shoe polish Wanna feel like a 19th-century aristocrat?
Then just sprinkle some champagne on your shoes because that's how they made their footwear
shine back then.
16.
Bulls don't hate red Despite common belief, bulls are generally
colorblind to red and green.
It’s the motion of the swinging fabric that sends them into a charging frenzy in the ring,
because they consider it a threat.
17.
Silver objects don’t purify water from bacteria.
Silver does have antibacterial properties.
However, just putting something silver in the water, whether it’s a spoon, chain,
or coin, won’t cut it, because there aren’t enough silver ions to get that cleansing effect.
18.
A cockroach can live without its head If you ever had those insects in your house
then you know how hard it is to get rid of them.
They seem really invincible!
And it’s partly true, because a cockroach can live for a few weeks even after decapitation.
19.
Chocolate was once a currency Many centuries ago a tribe called the Aztecs
couldn't grow cacao in the dry highlands of central Mexico.
That's why they traded with the Maya and other peoples to get it.
Ordinary people in the Aztec empire also had to pay taxes with cocoa seeds.
20.
A dog is as smart as a toddler I mean, every pet owner already believes that
their pooch is a genius, right?
But now science backs up this idea.
Dogs are approximately as intelligent as a 2-year-old child.
21.
A town where cell phones are banned.
It’s hard to imagine life without phones, but Green Bank, located in West Virginia,
has become a cell-free zone in the name of science.
Here, no wireless signals are allowed because they could interfere with the work of one
of the world's largest radio telescopes in the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
22.
Fidgeting burns calories Well, it makes sense because moving means
blasting calories.
But just hear me out: if you sit all day fidgeting you can burn a whopping 600 calories!
So, keep tapping your finger and shaking your knee if you want to stay fit!
23.
Your hair contains traces of gold Yep, you’re a real treasure, my friend!
There are up to 14 elements in each strand of your hair, including nanoparticles of gold.
24.
A writer predicted how the Titanic would sink In 1898, U.S. writer Morgan Robertson wrote
a novel called Futility.
In the book, he described how the largest ship of its day, that was called the Titan,
hit an iceberg and went under.
And in 1912 pretty much the same happened in real life.
What a creepy coincidence!
25.
Wearing orange might be bad for your career It’s always hard to choose what to wear
for a job interview to make a good impression.
For some reason, hiring managers find orange the worst color and are more likely to reject
a candidate wearing it.
In case you wonder, the best color to wear is blue!
Which of those facts were the most astonishing for you?
Let everybody know in the comments below!
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