In 1900, all the world's mathematical knowledge could be written in about 80 books; today
it would fill more than 100,000.
James Garfield, 20th president of the USA, could write Greek with one hand while writing
Latin with the other.
Human saliva contains a painkiller called opiorphin that is six times more powerful
than morphine.
The platypus and the echidna are the only mammals that could make their own custard:
they both lay eggs and produce milk.
The Archbishop of Manila from 1974–2003 was called Cardinal Sin.
There is a single mega-colony of ants that spans three continents, covering much of Europe,
the west coast of the U.S., and the west coast of Japan.
A 'riot' in England and Wales must legally involve a minimum of 12 people.
Under US federal law it's only three people and in Nevada only two.
Although slavery was abolished in the British colonies in the 19th century.
Slavery was not made a statutory offence in the UK until 6th April 2010.
An orange is a berry but a strawberry isn't.
A 'knot' is something tied in a single piece of rope or line.
Something that joins two ropes together is actually called a 'bend'.
Jimmy Carter once sent a jacket to the dry-cleaner's with the nuclear detonation codes still in
the pocket.
There is a glacier called “Blood Falls” in Antarctica that regularly pours out red
liquid, making it look like the ice is bleeding.
Humans have the same number of hair follicles as chimpanzees.
In 1715, a group of Jacobite rebels failed to take Edinburgh Castle because their rope
ladders were six feet too short.
All polar bears are Irish: they're descended from brown bears that lived in Ireland over
10,000 years ago.
In 2007, an American man named Corey Taylor tried to fake his own death in order to get
out of his cell phone contract without paying a fee.
But it didn't work.