31 Really Intriguing Random Facts About Literally Everything | Random List #59

Despite its useful properties, the dandelion has grown to be regarded as a weed, as a result of the rise of lawn culture and marketing by pesticide companies.

2. Almost all cattle are descended from only 80 aurochs tamed in Northern Mesopotamia about 10,000 years ago.

3. A Chinese philanthropist named Run Run Shaw (1907-2014) gave $1 billion to fund education, aiding over 6000 construction projects. Because so many buildings (5000+) bear his name, Yifu, it is often confused with a generic name.

4. 92 Russians died for every 1 American in World War 2.

5. If you threw a stone overboard above the Mariana Trench (6.8 miles deep) it would take an hour for it to hit the ocean floor.

Hangovers cost an estimated $220 billion loss in productivity per year.

7. In 1921, "Black Wall Street" was the wealthiest Black community in America before being attacked by an angry mob which killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed 35 city blocks.

8. A town in West Virginia named Mole Hill changed its name to Mountain, so they could literally make a mountain out of a mole hill.

9. Just as % stands for per cent, ‰ stands for per mille.

10. A Fitbit played a role in solving a murder. Using the Wife's Fitbit and analyzing her movements, analysts were able to create a timeline that proved the husband had created a false story.

In 2017, 4 inmates snuck out of prison (Holmes-Humphreys County), robbed several stores, and then snuck back into prison.

12. During the closing credits of the South Park episode 'Trapped in the Closet', all names were replaced with either "John Smith" or "Jane Smith". This was done to shield any of the production staff from potential lawsuits.

13. Researchers suggest that the discovery of fire influenced human evolution. Fire allowed humans to cook their food, which made food easier to chew and digest—which, in turn, contributed to the reduction of human tooth and gut size.

14. The Japanese sportswear company ASICS is an acronym of the latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano", which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body".

15. The dish "Spaghetti and Meatballs" is not at all Italian. It's 100% American.

The last new enclosed mall in America was built in 2006, and 2007 marked the first time since the 1950s that a new indoor mall was not built in the USA.

17. A boat is considered a ship if it weighs 500 tonnes or more. A more general distinction is that ships can carry boats but boats cannot carry ships.

18. Jack Black's eponymous character in the 2006 comedy Nacho Libre is based on a real priest- Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, who wrestled with the ring name "Fray Tormenta" (Friar Storm) in order to support an orphanage he founded.

19. The scientific name for llamas is Lama glama.

20. Adrian Carton de Wiart was a British officer who served in 3 wars. He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear. He survived 2 plane crashes, tunneled out of a POW camp, tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. After World War 1 he wrote, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war."

Antarctica is governed by a treaty of over 50 countries banning all mining, pollution, colonization, or claims from any one country. Only scientific exploration is permitted and visitors must take every trace of themselves with them when they leave.

22. On average, 4 shipping containers drop into the ocean every day.

23. Near-perfect ellipsoid lenses have been found among Viking artifacts. Hinting that the Vikings likely made telescopes 1000 years ago, 500 years before Galileo.

24. There was a cult that formed around the same time as Christianity which worshipped the emperor Hadrian's young gay lover Antinous, believing the boy was resurrected as Osiris after he'd drowned in the Nile.

25. Native German and Russian speaker's tongues naturally rest on the bottom of their mouths while English speakers tongues rest on the top.